Gen. Carlson assesses career, command and caliber of Airmen

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66 ABW Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The caliber of people joining the U.S. Air Force today is better than ever before, Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the Air Force Materiel Command, said in an interview Oct. 30, during his final official visit here. 

General Carlson is scheduled to retire Nov. 21. 

"They know what they're coming into; they know they're going to war, and still they come," he said. "And they're ready, willing and able to do whatever we ask of them." 

General Carlson said watching this steady improvement in the quality of personnel has been "the crowning series of events during [his] Air Force tenure." 

Approaching the end of his 37-year active-duty career, he said that, if given the chance himself, he'd join those now entering.
 
"I would start over in a minute," he said. "I loved every bit of it. From the time I was a young college student and I hooked a ride on a jet, I knew that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to serve my country, and I wanted to serve it that way. I thought it was noble and good, and our nation is worthy of the service that one can render."
 
The general spoke highly, as well, of his most recent, and final, Air Force assignment, as AFMC commander. He acknowledged that some initiatives he's developed or advocated have been more successful than others, but on the whole, he feels good about the course that's been set.
 
He talked about AFMC's civilian indoctrination program, a first-of-its-kind initiative now being adopted by the Air Force, which seeks to bring new civilian employees quickly up to speed on mission, culture and other key matters. 

He also cited the use of and recent expansion of the Q-12/Checkmate program. Q-12 is a tool widely used in industry to solicit meaningful, documented employee feedback, so that workers and managers can tackle challenges together. The command has recently stretched participation in its version from 2,500 employees to 26,000.
 
"I believe we also have very good working relationships with our unions, and that's been very important," he said. "This is a command of over 75,000 people, and over 70 percent of them are civilians, so we have an obligation to treat them the way a civilian workforce deserves to be treated."
 
Part of that has involved expanding civilian leadership opportunities, including squadron, group and wing directorships. 

"The fascinating thing for me has been to see how they've stepped up to this responsibility, and to see how much they enjoy and revel in it," General Carlson said. 

On the technology side, the general spotlighted the Centralized Asset Management effort under which dollars previously distributed to 17 different Air Force operating locations are now centrally managed by AFMC headquarters. 

"That money takes care of all the flying operations," he said. "It pays for the fuel, the tech orders, modifications and so on. That has allowed us to manage the Air Force aircraft fleet in a much more holistic manner. And we can manage by Air Force priority, not by the competing demands of each of those 17 separate operating agencies." 

As a result, AFMC was able to shift money between weapons systems and still turn $550 million back into the Air Force last year, he said.
 
The general also heralded work to begin qualifying the fleet to accept synthetic fuels, saying that when the U.S. gets serious about reducing its petroleum dependency, "the Air Force will be ready." 

General Carlson has also pushed a "One Materiel Command" initiative that has tied AFMC's disparate elements together so that the Air Force recognizes it as a unified, standardized entity. 

"We're beginning to see the reflection of that initiative inside our Air Force," he said. He spoke of being able to change requirements on a weapon system that were both unrealistic and unnecessary. That in turn lessens the burden on program managers and lets them focus on meaningful combat capabilities, he said.
 
Improving efficiency is also the genesis for the command's Repair Network Integration initiative. There have always been four levels at which aircraft repairs are handled - the flight line, the back shops, the intermediate level and the depots - but it's time to question how effective this is and whether the Air Force can afford it, General Carlson said. Therefore AFMC is now working "to prove the business case" for consolidating the three non-flight line levels.
 
Nuclear sustainment is chief among ongoing challenges, the general said.
The command had shown great foresight in establishing the Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., saying that "we recognized that there was an erosion of existing capabilities." Now, with increased emphasis added by recent spotlighting and by Air Force leadership, AFMC has been able to build and strengthen the center. 

Soon the command will "own and manage all the sustainment of nuclear weapons within the Air Force," the general added. This means the service will no longer "have three or four different standards; we'll have only one." 

Still, nuclear weapons management will remain a top focus area for the Air Force, as will the ongoing struggle to replace "aging aircraft," a term General Carlson doesn't really like. 

"I think, quite frankly, that a lot of them are worn out," he said. "I'm deeply concerned about that. This nation has decided to neglect this need for new airplanes."
The outlook, he said, is currently bleak. "We have finest fleet of aircraft in the world today, but I cannot guarantee that they will remain that way in the future." 

The general is more optimistic about the future development and exploitation of information technology. 

"When I talk about IT, I'm talking about more than just the technology," he said. "I'm talking about the movement, the consolidation, the protection and the use of information." 

Saying that ESC has established the "gold standard" for command, control and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, General Carlson discussed the challenges of today's information environment, in which "we've been at war for at least the last five years." 

He praised Air Force leaders for setting a clear course for handling cyber challenges and again lauded ESC for the part it has played and will continue to play.
 
"Hanscom will be pivotal in keeping America at the forefront in cyberspace," he said.