Maj. Charles Seidel, weapons production manager at Eglin AFB, Fla., for the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, says he is now a believer in the Air Force’s new “smart operations” effort. Seidel led a “rapid improvement event” team formed in July to explore refining the AMRAAM acquisition process—and succeeded in cutting a “very sound” acquisition process from 48 weeks to 20 weeks, reports the current Eglin Eagle base newspaper. Seidel says, “Time is money and getting the missiles to the warfighters six months earlier is an immediate plus.”
More than two dozen F-35 Lightning II fighters are heading to Kingsley Field, Ore., after Air Force Secretary Troy Meink signed the official record of decision to base the jets there on Oct. 5, clearing the last bureaucratic hurdle for the Air National Guard base to host the service’s third…