While the government often takes a bad rap for waste, poor contract management and inefficent operations, once in awhile it deserves a pat on the back. An example of smart government is the Air Force Installation Acquisition Transformation initiative (IAT). IAT is a comprehensive restructuring of the Air Force continental U.S. installation acquisition practices. Under the transformation, the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, will head five geographically-based installation acquisition groups as follows: Northeast (Hampton Roads) Southeast (Warner Robbins) Midwest (St Louis) Southwest (San Antonio) and Northwest (Colorado Springs)
IAT will allow the Air Force to purchase, on time and at the best value, the best products and services for installation customers and warfighters and leverage scale for buying.
While the proposed IAT implementation schedule had been pushed back, the Air Force's current goal is to have 50% of contracting activities transferred to regional centers by the summer of FY 2010. Complete implementation will take between 3-5 years.
