AFAMS Welcomes New Commander

By Shane Klestinski, Associate Editor

 

Air Force Col. Anthony “ABC” Graham assumed command of the Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation (AFAMS) in Orlando, Florida, July 12.

 

Graham is a native Floridian, originally from Palm Bay where he graduated high school. He briefly played football at Cumberland College, but when he came home, Graham “bounced from job to job,” unsure of his direction – but this changed quickly after the birth of his son.

 

“I was looking for a way to make a difference,” Graham said. “I didn’t want to get a job just to get a job, and I knew I needed to go back to school.”

 

Graham’s father previously served in the Army, he had encouraged military service throughout his son’s life, and he reminded Graham about the possible opportunities in the Army. Graham said that joining the Air Force was literally the result of “walking in the wrong door.” He meant to visit the Army ROTC unit at the University of Central Florida (UCF), but according to Graham, he accidentally entered the building that belonged to the Air Force ROTC program. After walking down a hall and seeing several photos of aircraft, Graham realized his error and turned to leave when a cadre member approached him, talked about Air Force opportunities, and gave him further information as he left to see the Army reps next door.

 

That night, a thunderstorm knocked out Graham’s cable service, so he took a closer look at the Air Force ROTC information he’d received. He ultimately “fell in love” with the Air Force program, finding that it was “like a family,” with a supportive cadre who broadened his horizons and made him realize what he could do in the Air Force’s big picture.

 

Graham graduated from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s in finance, received his commission, and entered active duty in 1999. Since then, he has earned an MBA from Trident University in 2002. Graham also graduated from the Air Command and Staff College in 2008 and the Air War College in 2014 while serving in a variety of operational and staff assignments.

 

He started out as an electronic warfare officer (EWO) on an RC-135 with the 343rd Reconnaissance Squadron. Graham was serving in Saudi Arabia, supporting Operation Southern Watch in 2000, prior to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. After 9/11, he served multiple tours through 2007 flying several missions over Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Returning to the U.S., Graham went on to be an RC-135 instructor/evaluator EWO and assistant director of operations at Offutt Air Force Base.

 

After he later served as the group-level chief of plans with the 12th Operations Group at Randolph Air Force Base, Graham participated in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program where he was an air advisor to the Afghan air force for two tours. This new Department of Defense (DOD) program took a longer-term approach by taking Afghan culture into consideration and it had him deployed from June 2011 to June 2012, and once more from January 2014 to December 2014.

 

“The Afghans believe in relationships, and we found out that, as we deployed folks for six months to a year, they didn’t really start getting work done until that ninth or tenth month because it took that long to build those relationships,” Graham said. “With the ‘Af-Pak’ Hands program, we went to Afghanistan for a year, came home for a year, took some language courses, and went back for that second year, right back where we were previously. On day one of my second trip, 95% of the people I’d mentored were still there… so there was no buildup of relationships because they had already been built. That second year was very useful, and we got a lot done.”

 

Graham eventually returned to fly the RC-135, worked as director of the 55th Operations Group’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center in 2015, and he went on to command the 4th Battalion at the Cleveland Military Enlisted Processing Station (MEPS).

 

Following his MEPS command, Graham assumed duties at Air Combat Command (ACC) as chief of the Electronic Warfare/Electromagnetic Spectrum Branch in 2019. He later became the chief of Tactical Data Links and Connectivity Requirements Division at ACC, where he developed requirements documents to integrate and modernize command-and-control systems across the Air Force. A joint-qualified officer, Graham also led efforts for airborne networking to support joint air defense command and control.

 

Before reporting to Orlando, Graham was the vice commander of support for Space Launch Delta 45 at Patrick Space Force Base (SFB), where he oversaw guided mission support efforts for range and launch operations at the only launch base for DOD and commercial organizations.

 

Graham considers his previous positions at the Cleveland MEPS and Patrick SFB as having been especially valuable in preparing him for his new post. His time at MEPS introduced him to working with a significant number of civilians, and according to Graham, “there’s a difference between leading a civilian force and a military force [because] different things motivate military members and civilians.” He said his time as vice commander gave him a great deal of experience in commanding a large organization.

 

“I was very lucky at Patrick to have two great bosses who allowed me to basically run the base,” Graham said. “I was almost like an air base wing commander.”

 

In his new post as AFAMS commander, Graham now leads a team of military, civilian and contractor modeling and simulation professionals. His team drives innovation and interoperability to support Air Force warfighters in maximizing performance, improving decision-making skills, and increasing lethality to protect national security and interests abroad.

 

Graham noted that he personally enjoys teaching and mentoring, and he hopes to pursue those activities more in the community as he gets settled in Orlando. The interactions he got to have with students back in his instructor days are what he misses the most about flying now. While many of his former students are preparing to be squadron commanders, Graham said his priority in his new role involves passing on his knowledge to the pilots who will follow him.

 

“My time at Offutt and Randolph as an instructor allows me to really see the significance of simulation, and I’ve always been a big proponent of being in a simulator with a student, versus flying an aircraft with a student,” Graham said. “I always felt that I could instruct my student better in a sim. In a sim, when you make a mistake, I can pause the training, talk you through things and ask, ‘What did you see? What made you make that decision versus this decision?’ In the air, I can’t pause the aircraft. I can only take notes and hope you remember what you did at the time [for debrief later].”

 

AFAMS uses direct liaison authority with various DOD military units and civilian agencies to provide full-spectrum readiness and realistic training across multiple warfighting domains. Graham’s organization is a lead agent for identifying, prioritizing, tracking and advocating for enterprise-level operational training requirements, data/knowledge management, and modeling and simulation technical standards. In the bigger picture, Graham said that he sees growth in AFAMS’ future, not only in exploring medical applications, but also in developing opportunities to grow with the Space Force, Team Orlando’s most recent addition.

 

“Right now, we focus on operational training and a lot of flight training, but there are more opportunities out there,” Graham said. “I definitely want to get involved with the Space Force. Having just come from Patrick, I saw how important space is to the DOD, and how they’re trying to work modeling and simulation in the Space Force. I’d like to see Space Force members come into AFAMS, and maybe even change our name to ‘DAFAMS’ [to reflect] the Department of the Air Force.”

 

In the more immediate term, he is specifically focusing on developing solutions that meet the Air Force’s needs in quickly developing quality pilots.

 

“We just aren’t producing them fast enough,” Graham said. “Now we’re developing ways of giving pilot [trainees] more sim time, so now they’re getting that training faster, and readiness is a big thing for the Air Force as we prepare for a great-power competition. My job at AFAMS is to give our flying warfighters the training they need with real-world scenarios, so they’re ready to go on night one of the fight.”