D&SWS Roadshow II coming to Edwards

  • Published
  • By Deidra O'Neal
  • AFFTC Strategic Planning and Transformation
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The Develop and Sustain Warfighting Systems Roadshow II will visit Edwards Tuesday to provide a process update to the Air Force Flight Test Center commander and his staff and provide a D&SWS overview briefing to all interested individuals.

The Center-wide briefing is scheduled to be held from Noon to 1:45 p.m. at the base theater.

Col. Kenneth Moran, deputy director of D&SWS, will be providing both briefings.

The D&SWS is one of the 10 Air Force level processes designated by the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff to maximize value and minimize waste for the air, space and cyberspace warfighting systems. 

It originated in July 2006 as the Air Force began looking at how to change processes to become more efficient and effective and has been maturing along with the Air Force Smart Operations for the twenty-first century, better known as AFSO21.

Gen. Bruce Carlson, Air Force Materiel Command commander, is the D&SWS process owner.

General Carlson sees the D&SWS process and roadshow as necessary and valuable to building closer relationships between the organizations that are critical to the implementation of the life-cycle management mission. Furthermore, they are important to furthering the larger mission, vision and goal of creating One Materiel Enterprise.

According to Gen. Carlson, the D&SWS processes will cut across organizations such as AFMC, Headquarters Air Force, Air Force Space Command and the Space and Missile Systems Center. The process will also cut across functions such as capability planning, technology development, acquisition, test, sustainment, sourcing and oversight to ultimately result in an end-to-end enterprise-level approach.

The primary drive is to focus our energies and resources through continuous process improvement using key initiatives toward a more integrated acquisition enterprise.

General Carlson has named David Bond, AFFTC executive director, as the test and evaluation sub-process lead, with Dr. Paul Waters, chief of advanced planning, as the AFFTC's representative to the test and evaluation sub-process design team.

The design team has been working to identify potential improvements to the Air Force test and evaluation processes, so that they can become a more "trusted and valued advisor" to the D&SWS core processes of life-cycle management, technology development and capability planning.

The D&SWS initiatives will be reviewing the daily processes in an effort to streamline them -- and thereby eliminate non-value-added work -- while long-range strategic planning and programs focus on the longer-term and higher-value initiatives to meet the D&SWS vision and objectives.

The D&SWS' two primary thrust areas are to adjust pre-milestone activities to reduce large scrap and rework and create more efficiency through life-cycle decision-making and an enterprise-wide approach.

While the briefing is not mandatory, it is encouraged that personnel involved at any stage in the life-cycle management of the warfighting systems will find the opportunity to join the session.