AFMC to modernize theater operations, replacing legacy logistics with integrated capabilities

The Air Force Materiel Command is moving to overhaul how the service prepositions equipment and supplies worldwide, shifting from static stockpiles to mission-ready capability packages managed under enterprise oversight. The effort is aimed at speeding delivery of combat power, bolstering deterrence, and enabling Agile Combat Employment amid more contested operating environments.

“We’re relying on outdated logistics practices. This creates shortfalls in strategically pre-positioned capabilities and limits operational flexibility,” said Maj. Stephanie Teeple, AFMC Set the Theaters Integration Team. “This deficiency can hinder our ability to deter adversaries, project power, disperse at will and rapidly respond to crises, which increases our vulnerability and reduces overall strategic effectiveness. The intent of this effort is to transition all classes of supply from ‘stuff’ to a capability.”

Today’s logistics posture is split across major commands, with acquisition, maintenance, and sustainment often operating on separate tracks—an arrangement AFMC leaders say slows the delivery of usable capability to forward locations. AFMC, working with the Headquarters Air Force Directorate of Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, is pursuing enterprise-level control of prepositioned materiel and moving toward complete, standardized packages that arrive near the point of need and are managed “cradle to grave” by a single organization.

“No one really sits together to determine what a single theater needs – storage capacity, specific infrastructure for sustainment…each MAJCOM requests funding for their own requirements, and as a result, not all functional areas get funded at the levels they need,” said Teeple. “Our goal is to be able to integrate across the DAF and advocate for policy and funding with a full site picture of all the requirements, so our warfighters have the material they need ready and in working condition for when they need it.”

AFMC’s Set the Theaters Integration Team is leading the change and is slated to transition into the AFMC A45 Logistics Plans and Strategy Division by Fiscal Year 2027. Early priorities include revising policies and funding constructs that have historically centered on individual major commands. According to AFMC, the plan requires updating Department of the Air Force Instructions to codify authorities for agile operations and enterprise prepositioning.

“Forward operating locations must have the infrastructure and force protection assets to defend themselves while conducting mission generation during Agile Combat Employment. We need set warfighting theaters with credible capabilities that enable agile combat projection,” said Teeple. “As an institutional command, AFMC provides services and sustainment to the entire DAF to support missions; prepositioned material has not gotten the support it needs in the past. We’re working to enable enterprise cradle-to-grave ownership of theater setting to ensure our Airmen have what they need to be successful.”

The modernization push also leans on data and mobility. AFMC and Headquarters Air Force are developing a secure, data-driven tool to create a unified Logistics Common Operating Picture, allowing leaders to track materiel status in real time and shift assets across combatant commands as demands change. “Real-time oversight of materiel and the ability to rapidly redistribute to theaters of need is key to our future success,” said Teeple.

Senior Air Force leaders are backing the shift. A General Officer Steering Group is expected to meet in early summer to establish a charter and align prepositioning strategies across the Department of the Air Force. AFMC officials say the end state is a standardized, globally postured logistics architecture that can pivot quickly from day-to-day competition to combat operations.