Teamwork essential as AFCEC produces newest integrated priority list

  • Published
  • By Roger Gragg
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  The Air Force Civil Engineer Center recently released its third installment of the comprehensive, two-year integrated priority list. 

The integrated priority list, or IPL, strategically orders requirements for facility sustainment, restoration, modernization, environmental, energy, dormitory and demolition projects across the Air Force. This comprehensive IPL plans for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 as a one-year execution tool for the first year while including development and design funds for the following year.

AFCEC's Planning and Integration Directorate builds the IPL based on requirements developed in the field and uses an objective scoring model to assess risks to Airmen and the mission, as well as incorporating cost-saving investment, to rank-order how the Air Force invests funds.

"Having a two-year look allows installations to build those near-term requirements so they are postured for execution a year in advance," said Col. Dean Hartman, planning and integration director. "You can address your mission priorities within the fiscal realities in a deliberate manner and mitigate some of the churn and turmoil that comes from trying to push requirements when there is a flush of funds."

This year, the development of the IPL was a true collaborative effort across installations, major commands, the Air Force Installation Contracting Agency and the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, said Maj. Jason Murley, AFCEC comprehensive program development branch chief.

AFIMSC was involved from the initial build of the prospectus sent to installations, through functional working groups and the formal governance process.

"Previously information went from the base to MAJCOMs to sort through the project information," Murley said.  "This time AFCEC pulled data straight from installations and we got great support from MAJCOMs and across AFIMSC with the arduous task of validation and prioritization."

AFCEC also collaborated throughout the IPL build with AFICA and the 772nd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron to help balance requirements with available Air Force contracting capacity.

"Working with contracting during the process really makes the list execution-ready and also allowed us to key in with our small business goals," Murley said.

The collaboration culminates with a civil engineer board that combines functional and headquarters AFIMSC views to determine whether the IPL is appropriate.

The construction tasking order, or CTO, is used in conjunction with the IPL and makes the list executable based on the proposed budget. The CTO is a mechanism developed by AFCEC,  AFICA and AFIMSC resource management to issue the authority to advertise for needed projects with the intent to enable smoother contract execution and higher quality work at a lower cost.

The team continues to rely on asset management principles as it refines the IPL build process.  Using asset visibility and sustainment management systems, this information will continue to better drive future investment.  This year, activity managers and sub-activity managers further scrutinized requirements to ensure that not only is it the right requirement at the right time in the enterprise lifecycle, but that it is also at the right scope and cost.

"When you are looking at limited Air Force investment against mission priorities, how you do that in the most efficient manner possible is really what asset management and activity management are trying to do in this process," Hartman said. "If you can work in advance to identify the requirement, the expected time to execute and the execution method, and if you can do that as an enterprise, it is a substantial win."

The construction tasking order, the environmental tasking order and the newly added military family housing tasking order are available on the AFCEC website at www.afcec.af.mil under the Business with AFCEC tab.