MODERNIZATION EFFORTS ... - Air Force Network Integration Center

FLEXIBLE, DEPLOYABLE COMM ✭ TOTAL FORCE 

MODERNIZATION EFFORTS ✭ TRANSFORMATION 

WIRELESS NETWORKS ✭ INFORMATION OPS

6 

25 

Cover & inside page 

illustrations by: 

Paul Stelmach, AFCA 

20 

8 

10 

FLEXIBLE, DEPLOYALBE COMM ✭ TOTAL FORCE 


WIRELESS NETWORKS ✭ INFORMATION OPS 

FROM THE TOP 

JUNE 2007 ✭ VOLUME 48, NUMBER 6 

4 Passing the efficiency test 

Overcoming tactical and operational challenges 

begins with flexible, deployable comm systems, 

processes and people. — Gen. Paul V. Hester 

6 Warriors of the Pacific 

Our warriors know how to consistently deliver 

superior results. — Col. Vincent C. Valespino 

THE THEME 

7 

From surf to sand 

Deployments become easier knowing you work 

with great people. — Chief Master Sgt. William Roby 

8 PACAF networks and systems: 

A Total Force Network — Capts. Reid Novotny and Victor Talamoa Jr. 

The Falconer Weapons System — Capt. Jennifer Strickland 

Tactical comm — Master Sgt. Anthony DiMascolo 

Stepping up to the plate — Maj. Christian Basballe 

12 Wireless networks Alaskan style 

C2 takes a leap forward across the last frontier 

with the Link-16 network. — Michael Bishop 

14 Comm transforms Red Flag - Alaska 

The 354th CS supports the merger of the Cope 

Thunder and Red Flag exercises. — 1st Lt. Shane Warren 

15 Arctic Raptor - The nation’s top cover 

Airmen with the 3rd CS help the base ready for 

its new F-22A mission. — 1st Lt. Melissa Osti 

16 

18 

PACAF warriors in Japan 

10 Base modernizes to support ISR mission 

Andersen AFB, Guam, shows why they’re no longer 

a “sleepy hollow” installation. — Capt. Luis Claudio 

Eye on the command: A photo look at PACAF 

CC Speak: What’s your biggest challenge? 

20 

21 The U.S. - Japan alliance — 1st Lt. Michael G. Cabusao 

IOWG team provides insights — Capt. Christopher Corbett 

22 Airmen prove combat skills — 1st Lt. James W. Daniel 

23 Army strong Airmen — Chief Master Sgt. Allen Thomas 

24 Combat comm transforms ops — Capt. David Abel 

25 Wolf Comm gets job done — Maj. Bryan Richardson 

COMM OPS 

26 Time Machine: Remote comm in Alaska 

30 Techno Gizmo: Virtual AF — AFCA 

31 Monthly litho — Paul Stelmach 

THE JOURNAL OF THE AIR FORCE C4ISR COMMUNITY 

Gen. T. Michael Moseley 

Air Force Chief of Staff 

Lt. Gen. Michael W. Peterson 

Chief of Warfighting Integration and 

Chief Information Officer 

Maj. Gen. William T. Lord 

Director for Cyber Transformation and Strategy 

Brig. Gen. James A. Whitmore 

Director for Warfighting Systems Integration 

and Deployment 

Daniel F. McMillin 

Director for Policy and Resources 

Col. Robert J. Steele 

Commander, Air Force Communications Agency 

Len Barry 

Acting Chief, Public Affairs 

Karen Petitt 

Editor 

INTERCOM EDITORIAL STAFF 

This funded Air Force magazine, published by Helmer 

Printing, N. 6402 790th St., Beldenville, Wisc., 54003, is an 

authorized publication for members of the U.S. military 

services. Contents of the intercom are not necessarily the 

official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, 

the Department of Defense, or the Department of the Air 

Force. Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided 

by the public affairs office of AFCA. 

Submitting to the intercom 

Stories should be in Microsoft Word format and should be 

no longer than 600 words. Photographs should be at least 

5x7 in size and 300 dpi. Submit stories via e-mail to 

intercom@scott.af.mil. 

Subscription requests 

E-mail all mailing requests or address changes to 

intercom@scott.af.mil. 

Comments to the staff 

Comments, and letters to the editor, may be e-mailed or 

sent via the postal service to AFCA/PA, intercom, 203 W. 

Losey St., Room 1200, Scott AFB, IL 62225-5222. 

2006 

Best Internal Magazine 

Blue Pencil Award * National 

Association of Government 

Communicators 

2005 

Best Magazine 

DoD’s Thomas Jefferson 

Awards program & Air Force 

Media Contest 

Best Internal Magazine 

Clarion Award * Women in 

Communications 

MAGAZINE AWARDS 

2003/2004 

Most Improved Magazine 

Clarion Award * Women in 


Award of Excellence 

- Internal Magazine 

NAGC Blue Pencil 

Competition 

Best Online Newspaper 

Air Force Media Contest 

Best Designed Publication 

DoD’s Military Graphic Artist 

Competition 

FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK 

Final ‘intercom’ issue 

published in August 

By Col. Robert J. Steele 

Air Force Communications Agency 

commander 

It’s with regret that I must advise 

you that intercom magazine will cease 

publication as of August. 

As we all know, the Air Force is 

currently under great pressure to 

downsize and economize, and this is 

one result of that effort. 

With the mandated redistribution 

of our public affairs positions to 

other Air Force organizations, it’s not 

feasible for AFCA to keep producing 

this award-winning publication. 

However, readers will still be able 

to find past issues of the intercom, 

AFCA history, the Air Force Comm 

and Info Hall of Fame, and other 

information on the AFCA Public 

Web page. 

In the meantime, the July issue 

FINAL CALL FOR STORIES/PHOTOS 

will feature the Air Force Special 

Operations comm and info warriors 

as scheduled. Our final farewell issue, 

in August, will highlight the heroes of 

comm and info. 

Special thanks go to our editors 

for the past four years — Karen Petitt, 

Jim Verchio, Lori Manske — 

whose work has resulted with intercom 

being recognized as best in Air 

Force and DOD, and well respected 

among their civilian counterparts. 

Thanks also to all who had a part in 

editing, proofreading, advising, and 

most important, submitting articles 

— your support contributed directly 

to its success. 

Thanks for your understanding, 

and I’m sure that in the future, there 

will still be creative ways to tell our 

stories and recognize our people for 

the remarkable contributions they 

make every day to our Air Force. 

FAREWELL TRIBUTES C&I WARRIORS 

DEADLINE JUNE 8 DEADLINE JUNE 15 

The intercom staff will 

publish your feedback, letter 

to the editor or short note 

regarding the end of this 

forum that showcases the 

C&I world. This has been 

part of our community for 

46 years. We’ll be taking a 

look back through those 

years, and your comments 

will be a fun addition to our 

farewell issue. 

Send submissions to: intercom@scott.af.mil 

The final issue will be a 

photo tribute to comm 

and info warriors around 

the world. Please send a 

portrait or on-the-job 

photo and short write 

up of your C&I warrior. 

We are also highlighting 

the superb work of our 

photographers, so please 

feel free to send in your 

best photo(s) as well. 

JAG IN A BOX 

Restricted access 

I can’t access MySpace.com or 

YouTube.com from my government 

computer any more. What’s up? 

Yes, it’s true, the plug has been 

pulled. In mid-May the DOD 

blocked access to these and 11 

other sites. Initially, 

the public 

thought it was 

done to censor 

our troops 

from talking 

about or sharing 

photographs 

and videos of 

Operations Iraqi 

Fritz Mihelcic 

and Enduring 

AFCA Deputy 

Freedom. While Chief Counsel 

the Defense 

Department did recently change 

one of their policies, requiring 

the troops to have approval from 

their commanders for any blogs 

and videos they send from their 

government computers, that’s not 

what this is about. We’ve always 

been concerned about what we 

used to call EEFIs—Essential 

Elements of Friendly Information. 

The fragments of information on 

thousands of blogs may not mean 

much individually, but when 

looked at as a whole, it may give 

the enemy insight into our operations. 

It isn’t censorship, it’s operations 

security. Yet, the real truth 

behind all of this is simply bandwidth. 

The military bandwidth 

demand is huge. Blogs, videos, 

and photographs are “bandwidth 

hogs,” and we can’t afford to have 

any degradation in our networks. 

Think of the consequences of a 

failed mission because somebody 

tied up the official network with 

personal videos! For now, accept 

the ban, conserve bandwidth and 

support the troops. 

Send your question to: 

AFCA-JA@scott.af.mil 

or call DSN: 779-6060 

intercom✭ June 2007 C4ISR ✭Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance 

Online ✭public.afca.af.mil 

intercom ✭ June 2007

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii 

— I’m proud to highlight the work of our 

Pacific Air Forces Airmen in this month’s 

intercom magazine. 

This vast region — spanning 16 time 

zones and home to 60 percent of the world’s 

population who speak more than 1,000 

languages — has played a central role for 

America both past and present. To that end, 

our communication capability has been and 

always will be vital to our ability to fly, fight, 

and win. 

During WWII, the ability to effectively 

command and control airpower was severely 

limited by the lack of timely and robust 

communications infrastructure. 

One of our airpower pioneers, Gen. 

George Kenney, conducted his notorious air campaign 

across the Pacific by transmitting air tasking orders and 

other forms of commanders’ guidance using Morse code, 

radios and hand-carried notes. Thus, air power’s responsiveness 

was measured in days, weeks and sometimes even months. 

Furthermore, it took large numbers of aircraft and lengthy periods of 

time to achieve the desired effects. 

Fast forward to the Air Force of the 21st Century, 

and you’ll see significant advances in communications 

capabilities that have substantially changed air, space and 

cyberspace’s rapidity, responsiveness and lethality. 

Tactically, these advances save lives. Operationally, 

they speed up the decision loop and in turn greatly enhance 

the number and quality of strategic options available 

to the combatant commander. 

However, there are certainly a number of challenges 

FROM THE TOP 

“We stand ready to harness America’s 

greatest combat, mobility and ISR platforms.” 

PASSING THE EFFICIENCY TEST 

WITH FLEXIBLE, DEPLOYABLE COMM 

Gen. Paul V. 

Hester 

Commander, Pacific 

Air Forces, and Air 

Component 

Commander for the 

Commander, U.S. 

Pacific Command 

that must be overcome or mitigated to harness 

the full potential of what our communications 

systems, processes, and people bring to the 

fight. The biggest challenge in the Pacific area 

of responsibility is the lack of a NATO-like 

structure. In absence of this type of formal and 

binding alliance, the United States must often 

deal with each nation independently. Consequently, 

PACAF Airmen require secure communications 

systems that can be easily tailored to operate in a multinational 

information-sharing environment. 

This flexibility is paramount for successful 

planning and execution of operations, particularly 

from command and control hubs such as 

the 613th Air Operations Center here, where 

the vast majority of our friends and allies in the 

Pacific would join together as Airmen to command 

and control air, space and cyberspace power. 

The 613th, along with the rest of our AOCs, must be 

flexible enough to support any mixture of friends and 

allies during coalition operations. This flexibility must 

include the ability to scale communications equipment to 

the size of the operation, from small scale counter-terrorism 

operations to large scale humanitarian relief efforts. 

The ability to connect with allied military and governmental 

communications systems can mean the difference between timely 

and effective operations, or operations that grind to halt as aircrew 

and expeditionary base commanders await host nation approval to 

proceed with their mission. 

Another challenge is that crisis and contingencies 

often transpire where we least expect them — sometimes 

in remote or austere locations. Unfortunately, in addition 

to the AOC coalition capabilities gap, we have no standardized 

deployable coalition communications capability 

The PACAF region spans 16 time zones and is 

home to 60 percent of the world’s population 

who speak more than 1,000 languages. 

in theater, and none of the PACAF wings 

(supported by base level communications 

squadrons) have coalition communications 

capabilities (except in Korea). 

While we’re in the process of standing 

up a deployable combat communications 

squadron on Guam, we will continually 

be forced to handle each operation “on the 

fly” with existing equipment that may or 

may not provide optimal communications 

capabilities. 

Therefore, PACAF Airmen require standardized 

communications systems that are rugged, easily 

deployable, and accompanied by trained communications 

specialists who can quickly integrate the 

systems using validated processes. 

Recent Southeast Asia tsunami and Philippine 

mudslide relief efforts underscored 

the notion that deployed Airmen and their 

weapon systems require immediate access 

to reach-back organizations, home station 

leadership, theater commanders and host 

nation civilian and government organizations. 

JARGON WATCH 

PACAF Airmen also require the financial and logistics resources 

necessary to support flexible and deployable communications 

systems. Currently, air operations centers are forced to use 

end-of-year funding to facilitate multinational information 

sharing, along with simply trying to maintain operational 

C2 nodes with current technology. 

PACAF wings and units deployed in the AOR require 

a similar level of programmed funding and logistics 

support. PACAF requires funding that will enable commanders 

with the ability to plan and execute coalition 

operations. We must aggressively plan and budget for the 

necessary communications equipment, especially as we 

begin to host larger coalition exercises, such as Red 

Flag – Alaska, and conduct more operations 

8 

15 

READABILITY BASED ON FLESH-KINCAID SCORES 

FOG INDEX 

In the past, air power’s 

responsiveness was measured 

in days, weeks and 

months. Today, it must be 

measured in seconds and 

minutes. 

Red Flag-Alaska: A multiservice, 

multi-platform air 

combat training exercise over 

Alaska’s mountain ranges. 

Valiant Shield: One of the 

largest exercises in the western 

Pacific. In 2006 it involved 

30 ships, 280 aircraft and 

22,000 servicemembers. 

abroad using high bandwidth-demanding 

weapon systems, such as the Global Hawk. 

The command stands ready to harness 

America’s greatest combat, mobility and intel 

platforms. In the near future, PACAF will be 

integrating the F-22, C-17 and RQ-4 Global 

Hawk across the entire spectrum of combat 

operations. In fact, our C-17s already have 

been actively engaged in humanitarian assistance 

and disaster relief. In the coming 

years, large scale joint and coalition operations 

will use a variety of weapon systems, 

each demanding various types and levels of 

communications support. 

Today’s and tomorrow’s operations require ever 

increasing rapidity and responsiveness. No longer 

can Airmen spend weeks and months to get a single 

mission done. Instead, the modern test for efficiency 

is based on seconds and minutes. PACAF can, and 

will, pass this test with flexible, deployable 

and logistically supportable communications systems. 

Our ability to promote peace and stability in the vast 

region of the Pacific depends on the innovative solutions 

that our communications 

and information professionals 

bring to the 

fight. 


HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii 

— Warriors of the Pacific understand 

we are a nation at war and face a ruthless 

enemy who seeks to rob us of our 

freedom and the destruction of our 

way of life. Today, less than 1 percent of 

all Americans will serve to defend the 

freedoms the other 99 percent enjoy. All 

of our military, civilians and contractors 

are proud to serve as part of that 1 

percent. Our mission? Protection and 

stability of the world’s largest theater by 

delivering information superiority for 

air, space and cyberspace dominance. 

In a theater that spans 105 million square miles and 16 

time zones, it’s communications and information that creates 

a seamless foundation tying together the world’s greatest Air 

Force. We don’t have the luxury of being anything less than at 

peak readiness to respond anywhere from the west coast of 

the United States to the eastern shores of Africa. 

It’s not by accident that the Pacific region has 

enjoyed relative stability for the past 50 years. The 

evolution and transformation of communications 

forces in PACAF has been deliberate, albeit challenging, 

at times. 

From postal operations, expeditionary capabilities, 

forward deployed combat forces, to enabling 

combat power in two Air and Space Operations 

Centers, our warriors consistently deliver superior 

results. 

Col. Vincent C. 

Valdespino 

PACAF Director of 


Transformation for the PACAF is not a process 

or an initiative — it’s a core competency. The 

Pacific region is home to six of the world’s largest 

armed forces, and we must constantly adapt 

to project U.S. instruments of power to ensure 

stability in the region. 

While we reduced our overall communications 

and information force by 

nearly 20 percent, we also recognize the 

importance those reductions played in 

enabling modernization. In the past 

year alone, we brought a C-17 wing here, 

began deployment of F-22s at Elmendorf 

AFB, Alaska, and prepared for the 

deployment of Global Hawk and combat communications 

capabilities in Guam. 

In addition, the first overseas deployment of 

the F-22 at Kadena AB, Japan, is currently in full 

swing. Tying these operations systems together on 

the ground and in the air is the ever evolving Air 

Network Operations construct. You can’t continue 

to gain operational missions and increase operations 

tempo in a resources constrained environment 

without transformation. We’ll continue to strive for 

greater success through smarter and streamlined 

operations. 

The superior effort, attitude and teamwork have 

been the formula used by PACAF’s comm and info 

professionals to transform seamlessly insurmountable 

challenges into success. 

from 

By Chief Master Sgt. 

William Roby 

Pacific Air Forces 

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, 

Hawaii — So, you’ve been selected 

to deploy to Southwest Asia to be 

the maintenance superintendent of 

the local comm squadron. 

You’re not getting much information 

about the actual mission yet, 

but you run through the routine 

checklists on lodging, uniform 

requirements, dining facilities, etc. 

Yet between the chemical warfare 

training and M-16 qualification, a 

few questions pop into your head: 

4Will maintenance practices 

be sound and processes well established? 

4How standardized will the 

comm-electronics equipment be in 

the AOR? 

4Will the unit have the correct 

tools and equipment to do the job? 

4With the inherent high turnover 

rate of the Air Expeditionary 

Force concept, will individuals have 

the pride of ownership to set up 

their work centers correctly? 

4Will you have motivated/experienced 

Airmen? 

Thinking about all this may get 

you to worrying . . . but then it’s time 

to fire in the prone position with 

your gas mask. 

After a two-day flight, you set 

down at an undisclosed location, 

throw your gear into a 9x9-foot 

room, spend 30 minutes to shower 

and change, and then go to the 

squadron to get indoctrinated in 

the mission status. You spend three 

days reading, briefing, and meeting 

people before you put the incumbent 

superintendent on a plane 

headed for home. Now it’s time to 

get to work. 

For the next four months you put 

out fires, react rather than act, work 

long hours, and still have a little 

time to socialize. In that little bit 

of time, when you are relaxing and 

Since May 2006 the 

Pacific Air Forces 

comm and info 

community deployed 

more than 600 warriors 

in support of 

numerous operations 

and contingencies 

throughout the world. 

talking to the Airmen in your flight 

and squadron, you realize — what a 

great bunch of Airmen. 

There are a couple of minor issues 

you help the first sergeant work 

out; but overall, there are 100 times 

as many successes. You realize you 

haven’t had to worry about your C- 

E maintainers not following maintenance 

practices. 

Having commercial equipment 

vs. standard military equipment 

doesn’t matter, because your maintainers 

know exactly how to handle 

it. Correct tools and equipment 

aren’t a problem, but if they were, all 

the acquisition paperwork you processed 

during the past few months 

would take care of any shortcomings. 

Pride of ownership is obvious 

when visiting the work centers. 

No matter what units people are 

from, what rank they are, or whether 

they’re active, Guard or Reserve, 

everyone is motivated, hardworking, 

and a pleasure to work with. 

You think about those few worries 

you had before the deployment 

and realize that we have the best 

trained, most professional and dedicated 

group of men and women our 

country has to offer. 

You find that their devotion 

makes you work even harder at what 

you do . . . and that like me, you’d 

deploy all over again. 

intercom✭ June 2007 ✭ Photo by Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III, 36th CS 


intercom ✭ June 2007 

to

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — Communicators 

here are working to build a network 

that will increase mission effectiveness between the 

Hawaii Air National Guard and host active-duty 

comm squadrons. 

Up until recently, the members of the 15th 

Communications Squadron (active-duty) and the 

154th Communications Flight (Guard) supported 

their own customer base. That’s in the process of 

changing due to an incoming F-22 mission. 

The F-22s will be assigned to the 199th Fighter 

Squadron within the HIANG, and it will have an 

active duty associate unit as well. Officials are making 

sure there are seamless communications based on lessons 

learned from the three-year ramp-up for the C-17 activeduty/Guard 

organization. 

Maj. Latimer Neal, the current ops chief for the 

15th Operations Support Squadron, said the two 

units had to invent ways to share information for 

the C-17 ramp up, but still ended up with people 

working on two systems instead of just one. 

Richard Beese, from HQ PACAF, said that because the F-22 

mission will rely heavily on wireless networks, officials are 

looking to install a single, integrated network prior to the 

beddown of the aircraft. But, if that isn’t possible, he 

said they’re researching options to interconnect 

the two networks. They’re doing that by redesigning 

their classified and unclassified networks and 

establishing a new architecture emphasizing an Air 

Force Intranet. PACAF is also in the testing phases 

of Microsoft SharePoint 2007, a program which 

will allow users on both networks to collaborate. 

Leaders say they are looking forward to a closer 

relationship between active-duty and Air National 

Guard members who can help clear policy 

hurdles to establish the Total Force Network of 

the future. Until then, the network redesign and 

SharePoint 2007 are a partial solution to bridge the 

gaps. — Capts. Reid Novotny, 15th CS, and Victor 

Talamoa, Jr., 154th CF 

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — One 

of the Air Force’s newest weapon systems doesn’t 

have wings. It’s called the Falconer Weapons System, 

and is also known as the Air and Space Operations 

Center. It’s the weapons system through which the 

Joint Forces Air Component Commander exercises 

command and control of aerospace forces. 

Key to giving the commander that level of control 

is a communications capability that’s timely and 

accurate. The Falconer provides this decision-quality 

information to enable the support of contingencies, 

exercises and humanitarian operations in the 

Pacific theater. 

Information systems of this complexity present several 

challenges, such as configuration management, joint interoperability, 

and working with multiple coalition partners. 

Because there are three air operations centers 

with specific missions under the Falconer umbrella 

— located in Korea, Alaska and Hawaii — each 

location has specific hardware and software requirements, 

depending on mission, exercise support, 

homeland security concerns, and coalition partners. 

To help, PACAF established an AOC Configuration 

Office staff to prescribe a standard configuration 

management process for the units. 

As with most C4ISR systems, joint interoperability 

is a vexing task; and even more so for the AOCs. 

Each must be able to combine input from various 

services into one cohesive source for decision-quality 

information. This is achieved by close collaboration 

with military partners and ensuring all future 

systems support the multi-service environment. 

In addition, the three AOCs have disparate networks 

to support coalition forces, and political sensitivities 

must be overcome to achieve the complete 

air picture. While technology will never fully prevent 

the “fog of war,” PACAF Airmen will use their 

training, ingenuity and processes to enhance and 

multiply the AOC weapon system and what it brings 

to the fight. — Capt. Jennifer Strickland, PACAF 

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — Tactical 

communications in the Pacific has always been 

a challenge because of the vastness of the theater. 

Getting forces from the continental United States 

to the far reaches of the Pacific can be a challenge 

under normal circumstances. Getting them there 

during a contingency presents even greater hurdles. 

That’s why the PACAF commander is repositioning the 

tactical communications forces to create a central quick-reaction 

squadron capable of racing off to combat zones or natural 

disasters to link bare base locations to the outside world. 

The repositioning starts with the deactivation 

of the 607th Combat Communications Squadron, 

at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, and activation 

of a new regional unit, the 644th CBCS at Andersen 

AFB, Guam. Although the deactivation of the 

607th CBCS is part of an initiative to reduce the 

number of Americans assigned to South Korea, 

part of their mission will remain active and will 

be realigned under the 607th Air and Space Communications 

Group at Osan Air Base, South Korea. 

Meanwhile, PACAF will regroup its tactical communications 

capabilities into the new unit. That 

transition has already begun ensuring combat 

capability so the PACAF Air Expeditionary Force 

posture is not disrupted. The mission of the 644th CBCS 

is to open multiple bare bases as part of a quick reaction force 

and establish command and control communications. These 

services are similar to what PACAF did during Operation Unified 

Assistance following the South Asian tsunami disaster. 

In that case, the 18th CS from Japan deployed to Utapao, 

Thailand, to establish communications at the temporary base 

there. The 644th CBCS will be aligned under Andersen’s 

36th Contingency Response Group, along 

with a Red Horse Squadron, Mission Response 

Squadron, and Commando Warrior. The capability 

of the CRG permits theater commanders and the 

National Command Authority to rapidly respond 

to any crisis through the Pacific theater. — Master 

Sgt. Anthony DiMascolo, PACAF 

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — 

Whether it’s improving relationships with strategic 

partners, keeping a close watch on America’s 

adversaries, or sending Airmen to fight the Global 

War on Terror — PACAF knows how to deliver. 

Inside the command’s area of responsibility lie 44 different 

countries, fielding seven of the 10 largest militaries in the 

world. While some, like Australia, have long enjoyed 

a special relationship with the United States, others 

are only just beginning to build those types of 

bonds. North Korea, still recognized as a major 

regional threat, continues to challenge the best 

U.S. foreign policy. China and India, the two most 

populated countries in the world, have dynamic 

economic growth and provide an economic power 

balance. The Philippines and Malaysia will continue 

to give us pause until the elusive bands of terrorists 

inside their borders are eradicated. PACAF 

also pays particular interest to the relationships of 

U.S. friends in Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. With 

so much going on inside the PACAF AOR, one 

would think they can’t contribute to the fight elsewhere, 

but nothing could be further from the truth. 

From the PACOM commander on down, the No. 1 priority 

in the Pacific continues to be prosecuting and winning the 

Global War on Terror. Even though the threats inside 

the AOR are significant, and there are more than 

9,000 Airmen deployed in place on the Korean 

peninsula, the command still routinely deploys a 

tremendous number of people to Southwest Asia 

every Air Expeditionary Force cycle. During the 

last few years, PACAF routinely sent more than 

1,200 airmen to each AEF — that’s 3,600-plus 

people who prepared for deployment, deployed, or 

recovered from a deployment every year. Couple this 

with a significant number of humanitarian missions, daily 

training operations, plus numerous strategic exercises necessary 

to foster and improve geopolitical relationships, and 

one fact becomes abundantly clear — PACAF is an extremely 

busy command! — Maj. Christian Basballe, 15th CS 




BASE MODERNIZES TO SUPPORT 

NEW ISR/STRIKE MISSIONS 

By Capt. Luis Claudio 

36th Communications Squadron 

AndERSEn AIR FORCE BASE, 

Guam — Last year, the squadron’s 

plans flight here, a.k.a. “commander’s 

hired guns,” presented a case to 

PACAF’s A6 leadership depicting 

the base’s military growth and continuous 

bomber/tanker rotational 

presence in the hopes of receiving 

some manning relief. 

Once approved, a tasked superintendent 

called wanting to know 

what the rationale was behind his 

troop deploying half way around 

the world to “Sleepy Hollow.” 

The squadron replied that the “Sleepy 

Hollow” days are over. Projects such as 

installation of 2.4 million feet of cabling 

in more than 90 facilities; a $4.5 million 

aircraft landing navigation system install; 

and a $7 million, full IP-driven Land Mobile 

Radio network upgrade that will provide 

coverage to 95 percent of the island, are 

testimony that business here is booming. 

CONTINUED MODERNIZATION 

During the past few years, the 

36th CS has shaped a comprehensive 

$50 million modernization 

plan upgrading Andersen’s comm 

and info infrastructure to receive 

and support the beddown of proposed 

ISR/strike missions within 

the next five to seven years. 

The plan called for $10 million 

in fiscal year ‘06 funds for equipment 

upgrades, project installs 

and initiatives. 

Another $5.4 

million was 

forecasted 

Guam 

for fiscal year ‘07, and $11 million 

is earmarked for fiscal year ‘08. This 

plan supports a $2.4 billion military construction 

program forecasted for Andersen 

AFB, making it Guam’s largest build up 

since the Vietnam War. 

THE NERVE CENTER 

The plans flight is the nerve center 

for Air Force comm squadrons, 

and it’s no different here. Just last 

year, the 36th CS processed more 

than 800 requirements, in addition 

to supporting an annual TDY 

turn-over rate of more than 4,500 

personnel, 100 aircraft and sorties. 

Other agencies on Guam, including 

those arriving for training, look 

to 36th CS for support. Since 2004, 

the unit has provided guidance for more 

than 24 multi-service/national receptions, 

6,600 warriors and 228 aircraft. 

For example, the unit enabled 

the combined control center for 

Exercise Cope North by providing 

comm and info support to 5th Air 

Force and Japanese Air Forces. This 

included support to 500 passengers 

and 22 aircraft. 

That was followed by a quickturn, 

24-hour reconfiguration of 

facilities to be used for Exercise 

Valiant Shield, which required the 

activation of six operations centers 

for the direct C2 of 1,800 warriors 

and 90 aircraft. 

Other supported training included 

the Navy’s advanced fighter 

readiness exercises (800 Sailors and 

40 aircraft) and the Headquarters 

31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s 

island-wide combat exercise (2,000 

Marines). 

This was just a taste of things to 

come because the base is preparing 

to beddown 2,000 Marines in fiscal 

year ‘10. 

OTHER SUPPORT AREAS 

Additional engineering support 

came from the 38th Engineering 

and Installtion Group from Tinker 

AFB, Okla. They helped develop 

the unit’s initiatives and review the 

designs to ensure the associated 

comm infrastructure was identified 

before construction began. They 

validated services for 30 ongoing 

projects, and identified and corrected 

a major comm design flaw, 

thus saving the Air Force $3 million 

in corrective costs. 

The 36th CS also installed PACAF’s 

first composite glideslope tower (which 

vertically aligns aircraft to the runway), 

and obtained approval to install a second 

multi-function switch on Guam, thus eliminating 

a DSN single point of failure. 

They organized a study to 

replace aged copper infrastructure 

around base, which determined 

that 1,300 pairs providing data and 

voice service needed replacement. 

Because of the costs associated with 

replacements, they’re building a 

business case to leverage the fiber 

optic availability and new technologies, 

such as Voice over Internet 

Protocol implementation. 

CHALLENGES AHEAD 

The squadron is revamping 

Northwest Field to beddown an additional 

300 personnel. It will also 

install a three-mile fiber run and 

a new Information Transfer Node 

facility that will enable the initial 

beddown of RED HORSE, Combat 

Comm and Commando Warrior 

units. Future developments include 

adding Giant Voice and wireless 

capabilities, as well as providing for 

new facility infrastructure and end 

user equipment such as LMRs, network 

switches and phone instruments. 

From computers to landing systems, comm supports the mission. 

Billions in upgrades support new missions, technology, and people. 

Comm warriors support multiple exercises year-round. 

Aircraft over the southern tip of Guam. 

10 intercom✭ June 2007 

C4ISR ✭Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance 


intercom ✭ June 2007 11

1 

COmmAnD AnD COnTROl TAkES A lEAP 

FORWARD ACROSS ThE lAST FROnTIER WITh 

ThE bROAD-bASED lInk-16 nETWORk 

By Michael Bishop 

611th Air Communications Flight 

ELMEndORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska — At 

570,380 square miles, Alaska is more than twice the size 

of Texas. That enormous area coupled 

with extreme environmental factors 

make defending this flank of North 

America a huge challenge. 

Tackling this challenge, though, are 

men and women who manage the Link- 

16 Alaska, or LAK, network. 

Servicemembers recently completed 

installation and ground testing of the 

LAK at Elmendorf, Murphy Dome and 

Sparrevohn. 

The 17-node network provides coverage as 

far south as the Gulf of Alaska to as far north as 

the coast of the Arctic Ocean. It covers a land 

mass one-fifth the size of the lower 48 states 

and the surrounding 33,000 

intercom✭ June 2007 

miles of coastline. Sites are installed in 

such remote places as Oliktok, Cape 

Romanzof, and Middleton Island. 

Most people have never heard these 

names, and chances are there 

won’t be a Discovery Channel 

or National Geo- 

8 

15 


FOG INDEX 

The Air Force uses a 

network fused together 

by satellites and GPS to 

bring comm support to the 

warfighter. 

JARGON WATCH 

LAK: link-16 Alaska network 

AOC: Air Operations Center 

graphic special on these lonely outposts anytime soon. 

The LAK is especially important for supporting the air 

mission. 

A Link-16 capable aircraft can establish itself in the 

network before it leaves the ramp, avoiding many of the 

timing and crypto glitches that commonly occur. The 

network is set up to allow aircraft to seamlessly transition 

from site to site and never lose contact with the 

Alaska Air Operations Center. 

This $26 million program also provides capabilities not 

available anywhere else in the world. It’s the first 

Link-16 network to operate from remote sites over 

a distributed satellite architecture and the first to 

operate in External Time Reference mode. ETR uses 

the timing signals from the GPS to maintain network 

synchronization. 

Combine the minus 100-degree temperatures 

of the North Slope with the dense fog, 

high winds and generally nasty weather of 

the Bering Sea, and just getting to a site for 

maintenance is a huge challenge. 

Remote monitoring and maintenance 

is paramount to success. A maintainer can 

remotely rekey the system from the AOC. A 

simple drag and drop interface allows all 17 

sites to be updated in less than five minutes 

a day. In addition, every site constantly monitors its 

internal environment, security and maintenance state. 

The sites constantly report and record this information 

back at the control system. If any parameter 

exceeds normal limits, an alarm is sent back to the 

control system. Then the site initiates preprogrammed 

events to correct the anomaly. Also, software updates 

“I believe in the future. He who holds Alaska 

will hold the world, and I think it’s the most 

important strategic place in the world.” 

— Gen. Billy Mitchell 

will be passed to the sites via satellite communications 

in the future. The LAK will also be available to support 

future exercises such as Red Flag-Alaska and Northern 

Edge, that uses Alaska’s 67,000 square miles of training 

ranges. 

The LAK system is the culmination of six years of 

collective effort from many organizations across the 

Air Force —11th AF, 3rd Wing, Electronic Systems 

Center, Ogden Air Logistics Center and Air Combat 

Command headquarters elements have all played important 

roles. Its capabilities will significantly improve 

the situational awareness of operators in the fighters, 

E-3s and the AOC enabling Alaskan warfighters to 

provide top cover for North America. 

✭ 

Anchorage, home to Elmendorf AFB and 

the 11th Air Force, is the most centrally located 

area in the northern hemisphere, almost equidistant 

to Shanghai, Moscow and Washington 

D.C. Alaska was on the frontlines of the Cold War, 

since it’s separated from Russia by only two miles 

at the closest point. To this day, interceptions of 

Russian Bear bombers occur. 

In recent years, the Ted Stevens International 

Airport in Anchorage has become the largest air 

freight terminal hub between North America and 

Asia. It’s the third largest freight hub in the world. 

Most maritime shipping between Japan, China, 

Malaysia and the West Coast traverses Alaskan 

waters. Alaska provides 20 percent of the crude 

oil for the United States, accounting for 50 percent 

of the crude oil to the Pacific states. 

Alaska

COMM TRANSFORMS RED FLAG-ALASKA 

By 1st Lt. Shane Warren 


EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, 

Alaska — When the Air Force 

requested the merger of Cope 

Thunder and Red Flag exercies into 

one called Red Flag-Alaska, members 

of the 354th Communications 

Squadron were there to support the 

change. 

The Pacific Alaska Range Complex 

makes Eielson AFB a perfect 

location to support such an exercise. 

The range complex consists 

of 67,000 square miles of airspace, 

one conventional bombing and 

two tactical bombing ranges, more 

than 400 different target types, and 

30 manned and unmanned threat 

simulators. 

The location also provides a 

unique climate and terrain for joint 

training with sister services and 

foreign allies. The Red Flag-Alaska 

exercise expands beyond aircraft 

and aircrews. It offers the full spectrum 

of Air Force combat training 

— ground, space and cyberspace 

— while focusing on air combat at 

the operational level. 

The most notable change associated 

with the merger includes the permanent 

basing of an aggressor unit at Eielson to 

provide exercise participants a more realistic 

simulated combat environment. 

The aggressor squadron 

will 

Aggressor aircraft. 

support training and exercises 

throughout the Pacific region, 

including Japan, Korea and Guam, 

and other requirements of the 57th 

Aggressor Training Group at Nellis 

Air Force Base, Nev. 

“The purpose of Red Flag is to 

simulate the stress of the combat 

environment through the aggressors 

— the enemy aircraft — and 

through the surface-to-air missile 

simulators we have here so that 

when [pilots] gets to their first 

combat mission they’ve already felt 

that stress,” said Col. Chip Thompson, 

354th Operations Group deputy 

commander. “They have looked at 

statistics, and the young wingmen who 

can survive their first 10 combat missions 

have a much greater chance of surviving 

the next 100.” 

The addition of an aggressor 

unit is only one of the changes Eielson 

will see in the near future. 

“We’re going to bring in a 

lot more systems,” he said. “For 

example, the Air Force is moving 

away from the Cold War mentality 

of iron bombs on target. Maybe 

the next big threat is a computer 

virus that attacks us, or something 

from space. We’re going to end up 

adding a lot more 

space operations 

and Information 

Filming the mission and fueling the aircraft. 

Operations to this Red Flag exercise.” 

The 354th CS team will also play a key 

role in shaping the future capabilities of 

Red Flag-Alaska. 

Maj. Michelle Hayworth, 354th 

CS commander, said, “We’re fully 

engaged in the transformation and 

are ready to provide the communications 

and information capabilities 

Eielson’s changing mission 

requires.” 

One upgrade already completed 

is a fiber optic cable run between 

the 353rd CTS and the base theater, 

and installation of video teleconferencing 

capability in the theater. On 

average, more than 700 people and 

up to 60 aircraft deploy to Eielson 

for each Red Flag-Alaska exercise. 

This upgrade will enable larger 

audiences to participate simultaneously 

at safety and initial in-briefings. 

Future projects include building 

infrastructure upgrades to allow 

more viewing locations of streaming 

video playback of the air war 

in the range complex. The streaming 

video feed will allow operators 

from Eielson and Elmendorf AFBs 

to dissect real-time footage of exercise 

participants in action. 

A B-1 gets ready to fight. 

Photos by Staff Sgt. Joshua Strang and 

Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder / 354th CS 

By 1st Lt. Melissa Osti 

3rd Communications Squadron 

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska — In 

the crook of Alaska’s Cook Inlet, Airmen with the 3rd 

Communications Squadron and 3rd Wing’s Integration 

Office are ambitiously working to provide communications 

capabilities for the F-22A weapon system, 

which is arriving two years ahead of schedule. 

Eventually 40 aircraft will canvas the arctic landscape 

of the 3rd Wing, with arrival of the final aircraft 

slated for 2009. 

While teams are using lessons learned from the initial beddown 

of F-22s at Langley AFB, Va., the operational environment 

here presents a different set of challenges. With winter conditions 

eight months of the year, arctic warriors face unique conditions 

that can have a great effect on equipment and personnel. 

The effects of cold weather on Portable Maintenance 

Aids are yet to be seen. PMAs are rugged, 

lightweight, portable computers that store and present 

maintenance technical manual data and record maintenance 

actions while working around the aircraft. 

Cold weather testing is ongoing and the resulting adjustments 

will enable successful use of the PMAs here. 

The Raptor also comes with a suite of its own 

network tools and systems, such as the F-22 Integrated 

Maintenance Information System, which is a support 

system for maintenance. It automates numerous 

processes to improve maintenance performance and 

reduce management, supervisory and technical overhead. 

By providing diagnostic data and interactive 

electronic technical manual data, IMIS reduces time 

needed to service, troubleshoot and repair aircraft 

systems. It’s essentially a one-stop shop for streamlining 

F-22 maintenance actions, helping to achieve the 

mission goals of high sortie rates, minimize aircraft 

downtime and support resources, and eliminate the 

Online Mpublic.afca.af.mil 

ENHANCING THE 

NATION’S TOP COVER 

maintenance paper trail. F-22 IMIS operates over a 

wireless network using Combat Information Transport 

System’s Generation I and Generation II wireless 

infrastructure. Elmendorf ’s CITS installation came 

just in time to support the IMIS network, ready for the 

first sorties that were projected for May. 

Planners, engineers and technicians are also finding other 

creative ways to meet the many requirements to support IMIS 

and the shortened beddown timeline. The 3rd CS managed 

to add F-22 facilities to a list of PACAF-funded intrabuilding 

communications upgrades, “avoiding excess 

material buys and allowing about $250,000 in savings,” 

said Tech. Sgt. Rob Heckman of the Wing Integration 

Office. “This project has allowed us to roll more than 

half of the IMIS requirements into an infrastructure 

project that is already on its feet and is being executed 

by contractors.” 

The needs of the many F-22 networks and wireless devices 

drive an increased demand on computer security, essential for 

keying encryption devices on the aircraft and troubleshooting the 

stationary systems used around the base. 

Multiple networks are needed to support the F- 

22 mission. Along with classified and unclassified 

networks, there are contractor-specific networks, as 

well as additional COMSEC support not used by the 

current F-15 mission. As a result, Elmendorf increased 

COMSEC manning and enabled Information Assurance 

positions within the F-22 squadrons, allowing for 

the 24/7 support needed at home and abroad. 

Wing members say they’re excited to receive their 

own Raptors, especially after witnessing the aircraft’s 

incredible performance in last year’s Alaskan Command 

Northern Edge joint exercise. With the aircraft’s 

combination of stealth, integrated avionics, and 

supercruise capabilities, Elmendorf communicators 

have a lot to look forward to and are proud to support 

a weapon system as advanced as the F-22A Raptor. 

intercom M June 2007 15

4South Korea: An F-16 Fighting Falcon searches for 

boats off the coast of South Korea during an AIM-9 missile live-fire 

exercise. Before firing missiles, aircraft are required to sweep 

the range area. The F-16 is assigned to the 80th Fighter Squadron 

at Kunsan AB. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Allen /PACAF 

Guam: A B-2 Spirit from the 13th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron 

departs on a training mission during one of the final sorties of a fourmonth 

deployment to Andersen AFB. The 13th and 393rd EBS flew more 

than 140 sorties and released more than 330 weapons during 

the deployment. B-2 aircraft, pilots, maintainers and support 

staff deployed from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, 

Mo. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Mikal 

Canfield / 3rd WG PA 

Eye on the Command 

Alaska: An F-22A streaks through the clouds during Arctic 

Thunder, Elmendorf’s air show and open house. The Raptor was flown 

by Maj. Michael “Dozer” Shower, who will become the first commander 

of the F-22A squadron there in the summer of 2007. Photo by 

Airman Jonathan Steffen / 3rd CS 

Alaska: Airman 1st Class Anthony Sharpe, 354th CS, performs 

a preventive maintenance check on a TRC-187 mobile radio at 

Eielson AFB. Photo by Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder / 354th CS 

Japan: Staff Sgt. Oscar Alvarado, 18th Operations 

Squadron, monitors the crash phone in the air 

traffic control tower during an exercise at Kadena AB. 

The crash phone is used to rapidly notify all base emergency 

services in the event of an aircraft mishap. Photo 

by Tech. Sgt. Dave DeRemer / 18th CS 

Alaska: During Operation Ursa Minor on the 

Pacific Alaska Range Complex, Tech. Sgt. Seth Griffith 

uses a PRC-117 Multi-band Tactical Radio to call in 

forward air strikes. He’s a joint terminal attack controller 

with the 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron, a 

unit that coordinates, requests and controls close air 

support, theater airlift and reconnaissance. Photo by 

Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder / 354th CS 



Online ✭ ✭public.afca.af.mil 


Lt. Col. Jeffrey J. Geringer 

607th CbCS/CC, korea 

“Redefining how to 

provide tactical comm 

here. We’re in the process 

of transforming to a 

23-Airman flight within 

the 607th Air and Space 

Communications Squadron, 

responsible to four 

remote bases in Korea. 

CC SPEAK 

PACAF COMMANDERS: What’s your biggest challenge? 

Lt. Col. Daniel J. Elmore 

3rd CS/CC, Elmendorf AFb, Alaska 

“Sustaining a high level 

of network service in 

the face of manning 

cuts, limited budgets, 

and diminishing local 

control over the network 

is my biggest concern. 

Network regionalization 

promises to offer 

more effective, efficient 

service to the base-level 

customer; however, this 

concept is still very much 

in its infancy — at least 

from my vantage point. 

During this period of 

transition and change, 

the local comm squadron 

continues to be held 

responsible for network 

service disruptions, 

despite a diminishing set 

of tools and authorities 

by which to sustain solid 

support to wing and NAF 

users. Directly related to 

all of this is the ongoing 

struggle to balance 

network security with usability; 

regionalization is 

clearly making this more 

difficult.” 

Maj. Michelle Hayworth 

354th CS/CC, Eielson AFb, Alaska 

“Minimizing the fear of 

the unknown in our Airmen, 

with respect to the 

impact of transformation 

and reduction initiatives. 

In some cases, this is easy 

to do; in others, it’s not 

so easy because the Air 

Force hasn’t figured out 

all the answers yet. My 

pledge to [my troops] 

is to ensure they always 

know as much as I know, 

so that they can make 

informed decisions.” 

Lt. Col. Craig J. Hess 

36th CS/CC, Andersen AFb, Guam 

“Providing comm support 

to a non-stop AEF 

bomber, tanker and 

fighter presence with 

no plus-up in manning. 

However, the 36th CS has 

stepped up and provided 

world-class C4 support 

despite the obstacles. 

Keeping up with the 

projected growth here 

against the backdrop of 

manning cuts has also 

caused a rightful amount 

of concern.” 

Lt. Col. Jill Bergovoy 

AIRPS/CC, hickam AFb, hawaii 

“Retaining highly 

motivated, hardworking 

Airmen in time of 

budget cuts, personnel 

reductions, and increased 

deployments. We must 

continue to develop and 

mentor our most important 

asset — our people.” 

Lt. Col. Jeffrey K. 

Schwefler 

15th CS/CC, hickam AFb, hawaii 

“First, how to continue 

to provide the warfighter 

with high quality C2 capability 

with the 33 percent 

reduction in budget 

and 58 percent cut in 

manpower. Second, how 

to maintain morale in 

junior officers and first 

term airmen during 

the various manpower 

reduction initiatives and 

forced cross training.” 

Maj. Kevin P. Vogt 

611th ACF/CC, Elmendorf AFb, Alaska 

“Our challenges are similar 

to those being faced 

[everywhere] — balancing 

operational requirements 

with extreme 

reductions in resources 

and manpower, while 

keeping pace with the 

rapid advances of IT.” 

Maj. Bryan Richardson 

8th CS/CC, kunsan Ab, ROk 

“We have two significant 

challenges at Kunsan. 

First, sustaining an aging 

communications 

infrastructure. Second, 

maintaining continuity 

at a base where everyone 

from the wing commander 

to the Airmen 

are on one year tours 

while focusing on alternating 

Unit Compliance 

Inspections/Operational 

Readiness Inspections 

every year.” 

Lt. Col. William E. 

Gerhard, Jr. 

18th CS/CC, kadena Ab, Japan 

“Providing ever-improving 

command and 

control capability to 

increasingly comm-savvy 

warfigters in an era of 

decreasing resources 

and constantly emerging 

threats.” 

Lt. Col. William Poirier 

35th CS/CC, misawa Ab, Japan 

“Budget cuts and billet 

cuts heavily influence 

my information power 

resourcing strategy; 

this is a challenge we all 

face. What’s a tougher 

challenge? Managing 

two heavy deployment 

cycles that cause 

work force fluctuations 

between 50-90 percent; 

simultaneously, delivering 

the base a 24/7 C4I 

enterprise operation with 

near 100 percent availability; 

maintaining a 

fight in place capability 

for wartime operations; 

and readying Airmen for 

combat operations down 

range. The most daunting 

challenge is managing 

these previously mentioned 

conditions while 

transforming our internal 

organizational construct 

and business processes, 

and many customer business 

processes. We must 

do this without seed 

capital for improved IT 

tools, technician training 

or customer training, and 

in a way that we maintain 

organizational credibility, 

relevance, and customer 

satisfaction — this will 

be no walk in the park.” 

Lt. Col. Donald Morgan 

51st CS/CC, Osan Ab, ROk 

“The big challenge is 

having the majority of 

Airmen on one-year 

assignments. By the 

time they become fully 

functional, the end of the 

tour is over the horizon. 

The leadership is aggressively 

working to increase 

command sponsorship 

assignments here so that 

more comm warfighters 

will come with family 

members and stay 

longer.” 

Lt. Col. John Keffer 

56th ACOmS, hickam AFb, hawaii 

“Keeping a weapon system 

running, with a lot of 

moving parts. The flow of 

upgrades and new sub-sytems 

is nonstop, while we 

simultaneously support 

more than 30 Air Force, 

joint or coalition exercises 

each year . . . but [we’re] 

up to the challenge.” 

Lt. Col. Anthony J. 

Thomas 

374th CS/CC, Yokota Ab, Japan 

“Shaping our young 

officers and enlisted in 

the right way . . . They 

need to understand the 

larger picture . . . or we 

as a community will be 

pushed out of the way. 

Today’s comm leaders 

need to build cyber pioneers, 

not comm geeks. 

In the future, the cyber 

domain will be the one 

infrastructure carrying 

warfighting information.” 

Lt. Col. Paul R. Francis 

607th ACOmS, Osan Ab, korea 

“Keeping up with the 

rate of change in the Air 

and Space Operations 

Center . . . attendance at 

formal training programs 

prior to assignment, return 

of qualified folks and 

a core of skilled contract 

support are the answers. ” 





INFORMATION OPERATIONS WORKING GROUP 

PROVIDES INTEGRATED INSIGHT TO LEADERS 

By Capt. Christopher Corbett 


MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — The complex use of information 

warfare is a key means of exploiting an adversary’s 

weaknesses. This is done by using strategies and 

tools to integrate aspects of communications, the global 

media, and economics in ways that are as devastating to 

a country as historical brute force methods of attack and 

counterattack. 

That’s why members of the 35th Fighter Wing employs 

an Information Operations Working Group to provide 

base leadership critical insight into the fluid events of the 

information domain. 

The IOWG is chartered to enable and protect 

Misawa’s diverse cyberspace mission through the 

integration of Electronic Warfare, Network Warfare, 

and Influence Operations. 

Lt. Col. Bill Poirier, IOWG director and 

35th CS commander, has avidly worked to 

shift the older paradigms of “need to know” 

into a more appropriate, “need to share” approach. 

“We take an integrated approach to information 

operations and base defense,” he said. 

“Combining the IOWG meetings with the 

Threat Working Group meetings enables us to 

analyze all threats in a single forum. This collective 

approach streamlines decision-making, 

improves proposed courses of action and 

presents a fused threat picture to the Misawa 

Air Base leadership.” 

The key members of the IOWG include 

representatives from the communications 

squadron, Public Affairs, Military Deception, 

8 

Judge Advocate, security forces, Office of Special Investigations, 

intel, and electronic warfare. These elements 

combine to provide a single, integrated view of the information 

battlespace and threats facing the installation and 

its people. 

Each functional discipline leverages its strengths to 

“complete the puzzle” while dynamically teaming with 

other functional experts. 

During the wing’s recent Operational Readiness Inspection, the 

IOWG demonstrated this integrated approach with much success. 

For example, IG injects required the IOWG to synchronize 

the operations of PA, OSI and MILDEC to mitigate 

disinformation, and actively engage the public with 

15 


FOG INDEX 

members of the 35th 

Fighter Wing employ an 

integrated approach to 

Information Operations, 

which earned an “outstanding” 

rating and potential 

best practice in their most 

recent ORI. 

JARGON WATCH 

IOWG: Information 

Operations Working Group 

MILDEC: military Deception 

TWG: Threat Working Group 

ORI: Operational Readiness 

Inspection 

accurate information while also ensuring the 

security of ongoing operations. 

Security forces and MILDEC’s closely 

coordinated efforts enabled friendly forces 

to be successfully postured for combat, and 

reduced the threat to base resources. 

Likewise, the communications squadron’s 

coordination with JA was critical to addressing 

the legal ramifications of blocking various 

Internet Protocol ranges to determine if the 

blocking actions could be construed as hostile 

acts under current international law. 

The IOWG approach also sets the stage for the wing 

to more seamlessly integrate with the operational 

level, namely 13th Air Force. 

“Speaking with one voice to higher 

headquarters and responding to orders in an 

integrated fashion is what the IOWG really 

brings to the fight,” Colonel Poirier said. “We 

have organizational relationships in place, 

and the collaborative tools to employ, to make 

this happen in near real-time.” 

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — It’s said that one of 

the strongest alliances in the world is the one between 

the U.S. and Japan. And, helping to keep that alliance 

strong through communications support is Capt. 

Joey Cook, who teaches English and Air Force comm 

techniques to young Japanese officers. 

He’s the only American stationed with them at 

Kumagaya Air Base, and is able to experience this 

unique position through the Japanese Personnel 

Exchange Program. The program promotes allied 

interoperability and bilateral relations between the 

two militaries. 

“We’re always talking about the differences in 

American and Japanese culture, and that kind of 

exchange is just priceless,” said the captain. 

Other people helping to support the alliance include 

members of the 374th Communications Squadron, 

who staff several geographically separated units 

Capt. Joey Cook instructs young Japanese officers. 

throughout Japan. They provide satellite and fiber 

long-haul comm services for all military branches in 

the Pacific, host two global HF radios sites near Tokyo 

and provide long-haul systems control facilities in 

southern Japan. 

Lt. Col. Tony Thomas, 374th CS commander, said, 

“Our mission is to provide first-class comm and info 

services, and we make it a point to support all of our 

customers.” — 1st Lt. Michael G. Cabusao, 374th CS 

Japan 





AIRMEN DEMONSTRATE COMBAT SKILLS 

By 1st Lt. James W. Daniel 


KAdEnA AIR BASE, Japan — Packing 

bags and building pallets is second nature to 

Airmen of the Theater Deployable Communications 

element here. That’s why taking a 

short hop to Udon Thani Air Base, Thailand, 

to participate in Cope Tiger ’07, was just 

another opportunity to demonstrate their 

excellence. 

Cope Tiger is the largest joint/combined 

air combat exercise conducted in Thailand, 

giving aircrews an opportunity to hone all 

the skills they need for combat operations. 

Members of the 18th CS TDC element 

supported Thai, Singaporean, and U.S. forces 

as they worked to improve readiness and 

interoperability. 

The TDC team provided the only communications 

services for Udon Thani AB, including classified network 

access for aircrews flying more than 140 

sorties in the two-week exercise. 

Capt. Shazad Yadali, the officer in charge 

of the team, said the TDC element provided 

command and control for key personnel and 

operators, and enhanced the capabilities of 

support personnel to enable them to complete 

the mission. 

“Even though most of the people on this crew 

were new to TDC, they all performed exceptionally 

and completed their duties as if they were seasoned 

veterans,” he added. 

The team set up initial phone lines, network 

access and radio support to customers 

at three different locations in less than 24 

Airmen present toys and 

clothes to Thai school 

children. The items were 

donated by members at 

Kadena Air Base, Japan. 

hours. In all, they provided 60 phone lines, 

created over 100 user accounts, and ran 35 

local area network drops. 

Power supply could have been an issue, 

but Master Sgt. Bernard Obsuna, TDC superintendent, 

said, “The local power worked 

as advertised. We were fortunate in that we 

didn’t have any power issues . . . even routine 

maintenance on the generator was accomplished 

in record time.” 

During the exercise, Airmen distributed clothing 

and toys to a local Thai elementary school. The items 

were donated by residents of Kadena AB to more than 

700 Thai students. The Airmen spent the morning 

playing games with the students, and 

members of the Thai Air Force performed a 

concert for them during a school assembly. 

At the end of the exercise, awards were 

given to Airmen who excelled during Cope 

Tiger ‘07. 

Airman 1st Class Christopher Reed, a secure comm 

apprentice, earned the designation of Top Performer 

— an award given to the top 2 percent of all exercise 

participants. Senior Airman Joseph Reed, a tactical 

radio apprentice, garnered distinction as an Outstanding 

Performer — an award given to the top 5 

percent. 

The next challenge for the TDC Airmen 

is Exercise Talisman Saber ’07, held in 

Australia. Planning has already begun, and 

the Airmen of the 18th Communications 

Squadron will ensure the proud tradition of 

“connecting 

warfighters” 

continues. 

Members of the Theater Deployable 

Communications team who spent 

two weeks in Thailand for Cope Tiger. 

Airman 1st Class JanMichael Abraham assembles 

the USC-60 satellite terminal in Thailand. 

CAMP ZAMA, Japan — The Air Force’s Fitness Program makes Airmen 

strong — but Camp Zama’s Soldiers are giving Airmen a taste of 

what it means to be “Army Strong.” 

That’s because 46 Airmen attached to the 374th Communications 

Squadron at Yokota Air Base, (but are actually stationed at Camp Zama, 

an Army post here) are learning Army-style combat life saving skills. 

“The Army’s Combat Life-Saving course is like the Air Force Self- 

Aid/Buddy Care class hyped up on massive steroids,” said Master Sgt. 

Warren Ary, the site’s satellite communications chief and recent graduate 

of this one-week, 40-hour course. “I found the most physically demanding 

portion of the course was making litters and carrying our wounded 

comrades over rough ground for about a quarter mile. That really saps 

your strength, especially when you’re in full battle gear.” 

Senior Airman William Bland said the most striking difference between the Air 

Force’s four-hour course and the Army’s Combat Life-Saving course is the realism. Upon 

completion, Combat Life-Saving graduates are certified as Army Level-1 medical technicians. 

The Water Survival Training course takes place at the installation’s 

pool and is less intensive than the Combat Life-Saving course, unless, like 

Tech. Sgt. Demond Chatman, you “can’t swim and hate the water!” But at 

least he’ll know how “to make a float out of my shirt, so if I fall in water 

that’s over my head, I know what I’ll do to stay afloat.” 

Nearly half of Camp Zama’s Airmen completed the Army’s Water 

Survival Training course. This class taught them how to enter deep water, 

survival swim, and make floatation devices out of their BDU shirts and 

pants. By far the most physically demanding of the three courses is the 

Combatives Instructor Course. 

Tech. Sgt. Shahid Muhammad, a prior Marine and now an Air Force SATCOM craftsman, 

said, “This week of training is harder than any week of basic training I had when I 

was in the Marine Corps.” 

The Level-1 course teaches Soldiers and Airmen how to use choke 

holds, clinches and arm bars. The instructors toughen up the students 

with an exhaustive regimen of exercises, stretches and calisthenics before 

any sparring begins. Later, students get an opportunity to take revenge 

on their instructor by trying to subdue him while he administers defensive 

punches. Upon completing the Level-1 Combatives Instructor 

course, Airmen are certified as Combatives Instructors, enabling them to 

train others on the techniques they learned. They’re also eligible to continue 

their education in hand-to-hand fighting by attending the Army’s 

two-week, Level-2 Combatives Instructor course. 

Not only are these Army courses provided free-of-charge, but they 

sharpen Zama’s Airmen for expeditionary service, foster pride and esprit 

de corps, and form a foundation of mutual respect and team building. 

— Chief Master Sgt. Allen Thomas, 374th CS 




Korea 

COMBAT COMM TRANSFORMS 

ITS OPERATIONS, MANAGEMENT 

By Capt. David Abel 

607th Combat Communications Squadron 

CAMP HUMPHREYS, Republic of Korea 

— During an exercise in 2006, Airmen 

here convoyed their Theater Deployable 

Communications equipment with dozens 

of tactical vehicles that towed heavy 

AN/TSC-100A satellite comm terminals, 

20-foot antennas, water tankers, and fuel 

trailers. 

They paraded this heavy metal through 

the crowded streets of Korea to an 18-acre 

combat communications compound, and 

then off to seven different sites throughout 

the Republic of Korea. 

These convoys were capable of deploying 

virtually anywhere, including 

completely desolate locations, to set up a 

robust communications infrastructure. 

Fast-forward one year to the same location and 

the same exercise. But now, there’s only a handful 

of blue pickup trucks at Camp Humphreys, each 

loaded with just a few Airmen and their personal 

gear. The teams inconspicuously maneuver 

the Korean highways and arrive at sites 

where their equipment is stored in small 

shelters. 

From storage, they pull the brandnew, 

compact AN/TSC-168 Quad-band 

dual-Hub SATCOM, known as QHSAT, 

terminals, and its 2.4 meter antennas. 

Just as they had done last year, the (much 

smaller) team supports critical command 

and control infrastructure in Korea. 

This is just one example of the transformation 

that took place within the squadron. 

“The 607th CBCS was transforming before 

transforming became popular,” said Senior Master 

Sgt. Kenneth R. Lier, the squadron’s chief enlisted 

manager. “We’re pioneers of asset recapitalization.” 

Under the old paradigm, combat communications 

was completely self-sufficient, 

providing its own power, food and security. 

For stateside combat communications 

units going to a bare base, this makes 

sense. However, in Korea, many units, re- 

sources, and assets are deployed-in-place, 

so the old way represented an inefficient 

use of scarce resources. 

The 607th CBCS transformation improved resource 

sharing with other units, specifically helping 

to stand up a PACAF theater-wide combat comm 

capability, upgrading technology, cross-training of 

Airmen, and merging of fixed and tactical communications 

assets. 

Significant technical gains were 

achieved by replacing the aging TSC-100A 

terminals with the more capable QHSATs. 

“Comparing the 100A and QHSAT 

is like comparing a 70s era car with a 

modern vehicle,” said Master Sgt. Robert 

Eiszler, maintenance flight chief. “The 

QHSAT is lighter, more capable, and 

requires less maintenance than its predecessor.” 

Pre-positioning equipment at the deployed 

sites and employing support from other organizations 

significantly reduced transportation requirements. 

Korea’s 607th CBCS of yesteryear had more 

than 300 tactical vehicles and was PACAF’s largest 

single tactical fleet. Now, these tactical vehicles 

can be replaced by blue fleet vehicles. 

The results of the transformation are 

nothing short of astounding. Unit manning 

has been reduced from 250 Airmen 

to 23. The unit’s operational budget was 

slashed by 30 percent. Maintenance and 

sustainment costs were reduced by 60 percent. 

Available bandwidth was increased 

by 600 percent, and commercial satellite 

bands are now accessible, greatly improving 

wartime flexibility. 

The final step of the transformation will be to 

align the remaining squadron members as a flight 

under the 607th Air and Space Communications 

Squadron at Osan Air Base. 

Lt. Col. Paul R. Francis, 607th ACOMS 

commander, said, “Moving the combat 

comm mission to 607th ACOMS will be 

the perfect integration of two units who 

are already supporting the Korean Air Operations 

Center. We’re merging the team 

that works on systems in the AOC with the 

team that extends those capabilities to all 

remote air bases throughout the Republic 

of Korea.” 

By Maj. Bryan Richardson 


KUnSAn AIR BASE, Republic of Korea 

— The 8th Communications Squadron, commonly 

known as Wolf Comm, provides vital 

support for command, control, communications, 

and computer systems at the 8th Fighter 

Wing. 

The squadron uses several programs to enable 

the wing to accomplish its mission. 

COMMUNITY OF INTEREST NETWORK 

One program area Wolf Comm has integrated 

into its mission is a Community of Interest 

Network, or COIN. This network allows U.S. 

warfighters to coordinate with South Korean 

allies as it is a “releasable” to Korea system. By 

using the collaboration tool, leaders across the 8th FW 

can collaborate with counterparts from the Republic of 

Korea Air Force as well as 7th Air Force. 

This allows leaders to better command and 

control their forces from a peninsula-wide perspective. 

The COIN system has already proven 

itself valuable during numerous exercises, allowing 

information access at a moment’s notice. 

Implementation of the COIN system is just 

one example of Wolf Comm’s continued excellence. 

DEFENSE SWITCHED NETWORK 

Another example of the superb work by 

Wolf Comm’s Airmen, civilians, and contractors 

lies in the Technical Control Facility and 

the Defense Switched Network work centers. 

Both were recently recognized by the Defense 

Information Systems Agency with Facility of 

the Year awards for all of Korea, besting 18 other 

locations. 

The DSN work center also attained several 

accomplishments which contribute to Wolf 

Pack’s mission. They initiated two major system 

enhancements and resolved two outages, as 

well as mapping out telephone requirements for 

new dormitory projects. They also implemented 

a system that enables emergency responders 

to instantly pinpoint where 911 callers are located. 

They accomplished all this while continually 

providing official and unofficial telephone 

services and 1,400 Internet service connections 

for Wolf Pack’s 3,100 Airmen. 

TECHNICAL CONTROL FACILITY 

The TCF, which controls nearly all communications 

traffic into and out of the wing, 

initialized a data circuit that enabled a more 

robust communications network for the Army 

Patriot Battery located here. 

In addition, they installed a new switching system 

that provides dedicated voice service to Korean allies. 

Inspectors praised each of these initiatives, along with 

the work center’s technical expertise and ability to 

restore communications in the face of natural disasters 

and contingency actions. 

A JOB WELL DONE 

From implementing the COIN system to being 

recognized as the best technical control and 

DSN facilities on the peninsula, Wolf Comm 

Airmen, civilians and contractors continue to 

provide outstanding service. Their technical 

expertise and dedication to the nation, as well 

as Korean allies, enables the wing to successfully 

accomplish its mission every day. 

Defend the base 

Take the fight north 

Accept follow-on forces 




By Maj. John Caranta 

611th Air Communications Flight 

TIME MACHINE 

REMOTE COMM 

PIONEERS BRIDGE ALASKA - D.C. GAP FROM 

TELEGRAPH TO TROPOSCATTER TO SATCOM 

ELMEndORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska 

— Military communications in Alaska has historically 

come with numerous challenges. At the turn of 

the 20th Century, official messages between 

Washington, D.C., and Alaska took between 

two and six months to be delivered. 

Gen. Alphonus Greely, chief of the Army 

Signal Corps, began making plans to connect 

Alaska to the rest of the world by telegraph. 

Due to several issues, the plan had fallen 

severely behind schedule, and he called on a 

young signals officer by the name of 1st Lt. 

Billy Mitchell to turn it around. 

Eventually connecting 1,497 miles of line across 

the wilderness and 2,128 miles of undersea cable, the 

telegraph brought the first long-haul comm to Alaska. 

Comm between the remote sites and 

the command structure was significantly 

improved by the Air Force in the 1950s with 

the White Alice Communications System. 

It used troposcatter and microwave line-ofsight 

to connect early warning systems to 

command and control facilities. At the time, 

WACS was state-of-the-art, but it quickly 

became obsolete with the arrival of satellite 

communications. 

A few years after the original North 

American Aerospace Defense Command 

agreement, the Alaska NORAD Region, or 

ANR, was established here in 1961. Its initial 

mission was to maintain vigilance over North 

America to deter the threat of long range 

bombers from the Soviet Union. 

Through numerous changes in name, organization, 

and reporting chain, 11th Air Force has been 

constantly joined with NORAD as one of three 

regions with a single commander for both the numbered 

air force and the region. 

Almost 50 years removed, notionally not much has changed. 

Alaska is still remote; SATCOM is still the only means of getting 

comm from the remote radar and forward operating sites; the 

need for ANR to guard the skies still exists; and the need to 

Mitchell 

troposcatter 

integrate and diversify comm between the remote sites and C2 

facilities is growing. 

Two separate organizations have traditionally 

performed Alaska’s communications integration. 

The 611th Air Support Squadron’s mission is to ensure 

Alaskan warfighters have continuously 

mission-ready forward operating locations, 

reliable radar coverage, flexible communications, 

and wing readiness for homeland 

defense protection along the entire Pacific 

Rim. To do this, they orchestrate contract 

operations and maintenance efforts of 455 

contractors under six separate government 

contracts. 

Commanded by a Canadian Forces 

captain, the comm-electronics flight’s portion 

of that mission is to work directly with 

DOD and commercial providers to deliver 

communications system support, computer 

security, and technical advice for the two 

FOLs, Eareckson Air Station, and 17 remote 

radar sites. 

That support includes long and short 

range radar, telephone and computer networks, 

UHF/VHF radios, and military and 

commercial circuits via long-haul SAT- 

COM. 

The other organization, 611th Air 

Communications Flight, is tasked to operate 

as the focal point for 11th AF/SC and 

the Alaskan NORAD Region/A6. 

They maintain and administer the ANR 

Secret Releasable to Canada enterprise network 

providing Global Command and Control 

System and Theater Battle Management 

Core Systems connectivity with NORAD. 

They also develop plans and programs to provide C4 

systems to 11th AF, ANR, and Alaskan Joint Forces 

Air Component Commander. 

Lastly, the 611th ACF provides comm support to 

611th Air Operations Center. In 2006 the Air Force 

directed the reorganizing of many of the AOCs 

worldwide. As a result, these two communications 

units will combine to form the 611th Air Communications 

Squadron. 

telegraph 

NEWS BRIEFS 

remember 

PARTICIPANTS 

COMMEMORATE 

BATAAN MARCH 

THE BATAAN Memorial 

Death March is commemorated 

every year at 

White Sands Missile Range 

just outside of Las Cruces, 

N.M. The march covers 26.2 

miles via paved road and 

sandy trails, and includes 

participants from all military 

branches, ROTC, retired 

personnel and civilians. 

This year military members 

from Germany, Holland and 

Canada also marched. 

Of the 4,000 participants, 

26 were members of the 

566th Information Operations 

Squadron from Buckley 

AFB, Colo., who marched 

in the light division and 

heavy division (with 35pound 

rucksacks). Afterwards, 

a few of the surviving 

Bataan prisoners awaited all 

the participants to congratulate 

them on the success of 

their grueling march. — Airman 

1st Class Alejandro 

Rosas / 566th IOS 

JOINT TACTICAL AIR 

Controllers from the 

Air Force, Marine Corps 

and Canadian Air Force 

recently trained on new 

battlefield technologies 

during Atlantic Strike V at 

Avon Park, Fla. 

They trained on the 

Remotely Operated Video 

Enhancement Receiver, or 

ROVER, and the Venom, 

a remote-controlled, laser 

designator rangefinder 

telescoping mast system. 

ROVER can receive video 

Courtesy photos 

Members of the 38th Engineering Installation Squadron practice comm skills 

during a spring deployment to a mock bare base. 

exercise exercise exercise 

COMM UNIT TRAINS FOR WAR AT MOCK IRAQI AIRFIELD 

THE 85TH ENGINEERING Installation 

Squadron from Keesler Air 

Force Base, Miss., deployed in the 

spring to a mock “Talil Airfield, Iraq” 

for exercise Road Warrior 07-03. 

“This was the first phase II exercise 

for the 85th EIS in the last decade, as 

well as the first since aligning with Air 

Combat Command. This exercise laid 

the foundation for future deployments, 

exercises and peacetime contingencies,” 

said Staff Sgt. Matthew Bricker, 85th 

EIS ground radar systems. 

The week’s activities included 

training on alarm conditions, contamination 

control areas, post-attack 

reconnaissance, security forces defense 

posturing, self-aid buddy care, and 

battlefield technology 

ROVER, VENOM SYSTEMS HELP JTACS TARGET QUICKER 

and telemetry data from 

manned aircraft, remotecontrolled 

unmanned 

aerial vehicles and the 

Venom system, to display 

on a laptop or television 

monitor. 

This capability allows 

ground commanders to 

see around corners, over 

hills or on top 

of buildings. 

The JTACs 

on the 

ground 

need 

to see the battle picture to 

positively identify targets. 

ROVER cuts down the 

talk-on-target time (from 

hours) to 10 minutes 

or less. Before ROVER, 

JTACs had to have their 

eyes on the target and 

relied on verbal communication 

between themselves, 

aircraft 

and the Air 

Support 

Operations 

Center. 

JTACs 

convoys. During the bare base portion, 

the team installed network systems, 

and copper and fiber infrastructure 

used to provide secure and non-secure 

command and control communications. 

Capt. Gary Rualo, 85th EIS electromagnetics, 

was assigned to a radio 

directional finding team to identify frequency 

interferences that interrupted 

radio communications. 

“It was vital to get troops into the 

proper mindset for real-world events in 

a deployed environmen. It familiarized 

our Airmen with the procedures and 

was a good overall experience,” he said. 

— Tech. Sgt. Chuck Marsh, Keesler AFB, 

Miss. 

provided the target, which 

the ASOC then confirmed 

before the aircrew would 

execute. 

When fitted with a 

ROVER transmitter, the 

Venom can send its images 

to ROVER systems, 

adding a line-of-sight 

image to the aerial image 

a JTAC receives from an 

aircraft. When in laser 

tracking mode, Venom 

also allows units to identify 

and lock onto a target, 

while moving out of the 

area avoiding discovery. 

— Staff Sgt. Amanda Savannah, 

USCENTAF/PA 



VENOM 


Software check 

Senior cadets Christopher Odell and Phillip 

Stewart verify with technical staff member John 

Clark that their software is correctly configured 

before the next pass of Falcon Satellite-3 at the 

U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, 

Colo. FalconSAT-3 is undergoing testing 100,000 

security 

DOD BLOCKS 

12 WEB SITES 

DEFENSE Department 

officials are blocking 

access to 12 popular Internet 

sites from departmentowned 

computers due to 

bandwidth issues. 

Joint Task Force Global 

Network Operations members, 

who direct the operation 

and defense of DOD’s 

Global Information Grid 

to assure timely and secure 

capabilities, have blocked 

the sites since May 14. 

The sites are: youtube. 

com, pandora.com, photobucket.com, 

myspace. 

com, live365.com, hi5.com, 

metacafe.com, mtv.com, 

ifilm.com, blackplanet. 

com, stupidvideos.com and 

filecabi.com. 

The blocks affect only 

DOD computers and 

local area networks that 

are part of the GIG. The 

department has more than 

15,000 local and regional 

networks and more than 5 

million computers in the 

grid. Offices with a need 

to access these sites from 

government computers 

can request exceptions 

to the policy. JTF-GNO 

officials continually make 

assessments, and may add 

or subtract sites as needed. 

— AFPS 

Mike Kaplan / USAFA 

feet from Earth in preparation for experiments 

involving space weather and spacecraft operations. 

The satellite was designed and built by 

Academy cadets, who now test and operate it. 

The project is administered by the USAFA Space 

Systems Research Center. 

Conveyer install at 

the Incheon Air Mail 

Terminal in Korea. 

delivering the mail 

KOREA BUILDS TERMINAL FOR U.S. 

DELIVERING MAIL IN A TIMELY manner to over 

65,000 customers at 100 locations throughout 

Korea is no simple task. But the 26 Air Force members 

and local nationals of Det. 1, PACAF Air Postal Squadron 

plus 15 Army troops and local nationals, brilliantly 

support mail missions from the Incheon Aerial Mail 

Terminal. 

Located less than 20 miles from the 38th Parallel, 

the jointly operated Incheon AMT is the most forward 

deployed military mail terminal in the Pacific Command, 

and is expected to process 15 million pounds of 

new name 

AIA BECOMES 

AF ISR AGENCY 

AIR FORCE OFFI- 

CIALS announced 

that beginning June 8, a 

force structure change will 

designate the Air Intelligence 

Agency at Lackland 

Air Force Base, Texas, as 

the Air Force Intelligence, 

Surveillance and Reconnaissance 

Agency. 

AIA reported to Air 

Combat Command, but 

the new agency will be 

aligned under the Air Force 

deputy chief of staff for Intelligence, 

Surveillance and 

Reconnaissance, or A2, as a 

field operating agency. 

“The realignment 

underscores the nature of 

ISR as an Air Force-wide 

enterprise,” said Lt. Gen. 

David A. Deptula, the Air 

Force deputy chief of staff 

for A2. 

Gen. T. Michael Moseley, 

the Air Force chief of 

staff, said this realignment 

is a key element in transforming 

the approach the 

Air Force is taking to ISR 

organization. 

“Because ISR capabilities 

are at the core of 

determining these desired 

(warfighting) effects, 

ISR has never been more 

important during our 60 

years as an independent 

service. ISR has become 

the foundation of global 

vigilance, reach and power,” 

General Moseley said. 

General Deptula added, 

“The Air Force ISR Agency 

will now be responsible for 

broadening their scope beyond 

the signal intelligence 

arena to include all elements 

of ISR. The intent is 

to provide unmatched ISR 

capability to our nation’s 

decision makers.” 

The new structure 

includes the 70th Intelligence 

Wing and the Air 

Force Cryptologic Office 

at Fort George G. Meade, 

Md.; the National Air and 

Space Intelligence Center 

at Wright-Patterson AFB, 

Ohio; and the Air Force 

Technical Applications 

Center at Patrick AFB, Fla. 

— AFPN 

mail annually for 80 Army, 18 Air Force, and two Navy 

locations here. In addition to handling mail for American 

troops in Korea, they process mail for the Korean 

military serving in Iraq. 

The $6 million Incheon facility was constructed by 

local engineers and totally funded by the Korean government. 

Improvements include a new $700,000 conveyor 

belt system/mezzanine, a state-of-the-art security 

camera system throughout the facility and compound, 

and an estimated annual cost savings of $800,000 from 

eliminating 12 contract delivery trucks and an airport 

office lease. 

Master Sgt. Andrew Bradford, operations superintendent, 

lists his assignment at Incheon as one of the 

most gratifying in his 20 years in the Air Force. 

“I’m impressed with the Air Force and Army’s synergy 

on mail processing, and no doubt we’re making 

an uplifting morale difference in Korea with the mail” 

he said. “Mail is a critical morale factor, and that’s why 

we’re here, to expedite mail delivery to the troops.” 

— Senior Master Sgt. Nick Tolosa, Det. 1, AIRPS 

Army Sgt. Alexandra Hemmerly-Brown / 210th MPAD 

Senior Airman Raymond Felix checks communications 

gear before taking off on a Joint Airborne Battle 

Staff mission over Iraq. While airborne, joint service 

battle staff members monitor and relay radio calls. 

sky comm 

AIRBORNE BATTLE STAFF RELAYS INFO 

WHEN CONVOYS GO ON PATROLS in Iraq and 

lose communications, it and can make the difference 

between mission success and failure. But, unknown 

to many road-faring warriors, a lifeline is already in 

place, listening to them from above. 

“If we hear somebody who doesn’t know we are 

there, but keeps repeatedly calling a forward operating 

base that isn’t answering, we will answer,” said Maj. Dean 

Catalano, Joint Airborne Battle Staff detachment commander. 

Army Staff Sgt. William Parchim added, “Basically, 

we’re 911 operators at 20,000 feet. “A lot of times, there 

are dead areas where units can’t communicate, and that’s 

where the battle staff comes in. We make sure those 

units are able to communicate with someone.” 

The unit is augmented with servicemembers from 

almost every branch of the military. Additionally, they 

are carried aloft and positioned for their mission in C- 

130 Hercules aircraft operated by the 777th Expeditionary 

Airlift Squadron, a combat aerial delivery squadron 

based at Balad Air Base, Iraq. While they fly, they 

monitor several radio channels at a time and relay calls 

ranging from routine radio checks to medical evacuation 

requests. 

Before Multi-National Force-Iraq established the unit 

about a year ago, aircraft flying above convoys sometimes 

would receive communications from the troops 

on the ground asking for help. It was only by chance 

those planes were at the right place at the right time. The 

aircrews were able to use their communications equipment 

to help out. Soon it was recognized as a full-time 

need. Sergeant Parchim said the alternative to the battle 

staff support probably would be more communications 

outposts on the ground which would have to be 

manned, putting more lives at risk. — Army Sgt. Alexandra 

Hemmerly-Brown / 210th MPAD 




What is virtualization technology? 

According to one of the leading virtualization vendors, 

“Virtualization is an abstraction layer that decouples the physical 

hardware from the operating system. Virtualization allows multiple 

virtual machines, with different operating systems, to run 

side-by-side on the same physical machine. Each virtual machine 

has its own set of virtual hardware (e.g., RAM, CPU, NIC) upon 

which an operating system and applications are loaded.” 

What are the benefits? 

Machine virtualization technology’s primary benefit is its 

ability to consolidate multiple machines onto a single physical 

machine, conserving floor space, power and cooling. 

Virtualization also enables IT organizations to enhance their 

administrative productivity and rapidly deploy new servers to 

address changing mission needs. Virtualization can also be used 

to re-host legacy environments, especially as older generation 

hardware becomes more difficult and costly to maintain. 

How is it being used? 

One of the areas where virtualization technology has performed 

spectacularly is in test and development. 

Col. Michael K. McCullough, Air Force Communications Agency’s 

Integration and Engineering director, said, “This technology 

has made a tremendous impact in transforming our enterprise 

network evaluation process. Virtualization has enabled us to 

create working models of different Air Force infostructures to 

TECHNO GIZMO 

THE 

VIRTUAL 

AIR FORCE 

Source: Keith Gilbreath and Bill Shacklady, AFCA 

enhance the realism and accuracy of our evaluations. Virtual 

machines can also be saved, cloned, and reused quickly for other 

tasks, increasing our ability to accommodate constantly changing 

requirements. 

“This has enabled us to simultaneously support major Air 

Force projects, such as Standard desktop version 2, E-Mail for Life, 

Smart Card Login for remote e-mail access, and Exchange/Active 

Directory migrations.” 

What’s ahead? 

Major commands are also excited about deploying virtualization 

technologies in their work centers. According to a recent 

virtualization assessment report from Air Combat Command’s 

A6N staff, “virtualization . . . could potentially consolidate 218 

servers onto 13 servers, representing a 93 percent reduction, and 

approximately $962,805 savings during the next three years.” 

In addition, the United States Air Forces in Europe staff have 

experienced some of the benefits of virtualization with their 

recent desktop initiative. 

Col. Steven J. Spano, USAFE/A6, said, “Virtualization technology 

has enabled our command to do what was once considered 

impossible (i.e., support nearly all functional system applications 

on the standard desktop configuration), while reducing desktop 

application update cycles from days to hours.” 

The Air Force Network Operations transformation team is 

now also considering virtualization to overcome anticipated 

Area Processing Center fielding challenges. 


C4ISR ✭Command, 

Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance

FLEXIBLE, DEPLOYABLE COMM ✭ TOTAL FORCE 


WIRELESS NETWORKS ✭ INFORMATION OPS

MODERNIZATION EFFORTS ... - Air Force Network Integration Center

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