WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Senior Air Force leaders signed a Total Force Aircrew Management charter Sept. 18, during the Aircrew Summit at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh III , Director of Air National Guard Lt. Gen. Stanley E. Clarke, and Chief of Air Force Reserve Lt. Gen. James A. Jackson, signed the TFAM charter, establishing a new total force division.

Under the Operations, Plans and Requirements (A3) directorate, TFAM will integrate the management of the active-duty, Air Guard and Reserve aircrew resources to maximize total force readiness.

"TFAM will provide cost savings and efficient solutions like continuum of service and more balanced allocation of resources and training," James said. "This will allow more effective use of our Guard and Reserve, which is critical to meeting our nation's needs."

Before TFAM, each component used its own model, in separate locations, to manage officers and career enlisted Airmen who fly and make up the aircrew force. TFAM will enable use of a single agreed-upon model, in one office, to make training and resource decisions, provide policy guidance, and make integrated recommendations to solving problems like aircrew shortfalls.

"This just makes good sense," Welsh said. "TFAM will allow us to manage our aviation career field, ensuring a return on investment on training and experience of this important resource across the components."

The Aircrew Summit convenes annually to review progress of ongoing initiatives and make strategic planning and resource allocation decisions. The theme of this year's summit was 'Managing the Air Force as a Holistic System.' Welsh chairs the summit, which is attended by the flying major command commanders, the ANG director, Chief of the Air Force Reserve and select air staff senior leaders.