LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
The U.S. Air Force Command and Control Integration Center closed after 16 years of service during a ceremony in Hampton, Dec. 16.
The closure comes after an announcement from the Air Combat Command commander regarding the intent to realign his staff to meet dynamic changes occurring across the Air Force more effectively.
"Command and control is not going away," said Stan Newberry, AFC2IC director. "Ongoing events reemphasize the need for receiving, transmitting and sharing quick and accurate information to understand situations, organize forces, plan and decide courses of action, and direct and monitor execution."
The AFC2IC was formed in 1997 to optimize command and control as an integral part of airpower and to achieve success through decision superiority. Their mission was to identify command and control gaps and shortfalls, and resolve tactical-operational-strategic C2 integration issues.
According to Newberry, the AFC2IC "accomplished a lot in the command and control area," including reducing the time to share critical information that enabled target identification and prosecution in a matter of minutes versus days or weeks.
"I believe the Air Force will continue to build on the great strides made by the center and the C2 professionals," said Newberry. "Our center team had innovative approaches using people, processes and technology giving warfighters and mission partners unprecedented communications."