JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. -- JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va.— The Air Combat Command Acquisition Management and Integration Center, located at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, received the Department of Defense 2024 David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award, which recognizes organizations, groups, and teams who have demonstrated exemplary innovation using best acquisition practices that achieve acquisition excellence in the DoD.
In a constantly evolving military landscape shaped by numerous internal and external factors, the mission of AMIC is simple…deliver agile, cost effective, mission-focused, acquisition solutions to maximize joint warfighter capabilities.
“AMIC works to ensure that Air Combat Command has the necessary resources to meet its mission objectives through innovative acquisition contracting,” said Col. Jonathan Grimm, AMIC deputy director. “Our team is proud of its accomplishments and is eager to continue working to support ACC and our mission of People First, Mission Always.”
AMIC’s six-person team is responsible for a $20 billion portfolio. They executed $1.96 billion through 2,334 actions to deliver agile, mission-focused solutions to joint warfighters this year.
“In this day and age, our warfighter’s have mission requirements that must be addressed in a timely manner for them to fulfill their day-to-day operations,” said Lt. Gen. Michael Koscheski, deputy commander of ACC. “The Acquisition Management and Integration Center tirelessly works to ensure our warfighters have the tools they need to deliver the combat airpower that maintains air superiority around the globe.”
With the rise of inflation over the past several years drastically impacting the price of goods, AMIC has adapted their acquisition approach to ensure mission-focused solutions stay cost-effective for ACC and its personnel.
“Despite inflationary pressures, we have been able to continue providing cost-effective solutions for the warfighter by utilizing a variety of strategies, including: 1) Conducting market research to identify cost-saving opportunities; 2) Leveraging competition to drive down prices; and 3) Negotiating with contractors to achieve the best value for the taxpayer,” Grimm said.
Ramifications from the numerous projects AMIC has executed have already yielded results showing that this team has directly improved the readiness of not only the U.S. Air Force, but for joint and coalition partners as well. Some of the most robust programs AMIC helped deliver included direct support to U.S. Central Command, the upgrade pilot training program, and a first-of-its-kind program that is designed to reduce the negative effects on the spine and neck that aircrew encounter when flying.
“AMIC's work has had a positive impact on the readiness of partner nations, as the technologies and solutions developed can be shared and used by other countries to improve their own military capabilities,” Grimm said. “The Human Performance Optimization program addresses physical, cognitive, and emotional domains essential to mission success and directly supports partner nations and coalition programs through information exchange.”
To ensure their mission statement is met, members of AMIC often combat numerous obstacles over the course of their day-to-day operations. According to Grimm, balancing competing priorities with budget constraints, the rapidly changing nature of the global security environment and the great power competition, and the need to ensure all acquisition processes are compliant with federal regulations.
AMIC has adapted its mission to meet ACC's Global Power Competition needs by focusing on delivering innovative and flexible acquisition solutions, this includes leveraging emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of ACC's acquisition processes.
This award-winning team has been crucial to the modernization and readiness of Airmen across Air Combat Command and will continue to be instrumental as we prepare for future conflicts with any peer adversaries.