The ICBM Fuze Modernization Program completed the Air Force’s first Nuclear Acquisition Category 1 (ACAT 1) Independent Logistics Assessment, or ILA.
The ICBM Fuze Modernization Program is a $2.1 billion developmental program that modernizes and replaces the existing fuze on the Minuteman III ICBM.
The ILA is designed to ensure the program is complying with statutory, regulatory, Department of Defense and Air Force guidance and is logistically supportable prior to continuing development or production, thus reducing operations and support costs.
The ILA validation team was put together by the Fuze Modernization Program’s Product Support Manager, Lynn Betts.
The ILA team consisted of individuals from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Air Force Acquisitions, Defense Acquisition University, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, and Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center.
Selection as a team lead over an ILA requires a vast array of knowledge and skills in both logistics and program management honed through years of experience and expertise in acquisition, sustainment, supply chain and depot maintenance that very few possess.
Sharon Dore, the Product Support Manager from Hill Air Force Base’s T-38 division, was uniquely qualified for this role and was selected to be the ILA validation team lead.
Dore led the team through two phases of the assessment; a research and resident phase. The research phase consisted of a month and a half of research into the background and status of the program; the team invested more than 1,100 hours researching program documents that would enable the team to determine logistical readiness.
At the conclusion of the research phase, the team conducted a weeklong resident phase at Hill AFB where the team examined and evaluated the processes being used and the people assigned to support the ICBM Fuze Modernization Program.
Dore’s ILA validation team found the ICBM Fuze Modernization Program to be fully logistically supportable, “green” in all 12 Product Support Elements.
Betts said to receive an all green rating on an ACAT 1 program, much less the first in the Nuclear community, is a monumental accomplishment for an ACAT 1 program and is a testament to the program’s leadership and work ethic of the program managers, subgroup chairs, engineers, cost estimators, contractors, contract specialists and fund managers in the program.
Gene Pierce and Mark Gadjda, members of the ILA team, agreed that throughout the assessment, they were amazed at the professionalism and attitude of the different program offices and their level of knowledge in the workings of their programs.
The ILA validation team included observations and lessons learned in the ILA report, which will be certified by Maj. Gen. Scott Jansson, Commander Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center and Air Force Program Executive Officer for Strategic Systems, and then forwarded to the Secretary of the Air Force Acquisition to report to Congress that the program is logistically supportable.
The ICBM Fuze Modernization Program will undergo another ILA in fiscal 2019.
