A Message from the Commander - Budget 2015 Published March 28, 2014 By Bruce A. Litchfield TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- The President's proposed Defense Budget for Fiscal 2015 was released recently, and as predicted, the Air Force Sustainment Center will experience some of the effects. While the budget we're currently operating under has brought more stability and new workloads to AFSC, the newest budget was forced to make some difficult choices, which will require adjustments to workload and manpower. Limited resources have forced Air Force senior leaders to make challenging decisions to balance readiness, capability and capacity to remain ready to meet all challenges both present and future. We've been asked to transition to a leaner Air Force and to do that, we plan to restructure ourselves to include the removal of almost 500 aircraft from the operational inventory during the next five years. As we transform, AFSC will focus on delivering more capability at less cost so our Air Force will remain ready to fly, fight and win during the next conflict. We knew this was coming and started our journey toward Cost-Effective Readiness more than a year ago. We will continue on the path in order to provide the readiness our warfighter's need at a lower cost. How we perform as a Center will determine our value and competitiveness as the best value for sustaining readiness. Our ability to drive down cost, deliver a quality product, in a safe environment will go a long way toward determining future workloads. The tenants of "Art of the Possible" are what we must focus on. We need to look beyond our current abilities and strive to meet new goals that the Air Force never imagined before - and we will do this together. Thank you for all you do and for weathering these fiscal challenges as true professionals. Keep 'em flying...it's what we do! Bruce BRUCE A. LITCHFIELD Lieutenant General, USAF Commander, AFSC