Air Force Materiel Command serves as the “cost conscience” of the service, said Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski. The command she heads saved the service $2 billion last year, and its goal is to do it again this year.

The command is focusing on category management — a purchasing strategy that eliminates redundancies and streamlines processes.

For example, AFMC has struggled with how to spend money on computers and software, Pawlikowski told Air Force Times, and the command is making that a priority.

“We see we can potentially save billions of dollars a year if we were to implement category management in the information technology area,” she said. “So we’re actively involved in working with Headquarters Air Force, with the policy folks there, to see how AFMC can assist the Air Force in getting a better handle on how we spend our money for computers and software.”

When AFMC spends money, it does so for the entire Air Force, Pawlikowski said.

“What I remind AFMC airmen every day is that every dollar we spend on something that we didn’t need to spend it on is one less dollar we have to spend somewhere else,” she said. “So, that’s a major focus across everything we do.”

Innovative airmen find ways to do things more cost effectively, she said.

When the command was negotiating a contract to buy the next round of munitions, airmen at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida dug into the cost data provided by the contactor.

They discovered some of the things in the contact that were driving up costs were unnecessary, so they challenged the contractor and saved tens of millions of dollars.

“What we did with those dollars was actually to roll those back in and buy more munitions than we really thought we could afford,” she said.

But the uncertainty of the defense budget presents a challenge to daily planning.

“One of the challenges we have is that in our business, sometimes the risk we accept we don’t see for years afterwards because it just takes a little bit longer for it to happen,” Pawlikowski said.

New programs or initiatives are most vulnerable when anticipated funding fails to materialize, she said.

One of the goals for 2018 is moving more dollars into funding for research and development, one of Secretary Heather Wilson’s priorities, but that can’t happen as long as Congress continues to fund the Defense Department through a continuing resolution, which freezes spending at 2017 levels.

One initiative awaiting final approval from, Headquarters Air Force is standing up the 96th Cyberspace Test Group, which would test the Air Force’s weapons systems to ensure they have the right cyber resiliency, she said.

The aim of the group would be “to ensure that we have the right cyber defenses in place for all of our aircraft and our command and control systems,” she said.

If approved, the cyber test group will stand up Oct. 1 at the Air Force Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

About Charlsy Panzino

Charlsy is a Reporter and Engagement Manager for Military Times. Email her at cpanzino@militarytimes.com.

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