Air Force Materiel Command activated a detachment at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, to support the work of the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, announced Pacific Air Forces. AFIMSC, Det. 2—or PACDET, as it is known—is the first unit of its kind in the Air Force and is the first of 10 such detachments that the Air Force plans to establish, according to PACAF’s release. “Our mission in the detachment is to synchronize and execute installation and mission support for Pacific commanders. I am very confident we are well positioned to execute that mission,” said Col. Mickey Addison, PACDET commander, at the April 9 standup ceremony. The detachment will include a total of 60 airmen from the comptroller, civil engineer, communications, security forces, personnel, and support career fields who were formerly part of PACAF headquarters, states the release. Maj. Gen. Theresa Carter, AFIMSC commander, presided over the ceremony. The Air Force established the center last year to consolidate major command-level installation and mission support activities under one commander, reducing costs and excess overhead.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.