This report provides a strategic view of the analytical capabilities that are needed by the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (AFIMSC) to allocate resources to and assess the performance of installation and mission support activities. AFIMSC needs a coherent, rational, and transparent method to allocate resources across missions and installations.

Support to the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center

Enabling AFIMSC's Role in Agile Combat Support Planning, Execution, Monitoring, and Control

Patrick Mills, Robert S. Tripp, James A. Leftwich, John G. Drew, Jerry M. Sollinger, Robert G. DeFeo

ResearchPublished Jun 23, 2017

The U.S. Air Force is in the midst of transforming the way agile combat support (ACS) is managed to support training, steady state operations, and contingency operations. The reorganization of Air Force Materiel Command into the five-center construct was one significant milestone in the transformation. Another is the establishment of the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (AFIMSC).

This report provides a strategic view of the analytical capabilities that are needed by AFIMSC to allocate resources to and assess the performance of installation and mission support activities. AFIMSC needs a coherent, rational, and transparent method to allocate resources across missions and installations. The Air Force needs a common lexicon of metrics, clear business rules, and a construct to report enterprise performance to senior leaders.

Key Takeaways

Evolving the Analytical Capabilities of AFIMSC Is a Complex Challenge

  • As the principal supplier of installation and mission support resources, AFIMSC needs a coherent, rational, and transparent method to allocate resources across missions and installations.
  • AFIMSC cannot just adopt the status quo system where resources allocations were made absent enterprise-wide standards for support and insights into the operational impact of those decisions.
  • A common lexicon of metrics, clear business rules, and a construct to report enterprise performance to senior leaders is needed to implement a framework for making rational resource allocation decisions and have the ability to communicate the impact of those decisions to operators.
  • Some processes that the Air Force has already established can be tailored to facilitate creating an enterprise measurement and management structure. Air Force Material Command's Weapon System Enterprise Review, which provides a comprehensive review of the status of weapon systems, is an example.

Recommendations

  • The Air Force should implement an analytical framework for AFIMSC, as the supplier of installation and mission support resources, that provides meaningful trade-off information to both the customers of installation and mission support capabilities and an integrator responsible for adjudicating mismatches between demand and supply.
  • Develop a lexicon and set of business rules in concert with installation and mission support customers to inform resource allocation and risk assessment.
  • Implement an approach to an enterprise-wide measure system that is based on the Weapon System Enterprise Review, in use at Air Force Materiel Command today, and includes a standardized capability rating structure for installation and mission support capabilities.

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Mills, Patrick, Robert S. Tripp, James A. Leftwich, John G. Drew, Jerry M. Sollinger, and Robert G. DeFeo, Support to the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center: Enabling AFIMSC's Role in Agile Combat Support Planning, Execution, Monitoring, and Control. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2017. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1555.html.
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This report was commissioned by the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (AFIMSC) and Air Education and Training Command Director of Logistics (AETC/A4) and conducted by the Resource Management Program within RAND Project AIR FORCE.

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