Air Armament Center news release (February 2004): PEO reorganization puts everyone "on one team".

During a recent Acquisition Town Hall Meeting at Air Armament Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Dr. Marvin R. Sambur, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, proved that acquisition is anything but boring. Sambur reviewed and discussed challenges with the Program Executive Office (PEO) realignment announced in late 2003 that will help acquisition and Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) work as one team towards one goal. he also took the time to discuss some very serious issues pertinent to Air Force Acquisition, describing the purpose of the PEO realignment in one simple acronym, M3A: Making Managers More Accountable.

"We're one Air Force," he said. "If some part of acquisition fails, we all sink. The average acquisition program takes about ten years to finish. Think about what changes occur in the world and technology in ten years. We need to make our cycle time shorter and more predictable. We have to collaborate with each other to promote efficiency."

Sambur said he sees a very exciting future for the acquisition programs here, including making sure munitions with data links are available. "When we data link munitions, we can use the transmission of information to make our weapons more accurate, better measure battle damage assessment, and take the munitions a step up by improving communications with them. I also think another thrust is to get some uniformity in the integration with platforms. Most of the cost with munitions is associated with platform integration; if we have a standardized way of doing this, we can significantly cut down on costs."

Sambur compared the PEO realignment to the Yankees and the Red Sox: "They compete with each other; but if you have them on one team, you have the best talent. Now we have an opportunity to really get people who've spent a lifetime in acquisition on our team; and just because they're from AFMC, they shouldn't be out of the acquisition process. We brought them back in."

Finally, Sambur stressed that acquisition needs to look at the "big picture" when expanding its capabilities in areas such as weapons development. "We need to get away from specifications and look at things in terms of capability to satisfy our customer--our warfighter," he said. "We also need to deliver what we promise when we promise it."

1st Lt Mae-Li Allison

Air Armament Center Public Affairs