A collection of news and information specifically for the C4ISR community

Vol. 4, No. 15
April 17, 2008

General Bowlds presents his top priorities during off-site

Gen. Ted Bowlds

By Kevin Gilmartin
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds unveiled his five leadership priorities in front of ESC’s leaders during an off-site meeting at the Southbridge, Mass. Conference Center March 27-28.

The off-site, attended by ESC wing commanders, directors and deputies as well as functional organization leaders, also focused on the center’s revamped Balanced Scorecard, the roles of functional and wing leaders, and civilian recruiting efforts.

“I’ve been here a bit over six months now observing how ESC operates, and I wanted the opportunity to have a frank discussion with my leaders about things I like, and areas where I believe change is necessary,” General Bowlds said in explaining the off-site. “I also wanted the opportunity to share and discuss my priorities with them in an environment where we wouldn’t be disturbed. Discussing the future of the center is vital, and I intend to bring my ‘board of directors’ together routinely to do so.”

The general’s first priority, “Run ESC as an Enterprise,” entails an organization-wide approach to managing the center and its resources. The general wants to prioritize all of the center’s 322 programs to see “the complete story,” and allocate people, facilities and funding to the organization’s highest priority programs. Using forums such as the Human Capital Board, the general wants to ensure the highest priority programs receive the support necessary to succeed.(More)

Commander's Log
Focus on fitness is key to Airmen's readiness, health and image

Gen. Bruce Carlson

To the men and women of AFMC —

I am sure most of you have already heard about recent emphasis being placed on reducing the obesity rate within the command. However, I want you to hear this from me. More than 12 percent of our Air Force Materiel Command military members meet the clinical definition of obese. This is an issue we, as an Air Force family, must address.

Here's how I see it:

Obesity impacts our service in three key areas -- being fit to fight, the health of our Airmen, and the professional image we portray to others. First, we are an expeditionary fighting force. Given the ops tempo and deployment cycles of our Airmen, we must be ready and fit to fight when called upon. Second, Body Mass Index (BMI) is an indicator of overall health and identifies those with elevated health risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and other health problems. We cannot ignore our responsibility in taking care of our Airmen — they are our most valued resource.  (More)

EPLRS conference provides forum for military services, industry partner

Walter Sérra, Enhanced Position Location Reporting System/Situational Awareness Data Link program management specialist, addresses the 10th Annual EPLRS multi-service meeting held last week at the Hanscom Conference Center. The event, hosted by the 640th Electronic Systems Squadron, is designed as a forum for U.S. and coalition services to discuss system issues and technology.  (Photo by Linda LaBonte-Britt)

By Monica D. Morales
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

The 640th Electronic Systems Squadron sponsored a multi-service meeting last week for more than 100 attendees from all the services, including coalition partners from Canada, Australia and Great Britain and industry partner Raytheon.

The chief topic of discussion was the Enhanced Position Location Reporting System, a tactical data radio employed by the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy to move key information quickly and efficiently on the battlefield. The EPLRS's layered system software controls all of the communication networks and provides routing services between these networks.

“For the Air Force, this conference was a great opportunity to learn from the other services and countries what they are doing with EPLRS and share our Air Force EPLRS and Situational Awareness Data Link experiences,” said Robert Roe, EPLRS/SADL team lead. “With tight budgets across the services, forums like this allow cross flow of information that benefit each services’ ongoing implementations and new developments.”  (More)

JEFX 08-03 live-fly event underway

During Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2008, or JEFX 08-3, teams will download data from the F-22A Raptor's tremendous sensor capabilities. (Photo by Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Meneguin)

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By Capt. Larry van der Oord
Global Cyberspace Integration Center Public Affairs

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. -- After two years of planning and preparation, the third quarter event for Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2008, or JEFX 08-3, kicked off today and will run through April 25.

As the lead agency for JEFX, the Global Cyberspace Integration Center here will conduct the experiment with participation from sister services, coalition nations, combatant commands and government agencies to assess initiatives to fulfill identified gaps in warfighting capability. The focus areas for JEFX 08-3 include distributed theater operations, globally linked Air and Space Operation Centers, cyberspace and unit-level command and control.

The Electronic Systems Center is playing a significant role once again in helping to evaluate technologies undergoing experimentation in JEFX.  (More)

General Bowlds highlights military values during address to cadets 

Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds chats with Air Force ROTC cadet Benjamin Katz, a student at Northeastern University, and Lt. Col. Shane Johnson, professor of Aerospace Studies at Boston University, prior to the Old Crows scholarship luncheon April 11 at the Minuteman Club. The Patriots’ Roost Chapter of the Association of Old Crows presented 21 ROTC students with $1,000 scholarships. (Photo by Mark Wyatt)

By Kevin Gilmartin
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds discussed military leadership and values while addressing Air Force, Army and Navy ROTC cadets during a scholarship luncheon sponsored by the Patriots Roost Chapter of the Association of Old Crows April 11 at the Hanscom Minuteman Club.

During the luncheon, which was also attended by many of ESC’s senior leaders and company grade officers, the local Old Crows chapter presented $1,000 scholarships to 21 deserving Boston area ROTC cadets.

In his address, General Bowlds, who was an ROTC cadet himself at Mississippi State University, paid tribute to ROTC instructors, many of whom were in the audience, saying that what his instructors taught him about military leadership and values has had a lasting impact on his career.

“As future military leaders, you will need to be competent decision makers, able to remain innovative and adaptive under pressure,” he said.  (More)

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Col. Rob Dominguez

By Monica D. Morales
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

The Electronic Systems Center will welcome Col. Rob Dominguez to his post as the 350th Electronic Systems Wing commander in a May 2 appointment of command ceremony.

The ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. in the Building 1614, 950th Electronic Systems Group Auditorium. Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds will preside over the ceremony.

Colonel Dominguez comes to the 350 ELSW after working as the deputy director of Coalition Warfare at the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington, D.C. In this position, he developed and executed policy and resources for the Coalition Warfare Program which supports war fighter requirements through international cooperative research and development initiatives.

This is a return to Hanscom for the colonel, who during an earlier assignment here in the Intelligence and C3 Countermeasures Program Office, worked on the evolution of the Joint Service Imagery Processing System. In that role, he worked to exploit national imagery from a custom architecture into a robust standards-based system.

Colonel Dominguez is a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Air Command and Staff College, where he received recognition as an Outstanding Contributor. He holds Masters degrees from both of these institutions, as well as a master of science in systems management from the University of Southern California.

VPP mock audit offers insight into Hanscom program 

The results of Hanscom's Voluntary Protection Program mock audit were briefed to senior leaders April 11.

The mock audit was the first of its kind in the Air Force with the purpose of assessing Hanscom's VPP implementation and to determine readiness for the official Occupational Safety and Health Administration VPP site visit. Hanscom underwent an initial assessment in June of 2006 when it first established its program.

"We appreciate the assistance that Lt. Col. Weisman and his team have provided in getting us into the final steps of the process towards achieving OSHA certification," said Col. Tom Schluckebier, 66th Air Base Wing commander. "There has been significant progress in advancing our program towards Star certification, but there is still work to be accomplished and we're going to need everyone's help to get there."

The mock audit team led by Lt. Col. Wade Weisman from the Secretary of the Air Force's office of Installations, Environment and Logistics highlighted some of the "Star" areas of Hanscom's program.  (More)

USAF revises spending plans for two major programs after CAIG audit
-- Inside the Air Force
The Air Force has had to revise its price tag for two major acquisition programs after the Office of the Secretary of Defense determined the service’s initial baseline calculations were too low, according to a recently released Pentagon report.

Defense firms press for arms investment
-- Wall Street Journal
The next White House must find a way to overcome budget pressures and modernize the military so that it keeps its technological edge, according to a report from the aerospace and defense industry's Washington-based trade association.

command comments ...

-- Secretary of Defense
Robert M. Gates during April 15 testimony to the House Armed Services Committee

The Integrator is a weekly product of the 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office designed to give ESC decision makers a snapshot of news affecting the C4ISR community.  This e-publication is approved by Kevin Gilmartin, Chief of Public Affairs, (DSN) 478-4110 or commercial (781) 377-4110.  Back issues are available online.  To facilitate service, please select a link for your e-mails:  
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