JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center’s functional area managers and major command functional managers deliver lethality and readiness across the Department of the Air Force by ensuring installation and mission support Airmen have the resources and programs to train and be mission ready.
“We’re delivering the right Airmen, the right skills, the right advice and the right requirement to wings and major commands around the enterprise,” said Timothy Wright, chief of the expeditionary support division’s silver branch within AFIMSC’s Expeditionary Support and Innovation Directorate.
With the creation of AFIMSC, the Air Force consolidated most of its FAM and MFM support under one center, which not only freed up MAJCOM and unit commanders to focus solely on their organic missions, but also allowed the managers to find efficiencies and synergies within their teams.
Yvonne Algueseva, a FAM with the silver branch, recalls her time working as a FAM in Air Education and Training Command. She said she now has a broader view of the capabilities and requirements across multiple commands.
“Before, we were only focused on that one command we worked for,” Algueseva said. “Now under AFIMSC, we can help the schedulers at the Air Force Personnel Center when there are shortfalls by directing them to possible sources for those combatant commander requirements.
AFIMSC organizes the FAMs and MFMs into two branches: the blue branch, which focuses on civil engineers, force support and security forces career fields, and the silver branch, which focuses on logistics readiness, cyber support and wing staff agencies including contracting, comptrollers and public affairs. The Air and Space Forces rely on both branches to deliver capability across 28 functional areas.
FAMs verify deployment taskings, provide recommendations for reclamas, perform unit type code availability reviews to facilitate the deployment process, and analyze unit readiness assessments for joint staff consumption. MFMs focus on manpower, manning and force development for the field.
“We work with MAJCOMs, units and career field managers around the enterprise to ensure manning and force development needs are mitigated by aligning unit requirements to accomplish the mission,” Wright added.
Under AFIMSC, the FAMs and MFMs have the ability to view the entire DAF and make data-driven, big-picture decisions.
“We can look across the Air and Space Forces and maximize processes like mission readiness training and annual quota utilization rates,” said Jason Klug, an MFM with the silver branch. “Prior to the AFIMSC, our functional schoolhouses would divide active-duty training allocations between the various MAJCOMs, often resulting in competing interests, scheduling inconsistencies, stovepipe communication, and overall lower execution rates.”
He said they can now analyze trends to maximize seat utilization rates, increase return on investment, and help functional communities make data-driven training recommendations based on current events.
“For instance, do we require additional training opportunities or qualified personnel within a specific command, theater, or AOR?” he added.
The benefit of centralization also allows MFMs to look at personnel resources across the whole of the force.
“This would have rarely happened in the past, as independent MFMs focused primarily on their respective MAJCOM populations. MAJCOMs or installations with an excess of manpower or resources would not have been highlighted, while other locations may have continued to struggle with a surge of workload,” Klug said.
Since its inception in 2015, AFIMSC has been advising MAJCOM and unit commanders on posturing equipment and Airmen to maximize readiness levels and leverage ready capability against requirements both at home and deployed.
“With the FAMs and MFMs under one roof, AFIMSC is improving the support it delivers across the enterprise,” Wright said. “They bring experience, drive, and a genuine concern for improving the I&MS career fields. They come to work every day ready to support the squadrons and are focused on providing capable, trained and resilient I&MS Airmen and Guardians for Air and Space Forces’ power projection platforms.”