[SatNews] Critical Air Force missions continue from their current locations after today’s restructure of…
…Air Force Space Command‘s Space Innovation and Development Center at Schriever AFB, Colorado. The SIDC restructure and realignment of subordinate organizations is part of the Air Force response to meet future challenges by balancing and realigning like missions to AFSPC and to Air Combat Command‘s U.S. Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff of the Air Force announced to Congress in November 2011 the Air Force intent to restructure the SIDC.
AFSPC and ACC jointly restructured the Space Innovation and Development Center as part of an ongoing Air Force effort to increase efficiencies, reduce overhead and eliminate redundancy. Effective today, the existing SIDC structure will transition to become several Operating Locations at Schriever AFB under ACC’s United States Air Force Warfare Center, headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The Air Force Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities program, the Distributed Mission Operations Center – Space, the 17th Test Squadron, and the 25th Space Range Squadron will transfer to USAFWC but will remain operational at Schriever AFB. The 595th Space Group and its 595th Operations Support Flight will inactivate. The 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron will remain in AFSPC but transfer to the 50th Operations Group at Schriever AFB. The Advanced Space Operations School will become a Field Operating Agency reporting directly to the AFSPC Director of Air, Space and Cyberspace Operations. ASoPS has relocated to Peterson AFB and resides in the new Moorman Space Education and Training Center.
Airmen and civilians assigned to SIDC are responsible to fully integrate space capabilities into the operational battlespace. Their mission is to advance full-spectrum warfare through rapid innovation, integration, training, testing and experimentation.
Early in the planning stages, 106 SIDC Air Force civilian employee positions were identified as surplus in an effort to increase efficiencies, reduce overhead and eliminate redundancy. Starting in the fall of 2011, local Air Force civilian personnel offices began offering the first of two rounds of Voluntary Early Retirement Authority/Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments. These programs were offered to all eligible employees in identified positions who wanted to retire early or be offered a financial incentive to leave their position. In addition to VERA/VSIP, Air Force leaders have been working diligently to reassign personnel to valid vacant positions. As of this writing, approximately 20 employees are still in identified surplus positions. Civilian personnel offices and local leadership are working to offer management reassignment beyond Schriever AFB and considering additional efforts to support the remaining employees.
SIDC organizations work together to conduct wargaming; integrate space into exercises and experiments; rapidly prototype, field and exploit integrated air, space and cyberspace capabilities; provide advanced space testing, training and range Infrastructure; and execute AFSPC Force Development Evaluation and Operational Test programs.
The USAFWC is the sole Air Force organization responsible to facilitate development and integration of operational and tactical warfighting capabilities for all Air and Space Component Commanders. Based on USAFWC’s mission, ACC and AFSPC agreed that aside from specified space-centric missions, the bulk of SIDC’s responsibilities best fit under USAFWC as the Air Force’s sole Warfare Center with responsibility to support all major commands. Aligning like missions under a single headquarters allows the missions to better respond to future Air Force requirements. The SIDC realignment and restructure is not related to sequestration actions, nor the current budget climate.
