WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio, 29 May 2008. The Air Force Installation Acquisition Transformation initiative to streamline installation-level purchasing across the continental United States continued to move forward May 21 as Air Force Material Command (AFMC) named provisional directors for the new Installation Acquisition Center and the five regional Installation Acquisition Groups.
AFMC commander Gen. Bruce Carlson selected Col. Mark Hobson as the provisional director of the Installation Acquisition Center at Wright-Patterson AFB. The Installation Acquisition Center will provide strategic guidance and vision to the Installation Acquisition Groups, while the Installation Acquisition Groups will be aligned under the Installation Acquisition Center.
The following people were selected for as provisional commanders and directors for the following positions:
• Col. Steve Elliott, 788th IAG, St. Louis;
• Lt. Col. Todd Pospisil, 787th IAG, Warner Robins, Ga.;
• Col. Kurt Stonerock, 789th IAG, San Antonio;
• Col. Harold Cunningham, 790th IAG, Colorado Springs, Colo.; and
• Col. Nannette Benitez, 786th IAG, Hampton Roads, Va.;
Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne approved the IAT concept in August 2007 and charged AFMC to lead the initiative. The IAT mission is to transform installation acquisition and contracting to strategically support the warfighter.
The provisional directors will oversee strategic sourcing for goods and services purchased by Air Force bases within their regions, leveraging scarce dollars and enhancing relationships with suppliers, including small businesses, Air Force officials say. Each IAG will be staffed by mostly contracting experts and other stakeholders in the sourcing process, with five full-time small-business experts assigned to each region. The IAGs will execute strategic sourcing activities to better leverage Air Force buying power.
"Strategic sourcing is an overall strategy that will allow the Air Force to review where and how it spends money and then determine the most efficient way to acquire the right products and services to meet our customers' needs," says Marie McManus, IAT program manager, AFMC Contracting Directorate. "With strategic sourcing we are going to simplify the purchasing of similar products and services while reducing the number of man hours used and the number of contracts needed."
While each installation will still have a contracting office or Installation Contracting Squadron, it will have a reduced size and scope. According to Ms. McManus, the ICS will be responsible for performing limited contracting actions and providing advisory services to installation customers and local service providers. Squadrons at each base will continue to report to installation commanders.
