Could contract takeover mean fewer jobs for Wright-Patt?
Observers fear Pentagon's move could be the first step toward centralized acquisitions
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Almost 5,000 jobs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are directly associated with acquisition of aircraft and combat technologies. The acquisition process designs and builds the Air Force's key aircraft and weapons systems.
At Wright-Patterson, that work cuts across the Aeronautical Systems Center, Air Force Research Laboratory and headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command, encompassing billions of dollars in budget authority and oversight of work being done around the country. The base also is a nerve center for logistics and sustainment of aircraft in the Air Force.
Some observers are worried that Washington might be tempted to start taking away Wright-Patterson's acquisition authority and resources. They point to the Defense Department's recent takeover of the competition for a $35 billion contract to provide new Air Force refueling tanker planes.
The Defense Department said it took over the tanker competition because congressional auditors found errors in the Air Force's handling of the first round of competition, and because the Bush administration believes the new tankers are urgently needed to replace the current ones that date to the Eisenhower administration.
Locally, opinions differ as to what the Defense Department's action means for Wright-Patterson.
"I would say that anybody who understands what Wright-Patt does today should have concern that major acquisition programs could be taken out of the Wright-Patt arena," said Mike Zettler, who retired in 2004 as an Air Force lieutenant general. "This is the Air Force's center of excellence for acquiring airplanes."
Officials at the Pentagon might be tempted to conclude that they would be better off centralizing acquisition functions there and taking it away from centers like Wright-Patterson and the Navy's Patuxent River, Md., complex which also specializes in developing, delivering and sustaining aircraft, Zettler said.
Zettler, based in Fairborn, is now senior vice president of defense contractor SI International, overseeing its defense logistics operations nationwide, including more than 200 people working at Wright-Patterson. He heads a committee of the Dayton Development Coalition's Wright-Patt 2020 initiative, which is studying ways to preserve and add to Wright-Patterson's jobs base in coming years.
"The Air Force skill sets are here. They can be made stronger, better and more numerous," he said.
Tony Sculimbrene, who worked for 26 years at Wright-Patterson and rose to become environmental manager for the 88th Air Base Wing, said he worries about the precedent the Defense Department's action set.
"My fear is that they're going to go, 'We don't need all those people down at Wright-Patterson. We'll have it done by someone who's working up here for the secretary of defense, or we'll consolidate those positions,' " Sculimbrene said. He is now executive director of the Dayton-based National Aviation Heritage Alliance, which oversees the region's aviation heritage sites.
Vince Russo, who retired as executive director of Wright-Patterson's Aeronautical Systems Center in 2003 to end a 40-year career with the Air Force, said he has seen other worries about the base's acquisition authority come and go without consequence.
The base's acquisition focus
Wright-Patterson is home to three primary acquisition organizations:
The headquarters of Air Force Materiel Command is responsible for the organization, training and equipping functions for acquisition, sustainment and testing of non-space systems.
The Aeronautical Systems Center manages the acquisition of aircraft and related aeronautical systems.
The Air Force Research Laboratory is in charge of discovery, development and integration of combat technologies for air, space and cyberspace forces. The Air Force's mission includes the capability to fly and fight in air, space and cyberspace.
At the end of fiscal 2007, acquisition professionals at Wright-Patterson represented approximately 21 percent of the total Air Force acquisition work force (about 5,000 out of 24,000 total).
Source: Headquarters, U.S. Air Force
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or
jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
