AFSC Commander rings in new fiscal year Published Oct. 8, 2014 By Lt. Gen. Bruce Litchfield Air Force Sustainment Center Commander TINKER AIR FORCE BASE - Okla. -- Happy New Year! Last Wednesday marked the beginning of the new fiscal year. Fiscal Year 2014 was a remarkable year. By all accounts we ended the year strong and we must carry that momentum forward. Our nation is at war and our Air Force will need all the capabilities only we can deliver. You don't have to listen to the news reports for very long to know we are in for a long fight that we must win. The Air Force Sustainment Center team must do what we do best; generate the airpower our Airmen need for as long as it takes to defeat and destroy the terrorist threat. As Fiscal 2014 closes, I want to share with you some observations on what we accomplished together. First, I'm very impressed with how all AFSC members shook off last year's demoralizing effects of sequestration, furloughs, government shut down and a difficult start to the year. Your ability to re-engage, fully focused on warfighter support is a true testament to your resiliency, dedication and professionalism. This past year also delivered significant blows to many military members who faced force shaping and reductions in force boards. Through it all, we demonstrated an incredible wingman spirit by helping those who needed it most while keeping a keen eye on mission objectives. The Fiscal 2014 production scorecard indicates we had areas of incredible performance levels. The overwhelming majority of our work centers met mission targets - which given all the challenges of the last 18 months - is well worth bragging about. Some areas achieved record levels for maintenance, production, and supply support while at the same time, achieving enormous cost-effective gains. Our air base wings provided excellent installation support for our aging facilities, along with security and communication support, not only for AFSC, but our mission partners as well. We still have some areas that have a steep climb ahead to meet minimum expectations, but I can say with certainty, that everyone is focused on getting the right results, the right way. As a team, we executed our mission at increased throughput levels, safer and with higher quality than ever before. We reduced the cost of sustainment by nearly $500 million dollars; allowing the Air Force to reinvest in warfighter capabilities. We will continue our path toward a culture of continuous process improvement with the rollout of the AFSC Way 3.0, while realizing hundreds of millions of dollars in cost saving and cost avoidance. I consider Fiscal 2104 a tremendous success, thanks to the hard work of all the AFSC members. We still have much more to do, but I can say with certainty, as a Center, we are united and focused on getting the right results, the right way. As we start the new fiscal year, don't slow down. We need to avoid past tendencies to get behind early and then have to surge to make up for production deficiencies. Start AFSC Strong! Let's begin the New Year at full throttle and really show the Air Force how we can increase capability while driving down cost. The better we are at executing our mission, the better our Air Force will be able to fly, fight and win. Each of you is critical to our mission of generating airpower. I am very proud to be your Commander and I'm proud to work with great Airmen who are dedicated to the Air Force mission. Keep 'em flying...it's what we do!