O & M vs. TWCF

[Guest KoolKat]

Up until now, my brilliant, yet simple little world has consisted of O & M, with everything else being TWCF.

Question: Is that even true?

Furthermore, there are a number of more specific categories of mission types that has me a little baffled. I'll say what I think they are and then just tell me I'm totally wrong:

All Local Trainers: Total O & M (easy one.)

SAAMs: Specialized mission to your capabilities that they task you with. No other way to coategorize other than we need this, hey you do this.

CHANNELs: Like SAAMs, except it's a regularly occuring need. However, also works on the hey you do this principle.

JA/AATs: This is Joint. I got that. Basically 2 pots of money are at play when it comes time to cash in. Other than that, it could be anything, for any reason.

Getting tougher:

Question: If you have an exercise...say a MAF inspection, the real deal...who pays for that? Is that in the "Flying Hour Program?" I've seen this tracked separately by Yokota's current ops and I'm not clear as to why and what impact that separate data has, since I THOUGHT it was O & M still, maybe not.

Question: "Contingency:" There are a relatively massive number of hours filed under this category and I'm assuming it's sandbox time. I can't be sure, but it's my only stab. Around here, natural disasters, typhoons, earthquakes...blah, are a shoe in for this, but do the taskings come down to SAAMs and therefore TWCF? What the f_ck is TWCF, now I have my self confused. Fourtunately i was confused before I started this, so I haven't done myself any harm!

QUESTION: OCF and FCF: Who pays for these? I can see the desire for Big Blue to want it done, but also the unit with the fiscal budget. Is there a set standard financially?

Question: Ferry flights: Unit giving or unit recieving or "person" dicating the ferry? Is this still considered TWCF regardless?

Okay...done. I still can't figure out why the Current Ops guys have a sortie count that is 227 higher than mine, but only 91.3 hours higher though!!! Something is askew!

ANY help is broadening my little world would be apreciated.

Thank you kindly.

BENDY

[Mambo]

Bendy, did they move you up to the OSS or something?

Oh, OCF and FCF comes out of Flying Hours money.

[ 01. February 2007, 07:04: Message edited by: Mambo ]

[Guest KoolKat]

Nope, still in the squadron.

FCF/OCF = O & M, check.

BENDY

[Guest KoolKat]

But...it would be fair to say, that "The Flying Hour Program" doesn't necessarily mean it O & M funded. I second guess that that's what you meant by that.

They may be two seperate programs (O & M and TWCF,) but they are track together all under the same cap anyhoo....

They're asked for and programmed, although may or may not be regulated the same way or by the same people.

If we could just start with what TWCF REALLY is, that would be helpful.

BENDY

[Guest C-21 Pilot]

TWCF = Transportation Working Capital Fund...

USTRANSCOM submits the TWCF budget as a discrete

subset of the Air Force Working Capital Fund budget submission.

It reflects the cost authority needed to meet peacetime operations and the surge/readiness requirements to support the National Military Strategy.

Yep...

[Guest Hydro130]

A unit's Flying Hour Program is the combo of O/M and TWCF (Transportation Working Capital Fund). Contingency $/hours are handled completely & entirely separately, AFAIK.

JAATTs are joint (of course), but only one customer pays for any given JAATT in its entirety. It's usually the other service, since we are typically serving a support role, but sometimes Big Blue pays the bill. You hear the term "JAATT buy", but that's a little misleading - that refers to the quaterly (or whatever timeframe) meeting that USAF units' JAATT reps (usually the Current Ops folks) and the USA/USN/USMC reps get together and lay out their scheduled training they need joint support for. Essentially, the units horse-trade with each to cover the support, based on O/M hours available, training reqmts, and $ available. In that sense, I'm not "buying a JAATT" in the financial sense, I'm buying the responsibility to cover it - I've agreed to support it. Who actually pays the bills for the whole thing is/can be addressed separately (based on who needs what more). However, if the USAF unit is paying for the JAATT, that money is always O/M, never TWCF. It is training after all...

That's the easiest way to delineate TWCF and O/M. O/M is always about training, even if joint. TWCF is always real-world, off-station mission support, whether it's joint or USAF.

FCF/OCF are O/M. AFAIK, MAF exercises are also always O/M.

The primary difference about SAAMs versus Channels are that SAAMs are not routine misions (schedule or otherwise), for instance, all BANNER missions are SAAMs. Channels are typically routinely & regularly scheduled off-station support missions that need to be filled. TACC doles out the Channels to spread the wealth around units. Once the channels drop from TACC, bases/units can horse-trade with each other (with TACC's nod) to accomodate local scheduling issues.

SAAMs and Channels are ALWAYS from TWCF money.

Contingency is a whole different pot of money aside from TWCF and O/M.

That's a nutshell explanation from what I remember years ago as a barrelmaster, I never did work Current Ops -level scheduling, so I am certainly no expert on this stuff...

If you want to real story, sit down with AndyMac and have him explain it to you -- the flying hours program is THE meat-and-potatoes of any airlift DO's administrative responsibilities.

Cheers, Hydro

EDIT: corrected some of the spelling/grammar buffoonery

[ 01. February 2007, 13:19: Message edited by: Hydro130 ]

[Coasta]

Bendy,

PM me if you're still confused. I was an Airlift Director in the 374th a while back. I dunno if things changed since 2002 though.

Coasta

[Guest Hydro130]

Originally posted by Coasta:

Bendy,

PM me if you're still confused. I was an Airlift Director in the 374th a while back. I dunno if things changed since 2002 though.

Coasta

Good call.

I forgot to mention that the JAATT-buy process in PACAF is an abortion (well, it was still when I left, at least) compared to how it "should" work. Progress was being made, but it was still unbelieveably painful.

Cheers, Hydro

[Guest KoolKat]

Okay, thanks Hydro. That answers my questions for now.

Coasta, thanks for the offer. I'll probably PM you soon with a few questions.

I just have huge discrepencies between what I'm coming up with and what current ops has on their trackers, so I want to be sure i'm totally undestanding what's going on here.

BENDY

[LockheedFix]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't a lot of the cash that we get at the end of the year for fallout money us finally being reimbursed for TWCF?

[Guest arcnav]

Theoretically, TWCF funds are reimbursed soon after a unit provides airlift. Users (i.e. the Army, USMC, etc) are given money needed for Trans costs at the begining of the year, and are supposed to use that money to "buy" airlift, which means "reimburse" the unit providing the airlift.

DoD takes the money for anticipated trans costs (submitted by users for the FY) and gives to individual units to "buy" airlift from AMC. Then when those units get their airlift, they are billed and the money is put into the TWCF account since the TWCF money is what was used to provide the airlift.

What typically happenend (until around 2001), was that at the end of the year the USAF would pay O&M $$ into TWCF to make up the shortfall from not being paid from units (i.e the White house), and for undercharging routes (TWCF loses money -- used to be .01/lb and $1.00/seat -- on channel missions), and for the training received from flying TWCF missions.

When I got off AD, however, TWCF was actually not only being reimbursed fully, but actually making money (which is a no-no for a revolving fund, and causing the Army, USMC and other users to demand a "refund"). In the past however, USAF O&M money was used to make up those shortfalls, and we never heard the USMC and USA offer to help make the difference.

Also, SAAM's were reimbursed around 90% since we got "training" on those missions in addition to providing a service. I think channels were (on average) recovering about 70% of actual cost in the late 90's.

I hope this makes sense...I just polished off a bottle of 04 Cabernet Franc and am reminiscening about when I used to teach a TWCF class (that's actually why I drink -- it was hell to learn and instruct).