AFPC on target to complete AEF merger

  • Published
  • By Richard Salomon
  • Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs
Vince Fonner walks into the newly constructed operations center at the Air Force Personnel Center here to check on a couple of new high-resolution monitors. He nods his approval as workers begin to carefully position them in the work areas.

Although some keyboard trays need to be installed and a few phone lines need to be connected, the 43-seat facility will soon be ready to jump into action as a 24/7 "AFPC operations center" capable of standing up in the event of a natural disaster or any other critical contingency situation.

The operations center is one of the many projects the AFPC merger team is working to achieve full operational capability for the Air and Space Expeditionary Force Operations move from Langley Air Force Base, Va., to AFPC by September.

"It has been a challenge bringing in all the necessary equipment," said Mr. Fonner, operations center director. "However, because of the hard work and dedication of the folks involved, we're weeks ahead of schedule."

Last September, AFPC reached initial operating capability for AEF systems migration, a major step towards integrating deployment processes with personnel processes.

AEF Operations, formerly the AEF Center, became a direct reporting unit of AFPC in August 2006 and was named one of the center's seven directorates (Directorate of AEF Operations or DPW) in June 2007.

The AEF methodology was developed to better manage forces by building a rotational schedule that encompasses the total Air Force. It is the Air Force's methodology for presenting Air Force capabilities directly to the warfighter efficiently, effectively and, most importantly, in a timely manner.

"The key to this transition is to make it virtually invisible to our customers and the Air Force," said Bill Stewart, chief of AEF Operations' Strategic Plans Branch, who is helping to supervise the merger. "We've made every effort to pick times to move our people and processes where it will have the least impact on the combatant commanders. We simply will not let the Air Force forces commanders or the combatant commanders down!"

DPW added an additional 50 people to the team from AFPC's former readiness and casualty divisions in January. With 63 people now in place, an additional 140 are expected to arrive to DPW between now and the end of September. About 20 percent of the remaining 140 personnel -- military, civilians and contractors -- were part of the former AEF Center. The remaining 80 percent will be relatively new to the AEF deployment team.

"To make room, we had to first move more than 400 people from other AFPC directorates, which involved reconfiguring hundreds of work spaces," said Rich Hartsell, one of AFPC's facility operations managers.

Other challenges included building and tearing down sheetrock, re-routing heating, ventilation and air conditioning components, installing the Secure Internet Protocol Network, phones, computers, printers, and a multitude of other facility and office essentials.

"A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to make this move a success," said Mr. Hartsell, "but now all the pieces are falling into place."

When the merger is complete, Mr. Stewart said having one, integrated personnel process for moving Airmen where and when needed will give them more time to prepare for deployments and, in the long-term, help broaden their careers.

The merger is also expected to assist commanders and military personnel elements in implementing Global AEF that places Airmen, based on their functional area expertise, into one of five different operational "tempo bands." This construct, which is expected to be completed by October 2008, will complement the current requirement planning process and provide Airmen a more accurate deployment forecast.

"In the long run, this merger is going to be a huge boon for the Air Force because we'll have the ability to deploy and employ a capability with the faces that make it happen," said Mr. Stewart.

For example, if a combatant commander needs a weapons school graduate who has been a safety officer, an AEF scheduler will have the ability to find that person - which is a unique capability not a unit type code.

"In short, we'll have a much broader and adaptive view of what's needed and required across the Air Force," added Mr. Fonner. "We'll not only be able to develop our Airmen more effectively, but we'll be in a better position to meet the needs of our expeditionary Air Force."