Executive director gets close-up look at Arnold facilities Published Aug. 7, 2007 By Tech. Sgt. Beverly Isik AEDC/PA ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- Air Force Materiel Command's top civilian got an up-close and personal look at Arnold Engineering Development Center during her July 30 visit here. Although AFMC Executive Director Barbara Westgate had visited Arnold twice before, this two-day tour was her first since she joined the AFMC family as the third highest-ranking leader in the command. Previous visits were short and focused mainly on briefings about the center's capabilities. She welcomed the chance this visit to spend more time behind the scenes, seeing what AEDC is really all about. "It's nice to take the time and actually focus on things that we're briefed on - things that we're trying to work issues for or get funding for," she said. "Until you get to come and actually hear the stories about the really important things that everyone assigned here do, you don't have a sense of what it is that they're trying to do. You don't know the magnitude of the facilities and infrastructure." While some say a picture is worth a thousand words, Mrs. Westgate disagrees -- at least when it comes to AEDC. "You can read about it, but you can't develop a picture from just reading about it that will represent one tenth of the vastness and critical importance of what it is that's done here," she explained. "You can see pictures of Arnold, but you just don't have a perspective until you're standing here in one of these tunnels, or you're looking at the cooling, or you're looking at all the electronics, or at a myriad of things which is the infrastructure and the heart and soul of AEDC." The executive director also discussed AEDC's role in the F-35 and F-22 "maiden flights," and how the work done at the center enables today's warfighters. "I'm not sure that we appreciate all the development and testing that's done before they go out and do flight testing," she said. "Everyone understands what flight testing is, but no one can do flight testing unless testing has been done here. I think that's a nugget of information that's lost on most of the people who execute acquisition programs." Relating the acquisition process to the warfighter, Mrs. Westgate said AEDC is the "enabler for all of the gee-whiz, high-value acquisition programs" that allow troops to go out and perform their warfighting missions. Her vision of AEDC's mission in the future looks bright. She pointed out Undersecretary of the Air Force Dr. Ronald Sega's interest in hypersonics. "Dr. Sega was really pretty visionary when he wanted AFRL [Air Force Research Laboratory] to start looking at hypersonics," she said. "When you look at what AEDC is working on with missile defense -- those are our next generation of weapon systems." She said America's ability to work in the higher levels of air and space, as well as cyber space, is crucial, and she sees a big role for AEDC in new-century warfare. "AEDC has a lot to offer," she said. "You have facilities that are one-of-a-kind and historical in nature and yet they continue to do exactly that foundation testing that needs to be done for any weapon system." She's also excited about the Common Battlefield Airmen Training, or CBAT, mission Arnold may gain. She said it's a win-win situation for the Air Force, the gaining installation and its surrounding communities. It's a win for the Air Force, she explained, because of the additional training and techniques CBAT would provide troops before deployment. It would benefit the community in terms of economic growth. As for the gaining base, CBAT will add another dimension to the mission that would provide critical training for troops to survive in a wartime environment.