AFOTEC: Creating Active Involvement and Institutionalizing Early Influence

摘要

As a nation that has been in continuous combat for more than 16 years, longer than World War II, Korea, and Vietnam combined, our Airmen and joint and coalition partners are engaged in the global war on terror and our Air Force is actively searching for ways to rapidly enhance our effectiveness at all levels. The warfighter is demanding the entire acquisition community rapidly develop, test, and field increasingly complex and urgently needed weapon systems despite a reduced force. Therefore, AFOTEC is focusing our efforts on institutionalizing Early Influence in the air, space, and cyberspace domains; establishing credible AFOTEC liaison officers at the Air Force Materiel Command and Air Force Space Command Product Centers; and aggressively creating the conditions for combined development and operational testing. These initiatives are all aimed at improving our ability to ensure that required warfighting capabilities are delivered within cost and schedule constraints whenever possible. The acquisition community has talked about the Early Influence concept for over two decades using many definitions. AFOTEC's goal is to clearly define Early Influence, establish more robust Early Influence activities as soon as possible, and institutionalize Early Influence across all appropriate instructions and regulations.