The Utah Air Force Association's 33rd annual Focus on Defense Symposium is set to take place June 20 at the Ogden Eccles Conference Center.
"Few people have the opportunity to attend an event like this in their own backyard and hear the commander of the new Air Force Sustainment Center address some very pressing issues that have a direct impact on how we do a vital mission at Hill Air Force Base," said Wally Saeger, Focus on Defense chairman.
This year's theme is "Acquisition and Sustainment in the 21st Century AFMC," which focuses on the five-center reorganization of the AFMC and how it will affect acquisition and sustainment for the Air Force.
"Maj. Gen. Bruce A. Litchfield will hopefully provide some insight into the challenges that the new Air Force Sustainment Cen-ter will face as it stands up in the near future, as well as
the long term approach to ensuring the viability of sustainability," Saeger said.
Along with Litchfield, various other speakers will be present at the symposium to talk about the stand up of the Air Force Sustainment Center and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and what they mean for the Air Force, and they will answer questions presented by the attendees.
"We have a number of other speakers who have a vested interest in the Air Force Sustainment Center and what it means to the Air Force," said Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Kevin Sullivan, 2012 AFA Symposium chairman and commander of the Ogden Air Logistics Center, 2003-2007.
Other symposium speakers include: Lt. Gen. Judith Fedder, deputy chief of staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, U.S. Air Force Headquarters; Maj. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan, KC-46 PEO and program director, KC-46 Tanker Modernization Directorate, Aeronautical Systems Center; Brig. Gen. Dwyer L. Dennis, director, ISR and Requirements Directorate, AFMC; and Henry A. Obering III, senior vice president, Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.
"We try to keep a logistics flavor for this conference, The theme - 'Acquisition and Sustainment in the 21st Century AFMC' keeps with our emphasis on AFMC logistics," Sullivan said. "That's why we're inviting Lt. Gen. Fedder as the head logistician and she can talk to us about what this means from a logistics standpoint."
"It kind of ties it back to Hill and our mission here, which is logistics as well," Herman Raiff, Hill's liaison for Focus on Defense, said.
During the symposium each guest speaker will be given time to talk about topics and issues that concern their field of expertise and how they foresee the future of the Air Force, and then the floor will be opened up for questions.
Questions will be written down during each speaker's presentation and collected by Mike Dunn, AFA president, who will then select which ones are of most interest to the general public and present them to the speakers, Sullivan described.
The symposium will also acknowledge Utah Outstanding Teacher of the Year award winners, and the CyberPatriot IV cyber warfare competition competitors from the Clearfield High School Junior ROTC. "The AFA themselves sponsor 40 top performers from the base," Sullivan added. "Those are military and civilian employees that are nominated by their organizations."
The price for Department of Defense civilians and active duty military is $40 for the symposium only. There is a salmon barbecue, awards banquet, mid-course correction party and a two-day charity golf tournament held at Hubbard Memorial Golf Course and Wolf Creek Golf Course.
For more information and prices, please call Herman Raiff at (801) 777-5076 or visit the AFA Focus on Defense website at www.afafod.org. Registration applications can also be found on the AFA Focus on Defense website.
