MODERNIZATION EFFORTS ... - Air Force Network Integration Center

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
intercom✭ June 2007 C4ISR ✭Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
Online ✭public.afca.af.mil
intercom ✭ June 2007