SCHOOL CONTROL TO SHIFT TEST PILOT FACILITY MISSION UNCHANGED.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Command of the Air Force Test Pilot School will shift this fall from Edwards to a new test and evaluation center being created to better coordinate test activities across the country. The Test Pilot School will fall under the Air Force Development Test and Evaluation Center, which will begin operations Oct. 1. The school now is under the jurisdiction of Edwards' Air Force Flight Test Center. ``The mission of the school will not change,'' said Maj. Stephanie Bindemann, spokeswoman for Air Force Materiel Command  Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) is a major command of the United States Air Force. ,
Edwards' parent unit. ``The command they report to will be
different.''
The Air Force Development Test and Evaluation Center will be set up in phases. The first phase includes bringing together the Test Pilot School; the Arnold Engineering Development Center Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), located on Arnold Air Force Base in the U.S. state of Tennessee, is the most advanced and largest complex of flight simulation test facilities in the world. in Tennessee; and the Landing Gear Test Facility and the Live Fire Test Facility, both of which are at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 8,023 acres (3,247 hectares), W Ohio, NE of Dayton; est. 1917. One of the largest airport installations in the world, it is the air force's main research and development base, and the headquarters of the , Ohio, but which report to Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is the home of the United States Air Force 96th Air Base Wing of the Air Force Materiel Command, and is also headquarters for more than 45 associate units. in Florida. The new organization will be commanded by Brig. Gen. Perry Lamy, and is initially slated for a one-year trial. Lamy is currently Air Force Materiel ma·te·ri·el or ma·té·ri·el n. The equipment, apparatus, and supplies of a military force or other organization. See Synonyms at equipment. Command's director of operations and will retain those duties along with the new responsibilities. The goal is for a more coordinated, consistent way of doing the test and evaluation mission. For example, test experts at Edwards, Arnold, Eglin and headquarters sometimes do the same work, such as strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. , four different ways, Lamy said in a statement announcing the move. ``With this new organization, we'll all be pulling on the same rope,'' Lamy said. The move is also expected to help standardize test procedures and establish consistent cost rates for customers, Lamy said. ``I know all of our centers have different test missions, but we should conduct the business of testing in a coordinated way,'' Lamy said. ``The price to fly an F-15 test at Edwards should not be more than at Eglin.'' Air Force officials said they will use the first year of operations of the new center to determine the number of additional phases and time frame for adding more units. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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