Col. Tran no stranger to Test Systems Sustainment operations

  • Published
  • By Deidre Ortiz
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  Col. John Tran recently stepped into the role of AEDC Test Systems Sustainment Chief at Arnold Air Force Base, and in this position he plans to further develop Commander Col. Scott Cain’s strategic plan and vision for mission ready sustainment across all test facilities.

“The Test Systems Sustainment Division is responsible for the overall lifecycle management, from purchase to disposal of materials and equipment for all test systems,” he said. “This is not only at Arnold but across all of AEDC, which includes our geographically separated units as well.”

Col. Tran plans on advancing a Reliability Centered Maintenance approach to integrate and drive sustainment across the complex. RCM will also utilize emerging capabilities such as Condition Based Maintenance.

Tran’s responsibilities as TSS Chief will be leading, directing and overseeing maintenance and reliability activities for $11.5 billion in assets that provide unique national-level ground and flight testing capabilities for the Department of Defense. His division is responsible for the operation and sustainment of AEDC research, development, test and evaluation of aerospace test and support systems, delivering mission-ready systems through asset management and capital improvement.

Before coming to Arnold AFB, Tran was serving as deputy chief, Maintenance Division, at the Pentagon. While there, he said it was made clear that a major focus of the U.S. Air Force is readiness.
“It was good timing coming from the Pentagon to here,” he said. “There are strategic changes being made, with an emphasis on rapid development and innovation in regards to new technology.

“This includes a huge effort for sustainment to be faster, more efficient and cheaper.”

Though he had heard of AEDC in passing, he had never worked closely with the Complex before.

“I wasn’t really familiar with what all AEDC did, but now I see how the people and capabilities all fit into the bigger [Air Force] puzzle,” he said. “It’s really eye opening.”

Tran received his commission from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1997 and graduated from the Aircraft/Munitions Maintenance Officer course in December 1997.

Tran has 21 years of experience as an aircraft maintenance officer, and he is a fully-qualified Joint Staff Officer with operational and test and development experience on the F-16C/D, F-15C/D, UH-1, HH-60, C-12, C-130, E-3 and KC-135 aircraft.

Tran has served in command in a variety of positions at the squadron, group, wing and staff levels in Headquarters Air Force Staff, Air Combat Command, Pacific Air Forces, Air Force Material Command and United States Forces Japan. His duties have also taken him to operations overseas on numerous occasions, including Operations Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Tomodachi.

“I say that this is only my second assignment east of the Mississippi,” he joked.

As the U.S. Air Force continues to grow and adapt for the future, Tran said he looks forward to his duties as TSS Chief.

“A lot will be coming through AEDC, as far as the next-generation technology,” he said. “TSS will need to do its part to make sure that the base is ready to take on these types of tests. This ties back to the defense strategy of ‘high-end’ fight capabilities, now that our adversaries have similar technology and warfighting capabilities. Arnold will be integral in ensuring these new capabilities are tested and developed quickly.”

Having moved to rural Tennessee from Washington, D.C., Tran mentioned it will take a little while for him and his family to get used to their new surroundings.

“But it really is a hidden gem,” he said. “You really can’t get any better than this in terms of the community. Everyone’s really nice and there’s a small-town feel on base.”

Tran also mentioned he liked that while other military bases sometimes rely on another organization’s coordination to progress a project, AEDC has many of the programs and capabilities here in one place at Arnold, which can allow for smoother and quicker processes.

“It can sometimes be bureaucratic elsewhere, and here we’re kind of able to control our own destiny,” he said. “There are program offices, engineers and contractors right onsite, so we have the ability to make the big stuff happen.”