Command readies for transition

The reduction of the Air Force Materiel Command from 12 to five centers is fast approaching. Centers will be activated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., in the coming weeks. At Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the Air Force Flight Test Center will become the Air Force Test Center to reflect an expanded mission, and Wright-Patterson will activate the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center July 9. At Eglin, the dual mission of test and air armament development at the Air Armament Center will fall under the Air Force Test Center at Edwards, which will oversee the command's test mission maintained at Eglin, Edwards and Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. The air armament development portion of Eglin’s AAC will become part of AFLCMC on July 18. The same day, the 96th Air Base Wing will be redesignated the 96th TW. The people and mission of Eglin's current 46th TW will transition to the newly designated 96th TW. Both the Eglin and Edwards AFBs' test wings will then align to the AFTC. The consolidations were announced in November 2011. (Source: Air Force Materiel Command, 06/18/12, Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/16/12)