General Discusses Resource Constraints

In March, the chapter and the Rocky Mountain National Defense Industrial Association co-sponsored a military guest lecture event hosted by the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce at Cheyenne Mountain Resort. Lt. Gen. Michael J. Basla, USAF, vice commander, U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), served as the guest speaker. Gen. Basla, an AFCEA Lifetime Member, spoke of the AFSPC's primary goal of supporting the joint warfighter and maintaining that vision with tight budget constraints. He stressed that for the first time in his 32-year career, with the addition of the Libyan conflict, the United States now has the quest of simultaneously fighting engagements on three fronts—a huge challenge with shrinking resources. He then focused on a major scale back of the “in-sourcing” activity the Air Force had planned over the next three years. Again due to shrinking budgets, the Air Force will only be able to bring on a fraction of the hires needed in both AFSPC and the total civilian force. The general finished his presentation with a question and answer session and by challenging industry to provide cost-saving and effective solutions in support of our nation's defense.

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