AFSAC director hears highlights of Hanscom’s foreign military sales

  • Published
  • By Patty Welsh
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  Foreign military sales are a critical part of Hanscom's mission and the director of the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate recently visited the base to discuss the role of the FMS Satellite Office here and meet with program personnel.

Current work in this area encompasses a multitude of projects, including air operations centers, aerospace management, mission planning, networks and data links with more than 40 different countries. FMS account for approximately $300-$400 million in annual business at Hanscom.

Brig. Gen. James Haywood said that he considers the personnel in the SOs the local FMS experts.

"Their role is to help facilitate the execution of the FMS programs," he said. "They help the program managers maneuver as effectively as possible through the FMS process, as it's different than the usual Air Force resourcing process."

Haywood sees this as no easy task, due to the number of stakeholders involved.

"Our stakeholders involve Headquarters, Air Force, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, our foreign partner customers and even the Department of State," he said.

The general highlighted some additional challenges in the FMS arena, including a constrained global fiscal environment and how to take advantage of the integration of the FMS enterprise under the Air Force Materiel Command 5-Center reorganization.

However, he did emphasize that he envisions the reorganization creating opportunities in the enterprise for more integration and collaboration.

Previously, with FMS organizations in different centers, Haywood said resource requests would come through the Center, then usually down to an XP-, or Capabilities Integration-type office and then be worked back through the separate Centers. Now there are ways to combine that work.

"Here at Hanscom they already have a detail-leveled system in place that they have developed and honed for how to best justify FMS resource needs," he said, indicating that this could potentially be a best practice shared throughout the enterprise.

He'll also have the opportunity to work with the program executive officers more directly within the new construct.

In fact, during his visit to Hanscom, in addition to meeting with the SO and program personnel working on FMS, Haywood met with the PEO for C3I and Networks and the deputy for Battle Management.

"Now I'll be seeing the PEOs on a more regular basis; therefore if there's a problem that arises, the dialogue will be easier."

As this was the first time Haywood was visiting as director of the AFSAC Directorate, he said his initial impressions of the FMS work being done here were "very positive" and he was impressed with how the work was done "expertly and efficiently," even though there is a significant volume of activity.

"It's clear the folks [at Hanscom] are expert at what they do, and all that experience translates into a history of successful FMS program capability deliveries," he said.