Airmen, Guardians Could Work Remotely Full Time Under New Guidance

May 19, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Uniformed Total Force Airmen and Guardians can telework and work remotely under new guidance from the Department of the Air Force, building on lessons learned from the past year.

The Air Force on May 18 released updated guidance on telework, which gives service members the chance to work from a location other than their unit’s duty station—provided their job allows for it and commanders sign off on it. The new guidance also includes guidelines for civilian personnel.

“The Department of the Air Force is using lessons learned about teleworking and remote work during the pandemic as an opportunity to grow,” said John A. Fedrigo, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, in a release. “The pandemic has shown we can be successful using telework in many areas of our mission, and it helps to bridge our current force structure to the force we need for the future.”

The new guidance opens the door for an Airman or Guardian to work remotely if the squadron commander or equivalent, with input from supervisors, allows it. The ultimate decision will depend on the nature of work performed and whether allowing telework or remote work would diminish the service member’s ability to perform the work successfully or negatively impact the mission, according to the release. Even if a position is deemed to be ineligible for remote work or telework, there could be circumstances in which it can be considered “on an emergency or situational basis,” according to the Air Force.

Remote work refers to personnel working permanently from an operating location other than their unit’s station. Telework, by contrast, is establishing a regular schedule to periodically work from home or another location, though that individual is still assigned to the unit’s location, according to the guidance.

If a service member is approved for full remote work, there will be arrangements made to get support from the nearest installation, such as access to health care and a commissary.

Air Force officials said the new policy can help recruit and retain more personnel who may have avoided working with the service or staying in uniform because of the requirements to work at a base.

“With remote work, we can now attract someone with the specialized skills we need and not require them to relocate when it makes sense for the mission, the individual, and a member’s development,” said Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, the deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services, in a release. “We recognize the value these flexible work arrangements can have, in some circumstances, to enhance work-life balance and maximize organizational productivity.”

The Air Force released an extensive 27-page document detailing the new rules, including how to pursue the opportunity. Because each decision is made on a case-by-case basis, the Air Force does not have an estimate of how many personnel might eventually telework or work from home.

C-130 Crew Receives DFC, Air Medals for Afghanistan Mission

May 19, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

A C-130J pilot received the Distinguished Flying Cross while another pilot and two loadmasters received Air Medals on May 10 for their actions last September in Afghanistan, when their aircraft took enemy fire, injuring one on board and damaging the aircraft’s controls.

After getting hit, the team returned to base, loaded another C-130J, and the remaining aircrew finished the mission.

“Receiving the DFC was extremely humbling,” said Maj. Christopher Richardson, 61st Airlift Squadron pilot, in a release. “As aviators, we put a lot of time and effort into making sure everything goes as planned—sometimes that isn’t how it works out.”

On Sept. 19, 2020, the team was deployed from Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, to Bagram Airfield where they were supporting the ingress of a Theater Response Force to a forward operating base in Afghanistan. During the approach, the C-130 received effective enemy fire, which injured one of the aircrew.

Senior Airman Dimitrious Carden, the loadmaster on the flight, worked with the onboard combat control team to apply self-aid buddy care.

“I knew what I needed to do and how to do it,” Carden said in the release. “I remember quite clearly being able to think back to times spent practicing for these types of events and using that to guide my actions.”

Richardson tried to make another approach to the FOB, but the aircraft’s flight controls malfunctioned because of the small arms fire and he decided to return to Bagram.

“For me, it was a continual balancing of priorities,” Richardson said in the release. “First, was to get the crew and the plane out of harm’s way. Second, was assessing if the mission was worth the risk. If you are an expert at your job, you’ll know what to do in a stressful situation. Knowing where your efforts fit into the mission allows you to assess the risk of what’s happening and work as a team to get the job done.”

At the May 10 ceremony at Little Rock, Richardson received the DFC, while his fellow pilot, 1st Lt. Christian Grochowski, and two loadmastser, Carden and Staff Sgt. Jade Morin, received Air Medals.

“I certainly would not have succeeded alone. We all worked together and relied on each other that night,” Carden said in the release. “Everybody on that plane played a significant role in carrying out the mission and bringing everyone home safely.”

USAF Should Adapt Industry Systems for Cyber Defense, Science Chief Says

May 18, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force should use industry systems for cybersecurity, even the information highway that the Advanced Battle Management System will run on, because the infrastructure necessary isn’t within the service’s expertise and would require a culture and a workforce the Air Force doesn’t have, service Chief Scientist Victoria Coleman said.

Speaking during an AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies streaming event May 18, Coleman addressed cybersecurity concerns and the recent Colonial Pipeline ransom attack, suggesting the Air Force should “let somebody else” build the defensive systems and infrastructure.

Victoria Coleman, chief scientist of the U.S. Air Force, speaks with retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, at a critical time for the Air Force’s modernization priorities. During the May 18 virtual event, Coleman shared her insights into the Air Force’s science and technology strategy, the evolution of autonomy, and the development of the Advanced Battle Management System. Mitchell Institute YouTube video.

The Air Force “is a user of that infrastructure, … not a producer of that infrastructure,” she said. “I strongly believe that every time we produce infrastructure, we get it wrong, because that’s not our line of business.”

Much of the infrastructure for cyber “that we need to use will eventually have to come out of the commercial sector … the world out there that has built it, deployed it, scaled it, operated it, and learned what works, what doesn’t work—the community that maintains it.”

The Air Force struggles to field new technology in a timely way, Coleman said, “and it takes us years to change it.” That means the USAF just can’t keep up. She’s aware of no systems that don’t have vulnerabilities, and “the longer you have it out there, the longer the adversary has to find ways to find all those vulnerabilities it couldn’t find in the first place. The only way to avoid that is to have it change all the time.”

Constant updates would be unaffordable, and the service lacks the expertise and workforce to do such a thing, she said.

“If it’s not a core competency, let somebody else do it,” Coleman said.

While she readily admits the “private world has not solved this problem,” the Air Force would be “kidding ourselves” if it assumes that a custom-made approach will somehow allow it to “avoid all the pitfalls that a private-sector solution has.”

Information systems are vulnerable because they are “wicked hard” to connect, and “people just make mistakes” that adversaries exploit, Coleman said.

In a 2018 Defense Science Board look at microelectronics, which Coleman chaired, “we asked ourselves … ‘If it takes 500 people to do this, where would we find these people? Which school, … which companies would they come from?'”

In addition to her background—most recently as head of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and from academia and various computer companies—“I came from Intel. I knew how good our people were and how hard we worked to make sure our devices were secure,” but “two decades later” vulnerabilities and hacks were still being discovered in old Intel systems.

“That’s not because Intel engineers didn’t care or they weren’t good; they were the best in the business. It’s just wicked hard.”

Coleman said cyber is “an arms race … I think it’s a war, but we’re better off fighting with our partners from the private sector,” she asserted. “They can take into account our mission and how it’s prosecuted,” but more than just the technology, “you also have to have the know-how and the culture for using it, so that you know what to do when it doesn’t work … ”

Coleman also said she’s excited about an Air Force storefront in Silicon Valley, California, which would have knowledgeable staff able to answer questions and engage with smart people who come in off the street with ideas and approaches the Air Force can use. She praised the efforts of former Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper for making a priority of engaging with small businesses and developing ways to help them capitalize, “so we can bring them back” as a contractor who can help, she said.

Afghanistan Withdrawal Pace Increases With Five Bases Handed Over

May 18, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan is speeding up, with five facilities now handed over to the Afghan government and about 115 C-17 loads of material flown out of the country, though a new report states Taliban violence remains high.

U.S. Central Command reported May 18 that more than 5,000 pieces of material also have been turned over to the Defense Logistics Agency for destruction. So far, CENTCOM estimates that between 13 and 20 percent of the overall retrograde process has been completed. Kandahar Airfield, which has long hosted major U.S. Air Force operations, is among the installations that have been handed over to the Afghan Ministry of Defense. This latest update marks a significant increase from the previous CENTCOM statement one week earlier, which said just one base had been handed over to the Afghan army.

The Defense Department’s Lead Inspector General for Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, in a quarterly report publicly released May 18, states that the Taliban has increased its attacks against the Afghan government forces in the first quarter of 2021, which ended before President Joe Biden, on April 14, announced the plan to withdraw. Specifically, the Taliban initiated 37 percent more attacks than in the first quarter of 2020.

The U.S. military has experienced minor harassing attacks, but those have not affected the withdrawal, said Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby during a May 18 briefing. The Pentagon has deployed B-52s and an aircraft carrier to the region even though there have not been major attacks, because the department needs to “take all the right precautions” and plan for any contingency as part of the withdrawal, he said.

The Pentagon is still working on plans for coalition air advisers to advise the Afghan Air Force remotely from outside the country after the withdrawal. This comes as the Afghan Air Force faces several issues, including limited readiness and a loss of helicopters. During the first quarter of 2021, AAF lost three helicopters—an MD-530 that crashed due to pilot error, an Mi-17 shot down, and a UH-60 that crashed, with the cause still under investigation.

Additionally, during the first quarter the Defense Department suspended a previously announced plan to give the AAF CH-47 Chinooks because the administration did not get Congressional approval.

“The suspension of the plan could result in a medium-lift, rotary-wing capabilities gap for the [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces’] special operations aviation component,” the report states.

Guard Moving Ahead on C-130J Basing Plan Following Election Controversy

May 18, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Air National Guard is moving ahead with its plans to base new C-130Js at four bases in Kentucky, West Virginia, Texas, and Georgia, with those bases’ upgraded H models expected to replace other Hercules at other Guard locations.

The Air Force announced in November it had decided to add Georgia’s 165th Airlift Wing to the list of bases slated for new J models, causing some lawmakers to accuse the Air Force of playing politics by announcing the decision during that state’s runoff elections.

Louisville Air National Guard Base, Kentucky; McLaughlin Air National Guard Base, West Virginia; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, will each receive eight C-130Js beginning in 2021, while Savannah Air National Guard Base, Georgia, will receive new aircraft “if they become available in the future,” USAF said at the time.

National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson told members of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee in a hearing May 18 that the Montana Air National Guard, which flies the oldest H models in the service, will be among the bases to receive the H models that are being replaced. That state’s Sen. Jon Tester, who criticized the Air Force’s plan in November, pressed Hokanson for a schedule on this new plan, but he did not have one ready.

“My understanding, in working with the Air National Guard, [is] that as soon as the J models are available, they’ll start moving [to] the … units with the oldest C-130s so that we can retain the capability and capacity our nation needs,” Hokanson said.

Originally expected last year but delayed because of the pandemic, the newest Mobility Capabilities and Requirements Study by U.S. Transportation Command and the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office, which helps guide force structure planning, is now expected in July, Hokanson said. The 2018 iteration called for a cut in C-130 capacity, but Hokanson reiterated the need to retain all C-130 squadrons emphasizing the role C-130s play domestically as well.

The Air Force Reserve is also looking to prioritize upgrading its C-130s. The Reserve’s “Hurricane Hunters” with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, have already shifted to the J model, and AFRC also wants to upgrade its Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System-equipped C-130 units and its aerial spray unit to Js, command boss Lt. Gen. Richard W. Scobee told senators.

F-15QA Involved in Mishap Near St. Louis

May 18, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

Two Active-duty U.S. Air Force pilots ejected from an F-15QA aircraft at MidAmerica airport near St. Louis after the jet departed the runway May 18, the service said. Both pilots received minor injuries.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, but the Air Force has not grounded its own two F-15EX jets, which are based on the F-15QA, nor has it issued a safety grounding on the F-15QA or similar aircraft. A service official said, “There is no indication at this time that a stand-down is necessary.”

The jet departed the runway upon landing, ending up on an adjacent grass strip. The Air Force did not disclose why the pilots ejected. The mishap occurred just after 7:00 a.m. local time in overcast conditions with some rain.

The F-15QA had recently been accepted by the Air Force and was to be transferred to Qatar under the Foreign Military Sales program. Images of the aircraft taken by local news media showed the aircraft with the canopy and both ejection seats missing. There appeared to be no other damage to the factory-fresh fighter.

Initial reports indicated only one crewmember ejected from the aircraft.

Boeing uses MidAmerica, located in Mascoutah, Illinois, for some F-15QA training functions. It builds the F-15 series at its plant adjacent to Lambert Field, St. Louis.

The Air Force recently took delivery of its first two F-15EX aircraft, which flew last week in the Northern Edge exercise in Alaska. The F-15QA, EX, and SA—for Saudi Arabia—all have a new fly-by-wire control system. The F-15EX is undergoing a streamlined and concurrent developmental/operational test program at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, made possible by extensive USAF testing of the F-15SA.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 6:04 p.m. EST to include additional information from the Air Force.

SOCOM Selects 5 Armed Overwatch Prototypes

May 17, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

U.S. Special Operations Command has awarded a total of $19.2 million to five companies for prototype demonstrations as part of the Armed Overwatch effort to buy a low-cost aircraft to fly surveillance and strikes in austere locations.

According to a May 14 award notice, the aircraft selected to proceed are:

Leidos Inc.’s Bronco II
MAG Aerospace’s MC-208 Guardian
Textron Aviation Defense’s AT-6E Wolverine
L-3 Communications Integrated Systems’ AT-802U Sky Warden
Sierra Nevada Corp.’s MC-145B Wily Coyote.

The prototype demonstration will take place at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and is expected to be completed by March 2022, the notice states. If the prototype project is successful, a company could be requested to provide a proposal for a follow-on production award.

SOCOM proposed the Armed Overwatch program in the aftermath of the Air Force’s light attack experiment and plans for the selection to replace the current U-28 Draco fleet. The command wants to buy about 75 of the aircraft to fly close air support, precision strike, and special operations ISR in austere and permissive environments.

Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife said in February that he wants procurement in fiscal 2022. “We can do that at relatively low risk based on what we’ve seen from the vendors who have indicated that they intend to bring platforms to demonstrate for us in the coming months,” he said at the time.

Congress in the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill blocked SOCOM from buying aircraft, but allowed the command to move forward for the flying demonstration.

“I think Congress is appropriately and prudently exercising their oversight role,” Slife said. “I would view this as a lower-risk enterprise than perhaps some charged with oversight do, but the fact that we see it differently doesn’t mean that they’re wrong.”

SOCOM boss Gen. Richard D. Clarke told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March that armed overwatch is needed because in “many remote areas, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and close air support assets are stretched thin and come at a high cost.”

How Tech Is Turning JADC2 from Concept to Reality

May 17, 2021

In the Pentagon’s vision, Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) will connect sensor data, powerful computer processing, and artificial intelligence algorithms through a lightning-fast, resilient network. That capability will give U.S. forces an edge so decisive it could deter aggressors from even contemplating future conflicts.

“Our 21st century digital enlightenment has all the right ingredients coming to bear … to generate decisive outcomes across the spectrum of conflict,” Lt. Gen. Chris Weggeman, deputy commander of the Air Force’s Air Combat Command, said at the 2020 Air Force Information Technology and Cyberpower Conference.

It will take a whole range of technologies to bring that vision to life, from edge processing to data management.

Retired Air Force Col. David Stickley, a former senior leader at the Defense Information Systems Agency and now an executive at Dell Technologies, sees a new convergence taking place today as the various capabilities needed to enable JADC2 and the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) come of age.

David Stickley, Strategic Programs, Dell Technologies, discusses the Advanced Battle Management System and how Dell is helping the U.S. Air Force achieve its goals.

C2 Fundamentals

The key to JADC2 are those last two characters, Stickley says. Command and control at the speed of modern combat operations requires four key capabilities: Data handling and storage, secure processing, connectivity, and software applications that turn data into information.

“The Air Force is just overwhelmed with data,” he says. A single F-35A Lightning II combat jet is a veritable flying sensor package, generating terabytes of data on every mission. Turning that data into useful information faster is critical. Just a short while ago it might have taken days to process all that data, but today, air crews can plug it into processing units wherever they are and get insights “in near real time.”

For JADC2 to work in combat, it must be able to make use of that data instantly. Either the data gets processed or “all this will wind up on the cutting room floor,” said Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Dennis A. Crall , the Joint Staff’s director of command, control, communications and computers (J-6), in a DOD interview.

Secure processing refers to the need to safeguard information in an environment where that data is being managed as close to the data source as possible. “You certainly have to have the processing, storage, and analytics capability to manage that data at the edge,” Stickley says.

No less critical: The connectivity and authentication to ensure the data gets where it needs to go securely. “Once you come up with a piece of actionable knowledge,” Stickley says, “you have to be able to transmit that data” — and do so under duress.

“We have to break away from the hard fixed networks that we built over the years and leverage software-defined networking,” he says. Defining network components in code means network configurations can be changed rapidly and infinitely, adding resilience and flexibility to network architectures.

The networking piece will be key to driving the real-time responsiveness JADC2 will require. “This is about fires, and speedy engagement,” Crall said in a Defense Department release. “If you think of it in those terms, we need to set aside for a minute what we own and what we do and look at where the department needs to be.”

Networks and processors are just the skeleton of a system that will ultimately be driven by algorithms and applications forged in code. Kessel Run, the Air Force agile software programming center, has helped pave the way for developing Air Force software solutions on the fly and then iterating improvements over time. Stickley says Dell has contributed support and guidance to the project. Ultimately, he says, “the portability of those applications across multiple weapons systems is what will be the key to ABMS’ future.”

Dell is working with Kessel Run to achieve an “ultimate goal,” Stickley says: “The ability to have lightweight mobile apps that work the same way as the apps on our mobile phones. We ought to get to that same operational capability in the Air Force.”

Streamlining app development will deliver advanced tools to the warfighter more quickly. “If there’s an update, you get that update instantaneously,” he says. “You’re not waiting for our team of folks to push out the next iteration. There are ways that we can do that, and … certainly Kessel Run is a great example.”

Urgent Need

Driving the need for faster command-and-control are rising challenges posed by advances made in the past 10 years by China’s military, as they seek to find seams in U.S. military tactics, technology, and strategy. “That’s forcing us to change the way we operate,” Stickley says. “Air Combat Command is moving to a wing operation center construct. They’re starting to push operational decision-making down to the squadron commander and, in many cases, they’re talking now about squadron-level deployments.”

As rival militaries gain more advanced technology, decision cycles are getting more compressed.

“It forces these principles that we’re talking about: The principles of data management, secure processing at the edge, a new connectivity solution, new applications,” he says. “Those all now have to be available in these very austere locations, and our current infrastructure simply does not support that.”

Speed isn’t just the essence of evolving U.S. combat strategies. It’s also key to accelerating and changing the way the military acquires and fields new capabilities, such as ABMS.

“That’s why we are so adamant about delivering these new capabilities in a new format,” Stickley says. “There’s an awful lot of capability that needs to be pulled together to support this new operational construct.”

In one Dell proof-of-concept project, the company developed “a very simple application that Airmen can use to expedite the weapons loading process,” Stickley says. “It lets you inform the crew and the remote flightline what weapons are needed for the next flight, allowing you to truly affect weapons deployments in a real-time fashion.”

Having the processing capability to run that app at the edge enables faster, more direct, and more efficient communication on the flightline. Likewise, software-defined networks, rather than fixed hardware networks, also allows for faster adaptability to changing circumstances, ensuring resilience, and enabling enhanced security.

“We have been hamstrung for years by fixed, closed networks, and in many cases, restricted bandwidth,” Stickley says, recalling his decades of experience managing military networks. Changing to a software-defined architecture will provide operators greater flexibility, and ultimately deliver critical insights in real time.

“We believe that software defined networking is the future of ABMS,” Stickley says. “We have to break away from the hard fixed networks that we built over the years and leverage software-defined networking, something we’ve been able to apply in many use cases to help the Air Force transmit decision quality data more quickly.”

JADC2 will benefit from this adaptable approach, which is made to order for the kinds of interconnectivity issues inherent to disparate military systems. “When you can take advantage of this best path, you’re reducing your security risk but you’re also increasing operational effectiveness. That’s huge.”

Garamendi: Pause GBSD As Other Nuclear Modernization Efforts Proceed

May 17, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force should pause the major recapitalization of its intercontinental ballistic missile fleet—a move top military officials strongly oppose—as budgets tighten and other nuclear modernization efforts proceed, a key lawmaker said May 17.

Rep. John Garamendi (D-California), the chairman of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee who also serves on the strategic forces subcommittee, said he recently visited the Minuteman III wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, and is convinced of the need for nuclear modernization. However, he said top USAF officials have “confirmed” to him that the ICBMs can be life extended and still remain useful until the late 2030s, at which time a new ICBM “might be necessary,” he said.

“This single, common-sense step could save $37 billion,” Garamendi said during a virtual Arms Control Association event.

U.S. Strategic Command boss Adm. Charles “Chas” A. Richard recently told lawmakers there is “no operational margin” left in the ICBM and that it is at risk of “losing credibility” to potential adversaries or not even working at all. A few weeks later an unarmed Minuteman III shut itself down after the missile’s computer detected a fault during the terminal countdown, aborting the launch. That incident remains under investigation, but officials said at the time the ICBM “did exactly what it was designed to do.”

“We could reach a point where no amount of money” would mitigate that risk, Richard told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month.

Garamendi pointed to two Government Accountability Office reports that stated nuclear modernization programs will cost more than one trillion dollars over the next 30 years, and said the push to modernize every part of the nuclear arsenal at the same time is a “recipe for schedule delays.”

The Pentagon is planning to field the B-21 Raider, new submarines, the Long-Range Standoff Missile, and hypersonic weapons to modernize its overall strategic capability. Because of these efforts, the country can afford to pause both the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program and the fielding of the new “low-yield” Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile.

Simultaneously, the country needs to “aggressively pursue arms control” with Russia and China to reduce the overall need for nuclear weapons, Garamendi said.

He said there are ongoing discussions on if the silo-based ICBM leg of the nuclear triad is even necessary, another discussion opposed by top military officials. The Biden administration will undertake a new Nuclear Posture Review, which could address this issue, he said.

Richard, in expressing his opposition to removing a leg of the triad, said he would be forced to recommend that the bomber fleet return to a Cold War-type of alert posture if the triad became a dyad.