Reflections on One Year in Command

A note from Gen. Duke Z. Richardson, AFMC Commander

I just crossed one year as your commander, and how the time has flown. Over the past year, Chief Flosi and I completed visits with our headquarters (HQ) two-letter organizations, our six centers, our AFMC-owned installations, and many of our other operating locations. While I wish I could say I personally met all 89,000 of you, I very much enjoyed interacting with and learning about what many of you do for our nation, Air Force, and AFMC. Your patriotism, intellect, and passion for the mission are our secret weapons! Somehow, my admiration and respect for you, for our ‘One AFMC Team,’ and even for our historic patch is deeper today than one year ago.

When I took command, my overarching goal was to bolster our ability to work as one integrated AFMC Team, regardless of functional affiliation, geographic location, center, or HQ two-letter. To get after that, we spent multiple months developing a simple, actionable, and measurable AFMC Strategic Plan centered around four lines of effort. Since publishing our AFMC Strategic Plan in January 2023, we’ve been heartily developing and executing initiatives that align to it. While there are several dozen command-wide initiatives I’m closely tracking at my level, it’s been equally awesome to learn about the initiatives **you and your teams** are crafting and executing at your level! Keep it up…and keep telling me about them when I visit. If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to take a few minutes to review the AFMC Strategic Plan I sent out in a previous Commander’s Log, and then draft and execute meaningful initiatives within the scope of your work center.

As I thought about what to include in this ‘Reflections’ note, I first set out to highlight a set of specific and visible accomplishments that made the news. However, I quickly realized there’s no way to do justice to the comprehensive and fantastic work you all have done.

Instead, let me share select items we worked, and continue to work, that emanate from our AFMC Strategic Plan and are applicable to most of us:

• Team AFMC. We made solid progress across a number of personnel-related initiatives designed to strengthen our team, to include executing command-wide spouse and family forums to get after a number of life challenges, executing highly-successful civilian hiring fairs, implementing and scaling a novel Anti-Harassment Program now being considered for DAF-wide use, publishing a Child Care Strategy spanning both civilian and uniformed Airmen, implementing a unit-specific suicide and sexual assault risk assessment tool, and continuing our programs to ensure every AFMC Airman has the opportunity to reach their full potential, to name just a few.
• Enterprise Solutions. While our MAJCOM is itself a “DAF Enterprise Solution,” we baselined our initial set of Enterprise Solutions (ESs), with more on the way. ESs are best thought of as the crown jewels that make AFMC the materiel management “store of choice” and define the “AFMC way” for how critical activities are best executed. Here is just a sample list of ESs, with the lead AFMC organization shown in parenthesis: WSS Resource Allocation Process (HQ), S&T Resource Allocation Process (AFRL), AF Product Lifecycle Management Tool (AFLCMC), Nuclear Certification Process (AFNWC), Safety and Technical Review Board Processes (AFTC), Depot Maintenance ‘Art of the Possible’ Methodology (AFSC), and Installation Health Assessment Tool and Process (AFIMSC).
• Digital Materiel Management (DMM). The DMM construct is really picking up steam—both internal and external to AFMC. I attached a white paper that helps explain DMM from a life cycle perspective as well as a functional perspective. We provided access to critical DMM tools to hundreds of users through our Cloud One hosted tool environment called “Launchpad,” stood up a Center of Excellence at AFIT to better train our workforce and help them execute digital strategies, are continuing to use the Acquisition and Sustainment Data Package to clarify and update data requirements for a DMM future, and have many programs and teams starting to bake DMM into their efforts. To help accelerate DMM even further, we chartered a Digital Acceleration Task Force (DATF) led by Brig Gen (s) Erik Quigley with representatives from all six centers, the HQ, and the SAF staff. The DATF kicks off this week and will run until we no longer need it once DMM becomes part of our “AFMC way” just like the other ESs.
• Technology, Acquisition, and Sustainment Review (TASR). The TASR is a high-level event we conduct once a year for each of the other MAJCOMs where we assess how well AFMC is delivering on our materiel mission commitments. Depending on the MAJCOM, leadership from most of our Centers attend the TASRs, along with portions of the HQ. Over the last year, we overhauled the TASR process to ensure it meets the expectations of the MAJCOMs we support. Part of that overhaul includes a new focus on installation and mission support.
• Other Support. Many of our Centers have also been busy planning for and executing a host of other activities, to include the massive AMC-led Mobility Guardian ’23 exercise in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility, extensive materiel support to Ukraine, and lead MAJCOM functional duties for the thousands of Airmen assigned to US Space Force bases.

In addition to those cross-cutting MAJCOM items, every Center has also continued to deliver on center-specific duties, programs, projects, and support commitments…wow!

It’s indeed been a busy and remarkable year, one in which we celebrated the 30-year anniversary of AFMC, as well as the 100-year anniversary of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. In closing, Dede and I are humbled to be part of this high performing team. Don’t ever forget AFMC is indispensable to the near- and long-term security of our nation; every corner of our Air Force is counting on us. I’m excited to meet and learn from more of you during my second year. **Thank you** for your service and all you do to support our troops and the security of our great Nation. Together we are one AFMC…powering the world’s greatest Air Force!

With great respect,

Duke

DUKE Z. RICHARDSON

General, USAF

Commander, Air Force Materiel Command