Category: Defense

Source: United States Air Force

Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne Bass visited multiple Wright-Patterson Air Force Base facilities, including the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing Nov. 9.

“We’re super excited to spend some time with you,” Bass said. “When I talk about building the Force of the Future, the work AFRL is doing is essential.”

During Bass’s visit to the 711 HPW, she was briefed by multiple subject matter experts on the Base Oversight of Autonomous Response, or BOAR, program and how it ties into the Readiness Airman Training, which is a part of the new Air Force Force Generation, or AFFORGEN, deployment model. The BOAR program aims to revolutionize infrastructure, processes and policies to field integrated capabilities that are reliable, safe and maximize autonomy and human-machine-teamed operations for installation mission support.

AFFORGEN is the new deployment model used by the Air Force and will incorporate drone training as part of the Readiness Airman Training, which is a prerequisite for deploying under the AFFORGEN model, said Chief Master Sgt. Doug Middendorf, 88th Communications Squadron senior enlisted leader.

“We have teamed up with AFRL to actually create a drone program for the [711 HPW],” Middendorf said. “Many of the Airmen are from the 88th Communications Squadron who have learned how to fly drones, set up the mission planning cell, and also to set up to move forward.”

The proof of concept, which debuted during the Air Force Marathon, will be used for Airman Readiness Training, Middendorf said.

“This is the first time, though, that I’m meeting our cyber Airmen who were flying drones because typically it’s our Defenders,” Bass said. “If you could fly a drone or do your cyber job, what would you do?”

During her visit, Bass posed the question to Senior Airman Geoffrey Alvarado, autonomous drone operations specialist, 88th Communications Squadron, about whether he enjoys flying drones or performing cyber-related work.

Alvarado said he has enjoyed doing both.

“We started off as a four-member team about five months ago,” Alvarado said. “We’ve been trying to integrate with this project as much as we can. It has been a big step going from [communication] to flying drones.”

Alvarado said the team members have been relying on their own experiences to learn about the Air Force to create new ideas, such as a drone operations center.

“We’ve mostly been trying to integrate with how the rest of the Air Force does its airspace missions and implementing it into this and trying to make a system that can go across the entire force,” Alvarado said.

Bass said the Air Force is looking to define its mission sets.

“There was an article we read before the pandemic that talked about how … every Army infantryman is starting to learn how to do this, because it will, at some point, be part of their competencies,” Bass added. “As we look at what an Airman of the future looks like, we have to ask ourselves: does every Airman — to some degree — have a similar level of competency?”

Alvarado said the team is looking to provide as much education on the system as possible before a deployment.

“We are putting that in our familiarization training for Readiness Airman Training in support of the AFFORGEN deployment process for them to have familiarization of what a drone looks like, what its capabilities are,” Alvarado said. “So, the first time they see it downrange, it’s not the first time they’re seeing it.”

Source: United States Air Force

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AFNS) —  

The 55th Airlift/Tanker Association Symposium brought together 1,500 Mobility Airmen in a single forum in Grapevine, Texas, Nov. 9 – 12, along with Department of Defense senior leaders and industry partners. 
 
During the event, themed “Forging Warriors, Projecting America’s Lethality,” Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of Air Mobility Command, provided his final “State of the Mobility Air Forces,” in which he honored recent MAF actions while urging Airmen to capitalize on accomplishments and triumph over existing and anticipated challenges.   

  
“I should not be here because of [real-world] chaos, but I’m freaking here,” Minihan said. “That’s because it ain’t really chaos; this team’s got it gripped! What would cripple any other Air Force – cripple – is actually our greatest strength.” 

The MAF’s persistent global mobility presence in the past year – exemplified through Mobility Guardian execution, humanitarian response and deterrence of adversarial aggression – reaffirmed that air mobility Airmen will not shy from adversity, regardless of regional challenges.  

In a virtual keynote address, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall also emphasized AMC’s consistent and reliable footprint around the globe over the past year. 

“We’ve had the Ukrainian conflict and our efforts to help the Ukrainians resist Russian aggression; you’ve been a major component of that,” Kendall said. “We’ve had now the operations in [CENTCOM] where you’re supporting our partners as they’re responding to the devastating attacks that they endured.”   

In the month of October alone, AMC flew more than 2,100 global missions and nearly 5,500 sorties, transporting more than 27,000 tons of cargo and more than 64,000 passengers. 
 
This sentiment of the MAF’s ability to “grow from disorder,” as Minihan puts it, was echoed by DoD senior leaders throughout the three-day symposium. 
 
“You’ve remained agile to fluctuating demands, you’ve embraced the thrash between the scenes, and you’ve ensured the flow of aid is met at the speed of need,” said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. John Sullivan, U.S. Transportation Command deputy commander, during his remarks.

He highlighted the MAF’s response to Türkiye and Syria earthquakes within 24 hours of notification, helping to free 1,000 survivors from the rubble alongside 20 NATO allies and partners. 

Sullivan also highlighted ways in which the MAF anticipates the speed of need and built solutions to meet these requests. AMC’s maintenance modernization team – represented by Timothy Stevens, Boyd Rinderer, Jerry Hunter and Tech. Sgt. David Shepherd – pursued advanced training environments affecting 13,000 maintenance technicians across 23 locations.

This resulted in saving $16 million and 10,000 man-hours, cutting aircraft usage 40%, and increasing maintenance training 30%.

Chief Master Sgt. Jamie Newman, AMC command chief, asserted that the Air Force’s historical dominance, as well as its continued dominance, is a direct result of the Airmen who recognize embracing failure as a vital component to being victorious.  

“We have a problem in the Air Force,” Newman said. “We don’t know how to lose… We’re gonna have Airmen who are doing things we haven’t even thought of yet.” 

Minihan emphasized that Airmen like this, who “drive” rather than allowing themselves to “be driven,” is exactly the requirement to generate irreversible momentum to match and exceed future requirements. The sense of urgency was expressed among other senior leaders in attendance. 

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass, who spoke on the second day of the symposium, stressed the necessity of change to defend the nation and its interests.  

“You are going to see more change in the next four to six years than I have seen in my entire 30-year career,” Bass said. “And it’s about time.” 

Kendall said Airmen can expect to see evolutions in next generation capability, contingency response, and the approach to the Air Force Force Generation process as it applies to the MAF.  

“When I came into office, I was focused on modernization and we set up the seven operational imperatives, as we call them, to address our most pressing operational problems,” Kendall said. “We’ve moved forward with that and placed a lot of things into our budget and identified additional things through exercises like Mobility Guardian.”

To effectively respond to combatant commands’ requirements spanning across every geographic area of responsibility, AMC has identified command and control, connectivity, command relationships and exploding into theater as crucial focus areas following MG23.

“As ready as we are, we need to be more ready,” Minihan said. “As integrated as we are, we need to be more integrated. As agile as we are, we need to be more agile. Can this team – can this family – have the tough conversation with itself on how to aggressively close the gaps?” 

Minihan believes the answer is ‘yes.’

Attendees had access to 10 keynote speeches and 20 seminars addressing evolutions in education, leadership and Agile Combat Employment, to include seminars specific to MG23 lessons learned, post-MG23 actions, game-changing initiatives, and leveraging emotional intelligence for combat readiness.

Additionally, MAF Airmen and spouses were recognized for personal and professional achievements, and 337 medals were awarded to Airmen for their actions taken during Operation Allies Refuge.

The Palmetto Military Support Group supporting Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina won this year’s Abilene Trophy, which recognizes the community that best supports an AMC base throughout the year.  

Mary Graham from the PMSG received the Tampa Bay Trophy for exhibiting sustained and enduring service to the community. 

All keynote speeches and select AMC seminars can be accessed through the 2023 A/TA Symposium feature page.

Source: United States Air Force

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas (AFNS) —  

An app that makes it easier to sublet short-term childcare slots will soon be available at all Department of the Air Force-run child development centers.

Now available at 24 installations, Kinderspot helps Department of Defense families on Air and Space Force bases offer or find weeklong blocks of time for rent at the CDC. With a goal of reaching all remaining DAF CDCs by July 2024, Kinderspot will launch at several new installations each month, said Jennifer Penafiel, Air Force Services Center child development and youth programs specialist.

By centralizing and streamlining the subletting process, Kinderspot helps CDCs maximize schedule availability and offers families more flexibility to plan for their childcare needs, Penafiel said. The app, currently supporting preschool age and younger children, enables families already enrolled at a DAF CDC to offer their weeklong blocks of time to other families, receiving a credit to their account when another family rents their spot.

“Families are very excited there is a program that allows them to temporarily rent a childcare space,” said Derrick Ross, CDC lead administration clerk at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. “The process is not long or complicated and families know exactly which classroom they will be assigned to.”

Families without a child currently enrolled at a CDC must complete paperwork to become a verified renter at their CDC before booking available weeks through the app. Rental fees are paid directly to the CDC at the renter’s rate, based on the family’s total family income.

“Kinderspot is so user friendly and gives me peace of mind to know my spot is being utilized when we are out of town for family vacations,” said Maj. Jessie James, Peterson SFB, Colorado. “I love that I’m saving money and another family is receiving care at their rate. It’s a win-win.”

With more than 6,200 users as of November, the app has already facilitated the rental of nearly 3,700 short-term child care spots.

“As soon as my base adopted Kinderspot, I used the app and was able to sublet my child’s CDC spot for a week,” said Lt. Col. Kelly Atkinson, who is stationed at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado. “The program was easy to use, clear and intuitive. Best of all, Kinderspot not only helped my family save on childcare costs but also ensured another military family had access to childcare for that week. I can’t say enough about how much I appreciate this service and the innovative leaders who filled this need by creating this program.”

The brainchild of Maj. Jacque Vasta, air officer commanding for Cadet Squadron 35 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado, Kinderspot was the top idea at the 2020 Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center Innovation Rodeo. AFIMSC initially awarded the project $333,000 and secured additional funding for development through a price-matching Small Business Innovation Research contract.

To design a helpful tool for military families, the AFIMSC Ventures innovation office partnered with Oddball, a digital services team specializing in transforming government software. It also worked closely with AFSVC to shape the app and processes to align with child and youth program priorities and efforts. AFIMSC and AFSVC began testing the app in 2021. Since then, developers have improved the app’s security and functionality and added a few new features, including push and wait-list notifications.

“With today’s technology, everyone utilizes a mobile device for everyday life and family management. Adding the new push and wait-list notification options provides installations, managers and families the convenience of subletting their childcare spot with ease,” said Senior Master Sgt. Shawanda Summers, AFSVC Community Services senior enlisted leader.

For Vasta, seeing Kinderspot transform from a small concept she developed in her living room into a live mobile app available for military families across the globe has been exciting.

“The journey has been an invaluable source of learning and growth for me and would not have been possible without the tremendous support of AFIMSC, AFSVC Child and Youth Programs and the families who’ve warmly embraced Kinderspot,” she said. “The future is bright with care we can share!”

Kinderspot is available for both Apple and Android devices. Visit here for more information.

Source: United States Air Force

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) —  

The Department of the Air Force is now reimbursing service members up to $1,000 to re-establish spouse-owned small businesses during a permanent change of station or assignment on or after Dec. 23, 2022.

“Spouse employment is a key factor in the success of our Airmen and Guardians. Dual-income households contribute to military readiness, allowing service members to focus on their mission. Investing in our spouses’ careers is not just the right thing to do, it makes our Airmen and Guardians’ service possible,” said Alex Wagner, assistant secretary of the Air Force Manpower and Reserve Affairs. “This effort will also help ease the burden of relocations and facilitate the ability of our members’ spouses to return to work quickly.”

The spouse-owned small business reimbursement applies to PCS or PCA orders on or after Dec. 23, 2022; members must file a claim within 24 months of the date the PCS or PCA orders are authenticated.

This new reimbursement can be used in conjunction with the existing $1,000 reimbursement for spouses who required re-certification or re-licensing, increasing the possible total reimbursement up to $2,000.

Members are encouraged to contact their installation’s Military & Family Readiness Center with questions about eligibility and how to submit a claim. The service member’s servicing finance office will work with both the member and their spouse to verify eligibility and provide necessary documentation of qualified expenses to begin the reimbursement process.