Forming the Air Mobility Team

On June 1, 1992, Air Mobility Command (AMC) was created from the resources of Military Airlift Command (MAC) and the majority of tankers from Strategic Air Command (SAC). After six years of consolidation, however, some distinct differences remain in the way the previous MAC community operates and the way the tanker community operates. This paper analyses these differences from a cultural perspective. Specifically, the argument presented states that to combine the MAC and SAC communities into a single command requires an examination of the separate cultures or subcultures. In addition, based on the definition and discussion of organizational culture used in this paper, leadership and programmatic guidance that accounts for the two subcultures or seeks to eliminate the two separate cultures in an effort to create a new culture may be needed. To determine what constitutes the MAC and SAC subcultures, the leadership of these two commands is examined based primarily on their founding leaders--General LeMay for SAC and General Tunner for MAC. AMC is then examined to see how the current system supports, or doesn't support, the cultural basis of the SAC and MAC communities. In particular, a significant cultural difference is found in the way the two communities regard training and operational missions. Finally, assuming AMC should address this cultural difference and to stimulate discussion on areas that may help reconcile the two subcultures, some preliminary recommendations for action are made for the AMC staff, AMC command and control function, and AMC budgeting process.