AFIMSC creating opportunities in support functions

  • Published
  • By Daryl Mayer
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio -- Maj. Gen. Bradley Spacy, Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center commander, returned to Wright-Patt to speak at the Life Cycle Industry Days about the role his nascent organization plays for the Air Force.

 

The Life Cycle Industry Days was a three-day symposium hosted by Lt. Gen. John Thompson, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center commander, to foster a dialogue with industry, academia and the Air Force acquisition workforce. 

 

“I was happy General Thompson invited me to speak because we need to talk to industry,” said Spacy, who served as 88th Air Base Wing commander from July 2008 to June 2010.  “We need to let them know who we are, what makes up our enterprise and where we need them to engage with it.  We are a new organization, so we have to get the word out there.”

 

The AFIMSC was created to serve as the intermediate headquarters for installation and mission support in an effort to reduce overhead while bringing a cross-functional and enterprise-wide view to delivering services to installations. 

 

“We were created out of efficiency because we were trying to find a better way to organize to support the major commands with installation mission support.  That was the initiative behind our creation,” Spacy said.  “However, we are much more than that.  By putting all those functions in a single enterprise you create a synergy that we just didn’t have before.” 

 

This has created tremendous new opportunities for the Air Force, he added, such as new ways of training Airmen, force packaging, building deployable teams and better resourcing of installations.

 

“These are all happening already in our first year,” Spacy said.  “Just imagine what the future is like.”

 

The center is set to declare Full Operating Capability on Oct. 1, but Spacy said the center is already performing in that manner.   

 

“I think we’ve been very good for the Air Force in making sure we are able to get to the Air Force’s top priorities.  In this fiscal climate, certainly, we have to be very careful in how we manage those resources,” Spacy said.

 

Still outreach, in terms of explaining what the center can do for the Air Force, is a key priority.  During his Sept. 15 presentation on the University of Dayton River Campus, Spacy said interest was high. 

 

“I got some detailed questions and I wanted to answer those questions and help guide them,” Spacy said.  “We depend on industry to defend the country.  They have a role to play and we have a role to play.  We want them thinking about installation mission support opportunities.”

 

From its headquarters at Joint Base San Antonio, AFIMSC also leads former field operating agencies to include the Air Force Security Forces Center, Air Force Civil Engineer Center, Air Force Installation Contracting Agency, Air Force Financial Management Center of Expertise, Air Force Financial Services Center, and the Air Force Services Activity. 

 

Consolidating these agencies under a single command has bolstered the cross-functional reach for the AFIMSC.  It has also been revealing to see first-hand how those organizations impact Airmen, in particular, the extent that the Air Force Services Activity is involved Airmen’s lives.

 

“I thought I knew a lot about Services, but I learn something new every day,” Spacy said.  “I want to help make sure everyone understands how important that is to our Airmen.” 

 

Going forward, Spacy doesn’t expect units at the base level will see much difference except in a good way.   

 

“I think our biggest challenge will not be doing the job the Air Force asks us to, we already have amazing people doing that well,” Spacy said.  “It will be meeting the new expectation that’s been created as people realize the opportunity we bring to the fight.”