TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) —

Innovators and thought leaders from industry, academia and the federal government gathered at the AFWERX Innovation Hub in Las Vegas, Nevada, late last month to review technologies that will be a part of the Revolutionizing Flightline Operations AFWERX Challenge.

This effort is a sequel to last year’s Base of the Future Challenge championed by the Natural Disaster Recovery Program Management Office at Tyndall AFB.

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s NDR PMO has worked with AFWERX over the past two years to drive innovation and incorporate new technologies into the rebuild.

This challenge will help shape technologies that have potential for incorporation into the Flightline of the Future.

The team sought to engage individuals, startups, small businesses, large enterprises, academia and research labs to solve problems.

Lowell Usrey, NDR PMO Innovation Branch chief, challenged the cross-functional team to design the challenge.

“We are able to reach companies and innovators who have limited exposure to the Department of Defense and are able to bring new ideas to existing problem sets and that’s cool.” Usrey said.

The recent AFWERX challenge was the culmination of months of planning and a competitive evaluation with hundreds of participants. Solutions offered involved improvements to airfield and aircraft maintenance operations including autonomous technology, enabling data-driven decision-making and integrating advanced, smart airfield surfaces to strengthen the flightline and improve operations.

Developing an automated process to collect airfield surface data and use artificial intelligence to identify surface anomalies and damage is revolutionary, Usrey said. It would allow airfield managers to persistently monitor and track flightline conditions and plan more efficiently.

“It was exciting to collaborate on ways to leverage technology for our day-to-day work and overall mission on the airfield,” said Maj. Kayley Squire, Tyndall AFB airfield operations flight commander. “The solutions that surfaced are remarkable — and it was made even more rewarding by being able to show our Airmen that innovation and change is possible.”

The automated processes developed at the AFWERX Challenge can also improve aircraft maintenance operations.

“The technology shown during the AFWERX Challenge will completely transform aircraft maintenance operations,” said Lt. Col. Yogi Lebby, Advanced Concepts chief. “These new modernizing solutions will allow maintainers to be more proactive, document more effectively and drive efficiencies back into a maintainer’s day. The future is now and I’m excited to be part of the journey.”

Together with airfield operations and maintenance, flightline security was another focus of breakout sessions to identify areas for improvement.

Security tactics, techniques and procedures that were developed in a time when advanced technology was not available were discussed. To counter 21st century security concerns, modern solutions were shaped by the group. Proposed solutions included using some of the same technologies as airfield maintenance, like smart pavements, to help augment security operations. Facial recognition, detectable flightline access badges and other technologies could be incorporated into flightline features like pavements and lights to identify individuals on the flightline.

Because base defense is manpower intensive and subject to human error, incorporating technologies that shorten response times were discussed since they can more effectively counter any intrusion.

“The efforts of the entire team have set the stage for remarkable capabilities that will outlive their time within their current occupation,” said Maj. Jordan Criss, 325th Security Forces Squadron commander. “It’s setting our future Airmen up for success and honoring the U.S. Air Force tradition of innovation, flexibility and strategic vision.”

Improved communications connectivity across the flightline and integrated processes were also recommended to improve flightline operations.

Because some Air Force procedures have not always kept pace with technology, improved communications and integrated processes can help manage workflow, optimize aircraft scheduling and establish better supply linkages, Usrey said.

“Having civil engineers and airfield operations working together to tackle common issues we face on the airfield with new and innovative solutions was truly something special,” said Lt. Col. Robert Bouffard, a Pentagon executive officer. “They all had the common goal of increasing mission effectiveness.”

AFWERX is a collaborative structure — partially based on the structure of Air Force Special Operations Command – that gives the Air Force a way to reach out and engage with businesses, organizations and academia around the world.

By Don Arias, Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center Public Affairs

The Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, Gen. David Allvin, visited the 505th Command and Control Wing’s Howard Hughes Operations, or H2O, facility in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, Aug. 28. 

H2O is part of the 805th Combat Training Squadron’s Shadow Operations Center – Nellis, or ShOC-N.  ShOC-N is the Air Force’s primary Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) Battlelab for experimentation and incubation of new command and control technologies and development of C2 tactics, techniques, and procedures enabling multi-echelon, multi-domain battle management. 

During the Vice Chief’s visit, 505th personnel showcased ShOC-N’s efforts to build a persistent experimentation ecosystem where anyone could come and put hands-on future C2 capabilities.

Assessing the collaboration on display, Allvin said, “The value of developing capabilities in a battle laboratory is immeasurable.  ShOC-N is future-focused but maintains a connection to the warfighter to ensure they are experimenting and incubating useful capabilities at the speed of relevance.”

The ABMS Battlelab is the intersection of technologists, acquisition, and warfighters for direct, credible, and rapid evolution of capabilities. “It is the persistent, iterative nature of the ShOC-N Battlelab that makes it so valuable,” said Lt. Col. David Spitler, ShOC-N commander. 

“Every activity has to count,” said Col. Frederick Coleman, 505th CCW commander. “Every day, USAFWC [U.S. Air Force Warfare Center] agencies are leading test, experimentation, and training of the most advanced capabilities ever seen. Our job is to leverage each opportunity and find ways to use it to advance ABMS.  It’s an iterative process that allows us to rapidly test, train, and deliver C2 capability, and the ShOC-N is the nexus of that process.”

The VCSAF’s visit was a joint engagement with AFWERX, which is also located in the Howard Hughes complex.  AFWERX is instrumental as a model to discover innovative opportunities both from industry and Department of Defense partners and deliver tangible capabilities to warfighters at speed.

AFWERX already played a key role in helping the 505th CCW find and develop partnerships.

“We literally grew up on their [AFWERX] couch for about 18 months,” said Lt. Col. Aaron Sick, ShOC-N director of innovation. “AFWERX has a proven track record of discovering industry and military talent through their workshops and challenges, transitioning innovative ideas into real capabilities.”

Sick continued, “ShOC-N is a great compliment to what AFWERX is already doing.”

“ABMS is expansive,” said Spitler, “but we have clear lines of effort and specific warfighter requirements that partners can target for focused experimentation within the Battlelab ecosystem, and we know AFWERX has a portfolio of opportunities ripe for experimentation.”

Providing a low barrier to entry into the ABMS Battlelab ecosystem is critical. Approximately 70% of the companies working with AFWERX have no prior government experience.

“Our goal is to allow partners to engage with AFWERX and then walk across the atrium and immediately begin experimentation with ShOC-N,” said Maj. Greg Haverkorn, ShOC-N director of systems and communications.  “We can provide an unclassified environment with access to warfighters and warfighting data in order to quickly start the maturation process.”

“When ready, ShOC-N can help match product owners with the required cybersecurity and accreditation professionals to move the capability into an appropriate operationally relevant experimentation environment such as the ShOC-N primary Battlelab on Nellis Air Force Base,” Haverkorn continued.

The 505th CCW collaborates with the other USAFWC Wings and staff, Air Combat Command, and Headquarters Air Force to showcase the initial persistent Battlelab concept.  The intent is to provide Department of the Air Force leadership a hands-on introduction to the potential of the Battlelab. 

Courtesy of 505th Command and Control Wing (ACC), Public Affairs

Photos by Lt Col David Spitler

JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. (AFNS) —

When there is a problem that arises within cyberspace or the operational world, Airmen may have ideas to create a better process for the United States Air Force to “accelerate change” in their mission.

Air Force CyberWorx is a Department of Defense cyber mission-focused, operational problem-solving organization that gives Airmen the tools to support Air Force operational problems by collaborating with government, industry and academic experts through structured, human-centered design activities.

“AF CyberWorx can give Airmen the ability to reach industry with unique acquisition methods, building a tidal wave of innovators,” said Lt. Col. Mike Helgeson, CyberWorx acting director. “We are focused on three lines of effort to support the warfighter: operational problem-solving, industry engagement with emerging technology sectors and our innovation education component.”

According to Helgeson, what makes CyberWorx different from other innovation cells in the DoD, is that they help the Airmen and the end user find what is really the problem.

“Every time we start a project, we are laser-focused on the end user, and how they will use this new technology or solution in their environment,” Helgeson said. “Our team then will design around the tactical outcome the user is looking for at the end.”

A couple projects the AF CyberWorx is currently working on include the Cyber Risk Ecosystem and Project Holodeck. The Cyber Risk Ecosystem project started out with a discussion of what operational commanders need to know about cyberspace, as well as how other units use cyber mission enablers. The Cyber Risk Ecosystem develops a commander’s dashboard by utilizing artificial intelligence to ingest applicable information such as flying, medical and cross-domain data points. The AI will utilize this data to aid a fighter wing and squadron commander with system effect analysis, allowing them to change flying availability faster.

The second, Project Holodeck, is a platform to use innovation intelligence by identifying best practices for solutions in development through analyzing performance data and ensuring money is applied to achieve the best portfolio outcome. Holodeck accelerates decision-making by guiding Airmen through development phases more efficiently. The customized innovation program guides experimental activities, generates status reports and makes funding recommendations along the way.

The project develops problem-solvers by moving Airmen to quickly develop and test ideas based on Air Force priorities, leveraging innovation best practices, guiding Airmen with the right process and recommending the right team for each project.

Project Holodeck stretches taxpayer dollars with transparency and enterprise-wide visibility to ensure money and resources are applied to the most promising ideas that have sustainable support.

According to Helgeson, an advantage of CyberWorx being at the U.S. Air Force Academy is that it allows the Air Force to bring operational problems into the education process. The team then takes those problems and aligns them to cadet capstone projects and other engagements letting cadets see both how industry innovates and how to apply those innovations to operational mission needs.

“This program allows cadets to understand the operational Air Force, so they are prepped when they hit the ground after graduation,” Helgeson said. “We want them to go out into the force and have the tools, knowledge and capabilities so we won’t need innovation organizations to innovate; we have developed a culture of innovation in the Air Force for the future.”

The future operating location for CyberWorx is under construction with a ground-breaking ceremony held Aug. 6 at the academy.

The new, 33,000 square-foot facility, will feature cyber-tech classrooms, labs, and a research and design space. Funding for the project was provided by 420 donors who committed $30 million to the project, with $30 million provided by military funding.

By TSgt Carlin Leslie, Air Combat Command Public Affairs