News

WR-ALC fosters communication about base mission with industry

  • Published
  • By Amanda Creel
  • 78th ABW/PA
About 700 people attended the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center 5th Annual Requirements Symposium, where business and industry representatives had the opportunity to get a firsthand look at the Center's future support needs.

The two-day symposium allowed both government workers and leaders to exchange information about both existing and future requirements at the Center.

"It's a good opportunity to get those in the business community to talk to some of those people who are running some of these Air Force programs," said Maj. Gen. Tom Owen, commander of the Center.

He said by opening the lines of communication and forging partnerships, the base, business and industry, local and state governments and local educational institutions can work together to support the needs of the warfighter.

"We are going to work together," General Owen said. "Inside the fence and outside the fence we are going to work together."

General Owen said he is still committed to both enhancing existing partnerships and developing new partnerships for the Center to ensure the Center is prepared to meet the challenges ahead.

He stressed the importance of partnerships in meeting future needs and requirements such as educational partnerships allowing local education institutions to equip their students with the desired skills to meet the bases' workforce needs of the future.

He said he also believes a lot of work will be coming to the Center in the future and the anticipated workloads will be accomplished more effectively by utilizing partnerships.

Brig. Gen. Frank Bruno, director for Logistics and Sustainment for Air Force Materiel Command echoed General Owen's sentiments adding that he is working on business development in an effort to bring new work to the Center.

Preparing for the future was one of the themes of the conference as base employees and business and industry representatives participated in the open forum.

General Owen said it is important to help business and industry understand the needs of the Air Force and specifically the Center.

One of the programs emphasized during the conference was the Global Logistics Support Center, a single point of contact for supply chain management support.

"Essentially what we are doing is tying together the supply chain," General Bruno said.

Another program highlighted by General Bruno was Centralized Asset Management, money previously allocated to each major command to cover sustainment costs, such as fuel, replacement parts and scheduled maintenance, will be managed from one central office.

"When we put the money into one pot at the CAM office, we will be able to look at it from a fleet prospective," General Bruno said.

He also explained the importance of the Expeditionary Combat Support System, a software system that will replace 400 plus legacy systems Air Force-wide.

General Bruno said it is important to make the transition to the Enterprise Resource Planning Tool because it takes a lot of time and money to maintain the 400 legacy systems.

"We are trying to get out of legacy systems and get to this ERP system," General Bruno said. "It is going to give us the horizontal integration we need to take our Air Force to the next level."

No matter what the change, all of the base and Air Force leaders stressed the importance of having an enterprise view when it comes to the future and existing requirements.

"The Air Force is going through a lot of transformations right now and our customers and industry need to understand the transformation," said Patsy Reeves, director of contracting of the WR-ALC. "Its important that our industry support team understand what these are and make themselves postured to meet the needs."

Tim Callahan, 2008 Aerospace Industry Committee chairman and chairman of the Requirements Symposium agreed the symposium offered the perfect opportunity to share information that allows business and industry to effectively partner with the Center. "Business and Industry representatives can hear and query the government on projects, so we can make sure we have the assets available to satisfy those needs," he said.