Attachment_7_-_Statement_of_Objectives.pdf

Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC)

Test Operations and Sustainment (TOS)

Statement of Objectives (SOO)

1.0 Introduction:

HQ Air Force Materiel Command’s (AFMC) Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) is a national aerospace asset. The AEDC Team brings to bear its unique facilities and world-class talent to develop solutions to the Nation’s aerospace challenges by conducting tests and performing engineering analysis and technical evaluations on problems that span the entire acquisition lifecycle.

AEDC’s customers include various Air Force and Department of Defense entities, other Government agencies, industry, and foreign interests. In addition to performing testing and analysis to generate data, information, and knowledge, AEDC conducts applied research to develop new technologies, techniques, and measurement methods for advanced test facilities. The purpose of this solicitation is to obtain the expertise and services necessary to support AEDC in execution of its mission. Innovative business arrangements and initiatives are encouraged.

2.0 AEDC Mission:

At AEDC, we support the development, test, and evaluation of weapon, air-breathing propulsion, aerodynamic, and space systems for the nation through modeling and simulation, and by operating ground test facilities. AEDC’s mission is to provide our customers with the aerospace systems knowledge they require. To deliver this knowledge, AEDC maintains and utilizes its unique ground-test facilities; develops new test techniques and computational capabilities; and most importantly, cultivates, empowers, and employs its world-class workforce. Enabling the workforce to produce outcomes that support the mission of our customers is paramount as we focus on the future. In order to deliver required knowledge to our customers, AEDC must offer a best value solution.

Successfully achieving AEDC’s goals, which are aligned with the 2024 Vision, can produce a best value solution. The relationship between workforce empowerment and achievement of AEDC’s goals and vision are depicted in the below diagram.

3.0 Specific Objectives:

The Test Operations and Sustainment (TOS) Contractor is challenged to provide innovative, effective approaches that enable their workforce to contribute in delivering the outcomes stated in the AEDC 2024 Vision document (see Attachment 1). Specific to the AEDC 2024 Vision are ten strategic goals (see Attachment 2) that AEDC is striving to achieve. Attachments 1 and 2 contain portions of the AEDC 2024 Vision, and are provided as information only. AEDC leadership believes there are five enablers that will facilitate these goals: Learning, Resources, Management, Processes, and Culture. A suggested mapping between enablers and outcomes is provided in the below figure.

Good intentions in our decision-making are not enough for AEDC to remain relevant. We must be diligent and disciplined in our efforts to transform the way we do business. We must be innovative and bold in meeting the needs of our customers. We must find ways to become more valuable to our customers and our Nation.

A tight and explicit linkage between enablers and outcomes will ensure organizational alignment and enable AEDC to provide the superior products to our customers at the best possible value. The TOS Contractor should strive to meet the objectives described below while meeting all Performance Work Statement (PWS) requirements and performance standards.

3.1 Develop and sustain a technically exceptional, customer-focused workforce

The business of AEDC depends on the combined efforts of the Government and Contractor workforce successfully achieving and maintaining the technical prowess to solve the most difficult aerospace development problems while earning and maintaining the unqualified trust and confidence of our customers. This is unlikely to be accomplished without the ability to develop, deploy, and sustain a complex-wide program that emphasizes and develops the various traits that enable the Contractor team to deliver on that objective.

Desired Attributes:

• Efficient, cost-effective training to develop and refine needed skills

• Effective mentoring and coaching

• Challenging and stimulating learning and growth opportunities

Desired Outcomes:

• Contractor workforce externally recognized for excellence in test and evaluation techniques, test operations and sustainment of ground-test facilities, and development of test technologies

• AEDC is the preferred solution provider in the aerospace ground test community

• Outstanding customer satisfaction as measured by objective feedback mechanisms

• Established learning organization that willingly shares technically exceptional knowledge and ideas across the AEDC workforce, customer-base, and stakeholders

3.2 Provide the workforce the resources required to be successful

A skilled workforce can only be successful if its leadership provides the financial resources, materials, and tools required to produce the goods and services required by customers. A key objective of enabling the Contractor workforce must encompass the methods by which sufficient resources will be generated and provided. This encompasses several dimensions including controlling costs of business operations in order to increase discretionary resources; ensuring test capabilities are available when needed, for both current and future programs; allowing for scheduling flexibility; providing access to knowledge and expertise as needed; and developing new and innovative ways of managing the AEDC workforce and infrastructure.

Desired Attributes:

• Full understanding of cost of operations

• Ability to develop innovative approaches to successfully execute business

• Flexible, agile, productive, expert workforce

• Right-sized, reliable infrastructure

• Ability to effectively balance current and future requirements

Desired Outcomes:

• Demonstrated reduction in cost of operations over time while preserving existing test envelopes

• Demonstrated reduction in cost of operations over time while generating new test envelopes required for future systems

• Continual improvements in test product content, test product delivery times, and test product quality

3.3 Create a leadership team focused on enabling the workforce

The TOS leadership team is the single most important enabler to shape the TOS workforce required to achieve the AEDC 2024 Vision. To enable this workforce, leaders and senior management must not only fully understand the vision; they must be passionate about it. In addition, they must communicate it effectively throughout the workforce in a manner that instills an equal degree of passion. Finally, they must be intensely focused on positively motivating and enabling the workforce in such a manner that the workforce is able to reach ever-higher levels of performance.

Desired Attributes:

• Understanding of customers’ needs

• Understanding of workforce’s ability to meet those needs

• Understanding of AEDC organizational interfaces, interrelationships, and processes required for effective operations

• Knowledge of how to lead, motivate, challenge, and reward the workforce to help them consistently achieve ever-higher levels of excellence

• Fully empowered, accountable workforce

• Knowledge and demonstrated ability to execute organization’s business model

• Fully reflect the Air Force core values of integrity, service before self, and excellence

• Leadership ability to forge strong business, technical, and working relationships based on open and honest communication across the entire AEDC enterprise

• Informed decision making through appropriate analysis of relevant data, thorough risk management, relevant professional experience, and sound technical judgment

Desired Outcomes:

• A highly motivated, fully engaged, fully developed, and properly recognized Contractor workforce that is passionate to achieve the AEDC 2024 Vision

• Unparalleled levels of cooperation and communication across the entire AEDC enterprise independent of organization or contract

• High levels of trust and respect between leaders, managers, supervisors, peers and subordinates

3.4 Create and implement processes that add value

AEDC’s processes must enable our workforce to efficiently and effectively perform the myriad tasks required to achieve the AEDC 2024 Vision. The processes must capture the means to deliver superior products to our customers and must enable the passing of knowledge gained in one part of the organization to other parts. While well-structured and well-documented processes are important, we value a workforce that exercises critical thinking in their application and does not follow process simply for the sake of following process. In addition, of equal importance to a set of well-documented and highly effective processes is the ability to modify and tailor those processes, as necessary, to a dynamic work environment.

Desired Attributes:

• Processes are intensely focused on enabling the workforce to deliver superior product and services at best value

• Processes are streamlined, well-defined, transparent to the customers and incorporate performance measures

• Processes can be tailored, as necessary, by an innovative and creative workforce to respond to immediate and unique needs of customers

• Processes are designed to be continuously improved through a well-established quality management system approach

• Lessons learned are well-documented so processes can be updated to reflect the lessons learned

Desired Outcomes:

• Timelines and costs associated with product and services activities are tracked and demonstrated to be continually improving (e.g. cycle time reduction, actual cost reduction)

• Non-value added process steps are eliminated

• Outdated, bureaucratic processes are eliminated

• The Contractor’s workforce demonstrates empowerment to challenge and improve the way the organization conducts its business

• The efficiency of knowledge generation and migration throughout the Contractor’s workforce is consistently improving

3.5 Build the culture required to achieve the AEDC 2024 vision

Culture encompasses a broad range of organizational attributes including values, norms, and beliefs.

Achieving the AEDC 2024 Vision will require the creation of a corporate culture built from an environment that challenges and stimulates, that allows for exploration and discovery, and that rewards innovation, judicious risk taking, and an intense focus on continuous improvement.

Desired Attributes:

• Trust and professional respect that permeate all levels of the organization

• Reasoned trade-off evaluations between rewards innovation and judicious risk taking;

recognizing the possibility of failure

• High value placed on intellectual curiosity

• Discontent with status-quo; leadership and the workforce possess a continual drive to improve their ability to meet AEDC’s mission

• Workforce projects technical rigor and competency

Desired Outcomes:

• High workforce knowledge, skills, and abilities

• High workforce engagement with the Government, and at times with other Contractors and Key

Stakeholders

• Decisions that consistently demonstrate awareness through risk management that at times incorporate acceptance of identified risks as a trade-off to cost in our operational decisions and processes

• Workforce delivers solutions based upon a culture of technical rigor and world-class competency

Attachment 1

Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) 2024 Vision

Internal focus

In 2024, AEDC will have the ability to test within the full envelope that is active today, either directly or by rapidly reconstituting those portions of the envelope that have been placed in a standby status.

In addition, AEDC will have the ability to meet the aerospace ground test needs of Next-Generation Air Dominance, Long Range Strike, Conventional Prompt Global Strike, Next Generation Cruise Missile, and next generation space launch platforms.

Finally, AEDC will do all of this while

- Reducing Air Force funding required to operate AEDC without shifting costs to the customer

- Reducing customer cost by o Reducing the staff required to conduct test operations o Reducing the fuel and electricity requirements

- Maintaining aerospace technological superiority as measured against the FY13 baseline operating model.

External focus

In 2024, AEDC, though headquartered at Arnold AFB TN, will have a nationwide footprint. It will have active collaborations with and/or personnel assigned to Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), various strategically chosen academic institutions, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Air Force Sustainment Center (AFSC), Headquarters Air Force (HAF), and Test Resource Management Center (TRMC). Facilities, operations, and processes will be designed to facilitate those collaborations. AEDC will be widely, externally recognized as the leader in helping programs successfully deploy advanced technology in aerospace systems and a catalyst for improving life cycle system performance through our leadership in the application of integrated testing, modeling, and analysis

To accomplish this, AEDC will

- Increase the amount of Reimbursable Budget Authority (RBA) obtained from technology development and test analysis

- Take a leadership role in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (OUSD(AT&L)) Systems Engineering Office drive to create a common integration environment to support the development, fielding, and integration of future combat systems across the Department as measured against the FY13 baseline status.

Attachment 2 Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) Strategic Goals

Goal 1 - Meet the aerospace ground test needs of Next-Generation Air Dominance, Long Range Strike, Conventional Prompt Global Strike, Next Generation Cruise Missile, and next generation space launch platforms

Goal 2 - Test within the full envelope that is active today, either directly or by rapidly reconstituting those portions of the envelope that have been placed in a standby status

Goal 3 - Reduce Air Force funding required to operate AEDC without shifting costs to customers

Goal 4 - Reduce customer cost by reducing the staff required to conduct test operations and reduce fuel and electricity requirements

Goal 5 - Maintain aerospace technological superiority

Goal 6 - AEDC, though headquartered at Arnold AFB TN, will have a nationwide footprint

Goal 7 - AEDC will be widely, externally recognized as the leader in helping programs successfully deploy advanced technology in aerospace systems and a catalyst for improving life cycle system performance through our leader-ship in the application of integrated testing, modeling, and analysis

Goal 8 - Increase technology development and test analysis work performed at AEDC

Goal 9 - Develop revolutionary concept of operations (CONOPS) for immediate application including Government-led, contractor-supported combined test force in each mission area

Goal 10 - Recruit, develop, and retain the workforce required to meet the AEDC Vision