The White Falcon - 17.09.1993, Blaðsíða 5

SECDEF review scopes out military’s future
Ik Washington, D. C. (AFNS) — The Air
force will lose three more active-duty fighter
wings if Congress approves the Bottom-Up
Review (BUR).
Secretary of Defense Les Asp in announced
the review Sept. 1, saying the intent is to
introduce a new defense strategy and long
range spending plans for the military.
The new policy also identifies the force
structure required to maintain the capabili-
ties to win two nearly simultaneous major
regional conflicts. The plan calls for the United
States to continue its overseas presence to
deter regional aggression while retaining its
commitments to peace-keeping and other
military operations.
Although the plan for reshap-
ing the Air Force does not in-
clude any major cuts in weapon
systems, it does seek to cancel
the F-16 Fighter program after
fiscal year 1994.
Also, the Air Force will go
from 16 to 13 active-duty fighter
wings and the Air Force Re-
serve will decrease from 12 to
seven fighter wings. The reduc-
tions will occur between fiscal
1995 and 1999.
The basis of the BUR is readi-
ness. However, Aspin said the
Pentagon needs money to main-
tain the quality of readiness.
One way to get some money
out of the foundations is to con-
tinue to downsize the overhead,
the infrastructure, the bases. The
goal is to bring the forces down
so the military is not top-heavy
on the infrastructure. Aspin said
the task is incredibly important and very
tough to do.
Reorganizing the militaiy in general will
mean an additional drawdown of 160,000
active-duty people, and about 115,000 more
civilian workers. Officials said the new
manpower cuts will be done in an equitable
manner for both enlisted members and offi-
cers.
Transitional programs, such as financial
incentives and training for civilian employ-
ment, will continue.
In terms of manpower, Aspin said the BUR
will restructure U. S. military forces for a new
era.
To help these smaller forces remain com-
bat ready, the review calls for force enhance-
ments such as:
Additional pre-positioned equipment;
Additional Airlift/Sealift;
Improved anti-armor and precision-guided
munitions;
Improved Army National Guard Combat
Brigade readiness.
The review was composed of a steering
group chaired by the Under Secretary of
Defense, the Joint Staff and the services. The
White House staff and President Clinton were
also involved in the process.
Work on the review began five months ago
when the Pentagon called for a new direction
in the way it does business.
USAF unaccompanied look to future with vision 2020
Washington, D. C. (AFNS)—The Air Force hopes to house young
airmen in private rooms by 1996 and ultimately get them into effi-
ciency-type apartments by the year 2020.
The Air Force is looking at modernization programs in every
category during “the year of equipping,” in terms of a very long-range
planning horizon. The plan not only covers what equipment will be
needed down the road, but what facilities as well.
Vision 2020 provides an unaccompanied servicemember an indi-
vidual apartment that includes a bedroom, living area, private bath-
room, and in-house cooking and laundry facilities.
Junior people, E-ls and E-2s just out of technical school, will be
housed on base through the first two years of service. People in the
higher ranks will be able to live off base with some exceptions,
including high cost-of-living areas such as Washington, D. C.
About 85 percent of unaccompanied people still share a room
whereas the children of servicemembers living in family housing
have their own rooms when possible. While the Air Force offers
families on base basically what they had off base, the same does not
hold true for unaccompanied airmen.
. The current standard for dormitory rooms was established in 1983
two rooms connected by a bathroom. E-ls through E-4s each get
*0 square feet of living room, with no more than two people per room.
The Air Force spends three times as much money to improve
housing for families as it does for unaccompanied people. Congress
is asking the services to develop some kind of equity between the two.
September 17,1993
Because the idea comes at a time of constrained resources, the plan
is to phase it in one step at a time. The proposal includes private rooms
in fiscal 1996 and private apartments beginning in fiscal year 2000.
ACC sets example for govt.
Langley, Air Force Base, VA (ACCNS) — Vice President A1 Gore
used Air Combat Command (ACC) as an example of how govt,
organizations can be more efficient, when he announced the results
of his National Performance Review at the White House Sept. 7.
Speaking of ACC as a representative of the federal government,
Gore said ACC succeeded because they stuck to four basic principles.
1. Cut red tape. Shift from a system based on accountability for
following rules to a system where you are accountable for results.
2. Put the customer first. Listen to them. Change operations to meet
their needs. Use market dynamics such as competition to create
incentives for success.
3. Empower employees to get results. We have excellent, hard-
working, imaginative workers trapped in bad systems. We need to
help them get free of those systems. We need to decentralize author-
ity, empowering those on the front lines to make more of their own
decisions, but holding them strictly accountable for results.
4. Get back to basics. Abandon the obsolete, eliminate duplication
and end special privileges.
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