Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
4/3/2015
Ending months of speculation among industry executives, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) reorganized on March 30, creating two new directorates in addition to its existing ICBM Systems Directorate (NI) in an effort to streamline communication, roles and responsibilities, and depart from a more diffuse previous structure, an AFNWC spokesperson wrote in an email to NS&D Monitor this week. AFNWC has added an Air Delivered Capabilities Directorate (ND) and a Nuclear Technology and Interagency Directorate (NT), and renamed its “Futures” division the “Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent” (GBSD) division within NI, according to a March 31 release. “Air delivered systems and interagency engagement are not new to the AFNWC; they have always been a critical part our mission,” AFNWC spokesperson Meredith Mingledorff wrote in an email to NS&D Monitor. “However, under our previous organizational structure, responsibility, authority and accountability were more dispersed across the Center and more difficult for the warfighter and interagency partners to understand if they had questions or needed assistance.”
AFNWC to Absorb SS PEO in Coming Months
Completion of the tri-directorate standup will follow the transfer of administrative control over the Strategic Systems (SS) division of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) to AFNWC, as well as the dual-hatting of the AFNWC commander and the SS Program Executive Officer, which will complete no later than Oct. 1, Mingledorff wrote. Maj. Gen. Scott Jansson will start his assignment as SS PEO most likely by the end of April, AFLCMC Commander Lt. Gen. John Thompson said during a March TRIAD Conference in Ogden, Utah. Steve Amburgey has worked as acting PEO since Brig. Gen. Daryl Hauck retired from the position last month. The reorganization does not involve physical relocations of any personnel, and AFNWC Headquarters will remain at Kirtland AFB. The SS PEO is responsible for acquisition of the Air Force-managed side of the B61-12 and long-range standoff weapon systems.
Purposes for Creation and Previous Structure
Mingledorff said the new directorates are intended to facilitate more effective communication and decision-making, and should help provide more accessibility to industry and interagency partners looking for answers to questions. The move is intended, in part, to expedite responses across the directorates. While the previous structure worked, she said the AFNWC always seeks ways to enhance mission accomplishment. “The old organizational structure was in place as a result of several earlier reorganizations and did not align well to the mission. It also left responsibilities and authorities divided between divisions. The new organizational structure will align our missions and provide clearer lines of authority and responsibility in order to enhance how we do business,” she wrote. “The lines of authority, roles, and responsibilities were confusing. This reorganization makes us more effective by better aligning our organizational structure with our mission and the commensurate responsibilities, authorities, and accountability for specific nuclear acquisition programs.”
Directorate Breakdown
NT will focus on engaging agencies including the Navy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, Sandia, Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Strategic Command, NATO allies, and the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. Michael Martinez is NT Director, Col. Ryan Britton heads NI and Col. Mark Suriano oversees ND. Additionally, Col. Christopher Greene is the chief of the GBSD Division within NI.
Air Force Program Action Directive (PAD) 14-06 dictated the changes, and the document outlined improvements in operations and life cycle management across Air Force Materiel Command—which oversees AFNWC—Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) and United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), according to the release. NI comprises the GBSD, Minuteman 3, engineering, operations, management, program control and product support divisions. ND comprises Strategic Systems, Nuclear Weapon Systems Integration, Outside Continental United States Support, Nuclear Weapons Acquisition, Cruise Missile Sustainment and engineering divisions. Finally, NT comprises intelligence, weapons effects, analysis and enterprise modeling, nuclear command, control and communications, nuclear systems assessments, materiel integration and program development, surety and certification, and nuclear weapons divisions.
At this point in the implementation of the reorganization, AFNWC has only completed the internal reorganization of existing AFNWC assets and personnel, according to Mingledorff. In December, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James announced that AFNWC would transfer the 377th Air Base Wing to AFGSC. AFNWC will also shift all service logistics agent functions and the sustainment and technical integration center, Mingledorff wrote. A small contingent of AFNWC maintenance personnel based in Europe will transfer to USAFE. “Our mission is still to deliver nuclear capabilities and winning solutions that warfighters use daily to deter our enemies and assure our allies,” AFNWC commander Maj. Gen. Sandra Finan said in a statement. “Implementation of this PAD will better align our organization to that mission.”
