Attracting and keeping an elite, effective work force is of paramount importance to the Air Force. Commanders of the Air Force Material Command and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center joined forces to establish a program to develop and retain its junior military and civilian acquisition members, while further developing future senior acquisition leaders.
Wright Brothers Institute (WBI) was instrumental in identifying the opportunity, securing adequate space, and assisting the cadre with execution of this engagement. It was clear that WBI’s quick turn support provided a unique capability for the team and allowed them to move faster than otherwise possible.
In this event, WBI provided collaboration space to allow the entire Cadre 10 cohort to meet face to face with a critical vendor/supplier, enabling much more effective engagement and speed of uptake of information, critical in a 12-week program.
The program took multi-functional ATAC cadres (8-10 members; less than 10 years of experience) to come together for this fast paced, 12-week program to integrate government, industry, and academia perspectives to analyze a PEO-level problem, and then recommend solutions for senior leaders. Members come from HQ AFMC, AFLCMC, SMC, AFNWC, AFTC, and AFRL.
The ATAC program has several benefits. It provides for dedicated PEO “tiger teams” for rapid data collection, synthesis, and coordinated recs; gives members comprehension of larger DoD/AF ecosystem of capes/mission-sets and how to leverage; and provides the members with the knowledge gained returned to home stations for application and further diffusion.