The Integrator

A collection of news and information specifically for the C4ISR community

Vol. 5, No.47
December 10, 2009
Virtualization effort aims at more efficient management of computing power

By Chuck Paone
CEIF

U.S, coalition forces and other participants work through a June 2007 Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration scenario inside the C4ISR Enterprise Integration Facility (CEIF) here. A new virtualization project in the CEIF will allow for more efficient use of the facility’s computing resources and provide numerous other benefits and cost savings. (USAF photo by Jan Abate)


66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
 
An Electronic Systems Center pilot project will help officials evaluate the full potential of virtualization, which allows computer resources such as memory, processing, network and disk space to be partitioned and efficiently redistributed.

This virtualization pilot is relatively small, but 653rd Electronic Systems Wing Enterprise Integration Division officials are betting on big dividends. The initiative is being conducted in the center's C4ISR Enterprise Integration Facility, known as the CEIF, and represents a new way of doing business, according to project leader Peter Walsh.

"It allows CEIF administrators to more easily manage computing power, treating systems as a scalable, on-demand resource," he said. (More)
Building on Bold Quest, airborne network moves forward

By Chuck Paone
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office

A team from the Electronic Systems Center is now building on some encouraging airborne networking results achieved during Bold Quest '09, the massive Joint Forces Command-led exercise conducted in November.

Despite some issues that took the main test aircraft off line, officials from the 653rd Electronic Systems Group's Airborne Networking Division demonstrated some specific data exchange capabilities. Air-to-ground exchanges went particularly well, said Division Chief Mike Therrien.

From what officials refer to as the mid-tier of the ever-evolving airborne network, a general range between 20,000 and 25,000 ft., aircrews were able to pass data and even stream video at rates of six to seven megabytes per second over about 20 nautical miles.

"Those results were pretty impressive, better than what's been demonstrated before," said Lt. Col. Brad Rennich, who led the team's efforts at Bold Quest. "We were able to maintain good connectivity throughout with the JTACs (Joint Tactical Air Controllers)."

From a product standpoint, the team sought to validate the air-to-air capabilities of the Common Data Link, referred to as CDL. They wanted to examine its transmission capabilities while experimenting with a miniaturized version ideal for space-constrained environments such as small UAVs - or the backs of JTACs, who must carry units with them.(More)

Senate confirms new AFMC vice commander

Wolfenbarger

Lt. Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger was confirmed by the Senate and promoted immediately to the rank of lieutenant general with assignment to the position of Air Force Materiel Command vice commander.  (U.S. Air Force photo)
Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs Report

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) -- The Senate confirmed Dec. 4 Lt. Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger and promoted her immediately to the rank of lieutenant general with assignment to the position of Air Force Materiel Command vice commander. General Wolfenbarger was previously the director of intelligence and requirements at Headquarters AFMC here.

As vice commander of AFMC, she will be responsible for providing acquisition management and logistics support for a variety of Air Force aircraft and weapon systems. The command conducts research, development, test and evaluation of warfighter technology.

General Wolfenbarger is the Air Force's highest ranking woman, and the second AFMC vice commander in a row to have that distinction.

The general's previous assignments include special assistant for command transformation to the commander. She also held several positions in the F-22 System Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB, served as the F-22 Lead Program Element Monitor at the Pentagon, and was the B-2 System Program Director for Aeronautical Systems Center from April 2000 through December 2002. (More)

Hanscom Heroes Homecoming Friday
Col. Orr

Col. David L. Orr

 

Please join Lt Gen Bowlds and our Hanscom community as we officially welcome home and honor our Airmen who have returned from deployments over the past six months.  The sacrifices that they and their families have made in service to our country deserve to be recognized and I hope you will all join us at the Aero Club hangar tomorrow from 1300-1430.

 

We are asking people to assemble at the hangar between 1300 and 1330. Former New England Patriots player and NFL Hall of famer John Hannah will be on hand to sign autographs along with members of the New England Patriots cheerleaders.

 

The official ceremony will begin at 1330.  Following the event we will be serving FREE lunch to everyone (pizza, subs, salads and drinks) so build your appetites by cheering on our Hanscom members and their families.

 

The event has been declared an Alternate Duty Location.  Please join us in making this a special day for our Airmen and their families.  See you at Heroes Homecoming.

 

v/r

Dave  "Iron" Orr

Colonel, USAF

Commander, 66th Air Base Wing 
General Shackelford

 

General updates acquisition workforce

 

Lt. Gen. Mark D. Shackelford, military deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, discusses key tenets of the Acquisition Improvement Plan during a ‘Road show’ briefing in the base theater here Dec. 9. Nearly 600 Electronic Systems Center employees attended the two sessions, in which the general discussed plans to reinvigorate the organic acquisition workforce, contain requirements growth, refine cost estimation, improve source selections and establish clearer lines of acquisition authority and accountability. (U.S. Air Force photo by Rick Berry)

Deputy defense secretary outlines protections for information

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Although information technology enables the Defense Department to make gains in military capabilities, those gains come at a cost, the deputy defense secretary told industry executives in New York.

"The Defense Department makes a tempting target," Mr. William J. Lynn III said. "We have 7 million computer devices, and each is under threat. This is not a new threat."

Mr. Lynn told several hundred Aerospace and Defense Conference attendees Dec. 2 that more than 100 foreign intelligence organizations are trying to hack in to U.S. systems, and foreign governments are developing offensive cyber capabilities. Some already have the capacity to disrupt elements of U.S. information.

Organized criminal groups and hackers are trying to get in on the act as well, he said. They're building global networks of compromised computers and renting them to the highest bidders, in essence becoming 21st century cyber mercenaries.

"So our defense networks are under threat each and every day," Mr. Lynn said. "They are probed thousands of times a week. They are scanned millions of times a day, and the frequency and sophistication of these attempts and these intrusions are increasing exponentially." (More)
Snow

 

 

Winter wonderland

 

 

Senior Airman Jessica Jacques, Base Chapel chaplain assistant, removes snow from the chapel entrance on Dec. 9, during Hanscom's first major snowstorm of the season. (U.S. Air Force photo by Mark Wyatt)

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in the news ...
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Leaving the service?
Whether you’re retiring or one of the 3,700 airmen being forced out in the latest drawdown, now is the time to start looking for a new job.

Deptula: Not Yet For Unmanned, Autonomous Aircraft
-- Defense News
 Although the U.S. military has fielded many new unmanned aircraft in recent years, the Pentagon is far from sending the last manned war plane into combat,

USAF Eyes JSTARS Options
The U.S. Air Force this week confirmed that is looking at various options to continue the critical ground surveillance mission performed by its 40-year-old E-8 Joint Surveillance Targeting Attack Radar System (JSTARS) jets.

Afghanistan and ISR
-- Air Force Magazine
The Air Force is examining how best to support the intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance needs of the bolstered US presence in Afghanistan next year as unveiled by President Obama on Tuesday, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, USAF's point man for ISR issues, said Wednesday.

 The nation needs a clear cyber war doctrine
-- Government Computer News
A recent study from McAfee on cyber crime and cyber warfare concluded that, like it or not, the world’s information infrastructures are becoming theaters of war, as nations develop offensive and defensive capabilities to wage cyber warfare.

Smaller pay raises to come for thousands of DoD employees
-- Federal Times
About 4,000 Defense Department employees now under the soon-to-be-canceled National Security Personnel System could see their future pay raises halved as they are transferred back to the General Schedule system.

DOD social-media policy still in limbo
-- Defense Systems
The Defense Department is close to laying out an enterprisewide social-networking policy, according to one DOD official who expects a final meeting this month for the team negotiating that strategy.

command comments ...

…. In terms of what we intend to continue doing, we must ask ourselves how we might optimize our organization, training, and equipping for such undertakings. For example, as vanguards into cyberspace, the Air Force is on the leading edge of providing an entire universe of information technologies that underpins a vast network of command and control, communications, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. To make these capabilities even more robust, and to keep America on the technical edge, while in a fiscal environment of scarce discretionary dollars, we will have to find more efficient ways to develop and sustain the supporting technical infrastructures that are needed to plan, conduct, and evaluate cyber operations. …

-- Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz remarks to the Aerospace and Defense Finance Conference, New York City, Dec. 3, 2009

To read complete transcript,
 click here

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