The new office or “IDO” is expected to have about 200 people, primarily from existing AFMC organizations.
All of those positions are attached to Wright-Patterson. But only about 60 of them are filled, Amanda Gentry, the IDO stand-up lead, said in an interview Friday.
“We are filling open positions right now,” Gentry said. There are open job announcements for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), either out now or in the works, she said.
She noted that AFRL will have a hiring event at the Holiday Inn in Fairborn, 2800 Presidential Drive, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 8 and 9.
Asked about the potential for growth in employee numbers, Gentry noted that the office just opened, and added: “The bigger you get, the slower you move. We’re trying to balance that, as well.”
The office’s mission is simple but crucial: The Air Force is gearing up with a new command, the Integrated Capabilities Command, to position itself to face China and Russia.
That command prioritizes warfighting problems that need to be solved, said Gentry, who also directs the Sensors Directorate at AFRL. “And the Integrated Development Office works with the AFMC community, the industry community and other stakeholders to then identify and develop solutions,” she said.
So the Integrated Capabilities Command prioritizes problems that need solutions and the new IDO finds those solutions.
“The really neat thing here is those two organizations get the opportunity to look across the entire Air Force enterprise, not just individual platforms or even aircraft platforms, but across all the aircraft platforms ... really across the entirety of the Air Force portfolio all at once,” Gentry said.
“The IDO leads capability development projects that are integrated and interoperable and that answer the Air Force’s most pressing force design needs,” Richardson said in a statement. “This stand-up moves us toward a single integrated acquisition demand signal that will galvanize AFMC and strengthen DAF (Department of the Air Force) warfighting capabilities.”
The IDO office is a direct report to Gen. Richardson.
The stand-up also signals that Richardson is taking on a new role as the Capability Development Executive Officer, or CDEO, to lead the effort.
Why locate the new office at Wright-Patterson?
The core of the relevant work is already here, Gentry said. This is where AFRL, AFLCMC and many other acquisition-focused missions are based.
“Wright-Patt remains a really key enabler of this type of activity,” she said. “The competencies we need are largely located here.”
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