Reshaping our Air Force
Command and control changes set to come

By Wing Commander Jo Elkington

Chief of Air Force AIRMSHL Geoff Shepherd in Canberra last month, speaks about reshaping and rebalancing our Air Force.

Photo by FLT Trevor Grant

A STRENGTHENING of the division between the ADF’s warfighting operations and “raise, train and sustain” functions will result in major changes for Air Force command and business processes.

Foremost among these will be an Air Command whose focus will become ‘raise, train and sustain’, the relocation of the Air Operations Centre (AOC) from Glenbrook to an interim site near Canberra and then to the new HQJOPS near Bungendore in 2008.

Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd spoke about the changes in Canberra last month in a hard-hitting keynote address to a gathering of new and old members of Air Force Headquarters (AFHQ) during an induction day.

“Bungendore will focus purely on operations and our contribution to the new joint integrated HQ will be the Joint Force Air Component Commander (JFACC) and the Air Operations Centre, currently at Headquarters Air Command.”

After welcoming the attendees CAF laid out his expectations and his Commander’s intent for the future development of Air Force.

The firmer division of the operational aspects from the raise, train, sustain functions provides Air Force a chance to reorganise the way it does business and an ideal opportunity to adjust its work practices by considering how its command and control needs to look in the future.

DCAF has established a team which will rebalance and reshape our Air Force so that the workforce available more closely matches the workforce required in a sustainable manner to match future capabilities.

The team will coordinate Air Force initiatives to maximise the effectiveness of the new Air Force command and control arrangements.

AIRMSHL Shepherd said this review may also examine the way the FEG HQs and Wings conduct their business, while remaining committed to the warfighting focus of our operational Wings.

CAF said his intent was to smooth Air Force command processes while continuing the focus on achieving operational results now as well as our future development.

“My intent is not to be too disruptive, but we can’t just band aid and patch up what we have now,” he said. “Doing nothing is not an option.

“Organisations must continually learn, adapt and evolve in the modern world. However, one thing must never change; our values, culture and behaviour.”

He said to his new staff, “It is your job to prime DCAF and me up with as much information as possible. If you don’t do your work, undertake your analysis, make your decisions, and define your sense of the situation, then we can’t get the briefs that we need, the information we need and the decisions we need off to those committees.

“While DCAF and I are the leaders, we don’t have all the smarts. You need to be independent, use your own initiative, intelligence and experience. Trust your own judgement to do the work Air Force needs to go forward.”

CAF stressed the need for the practice of Air Force culture, values and behaviour.

“Values drive our culture, while behaviour is the true manifestation of our culture and values. In turn, people are the most important part of the organisation, the key to all our capabilities.

“Appropriate behaviour is vital to ensure we interact with each other in a correct way. It drives our professional endeavours as well.”

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