WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio — A revised vision statement and updated goals reinforce Air Force Materiel Command’s continuous push to find more ways to be agile and cost effective in providing war-winning support to the warfighter.
Commanders, other senior leaders and even key community leaders from across the command gathered at AFMC Headquarters March 7-9 to refocus the command’s current strategic plan that is a year old and must keep pace with rapidly changing technologies and world events.
“There are opportunities for us to do better and now is the time for us to refresh our strategy,” said AFMC Commander Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski. “The Air Force wants to prepare for future conflicts that will occur in very dynamic environments across multiple domains,” Pawlikowski said. “Command and control will be key to effective operations in a multi-domain fight. Developing and delivering command and control is right in AFMC’s sweet spot.”
The new AFMC vision statement is: “innovative Airmen, trusted and empowered, creating agile, cost-effective war-winning capabilities for the nation.”
Pawlikowski said the change emphasizes that Airmen, trusted and empowered to take action, are the key element to delivering capabilities. The vision retains the elements of agility and cost-effectiveness. Also, it emphasizes that AFMC will strive to deliver capabilities that ultimately serve the entire nation.
While the command mission statement, “deliver and support agile war-winning capabilities,” remains unchanged, command leaders overhauled three of AFMC’s four strategic goals.
They wanted to emphasize the value and commitment of AFMC’s 80,000-strong workforce by spotlighting them in the first goal: “strengthen and enhance the effectiveness and resiliency of the total workforce.”
The command’s determination to become more agile in its delivery of capabilities to the Air Force is highlighted in its second goal: “increase agility to improve AFMC support to the Air Force enterprise.”
The third goal, “drive cost-effectiveness into the capabilities we provide,” remains unchanged and reflects AFMC’s commitment to manage every dollar in the most effective, responsible way.
“AFMC is the cost conscience of the Air Force,” Pawlikowski told her command leaders.
The fourth, and newest, goal pushes AFMC to deliver and maintain technologies that give the warfighter the tools to win. The goal is: “rapidly develop, transition and deploy technology to assure our warfighting advantage.”
For the first time ever, 15 members of the command’s Community Liaison Program took part in crafting the new goals. The CLP consists of key civic leaders from communities around each AFMC installation.
“Our CLP members were thrilled to have the opportunity to take part and they made some good contributions,” Pawlikowski said. “It’s always good for us to hear different perspectives from outside our gates.”
Each goal will have several objectives, underlying initiatives and actions that command officials will refine in the coming weeks before combining with the mission and vision statements and goals to create an updated command strategic plan.
Before tackling revisions to the goals, Pawlikowski highlighted several command achievements from 2016. She said the previous version of the strategic plan enabled AFMC to meet 81 percent of its planned commitments, validate $2.2 billion in cost savings, deploy a new hiring process that streamlined the recruiting of civilian employees and accelerate the delivery of C-130 aircraft from its depots back to warfighters at Air Force Special Operations Command.
“We owe it all to our Airmen, military and civilian,” Pawlikowski said. “They make it happen every day.”
