Oct 25 2010 - The Aurora Newspaper

The Aurora Newspaper, 14 Wing Greenwood, NS Page 3October 25, 2010CFAWC Celebrates 5 th AnniversaryBy Colonel Derek JoyceThe Canadian ForcesAerospace Warfare Centre’s(CFAWC) new building wasdedicated on 17 September2010 to the memory of AirMarshall Clare Annis. Hisrecognition of the need tostudy, learn and communicatethe lessons of air power tofoster continuous improvementwithin the Air Force helpedsow the seeds for the tardy, butultimately successful, creationof this unit. As we celebrate thefifth anniversary of CFAWC, itis fitting that you as membersof the Canadian Air Forceunderstand how the unit fitsinto the overall Air Forcecontext. The intent of thisarticle is to inform Canada’sairmen and airwomen on whatCFAWC has achieved to date,and where it is going in thefuture.Functionally organizedunder 2 Canadian Air Division,the mission of CFAWC isto “ensure the evolution ofCanadian Aerospace Power.”This mission statement mayseem quite daunting, andperhaps a better way toexplain CFAWC’s mandateis to describe it as the Chief ofthe Air Staff’s “Think Tank.”In order to meet this challenge,CFAWC is striving towardssix specific objectives whichare all a part of a holisticcycle of force developmentthat both improves currentAir Force capabilities andbetter positions us for futurechallenges. Our objectivesare to:1. research past, studypresent and analysefuture aerospacechallenges in order toidentify gaps in our AirForce’s capabilities;2. work to develop conceptsthat could address thesecapability gaps;3. where appropriate,experiment with differenttechnologies to closethese capability gaps;4. inform our airmen andwomen about aerospaceoperations today;5. train airmen and womenfor specialized tasks; and6. foster continuousimprovement throughlessons learned to betterprepare our Air Force forthe future.The focus areas I describebelow work to accomplishthese six objectives, but itis important to note thatalthough this article focuseson CFAWC activities, the unitis a “light blue” capabilitythat works very closely withnumerous Air and Jointorganizations to achieve ourobjectives for the Air Force.ResearchIn order to prepare the AirForce for the future, we needto study our past challenges,assess our current capabilitiesand look to the future withan eye to predicting potentialcapability gaps in the contextof possible geostrategicshifts and threats. To achievethis, CFAWC has in shortorder developed strong tieswith the Canadian academiccommunity. We host theannual Air Force HistoricalWorkshop to study Canadianaerospace power issues of thepast that remain relevant today,such as aerospace leadership,the role of the Air Force inthe Arctic, and aerospacesupport to Peacekeeping,for example. The results ofthese conferences are thenpublished in both officiallanguages, in print and digitalcopies, to educate as broad anaudience as possible. We havealso commissioned severalaerospace power focusedacademic studies in the areasof leadership, commandand control, effects-basedoperations, and Canada’s AirForce in 2035. CFAWC hasalso finalized two new servicelevel agreements (SLA) whichwill increase our capacity toexecute aerospace research.The first agreement with theCanadian Forces College,Toronto, will allow studentMaster’s in Defence Studies(MDS) papers to be publishedin a CFAWC-producedcompendium titled The WilfCurtis Papers. The secondSLA with the Royal MilitaryCollege will allow CFAWC tocontract out research projectsto the College’s scientists andacademic staff.CFAWC also has strongties to our allied Air Forceswith whom we share lessonslearned, best practices andintelligence information. Thissharing is accomplished byCFAWC liaison officers in ourallies’ air warfare centres, andparticipation in future securitythreat conferences.CFAWC also publishesThe Canadian Air ForceJournal on a quarterly basisto provide a forum for sharingideas on aerospace power.The main objectives of theseacademic and inter-air forcecollaborations are to betterunderstand our future securityenvironment, to determinehow Canada’s Air Forceis placed to meet potentialcapability gaps and tostimulate the aerospace powerconversation in Canada.Concept DevelopmentCFAWC has anembryonic—but budding—concept developmentcapability in support of thelarger force developmentprocess. We work closelywith other Canadian Air Forceorganizations to identifysuitable ways to bridge orclose current and future AirForce capability gaps. Forexample, as a result of ourexperiences in Afghanistan,1 Wing has identified a needfor a direct fire weapon for thetactical aviation community.CFAWC is currently workingthe concept developmentprocess to identify potentialdirect fire precision strikeweapon systems that couldbe incorporated on to areconnaissance and/or utilityhelicopter. While this is acurrent example, CFAWC isalso building the capabilityto look to the future with amore strategic view to closingfuture capability gaps.ExperimentationConcepts developed toaddress capability gaps canoffer numerous solutions,from command and controlchanges to organizationalmodifications to equipmentacquisition. CFAWCpossesses a modest capabilityto experiment both in thesimulated environment andin more tangible areas. Forexample, the DistributedMission Simulation Centre(DMOC) at Shirley’s Bay inOttawa is experimenting withtraining aerospace controllersat 22 Wing. Through the use ofscenarios run out of Shirley’sBay, a synthetic environmentconnected to the CanadianAir Defence Sector (CADS)in North Bay, we will soonbe providing high fidelitytraining to AECs and AC Ops.This type of training simplycannot be replicated even byreal-world exercises becauseof the air traffic congestionin certain areas of Canada.The intent is to eventuallyconnect the Combined AirOperations Centre (CAOC)in Winnipeg with 22 Wingand the CF18 simulators at 3and 4 Wings to improve thefidelity of the training andexercise the whole system,from command to control tothe aircraft. Our subsequentstep will be to connectthis synthetic environmentwith the other Air Forcecapabilities and the jointenvironment. This is a greatexample of how CFAWC isleveraging new technologyto improve collective trainingopportunities for the AirForce.From a more tangibleperspective, a successfulexperiment was recentlyconducted at the ConnaughtRanges in Ottawa called theDisaster InteroperabilityResponse Experiment (DIRE).This experiment is designedto seek out ways to improvethe situational awarenessfor the commander on theground. In the case of naturaldisasters, the emergencyresponders on the groundAuburn Service CentreOfficial MVI Station~ 847-0826 ~Repairs Done TodayPay Later!We will finance - Call for detailsfrequently find themselveswith no easy means ofcommunications and withouta firm grasp of the situationon the ground. DIRE usedan aerostat (tethered balloon)with a communications relaycapability and sensor package.The experiment includedlocal emergency measuresrepresentatives who usedthis capability while playingout several disaster scenariosto improve their situationalawareness. This type oftechnology is certainly notnew, but DIRE leveragescurrently available equipmentto address a unique capabilitygap for the Air Force, the jointCF community and othergovernment departmentscharged with coordinatingemergency response. DIRE isexpected to be further trialledduring Exercise MAPLEGUARDIAN / MAPLEFLAG next spring and duringOp NANOOK in the Arcticnext summer.DoctrineThroughout our history, theAir Force has been particularlygood at developing tacticalleveldoctrine to meet ourimmediate needs in fieldleveloperations. However,what we have lacked for somany years is a more holisticdescription of how the AirForce writ large operateswithin the Canadian context.By ignoring operational andstrategic-level aerospacedoctrine for so many years,we failed to provide the AirForce at all levels with anoverall understanding ofAir Force operations andthe tools necessary to fullyrepresent our interests in thejoint community.CFAWC, in cooperationwith all Air Force and jointcommunities, is well onits way to fully developingoperational and strategiclevelAir Force doctrine. Itis currently providing thebasis for the education of AirForce officers through the AirForce Officer DevelopmentProgramme (AFOD), andthe foundation upon whichAir Force operations areconducted. Once complete,this doctrine will also supportthe substantiation for ourforce development andforce structure processes. AsLGen Bouchard said whenhe was Commander of 1Canadian Air Division duringCF Transformation, “in theabsence of sound doctrine thatyou have developed yourself,someone else will decide howyour forces will be deployedand employed.”The capstone doctrinemanual has been published andthe majority of the keystoneand several supportingmanuals will be released in thenext 12 months. Once on thestreet these documents willbe dynamic and continuallyamended as we bring newcapabilities online through theforce development process,and improve the way weoperate via the Air ForceLessons Learned Programme.Education and SpecializedTrainingWhile the responsibilityfor individual trainingwithin the Air Force residesin the Air Force TrainingCentre (AFTC) in Winnipeg,CFAWC supports some nicheeducation and specializedtraining of Air Force officersand NCMs. For example,with the development of theAir Force Command andControl Doctrine, the needto train Air Force personnelon the functions of anair component command(ACC) staff was identified... see CFAWC page 4.Cathy Bruce-West PTS, CPTPersonal Training Specialist236 Gates Mountain Rd,Middleton NS B0S 1P0(902) 825-4544cathy@healthybodies.ca | healthybodies.caPersonal Training Services• Autobody Repairs• Exhaust• Brakes• Gas Tanks• Diagnostics• Welding• General Repairs• UndercoatingSpecial $79.95• Tune UpsCome see us for all yourautomotive needs!