OO-ALC executive director delivers; 'State of the Base'

  • Published
  • By Mary Lou Gorny
  • Hilltop Times editor
HILL AIR FORCE BASE --  Mark Johnson, Ogden Air Logistics Center executive director, delivered the "State of the Base" as the last speaker in a series sponsored by Team Hill's Junior Force Council on base Oct. 21 at the Base Theater.

The upcoming inspection merited particular focus as he encouraged early voting and that everyone participates in the evaluation scenarios, Nov. 1-8.

Among key points Johnson outlined: The nuclear enterprise continues to be No. 1 priority assigned by Maj. Gen. Andrew Busch, commander of the Ogden Air Logistics Center, per the letter sent to him by Gen. Donald Hoffman shortly after assuming command in the summer of 2009.

The commander of the Air Force Material Command's letter to Busch also emphasized the importance of keeping the civilian workforce fully manned, its training in technical day-to-day duties and preparation for leadership challenges as workers move up the chain.

The air logistics center effective and efficient services were the third goal, Hoffman emphasized in his letter, and he also emphasized mission support and the need to prepare for new workload.

Busch, in turn, developed his "road map" from those directives.

"Our role in the nuclear enterprise is really to be a depot maintenance supporter on ICBM systems through the missile systems," Johnson said of his leader's goals.

The focus Team Hill is using to support Brig. Gen. Everett Thomas, commander of the Nuclear Weapons Center, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., had merited praise for Hill Air Force Base. "That's all across every area of mission support whether it's the air base wing, whether it's our director of engineering, whether it's our maintenance guys -- he's been very complimentary about how well we are supporting his (AFNWC) priorities," said Johnson.

On-time production at the air logistics center, without sacrificing quality, and new workloads were emphasized in Johnson's assessment for how the base was doing..

Johnson praised the C-130 production which surpassed the contract level of 34 for Fiscal Year 2010. "That was a great, great year for the C-130 guys and they're well out of the blocks for (FY) '11 to continue that production," Johnson said of the 44 produced.

He also praised the use of the Aerospace Maintenance Quality System, a structured systems engineering approach to managing tools, test equipment, training and execution of depot maintenance which the 309th Maintenance Wing has implemented. The 309th MXW greatly improved its assessment levels in its last Logistics Compliance Assessment Team visit over the previous one. Johnson praised the leadership of the 309th MXW and its use of the system in attaining the two excellents and overall satisfactory ratings throughout the wing.

Johnson briefly reviewed the successful completion of the F-16 CCIP which delivered improved capability in the field for the warfighter and workload for Hill Air Force Base.

He praised work by the contracting and financial branches, the space and C3I employees who bring new technology to old systems in their efforts to maintain and support important radar functions, and also the simulator training contract work.

Johnson called for continued focus on due-date performance, getting the aircraft to the warfighter on time, managing installation support with smaller budgets especially in the area of the air base wing's family programs and the support of everyone during the upcoming inspection.

The Falcon Hill development and commercial construction has started with a ceremonial groundbreaking and first building project under way. The enhanced use lease project will eventually help recapitalize the 1200 Building series. Those buildings, built in the '20s and '30s in the footprint of the Ogden Army Arsenal were never built to be office buildings. "But we've been using them that way for years," said Johnson.

The 1.8 million square feet of commercial office space of which payment will be received in kind for leasing almost 600,000 square feet of office space is more than enough to take care of revitalizing those older buildings.

Energy independence through conservation, energy supply and exploration in the west desert at the Utah Test and Training Range were also emphasized in Johnson's overall look at the base's health.

Johnson reviewed the need to suspend operations and management hiring until numbers were in line with those passed down by Air Force leadership. VERA/VSIP numbers may supply as many as 60 or 70, and three percent attrition typical yearly may help somewhat. But he was not overly optimistic that O&M hiring would be starting again soon.

Last but not least, he encouraged everyone to take advantage of the opportunity to get familiar with the choices offered through the Combined Federal Campaign to support their favorite charities. The campaign runs through Nov. 17.