AFMC commander visits 635th SCMG

Published May 6, 2009
By Senior Airman Andrew Davis
375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- On April 29, Gen. Donald Hoffman, the commander of Air Force Materiel Command, visited with Maj. Gen. Gary McCoy, Commander of the Air Force Global Logistics Support Center, as well as the 635th Supply Chain Management Wing and Group. During a town hall meeting at the unit's newly opened facility here, General Hoffman fielded questions about upcoming Air Force-wide changes and AFMC-specific issues.

To start, General Hoffman applauded the AFGLSC and the 635th SCMG for what they do in the warfighting effort.

"You all have a fascinating and challenging mission here," said the general. "And I can guarantee you in sandy places, hot places and cold places around the world where bullets are flying; people need the product you produce here.

"So you have a very important role. Because of your efforts, Americans are less in harm's way than before you started," he added.

Immediately following, the general fielded a number of questions from the audience.

Q: With regards to Air Force total integration, what is your vision on the future of total force operations?

General Hoffman: We all own the mission. We may have different labels, depending on where we're working, but across the Air Force as a whole we're all one. Sometimes guard and reserve members bring a more experienced workforce to the table--though they also bring in entry level folks--but when we get to the theater you cannot tell the difference: we are truly integrated as an Air Force.

Q: What is your current view on uniform changes and can you respond to current rumors about those changes?

General Hoffman: I can't give you exact guidance, but I can tell you what I think is on the horizon. When General Schwartz first took over, he realized there was disagreement within the force on some uniform items. For example, over the new heritage and Airmen Battle Uniforms. He also realized it was important to resolve ABU issues now -- issues with the top not matching the bottom, temperature loads in the Southwest Asia Area of Responsibility, and fire resistant capabilities. So he made ABUs "job one." Job two is physical training uniforms. I had a chance to try out the new PT uniforms ... they don't swish anymore and other complaints about them have been eliminated. As to the heritage uniform, it's not off the table, just on the back burner. One of the things I've learned over the years is not to get excited about uniforms -- they will change over time; it's inevitable.

Q: What do you think of the change in priorities from Iraq to Afghanistan?

General Hoffman: U.S. Central Command runs in both and Air Forces Central Command runs in both. The shift in priorities is transparent for some of the bases already, due to the fact that the planes just fly east or west. Movement of Air Force members from Iraq to Afghanistan has already started, however, we will pull more Airmen out of Iraq and deploy more to Afghanistan.

Q:What are your thoughts on changes to the PT (physical training) program?

General Hoffman: I think there will be changes. The issue has come up, but we haven't arrived at the solution set yet. The issue is that people take the PT test and pass, then a month later are retested and don't pass, or do considerably worse. It makes you wonder whether there's an integrity issue in how the test is administered, or if the individual got in peak shape just for the test. We are fit to test but not always fit to fight. The Chief of Staff of the Air Force wants everyone fit to fight 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So we may see incentives (for) fitness beyond (the current) accepted standard. We all have a personal obligation to stay fit.

After fielding questions, General Hoffman concluded by saying, "Thank you all very much. I really applaud the unique, hard work this organization has done to help the Air Force succeed in its mission."

AFMC CC visits 635th SCMG