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AFIMSC(P), CE community reach out to industry

  • Published
  • By Michael Briggs
  • Air Force Civil Engineer Center Public Affairs
KANSAS CITY --  An Air Force panel of leaders from the civil engineering and installation and mission support communities told an audience of industry professionals Dec. 9 the Air Force will continue to rely on partnerships with the private sector to support its operations.

Brig. Gen. Tim Green, Air Force director of civil engineers, Joe Sciabica, director of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, and Col. Brian Duffy, vice commander of the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (Provisional), shared that message with more than 750 people during the Air Force general session at the Society of American Military Engineers Small Business Conference.

With shrinking budgets and the potential return of sequestration in fiscal 2016, the three leaders said the Air Force needs innovative solutions from industry to maintain its combat capability.

"We rely on small business for many things, such as technical competence, experience and professionalism," the general said. "We're looking for solutions and we've found small business can be cost-competitive and give us innovative solutions because they're agile. So, there are a lot of great benefits for the partnerships we have with small business."

The Air Force is transforming to centralized execution of its mission support functions under AFIMSC, a new provisional organization that stemmed from decisions to reduce interim staff levels at the Pentagon and major commands as the service works to become more efficient and effective in a constrained budget environment.

Duffy provided attendees background on the establishment of AFIMSC(P) and explained the unit's Air Force support role and its alignment as the sixth center under Air Force Materiel Command. On Oct. 1, six organizations detached from their parent organizations and were gained as primary subordinate units assigned to AFMC and attached to AFIMSC(P). These include the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, Air Force Financial Services Center, Air Force Installation Contracting Agency, Air Force Security Forces Center, AFMC Financial Management Center of Expertise, and the Air Force Services Activity.

Duffy said industry should not expect much to change in how it interfaces with the Air Force.

"While some organizational changes may take place to align functions under AFIMSC, in general, the people and offices within the Air Force that small businesses work with today remain the ones you will work with in the future," he said.

Small business work with the Air Force has grown over recent years. AFCEC alone contracted more than 50 percent of its execution program to small businesses in fiscal 2014.

The alignment of several units under AFIMSC could generate even more opportunities for small business, Sciabica said, such as projects or programs that cut across an integrated civil engineering, services and security forces community.

"It's about making sure we effectively use every dollar, because we have no slack," Green said of the need for business partnerships. "We have no excess capacity. We're focused on those things that will enable our mission to continue."