AFMC, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, was created in 1992. It conducts research, development, test and evaluation, as well as provides acquisition-management services and logistics support necessary to ensure the readiness of Air Force weapon systems. AFMC has traditionally fulfilled its mission of equipping the Air Force through: the Air Force Research Laboratory; product centers that develop and acquire the weapon systems; test centers that offer the testing of the systems; and air logistics centers that service, upgrade, and repair the systems over their lifetimes. In addition, AFMC’s various specialized centers are designed to perform other functions, including foreign military sales and delivery of nuclear capabilities. In light of the budget pressures that the Department of Defense (DOD) and, in turn, AFMC faced in recent years, the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Resource Management Decision 703A2 directed that civilian staffing levels for all services be returned to fiscal year 2010 levels. In response, AFMC announced a plan for reorganization in November 2011, which was designed to achieve position cuts and produce efficiencies throughout the command. As such, the reorganization eliminated 1,051 civilian positions and combined the functions of its 12 centers into 5 centers with each center assuming responsibility for one of AFMC’s 5 mission areas: (1) science and technology, (2) life-cycle management, (3) test and evaluation, (4) sustainment, and (5) nuclear weapon support. The geographic location where the functions of the former 12 centers were performed generally did not change as a result of the reorganization to the 5 current centers. Figure 1 shows the structure of AFMC before and after the reorganization. ESC was one of AFMC’s 12 former centers, headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. ESC served as the Air Force’s center for the development and acquisition of electronic command-and-control systems. Under the reorganization, ESC’s functions were consolidated with other centers to become AFLCMC, a center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base established in July 2012 with responsibility for total life-cycle management of all aircraft, engines, munitions, and electronic systems. Life-cycle management involves the refinement of product requirements to address existing needs, technology development, system development, production and fielding, and ongoing sustainment of the product. Hanscom Air Force Base has two directorates that are responsible for the life-cycle management of electronic systems: (1) Battle Management and (2) Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks. The directorates are led by PEOs who are ultimately responsible for acquisition of the systems in their portfolio and their timely delivery to the customer. To achieve their mission of acquisition and product support, PEOs are supported by system program managers, each of whom has responsibility for the development and design of support systems for a particular electronic system. PEOs are also supported by functional offices, which provide technical services such as acquisition, engineering, financial management, and contracting. The reorganization affected the reporting chains of command and the workforce composition for some offices, but did not change the acquisition mission at Hanscom Air Force Base. The reorganization affected the reporting chains of command and the composition of the workforce for some offices at Hanscom Air Force Base. Specifically, the reorganization affected the reporting chains of command within PEO directorates by inactivating ESC, removing its 3-star Commander, and integrating the former ESC into AFLCMC, a newly established organization led by a 3-star commander at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base. Although Hanscom’s two PEOs continue to report to the Air Force’s service acquisition executive at the Pentagon in performing their mission related to acquisition of weapon systems and product support, under the reorganization they also support the AFLCMC Commander in organizing, training, and equipping the PEO directorates (see fig. 2). The reorganization also affected the reporting chains of command for system program managers, who support PEOs. Prior to the reorganization, system program managers reported to the PEOs for initial system development, system procurement, manufacturing, and testing of weapon systems. Once the weapon systems matured, the functions of the system program manager transferred to an air logistics center where the system program manager reported to the designated acquisition officials for product sustainment responsibilities. The reorganization eliminated the position of designated acquisition officials and, as a result, system program managers report to PEOs at all stages of the product life cycle, including product sustainment. This change affected the functions of PEOs, who under the reorganization have oversight responsibility not just for the acquisition of the weapon systems, as they did under the old structure, but also for the sustainment and product support of these systems. Further, the reorganization affected the reporting chains of command for personnel in Hanscom’s functional offices. Specifically, functional office personnel at Hanscom Air Force Base—who provide technical services such as acquisition, engineering, financial management, and contracting—previously were managed by locally-based ESC leadership. Under the reorganization, they report directly to senior functional managers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. As a result of this change, senior functional managers oversee the flow of funding and task assignments that were formerly managed at individual locations, according to Hanscom’s functional office personnel. For example, Hanscom officials said that prior to the reorganization, officials at Hanscom Air Force Base could determine what positions required a top-secret security clearance, whereas since the reorganization senior functional managers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base make these determinations. In addition to its effects on the reporting chains of command, the reorganization also affected the composition of Hanscom’s workforce by eliminating about 10 percent of its civilian authorizations.the reorganization eliminated 131 of Hanscom’s 1,258 civilian authorizations that were comprised exclusively of government positions and did not include contractor positions, according to a Hanscom contracting official. All of these positions were identified by AFMC as overhead. AFMC officials said they targeted overhead positions for elimination, rather than first eliminating vacant positions or making uniform cuts across all centers, in an effort to implement the cuts in a strategic manner. After deciding to focus the cuts on positions identified as overhead, AFMC officials stated that they consulted with all of their product centers to come to an agreement on positions that qualified as overhead. VERA/VSIP are programs that allow agencies to incentivize surplus or displaced employees to separate by early retirement, voluntary retirement, or resignation. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-296, §1313(b), authorized these programs under regulations issued by the Office of Personnel Management. The Office of Personnel Management has issued guidance to the agencies stating that these programs may be used when the buyout averts an involuntary separation of the person taking the buyout or another individual who can fill the position that was vacated by the person taking the buyout. either already were vacant or became vacant as the result of other employees agreeing to leave through VERA/VSIP, and 1 person was removed while in a probationary period (see fig. 3). The reorganization did not change the mission of Hanscom’s directorates that are responsible for the acquisition of electronic systems. Our analysis of documentation from Hanscom and Wright-Patterson Air Force Bases showed that the PEOs responsible for carrying out Hanscom’s acquisition mission have remained at Hanscom Air Force Base and no positions were eliminated within Hanscom’s directorates that are directly involved with the implementation of its acquisition mission. Moreover, both of the PEOs at Hanscom Air Force Base who directly manage the acquisition of weapon systems, as well as system program managers who work for them, told us the reorganization did not change the processes for carrying out their mission, or change acquisition and fielding processes and timeframes. While the Air Force recently expanded the portfolios of the two PEOs at Hanscom Air Force Base, Air Force officials attributed this change to an unrelated initiative by the Air Force’s service acquisition executive. In addition, none of the six customers we interviewed identified any changes in how Hanscom Air Force Base components carry out their acquisition functions, including how they interact with and deliver products to the customer. The reorganization resulted in opportunities and some concerns at Hanscom Air Force Base, and AFLCMC has taken steps to facilitate its implementation. Officials at Hanscom Air Force Base and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, as well as Hanscom customers and contractors, stated that the reorganization resulted in opportunities to help strengthen the delivery of products to customers. These opportunities include increased focus on life-cycle management of weapon systems by PEOs, an increase in collaboration of personnel within the restructured AFLCMC, and greater standardization of processes. Increased focus on life-cycle management. According to officials at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Hanscom Air Force Base, one of the benefits of the reorganization is the focus on life-cycle management achieved by giving PEOs responsibilities over all phases of the weapon system’s life cycle. By assuming oversight over all phases of the life cycle, PEOs can more efficiently manage the systems in their portfolio, according to Hanscom’s PEOs and system program managers whom we interviewed. For example, one PEO told us that overseeing the system through its entire life cycle has allowed him to be more aware of sustainment-related costs during a system’s development, thus bringing the potential for more long-term value to the customer. Further, three of the six customers we interviewed stated that an increased focus on life-cycle management could result in greater efficiencies and value to the customer in the long term. Increased collaboration within the command. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Hanscom Air Force Base officials cited increased opportunities for collaboration as a result of bringing several centers and all of AFMC’s PEOs under the command of AFLCMC.