ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is home to 54 mission partners with Airmen from five major commands and three wings all working together to support the sustainment mission.
The Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex 402nd Electronics Maintenance Group is the Air Force's largest avionics repair depot and has a small team dedicated to support the partnerships mission.
“The 402nd EMXG Business Integration Team is responsible for the day-to-day activities of depot activation and public private partnership sustainment,” said Gary Crawford, 402nd EMXG Business Integration Team lead. “This team is comprised of six individuals with over 100 years combined depot experience.”
The business integration team works closely with Team Robins mission partners.
“Our office works hand in hand with the WR-ALC Business Office, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Program Office, and industry partners to ensure all activation elements are fully completed and supportable before transitioning to EMXG,” said Crawford.
Crawford explained the primary goal of the office is to bring supportable new workloads into the 402nd EMXG, and the vast majority of this new workload can only be accomplished via public private partnership.
“The intent of partnering with industry is to leverage the capabilities of public and private sectors to maximize support, reduce cost, and avoid waste,” he said. “We currently have 44 active workloads with 12 different industry partners,” said Crawford.
The business integration team’s work helps mission partners to focus.
“Partnerships allow the different parties to solely focus on what they do best,” Crawford said. “EMXG has the skilled artisans to perform the touch labor on repairs, while the industry is able to focus on providing the necessary elements needed to perform those repairs.”
Additional benefits come with the depot providing the labor for repairs.
“EMXG performs all the touch labor for the repairs,” said Crawford. “This allows for government controlled capability during wartime, continuing support for the warfighter, an infusion of technology into the depots, and an economical boost in the surrounding area of the depot, in this case Middle Georgia.”
The warfighter benefits from partnerships managed by the business integration team.
“By streamlining the efforts of all parties, it allows the opportunity to provide the warfighter a quality product faster and cheaper,” said Crawford. “It also provides our industry partner the opportunity to perform research and development on the greater technologically advanced weaponry.”
Crawford says the different partnerships are challenging.
“Every partnership brings its own unique challenges and opportunities,” he said “Not all are the same, you can’t have a cookie cutter approach. There are aspects you learn today you wish you knew five or even a year ago, but you take that opportunity to grow and apply it to the next one.”