The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center is one of six centers reporting to the Air Force Materiel Command.
Led by a 3-star general officer, AFLCMC is charged with life cycle management of Air Force weapon systems from their inception to retirement.
The AFLCMC mission: "Acquire and Support War-Winning Capabilities"
The AFLCMC motto: "AFLCMC - providing what warfighters need, when they need it!"
AFLCMC provides holistic management of weapon systems across their life cycle and simplifies/consolidates staff functions and processes to curtail redundancy and enhance efficiency. AFLCMC's operating structure provides an integrated framework for decision making and process optimization across the weapon system life cycle.
In other words, if Airmen fly it, fuel it, transport it, drive it, wear it, communicate with it or drop it on targets – AFLCMC provides it.
AFLCMC people work closely with their counterparts at the other five AFMC centers, each with a core mission focus: Air Force Research Laboratory (science & technology); Air Force Test Center (test & evaluation); Air Force Sustainment Center (maintenance, repair, overhaul and supply chain management); Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (strategic systems); and the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (installation support).
ORGANIZATION:
AFLCMC's portfolio includes: Presidential and Executive aircraft; Mobility and Training aircraft; Business Enterprise Systems; Command, Control, Communications, and Networks; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems; Special Operations; Rapid Sustainment, Digital; Fighters; Bombers; Tankers; Armament and Weapons; and various Combat Support systems such as simulators, avionics, electronic warfare, aeromedical, uniforms and flight equipment, and support equipment. AFLCMC also executes sales of aircraft and other defense-related equipment while building security assistance relationships with foreign partner nation air forces.
Approximately 30,000 AFLCMC airmen, civilian and contractor employees perform the center's mission from nine major locations and roughly 60 operating locations around the world.
The AFLCMC commander is responsible for integrating the diverse portfolio and delivering the resources to organize, train and equip center.
Each Life Cycle Management Program Office reports to one of 12 Program Executive Officers (PEOs) who are accountable for the activities within their portfolio and who report to the Air Force Service Acquisition Executive at the Pentagon (Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, & Logistics).
AFLCMC execution directorates provide direct mission support to the Air Force in areas such as engineering, personnel, technical order management, developmental planning, contracting, and source selection assistance.
Within AFLCMC, the 66th Air Base Group at Hanscom AFB, Mass., and the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, provide base operating support at those locations and also report to AFLCMC.
HISTORY:
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center activated on July 9, 2012. It is a key element of AFMC's transition from 12 to five centers (a sixth center stood-up on October 1, 2014). Key goals of AFLCMC are to deliver and sustain Air Force combat capability; improve weapon system acquisition and product support; simplify and reduce overhead structure; and eliminate redundancies with lean staff functions and efficient processes.
In 2012, the AFLCMC consolidated missions previously performed by the Aeronautical Systems Center; Air Force Security Assistance Center; Electronic Systems Center; Air Armament Center; Software Sustainment Center; and the Aerospace Sustainment Directorate life cycle management workforce at each of the three former Air Logistics Centers. These program offices remain in place but now report to PEOs in the AFLCMC.
(As of January 2021)