BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. – It’s Mission Monday. Meet Jonathan Foman, a basing and beddown engineer with the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center’s Detachment 10 at Barksdale.
The detachment is one of 10 established under AFIMSC as direct conduits between the center and each Air Force major command and U.S. Space Force. Detachment 10 supports Air Force Global Strike Command.
Foman and his teammates have no funding or decision authority, he said, but they are ”constantly involved in bringing together various subject matter experts and stakeholders for the B-21 Raider stealth bomber to ensure alignment and communication to successfully accomplish the design, procurement and construction of needed beddown facilities.”
We asked the Amite, Louisiana, native to tell us about himself and the work he does for the Department of the Air Force.
What do you love about your job?
It’s very rewarding. New weapon system beddown is a huge undertaking and involves many moving parts and professions. It’s working through any challenges with an incredible cast and crew that has to come together to make it work … that gives me job satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.
When it comes to your job, what keeps you motivated?
The variety of tasks in my job makes it difficult for anything to get old and makes each new day exciting. The genre of work that we’re doing at any given time often dictates the folks we work with. Some days I’m working with funding professionals, some days engineers and architects, other days with security teams. It’s very motivating to have such a diverse team to work with each day.
Why are you and your team important to the Air Force and Space Force enterprise and your customers?
We ensure beddown efforts stay connected and in sync through communication. This includes day-to-day dialogue to large weekly meetings, giving all groups involved in the effort an audience and place to get help as needed. We assist in problem solving and articulate needs in our advocacy for new weapon system beddown programs.
Describe a project or event you and your team worked on recently that gave you a great sense of accomplishment:
We work closely with the program integration office who recently started an annual PIO summit where many stakeholders gathered in one location for communication and problem solving. We at Det. 10 had the opportunity to lead the facilities portion of that event, focusing on the root causes of programmatic issues and sharing lessons learned during recent beddown activities for AFGSC installations.
How does what you do support AFIMSC’s strategic priorities?
Supporting weapon system beddown directly supports increased lethality and readiness. We’re making sure that facilities and supporting infrastructure are ready when the new weapon gets here.
Is there anything else you’d like to add that might help people understand the importance of what you do for the Department of the Air Force?
Detachment 10 supports many AFGSC beddowns with a talented team of professionals that have the perspective and experience to help guide the teams to success, learning more and more along the way, and applying it across the board.