AFMC Airmen research the materials, engines, radar and weapons necessary to build a plane. They help develop and procure the simulators to train pilots and crew. They test new aircraft and make modifications to existing aircraft.
AFMC Airmen procure the assets to put planes into in the field for use. They overhaul and modify aircraft at depots to extend their lifespan and make them more capable. They develop the uniforms and helmets worn by aircraft crew and flightline personnel.
In short, without AFMC, the lead commands would not have the capability to “fly, fight and win.”
Though AFMC delivers capabilities to the entire Air Force enterprise, each operational command has its own needs and issues. The Technology, Acquisition and Sustainment Review, or TASR, is an opportunity for AFMC experts to better understand what capabilities are needed by today’s warfighter, and what expertise the command can provide to make missions possible.
“TASRs are designed to ensure that AFMC is meeting our warfighter’s needs,” said Maj. Gen. Cauley von Hoffman, director of Logistics, Civil Engineering, Force Protection and Nuclear Integration at AFMC. “They ensure that we are bringing all the strengths of our command to the table…research and development, test, acquisition and sustainment answers to our toughest challenges.”
TASRs bring leaders from different Air Force communities together to examine and address enterprise-level concerns in order to find strategic alignment across all programs.
TASRs began informally at Air Force-level about 15 years ago, but it wasn’t until former AFMC Commander, Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, and her logistics team took over the execution in 2016 did the process evolve into the well-oiled machine it is today. It is not uncommon for the majority of issues addressed to be solved on the spot.
TASRs became so successful that the former assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition directed for them to be required annually. That schedule remains intact.
For each weeklong tri-chair summit, the current assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, the AFMC commander and their key staff members travel to the headquarters base of one of the major flying commands.
The MAJCOM commander hosts the summit with as much of their leadership in attendance as possible. Visitors are often offered operational demos so they can see for themselves current capabilities, as well as war-winning visions for the future.
TASRs offer consistent, one-on-one, strategically tailored communications. The agendas are thoroughly mapped out months in advance so that specific concerns receive the attention they need from the Air Staff and AFMC.
“A TASR goes smoothly because we give them so much prior planning,” said Linda Baumert, AFMC TASR functional lead. “To the senior leaders in attendance, they seem effortless, but a lot goes on behind the scenes to make it work.”
Baumert should know. She has been on the TASR team for six years and has yet to miss an event.
The team starts with a call for topics from the host MAJCOM and suggested dates. The AFMC team leads virtual planning events and draft an initial agenda of sustainment, acquisition, and technology-related matters that senior Air Force and AFMC subject matter experts study in depth. The team issues suspenses to keep the planning on track and ensures the final briefings are solution-based – a key to the TASR process.
“We are the conductors of the orchestra,” said Baumert. “We pick the music and make sure each piece goes on at the right time and the right place; and we keep background noise to a minimum.”
The TASR schedule is a busy one, and several are in planning stages at one time. So far in 2022, the TASR teams conducted a Total Force (Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve) event at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in February, and visited Air Combat Command in March, and Air Force Global Strike in June.
Future TASR events this year will focus on Air Mobility Command in July, and Air Education and Training Command and Air Force Special Operations Command events will be held in the fall.
Extensively planned and laser-focused, the AFMC TASR boldly enables the future of the Air Force.
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