MODERNIZATION EFFORTS ... - Air Force Network Integration Center

COMM TRANSFORMS RED FLAG-ALASKA
By 1st Lt. Shane Warren
354th Communications Squadron
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.
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