General Bowlds offers center assessment at call

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66th Air Base Wing
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  On Aug. 11, Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds, speaking in two separate commander's call sessions, told employees that after eight months in command his center-wide assessment is positive. 

"Some people, when they found out I was coming here, told me, 'That group at ESC is hard to deal with, stuck in their ways, that they believe they know it all, they're not very supportive, etc.,'" the general said. "I will tell you that after 249 days - and actually within about seven days - I've realized that the folks who had that impression were the ones who were wrong." 

He's found the opposite of what they told him to be true, in fact. 

"I've seen a group that is willing to try lots of stuff, to be out in front, wherever we can," General Bowlds said. He noted, however, that constraints sometimes block ESC personnel from implementing innovative solutions. 

"Sometimes the bigger Air Force hasn't given us the tools to go do these things," he said. Citing service-oriented architectures as an example, he noted that ESC program managers want to build systems that are connected in this loosely coupled manner, but that they lack the design-to documents, the systems engineering and the architecture. 

"And the clock is ticking," he said, noting that program managers, forced to meet stringent delivery timelines, often have no choice but to revert back to doing "what they know will work." 

Nevertheless, he believes ESC people are working hard to increase contact with their operational customers, and that dividends are being reaped. 

He also noted that the center team has been trying to get a firm grip on its actual workload, and to align resources to that workload in the most efficient way possible. 

"We have been, for the past four or five months, doing an inventory of everything we have going on," General Bowlds said. With 450 separate efforts under way at ESC, it's essential to have the correct numbers of people doing the things the Air Force needs done and to make sure personnel data is up to date. Outdated data can lead to trouble, he cautioned, including staffing cuts that wouldn't be made if the real numbers were available. 

The commander also used the call to speak about leadership changes at the top of the Air Force, saying recently departed Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley had taken personal responsibility for some service breakdowns. He also talked about some newly emphasized focus areas, especially those related to acquisition. 

Most, he noted, applied directly or indirectly to ESC, and he cited about a half dozen of them. Among them: supporting the secretary of defense's efforts to rapidly acquire and field more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, which he said runs to the heart of the center's mission; and growing and training an organic acquisition workforce, which also goes hand-in-hand with ESC efforts. 

"How many people remember the heyday of 'let's just do it like commercial industry?'" the general asked. "I think, commensurate with that, we lost a whole group of people who understood how to do acquisition from the standpoint of systems engineering, contracting, and so forth. Now the effort is under way to re-grow that organic acquisition workforce." 

The general then spoke specifically about some new authorities that should help the center, and other Air Force Materiel Command organizations, overcome time-consuming hiring backlogs. 

General Bowlds also listed several recent and upcoming senior leadership changes at ESC. He noted the recent retirements of former Executive Director Fran Duntz and former 66th Air Base Wing Commander Col. Tom Schluckebier, as well as the impending retirements of 653rd Electronic Systems Wing Director Bruce Hevey and 554 ELSW Director Frank Weber. He hailed Brig. Gen. Select Terry Feehan, who came on as the center's vice commander this spring, Col. Rob Dominguez, who took the reins of the 350 ELSW in May, and new 66 ABW Commander Col. David Orr, who assumed command two weeks ago. 

The general also announced two incoming senior leaders, Ron Mason, who will take over the 653 ELSW, and Richard Lombardi, who will become the next ESC executive director. 

Addressing a series of questions solicited from the workforce prior to the event, the general spoke about the connection ESC has with the Air Force's provisional Cyber Command and about the site selection process for its headquarters. He also answered questions about a center-initiated examination of compressed and alternative work schedules. 

"The priority here is the mission, the warfighter and getting the product out the door, but if there's a smarter way to do that, where we can save some money and energy, then we're going to explore that," he said. The general noted that allowing longer work days that would yield one day off every two weeks is an option being looked at, and that telecommuting is also under consideration. 

Prior to the general taking the stage at the tennis bubble, Airman and Family Readiness Flight personnel offered a short presentation on "reinvigorating the work day." There was also an ethics briefing by Staff Judge Advocate Col. Doug Murdock and a sobering safety presentation during which Airmen were called to the front of the room as physical representations of Air Force members lost to, or severely injured by, accidents so far this summer. 

General Bowlds estimates that he'll host similar gatherings approximately every six months in order to share his perspective with the workforce.