AFMC commander attends AV Board of Trade; discusses AF future

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Julius Delos Reyes
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Air Force Materiel Command's top officer visited the Antelope Valley in California to share his views on a variety of subjects with the local community, including AFMC's 'One Materiel Command' concept and the Global War on Terror. 

Gen. Bruce Carlson, AFMC commander, spoke to about 700 people who attended the Antelope Valley Board of Trade Outlook Conference Feb. 23 in Lancaster, Calif. 

The Antelope Valley is home to the U.S. Air Force Plant 42 and Edwards Air Force Base. These two Air Force facilities provide a large part of the employment opportunities for people in the Antelope Valley. 

The Antelope Valley Board of Trade's mission is to maintain and promote diverse business and industry, quality infrastructure and a strong legislative voice for the benefit of its members and the greater Antelope Valley. 

"I am only here to do one thing, and that is to say thank you," General Carlson said to the conference participants. "Edwards is one of the crown jewels of the Air Force and this nation. I want to thank you for the care you exhibited over this 'crown jewel,' and the support you provide for the entire institution of the Air Force." 

During the conference, General Carlson provided a glimpse of AFMC's mission and objectives, and how the command is transforming into the "One Materiel Command" concept. 

"'One Materiel Command' is a philosophy of how we do things in AFMC," General Carlson said. "It is the idea that we can take the four distinct missions that we have in AFMC -- those being research and development, acquisition, tests and sustainability -- and knit those together in a much better way than we have done in the past." 

The general also talked about the Global War on Terror and what the American public faces today and in the future. 

"The people we are fighting today are, quite frankly, without morals, without any degree of feeling for you, me or anyone else in this country," he said. "They are a conglomerate of different groups who have one common thought in their mind -- you and I are to be blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their lives and their society." 

He added that threats no longer come from one country, but from various parts of the world. 

The Global War on Terror is also costing the country more money. But even though more money is needed, the Air Force is still restrained. 

Though faced with budget shortfalls and other issues, General Carlson said the country is "winning the war in Afghanistan regardless of what you hear in the media." 

Examples of the country's success in Afghanistan are the 3,000 miles of roads constructed, and the four million kids who can now go to school, he said. 

"If you talk to a person in a street out there, they love Americans -- Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Soldiers," General Carlson said. "There will be tears in their eyes when they talk to you about how these servicemembers saved their children. We have brought hope to these people who are otherwise without hope." 

Improvement efforts are also ongoing at the different Air Force depots, as well as the test and product centers, to take unnecessary waste out of Air Force operations to make the process more efficient and effective, General Carlson said. 

"This country requires a dominant Air Force to prosecute the war," he said. "The Air Force is the only service that can provide simultaneous actions on its broad spectrum of combat. You, here in the Antelope Valley, are the key in making the Air Force of the future work for us."