HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- The Air Combat Command Directorate of Cyberspace and Information Dominance activated the Functional Management Office supporting the Enterprise Information Technology as a Service, or EITaaS, July 9 here.
Having a functional management office co-located in the same building where procurement of information technology services will occur will bring the right capabilities to the warfighter at a much faster pace. The activation of the ACC FMO will synchronize strategic, operational and day-to-day acquisition processes to deliver cyber capabilities to the cyber workforce.
“Air Combat Command, as lead major command for cyber, is excited to work even closer with the acquisition professionals at Hanscom,” said Col. Chad Raduege, ACC’s Cyberspace and Information Dominance director, who hosted the event. “Our FMO is the realization of industry best practices -- coupled with senior leader support -- to bring together those who define the requirements, in this case, ACC on behalf of all Air Force members, with those who acquire the capability. The goal is a healthy tension between the two, for the benefit of all. This is a brave new world and a clear indicator of ACC’s commitment to bring the future faster.”
EITaaS is commercializing common Air Force network services and has been ongoing for the last two-and-a-half years. The integrated team’s work on EITaaS will improve services for all Air Force personnel once completed and reduce the overall risk to the Air Force network.
Secretary of the Air Force Deputy Chief, Information Dominance and Deputy Chief Information Officer Bill Marion and Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks Maj. Gen. Michael Schmidt participated in the event.
“The FMO activation serves as another fundamental milestone on our journey to a fully digital Air Force,” said Marion. “In this case, the FMO will strengthen the critical linkage between the Airmen, IT requirements and the acquisition professionals who are delivering our next-generation user experience. This activation will shape the future of our IT transformation, but most importantly, empower our Airmen with the right mission tools.”
“This was a great day for the Air Force’s IT community,” said Schmidt. “The activation ceremony represents the start of an integrated program office where we will integrate acquisition, user feedback and command requirements for network modernization all under one roof with the ACC-led Functional Management Office being co-located with the Air Force’s Enterprise IT and Cyber Infrastructure Division. The vision is for this integrated team to be the nerve center focused on improving the user experience for every Airman and even expanding to our Joint Service partners.”