PHOTOS: Air Force Football Honors AFSOC with New Uniforms

PHOTOS: Air Force Football Honors AFSOC with New Uniforms

Aug. 14, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The winged dagger of Air Force Special Operations Command will adorn the helmets of Air Force football when it takes on Navy this fall, the latest in a series of uniforms honoring key moments and organizations in the history of airpower. 

The famed emblem of AFSOC, in use for more than 30 years, is one element on the dark gray uniforms that will honor the contributions of Air Commandos when the Falcons and the Midshipmen face off in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Oct. 5. 

The front of the helmet will feature the words “First There,” the motto of AFSOC combat controllers who deploy into hostile or enemy territory to establish airfields and coordinate air traffic, fires, and more. 

The back of the helmet will have a bumper with either “Any Place,” “Any Time,” or “Anywhere,” the three elements of AFSOC’s motto. Just above that will be a sticker with the lightning bolt, green feet, and dagger emblem associated with the special tactics community. 

Instead of the players’ names on the back, the jerseys will all read “AFSOC.” On one sleeve, players will have one of three badges—those of special tactics officer, combat controller, or special reconnaissance.

On the pants, one leg will feature the “First There” motto again, while the other will have a dagger as the symbol for AFSOC. 

The uniforms also feature scarlet accents throughout, a nod to combat controllers’ distinctive berets. 

The Air Force Academy has worn special uniforms for its rivalry games for nine years in a row now, calling it the “Air Power Legacy Series.” The series has proven popular, regularly drawing headlines across the internet. 

Previous examples include: 

  • 2023: Doolittle Raiders
  • 2022: Space Force
  • 2021: B-52 Stratofortress and Operation Linebacker II
  • 2020: Tuskegee Airmen
  • 2019: C-17 Globemaster III
  • 2018: AC-130 Spooky
  • 2017: F-35 Lightning II
  • 2016: Tiger Shark Teeth nose art 

Army and Navy have also sported numerous alternate uniforms in the past decade, commemorating memorable operations, campaigns, units, and more. 

Hurlburt Saves $1.5 Million Annually Through Energy Resilient Upgrades

Hurlburt Saves $1.5 Million Annually Through Energy Resilient Upgrades

Aug. 14, 2024 | By Patrick Reardon

Air Force Special Operations Command, headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Fla., is tackling grid stability issues through a self-funding $22.6 million Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) with Schneider Electric. The project is reported to save the Air Force $1.5 million annually during the 20-plus year contract.

A key upgrade in the ESPC’s scope was the installation of a 240kW solar power system, or a photovoltaic (PV) system, at Hurlburt’s central mainframe facility, one of AFSOC’s critical data centers. The new solar canopy charges a 265kWh battery energy storage system (BESS) with microgrid controls, ensuring uninterrupted operations and better resiliency for that mission-critical infrastructure.

“Solar is a great resource when the sun’s shining, but the sun doesn’t always shine.  Generators are great if they start on the first or second crank, but they don’t always,” said Jeff Worley, Global Solutions Architect at Schneider Electric. “Having a battery that’s charged—whether it’s from utility power, solar power, or the generator—having a charged battery is an extra buffer of resiliency for that data center.”

Schneider Electric delivered six energy conservation measure upgrades to 377 buildings at Hurlburt. The updates include base-wide LED lighting changeouts, more resilient heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) systems, duct sealing, enhanced energy management control systems (EMCS), and modernized building-level controllers and software that comply with today’s Air Force cybersecurity requirements.

“Those things were most of the energy savings, and there was a little component from the renewable energy on the solar and then the resiliency that they get from adding a battery to that solar,” Worley said. He added that the upgrades will also improve living conditions for Hurlburt Airmen and staff while minimizing the daily impact on the maintenance squadron.

Overall, the upgrades to Hurlburt’s power grid are designed to cut costs by 17.7 percent annually—savings that will be turned around to directly finance the project. The Department of Energy’s ESPC program helps publicly funded organizations and installations—like Air Force bases—reduce costs by paying for the improvements over the contract lifecycle of up to 25 years. The result is improved energy efficiency, operational resilience, and zero upfront costs for both the DOD and American taxpayers.

“A lot of Air Force bases have a lot of similar challenges. Not only do they have to reduce energy costs and operational costs, but they have to meet a lot of federal mandates for resiliency, renewable energy, and decarbonization,” said Dean Yobs, Head of Business Development at Schneider Electric. “We support the Air Force as the energy service company to help with those ESPC projects.”

The Hurlburt Field project is one of five ESPCs that Schneider Electric has executed with the Air Force in as many years. On each project, Schneider Electric has combined off-the-shelf technologies with custom strategies based on specific mission sets for each Air Force installation. Each project is centered on energy resilience, efficiency, and savings, as well as reinforcing operational readiness.

“Each installation has an operating budget, and that includes the cost of their utilities on an annual basis. So what we do is we come in and we save them energy on multiple different energy conservation measures on the base, and then the delta that we get out of those savings is used to pay back the loan for all those infrastructure improvements,” said Yobs. “It’s a great benefit to the base because obviously they’re able to meet their mission without having to come up with capital to do all this infrastructure improvement.”

Learn more about how Schneider Electric’s innovative solutions and energy performance contracts are posturing Air Force installations around the world for better resiliency and readiness.

From Fighters to Tankers, US Military Flexes Airpower in Middle East as Iran Threatens Israel

From Fighters to Tankers, US Military Flexes Airpower in Middle East as Iran Threatens Israel

Aug. 13, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. military is flexing its airpower in response to Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah’s threats to attack Israel.

The Pentagon has already highlighted the deployment of stealthy, fifth-generation fighters to the Middle East, including roughly a dozen U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors. On Aug 11, the Defense Department said it was accelerating the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which was already steaming to the region, along with embarked squadrons of Marine Corps F-35Cs. And the Pentagon has sent additional aircraft as well.

The Pentagon bolstered U.S. forces in the region after Iran vowed to avenge the July 30 killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran says the attack was carried out by Israel, which has not publicly claimed or denied responsibility.

U.S. troops have also come under attack in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks, with the last attack in Syria on Aug. 9 causing several injuries, according to the Pentagon. The U.S. has some 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria.

“Are we trying to send a message? Absolutely, we’re trying to send a message which is we’re looking to de-escalate the situation, that we’re looking to have capabilities in the region to protect our forces while also supporting the defense of Israel,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told reporters on Aug. 12. “We do not want to see this broaden into a wider regional conflict. And so those capabilities bring real capacity for the U.S. to support all of those objectives. And so however you want to interpret it, whether it’s messaging or providing additional capabilities, I think the answer is yes on all accounts as it always has been.”

The Air Force has moved to bulk up its aerial refueling tanker presence because of the increased number of fighters in the region, U.S. officials say. USAF KC-135 tankers have been spotted on open-source flight tracking websites flying over Iraq and the Persian Gulf in recent days.

Most tankers in the region appear to be operating as the 350th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron. KC-135 Stratotankers from Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve Command, and Active-duty units have been spotted with that unit in August including:

  • KC-135s from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan, from the Active-duty 22nd Air Refueling Wing
  • KC-135s from Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind., from Air Force Reserve Command
  • KC-135s from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., from Air Force Reserve Command
  • At least one KC-135 from the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, U.K.
  • At least one KC-135 from the Wisconsin Air National Guard

Some of those aircraft arrived in CENTCOM earlier this month, supporting the increased airpower Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. III ordered to the region on Aug. 2.

KC-135s from the 191st Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron of the Utah Air National Guard have recently been operating in the region as well.

Around a dozen F-22s arrived at a base in the region on Aug. 8. Days earlier, roughly the same number of F/A-18s from the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier arrived at an air base in the region in order to be closer to Israel and U.S. troops in the region. The Theodore Roosevelt was last spotted off the Gulf of Oman, where it had been operating for the last month, much farther away from the action.

The Lincoln has been ordered to “accelerate its transit to CENTCOM, adding to the capabilities already provided by the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group,” Ryder told reporters Aug. 12.

The Pentagon previously said that Lincoln would replace Roosevelt when it ordered the carrier movement on Aug. 2. But the Defense Department’s Aug. 11 statement that Lincoln would be “adding to the capabilities” provided to Roosevelt raises the possibility that two carriers might simultaneously operate in the region.

On Aug. 13, Ryder told reporters the Lincoln is “going to move with all haste to get to the [Middle East] to provide this additional capability and capacity.” He declined to say whether the two carriers would operate in the Middle East at the same time. The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, which is carrying some AV-8 Harrier fixed-wing warplanes, is in the Mediterranean Sea.

The U.S. has four Air Force fighter squadrons in the region in addition to the Navy fighters and incoming Marine Corps F-35s:

  • F-22s from the 90th Fighter Squadron deployed from Joint Base Emendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
  • F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron deployed from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.
  • F-16s from the 510th Fighter Squadron deployed from Aviano Air Base, Italy.
  • A-10s from the 107th Fighter Squadron at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich.

Cargo aircraft have also continued to conduct missions in the Middle East, though it is unclear if there are more airlifters based in the region. The U.S. has some 30,000 troops deployed across CENTCOM, according to the Pentagon.

Austin also ordered the Ohio-class submarine USS Georgia to CENTCOM, the Pentagon said Aug. 11 in a rare disclosure of submarine movements. The Georgia carries over 150 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles. The USS Florida, another Ohio-class guided-missile submarine, recently concluded a two-year deployment during which it fired Tomahawks at Houthi targets in Yemen earlier this year.

“The thing about the U.S. military, as you’re seeing this week, is that we have the ability to surge forces and capabilities to where we need them when we need them,” Ryder said Aug. 13.

Air Force People Czar Wants to Make PCSing Easier by 2025

Air Force People Czar Wants to Make PCSing Easier by 2025

Aug. 13, 2024 | By David Roza

The top civilian in charge of Air Force and Space Force personnel matters wants to make moving between permanent assignments less stressful for Airmen, Guardians, and their families, and he wants to do it fast.

Alex Wagner, assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs said he and a cross-functional team at Air Force headquarters were working on a batch of “initiatives, policy changes, financial incentives” and a service member’s bill of rights with movers that he wants in place by the permanent change of station (PCS) season next summer.

“In 76 years of the United States Air Force, we have not figured out how to move people without having all of your stuff broken, without your movers holding your things hostage, without creating extra expenses, stress,” Wagner said to a wave of applause on Aug. 13 at a panel on quality of life at the Air Force Sergeants Association’s Professional Education & Development Symposium in Houston.

“It is mind-blowing to me,” said the assistant secretary.

While he did not provide details on specific initiatives, Wagner’s comments address a long-running theme of PCS horror stories. Over the years, service members and their families have reported moving companies attempting to bribe them to leave a positive review of their work; losing or stealing boxes or entire shipments; letting rainwater soak household goods and cause mold damage; not delivering shipments for months or more, and other hardships. 

In recent years, family pets died aboard PCS flights. Only about 77 percent of service members reported satisfaction with their household goods move in 2023, which translates to several thousands of service members left unhappy, according to a Department of Defense press release. To make matters worse, in 2023, many Air Force families were left in limbo when the service ran out of personnel funding and had to delay PCS moves and stop awarding new bonuses.

“Plans to sell or buy a house or car, enroll children in schools and daycares, transition jobs for spouses and partners, or deliver babies in known or planned locations evaporated under the PCS pause,” wrote RAND political scientist Kelly Atkinson in a commentary at the time.

pcs
Quality assurance inspectors with the 72nd Logistics Readiness Squadron, inspect a moldy pallet in Oklahoma City, Okla., July 13, 2016. (Air Force photo by Kelly White)

This summer, U.S. Transportation Command began implementing a new contract it says will improve the PCS shipment experience. The Global Household Goods Contract (GHC) hired a single company, HomeSafe Alliance, to coordinate the scheduling, packing, and moving functions performed by hundreds of other companies. The GHC is meant to improve communication, reduce wait times, and increase transparency for shipments through new mobile tracking tools. 

HomeSafe also had to stand up an academy to train its subcontractors to provide a “standardized” moving experience, according to the DOD. The new GHC was limited to just 15 military installations this year, but the department hopes feedback from the initial moves will inform wider adoption of the contract.

If Wagner is successful, other changes may be on the way for Airmen and Guardians. The assistant secretary said he is working with Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Flosi and Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna to craft effective changes. Other issues he is working on include spouse employment, child care, health care, and recruiting.

“We should be able to figure this out,” he said about PCS moves. “That is one of the big strategic initiatives that I have said ‘I want things in place for summer PCS season 2025.’ More to follow on that.”

State Department Approves Sale of New, Updated F-15s to Israel

State Department Approves Sale of New, Updated F-15s to Israel

Aug. 13, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The State Department approved a raft of foreign military sales to Israel on Aug. 13, including an $18 billion deal for up to 50 new F-15 fighters and upgrades to 25 existing F-15I models, plus engines, radars, and other equipment. 

The deal requires congressional approval, and would provide F-15IA aircraft, similar to the U.S. Air Force’s F-15EX Eagle II, the most advanced version of the F-15. Under the agreement, Israel would buy 25 of the fighters, with options for 25 more, according to reports. 

In addition, Israel is seeking “mid-life update modification kits” for its F-15I aircraft, creating an F-15I+ program. Israel would also acquire 120 F110-GE-129 engines, 75 APG-82(V)1 active electronically scanned array radars, and other equipment, with a total estimated value of $18.82 billion. 

“Incorporating F-15IAs into the Israel Air Force’s fleet of fighter aircraft will enhance Israel’s interoperability with U.S. systems and bolster Israel’s aerial capabilities to meet current and future enemy threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and serve as a deterrent to regional threats,” the State Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a release. “Israel will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.” 

“The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region,” the release stated. 

Israel has been eyeing a variant of the F-15EX since 2018, though a formal request to the U.S. did not come until 2023. The Israeli Air Force also wants to buy more F-35Is, its variant of the F-35. 

A 142nd Wing F-15EX Eagle II, tail 008, takes off from Portland Air National Guard Base, Ore. on July 12, 2024. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Nichole Sanchez

In addition to the F-15s, the State Department also approved the sale of up to 30 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) to Israel, at the cost of $102.5 million. 

“AMRAAMs are a key aerial combat capability used to defend against airborne threats, such as the missile and drone salvo launched at Israel on April 14,” the State Department release notes. “The proposed sale will improve Israel’s capability to meet current and future enemy threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and serve as a deterrent to regional threats.” 

During the April attack, Iran launched more than 100 ballistic missiles, 30 land-attack cruise missiles, and 150 drones against Israel. Israeli ground-based missile defense systems, F-15s, and F-35s all helped intercept some of those threats, and the U.S. and other allies intervened as well, with American F-15Es and F-16s in particular downing some 70 Iranian drones. 

The State Department’s approval of the sales comes as Israel and its allies await another potential attack by Iran in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The White House has said a wave of missiles and drones could come as soon as this week, warning that it is preparing for a “significant” attack. 

NORAD Boss Calls for Better Arctic Awareness

NORAD Boss Calls for Better Arctic Awareness

Aug. 13, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, head of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, called for greater domain awareness in the Arctic in the wake of recent approaches to North America by Chinese and Russian bombers. 

Two Russian TU-95 Bear bombers accompanied two Chinese H-6 strategic bombers into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in July, the first such incident on record. “What happened a few weeks ago shows another expansion of Chinese presence in the Arctic,” Guillot said at the Army Space and Missile Defense Symposium on Aug. 7. “They claim to be a near Arctic nation and their maritime activities have been increasing over the last decade, but this is the first significant show of presence in the air domain.” 

More incursions and approaches seem likely. Guillot warned in March that he sees “a willingness and a desire by the Chinese to act up there” in the Arctic. The Russians also pose a threat, he said, noting the approach of Russian bombers from the northeast—near Greenland and Iceland—as opposed to their more familiar approaches from the northwest, near Alaska. 

“The presence of a competitor in a different domain from a different avenue of approach is noteworthy to us,” he said. 

Guillot said he conducted a 90-day review of NORAD and NORTHCOM after taking command in February, adding: “The first takeaway is that all of the initiatives and endeavors that my predecessor, Gen. Glen VanHerck, undertook to improve domain awareness from the seabed all the way to space were exactly right and need to remain on track.”  

VanHerck fought for greater funding in the High North during his NORAD tenure, and his drive gained urgency after a Chinese spy balloon slipped past NORAD radars and then transited the continental U.S. in early 2023 before it was shot down over the Atlantic. 

“I have concerns, as I have articulated for three years, about my ability to provide threat warning and attack assessment with the threats to our homeland,” VanHerck told lawmakers in March 2023. “That increases the risk of escalation and strategic deterrence failure. Those are significant challenges for me.” 

Guillot praised VanHerck for his “considerable efforts,” and said it is the “right move” to complete projects like new over-the-horizon radars, long-range mobile radars, and communications networks. 

Incursions into air defense indication zones are not the same as entering U.S. or Canadian airspace; the ADIZ is a buffer zone in which aircraft must identify themselves. Guillot said NORAD is “accustomed to this activity, and we’re poised 24/7 to counter it.” 

Countering that behavior requires forces to be on alert to respond when needed, and that has implications for force size as well as posture. Guillot said he is working to find the right balance of “just-in-time” and “just-in-case” forces. 

“In some cases, I think we might have too many just-in-case forces, which are truly necessary, but if you have too many of them, you start to have capability just sitting on alert,” Guillot said. Air Force units can be stressed by such constant need. 

“The fighters, tankers and AWACS [Airborne Warning and Control System planes] that sit on alert, I think there can be some adjustments there, where we can take some of the forces that are sitting on alert, hand them back to the services to increase readiness,” he said. As long, he added, “as we have the right triggers and authorities to bring them back.” 

Space Force Payload Launches Aboard Allied Satellite in Historic First

Space Force Payload Launches Aboard Allied Satellite in Historic First

Aug. 12, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., on Aug. 9, carrying a historic collaboration between the U.S. Space Force and a foreign ally—two satellites procured by Space Norway that will host USSF payloads for Arctic communications. 

The launch marked the first time an operational Space Force payload has deployed on a foreign-owned satellite, a collaboration USSF leaders say will save millions of dollars. 

The Enhanced Polar Systems-Recapitalization payload will provide tactical, extremely high-frequency satellite communications to U.S. forces operating in the High North, where the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Milstar satellites don’t offer full coverage.

The original EPS system is still on orbit, hosted by two classified satellites, according to a Pentagon acquisition report. Its projected service life is 10 years—but polar elements for successor programs like Evolved Strategic SATCOM and Protected Tactical SATCOM are not scheduled to launch for years. The Department of the Air Force decided to procure new EPS payloads as a stopgap in 2017. 

The challenge was cost. Two years later, the U.S. Air Force and the Norwegian Ministry of Defense signed a memorandum of agreement to join forces on the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission, laying the groundwork for a long and complicated partnership. Space Norway, a commercial company owned by the Norwegian government, procured the satellites from Northrop Grumman, which also made the EPS-R payloads. Additional payloads for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense and ViaSat, a satellite communications company, are also on board

In July 2023, the Rand Corporation wrote in an analysis of Air Force security cooperation projects with allies, including EPS-R: “The Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission effort experienced budgetary, bureaucratic, regulatory, cultural, and technical barriers, with bureaucratic and regulatory barriers being the most problematic.” It took almost two years to finalize the memorandum of agreement, even with leaders pressuring acquisition officials to get the deal done. 

While the Space Force hoped to have the satellites and their payloads on orbit by early 2023, delays pushed the timeline back. Not until May 2023 did the U.S. accept the ground system for the program. When the payloads passed their final tests, the stage was set for the Aug. 9 launch. 

One of two Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission satellites carrying payloads for Space Norway and the U.S. Space Force. Image courtesy of Space Norway.

According to Space Force budget documents, USSF plans “on-orbit testing, operational utility evaluation, and operations acceptance” in fiscal 2025. 

In a release after the launch, Northrop Grumman noted that it is providing two Satellite Control Systems in Norway for Space Norway to operate, suggesting the U.S. Space Force will not be responsible for operating the satellites themselves.  

Space Systems Command did not immediately respond to a query from Air & Space Forces Magazine seeking additional operational details. 

Future international projects are already in the forecast. In 2020, the service signed an agreement with Japan to host space domain awareness payloads on the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System. Those payloads have already been delivered to Japan and are awaiting launch, which is currently projected for fiscal 2025. Rand analysts noted in their report that the payload going on QZSS will provide “a space domain awareness capability that the United States arguably did not need but pursued for the overall sake of cooperation.” 

International complexity will continue to be a challenge. Rand analysts noted that “the large size and complexity of these programs, as well as the lack of a single voice across the U.S. space [security cooperation] enterprise, challenge the scale and pace of collaboration.” 

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off carrying two Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission satellites for Space Norway and the U.S. Space Force. Image courtesy of Space Norway.
Rise8 Launches a Revolution in Software Delivery

Rise8 Launches a Revolution in Software Delivery

Aug. 12, 2024 | By Adam Stone

In a software-defined world—where everything from cars, to aircraft radars, to weapons systems runs on software—speed is everything. When software development lags, there are consequences.

“When we use bad software to conduct critical missions, bad things happen,” said Airman-turned-bureaucracy hacker, Bryon Kroger, CEO and Founder of Rise8. “Missions fail…the wrong people die—innocent civilians, Airmen, Soldiers.”

When new technology is introduced to the military and government environment, it must survive a series of tests and checks before it gains the necessary “Authority to Operate” (ATO). Each time major elements are updated, the ATO must be renewed, adding time and expense to the software delivery process. It’s not hard to understand why; when a recent update from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike went awry, faulty code crashed computers worldwide.

“Traditionally, any change in a line of code into production in the Air Force is a six-month minimum to get through the process—usually closer to 18,” Kroger said.

Those delays can cost lives. In one instance Kroger experienced while still serving as an Active duty intelligence officer, fixes were in place for a known software flaw—but the bad code remained in action due to the clunky, legacy updating process.

The incident changed Kroger’s career path and led him to be among the co-founders of the Air Force’s Kessel Run, DOD’s first software factory. There, he helped pioneer a process to develop a continuous ATO or ongoing authorization for continuous delivery after achieving initial ATO. Kroger dubbed this “cATO” and the new process ensured that through continuous compliance, software updates could push from development to production in days or even hours, rather than waiting weeks, months, and years. 

The legacy process “is causing risk,” Kroger said. A continuous ATO is all about “decreasing risk—and making the mission more effective.”

A cATO replaces conventional point-in-time security and stability reviews with continuous risk assessment and monitoring, employing automated tests into the development process. Properly implemented, apps can rapidly respond to mission need with no risk to security or reliability.

The Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) commands and controls the broad spectrum of what air power brings to the fight: Global Vigilance, Global Reach, and Global Power. Located at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, the CAOC provides the command and control of airpower throughout the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility; a 21 nation region stretching from Northeast Africa across the Middle East to Central and South Asia. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jessica Montano.
The Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) commands and controls the broad spectrum of what air power brings to the fight: Global Vigilance, Global Reach, and Global Power. Located at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, the CAOC provides the command and control of airpower throughout the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility; a 21 nation region stretching from Northeast Africa across the Middle East to Central and South Asia. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jessica Montano.

How do you obtain a cATO?

A Defense Department methodology for cATOs is already defined. It requires an assessment plan, processes to support ongoing assessments, and continuous risk monitoring.

Yet Kroger said organizational and cultural design also need to be part of the story. To iterate software in quick one-week sprints, developers and users need to work closely together, and the developer should fully integrate the Risk Management Framework, a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standard, into development and test procedures.

Short sprints reduce the number and complexity of changes in each iterative version of the software, enabling faster turnaround.

“As you incentivize smaller changes, then people start releasing much more quickly,” Kroger said. To support that, developers should forge cross-functional DevOps teams, combining security, compliance, and the testers themselves. “At Kessel Run,” Kroger said, “we actually had the test squadrons embed their testers into our software development teams.”

These structural changes create a “virtuous cycle, whereby when you need software updates — like let’s say you discover a security vulnerability — I can get a fix out in minutes,” he said. “That fundamentally changes your paradigm.”

What makes cATO challenging?

Automated test is a major time saver. In traditional waterfall development, “most of the work we have the test squadrons doing [is] catching software regressions—things that machines should and could be doing,” Kroger said. Automation can incorporate Risk Management Framework requirements into the test and integration process, enabling test squadrons to “work on the harder problems.”

Developers and program managers like the approach—once they get used to it. But until they have firsthand experience with it, they can be leery.

“People learn through doing,” Kroger explained. “The best culture transformation happens through doing.”

Program Managers and Executive Officers need not wring their hands trying to figure it all out, he advised. At Rise8, the approach is to build confidence slowly and intentionally.

“Let’s pick an application on a production environment, and let’s go through the process together,” Kroger said. “We’ll give you access to our work backlogs, our code repositories, the scanning tool sets that we’re using, the pipelines. We’ll even let you control the rule sets. We’re going to give you more access than you’ve ever had before.”

With hands-on experience, he said, DOD development, security, integration, and compliance teams will discover the power in a continuous Authority to Operate and how it answers urgent warfighter needs.

“The process works if you’re very disciplined about it,” Kroger said. “You do it in a way that is concurrent with your software development lifecycle.”

PHOTOS: F-22s Make Historic Tour Across Three South China Sea Allies

PHOTOS: F-22s Make Historic Tour Across Three South China Sea Allies

Aug. 12, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

F-22 Raptors from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., landed in Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines last week, in a widespread display of fifth-generation airpower across crucial regions in the Indo-Pacific. 

The F-22s, designated the 27th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, recently wrapped up Pitch Black, an air combat exercise, in Australia. From there, they deployed throughout the region as part of an exercise dubbed Iron Blade. 

Four fighters went to I Gusti Ngurah Rai Air Force Base, Indonesia, on Aug. 6. U.S. Airmen and members of the Indonesian Air Force trained together and conducted hot-pit refueling. The Indonesian Air Force wrote on social media that this is the first time F-22s have landed in Indonesia. 

On the same day, four fighters landed at Rimba Air Force Base, Brunei, to kick off three days of briefings, static displays, and tours. This was also the first time F-22s have landed in Brunei, a small nation on the South China Sea—this March, USAF F-35s became the first fifth-generation fighters to land there. 

Finally, on Aug. 8, six F-22s landed at Basa Air Base in the Philippines. Two participated in formation flights with Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighters, according to the PAF. Basa, newly renovated to accommodate more aircraft, has hosted American fighters over the past few years as part of Cope Thunder exercises between the two nations. 

In each visit, the F-22s were supported by C-130 cargo aircraft carrying parts and personnel. 

Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines each occupy key strategic territory along the South China Sea, and the U.S. Air Force has sought to bolster ties with all three through deployments and exercises in recent years—part of a concerted effort to build partnerships and counter the growing influence of China in the region. The F-22 remains one of the most potent symbols of American airpower, and Raptors are currently stationed at Kadena Air Base, Japan, as part of a rotation of fighters through the base.