A collection of news and information specifically for the C4ISR community

Vol. 4, No. 3
January 24, 2008

Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds addresses a packed ballroom at the Newton Marriott Wednesday morning, delivering his first 'State of ESC' address. General Bowlds discussed 2007 highlights as well as upcoming challenges and priorities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Mark Wyatt)

By Chuck Paone
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Addressing nearly 700 attendees at this year’s State of ESC presentation yesterday, the center’s commander, Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds, spoke highly of the organization he inherited just over two months ago.

“There’s a great talent pool (of senior leaders) here, and below those individuals, there’s a world-class team,” he said.

The State of ESC and the adjoining New Horizons Symposium are sponsored by the Lexington-Concord Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association. Both were held this year at the Newton (Mass.) Marriott.

The general’s address, normally conducted as part of a luncheon concluding New Horizons, was done over breakfast yesterday because of the general’s competing scheduling demands. “I’ll give you the tip of the iceberg, and then during the rest of today and tomorrow you’ll hear the below-the-water-line information from the experts who work at ESC,” General Bowlds said at the outset.

“This is an incredibly complex portfolio,” he said of the programs managed by ESC. “It’s a huge tree. Once you start at the top, it just spans all kinds of directions … but the bottom line is that it’s delivering the power of information.” (More)

AFMC Commander to visit Hanscom next week

Gen.  Bruce Carlson, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, talks with members of the Hanscom Company Grade Officers Council at a breakfast meeting during a March 2006 visit to Hanscom. The general and wife, Vicki, will return to Hanscom next week to discuss a number of important topics. (Stock Photo)

By Kevin Gilmartin
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

General Bruce Carlson, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, will be visiting Hanscom Jan. 28 and 29 to learn about the progress Electronic Systems Center and the base are making on a number of AFMC initiatives.

“The general is visiting several bases in the command to look at how implementation of initiatives such as the Voluntary Protection Program and Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century are coming along,” said Col. Russ Blaine, ESC chief of staff. “He’s also interested in how the wings, groups and squadrons are working out, and how we are developing our workforce through various personnel development programs.”

The colonel said that, during General Carlson’s previous visits to Hanscom, the center has been able to show him how well ESC is supporting America’s warfighters by successfully executing its programs, but on this visit, the general is focusing more on programs that affect people.

“General Carlson is looking forward to meeting some of our junior civilians and officers currently participating in development programs to talk with them about how successfully those intern programs are working,” Colonel Blaine said. (More)

ESC to host Cyber Control System Industry Day next week

HANSCOM AFB, Mass. -- The Electronic Systems Center, in conjunction with Air Force Cyber Command (Provisional) and the Air Force Communications Agency, will convene a two-day session next week to solicit industry feedback on plans for developing new cyber control capabilities.

The industry ‘day,’ which will be held here Jan. 29 and 30, will focus on meeting the requirement to command and control the Air Force portion of the Defense Department’s Global Information Grid. Industry response has been very high so far, with more than 80 companies signed up to attend. Those that have identified themselves as prime contractor candidates and provided comments to the Web-posted Systems Requirements Document and Concept of Operations will be given one-hour blocks to discuss their thoughts on the project.

“We may have to extend it out another day, if we keep getting more interest,” said Vince Ross, program manager for the Cyber Control System, referred to as CCS, and deputy program manager for the Combat Information Transport System. The CITS program is comprised of information transport and network management and network defense, which is where CCS will play a major role.  (More)

General Lord delivers keynote address

Maj. Gen. William Lord, commander of the Air Force’s provisional Cyber Command, located at Barksdale AFB, La., delivers the keynote address for this year’s New Horizons Symposium Wednesday at the Newton (Mass.) Marriott. New Horizons is an annual event sponsored by the Lexington-Concord Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (U.S. Air Force photo by Mark Wyatt.)

By Theresa Corzine
Air Force Communications Agency

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFPN) -- Air Force Communications Agency members here are aggressively developing a solution to protect personal and other sensitive information from being stolen and misused.

Several government agencies have been victims of compromised data stored on stolen or lost computers during the past few years, and the Air Force is certainly not immune to this threat either.

As recently as December 2007, more than 10,500 records were found missing from a laptop computer in the Washington, D.C., area. Many computer hackers target e-mails, Internet traffic and other "data in motion" to gather and steal information.

However, information doesn't have to be moving to be vulnerable. There's a growing interest among U.S. adversaries to target information on mobile computing devices such as laptop hard drives, USB thumb drives, CDs, diskettes and other physical media that store "data at rest." (More)

U.S. Aviators, UAVs Team Up Against IEDs
After Iraq Success, Army Takes Tactics to Afghanistan
-- Defense News
Circling 3,000 feet above a heavily traveled convoy route north of Baghdad, U.S. Army Shadow and Warrior Alpha UAVs trained video cameras on four men planting a roadside bomb at a busy intersection ...

Army looks to boost bandwidth capacity
-- Army Times
Within five years, the Army may have too little radio spectrum to allow its next-generation networked force to work as it is being designed to work, the service’s outgoing procurement chief said.

DOD must fix product security evaluation process, officials say
-- Federal Computer Week
The Defense Department’s process for evaluating products to ensure they meet the agency’s information technology security requirements is broken. But senior DOD leaders say a fix is on the way.

NSPS’ endgame?
AFGE petitions Supreme Court for ruling on pay system, despite impending changes
-- Federal Computer Week
When it comes to controversy about the Defense Department’s National Security Personnel System, it’s not over until it’s over.

The militarization of space
Disharmony in the spheres
-- The Economist print edition
A HUSHED, dimmed hall in the nerve centre that controls America's air operations from Somalia to Afghanistan is dominated by giant video screens tracking coalition aircraft ...

command comments ...

-- Airman's Roll Call

 

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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