A collection of news and information specifically for the C4ISR community

Vol. 5, No. 1
January 8, 2009

Center Commander outlines mission, vision, '09 expectations 

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Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds

By Kevin Gilmartin
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds outlined his vision for Electronic Systems Center and provided a streamlined mission statement in a Dec. 12 email to the Center work force following a two-day off-site meeting with his key leadership team.

"During my first year, I've come to admire and respect the amazing things you all do despite new challenges that seem to materialize daily. While we still don't have perfect answers to everything we're confronting, we've made great headway in focusing on what is important to our Air Force and our Nation," he wrote.

His vision for the Center is "War-winning information systems... on time, on cost!" The Center's mission statement, significantly streamlined from the past, is to, "Empower the Warfighter to leverage information as an effective weapon--anywhere, anytime!"  (More)

ESC radio program enables speedy personnel recovery

An individual tests an early iteration of the Combat Survivor Evader Locator Radio near the Southern California facilities of the system’s prime contractor, Boeing Corp. Boeing and the Air Force Electronic Systems Center delivered the 20,000th CSEL radio to operators this fall and are on track to deliver 20,000 more. (Courtesy photo)

By Chuck Paone
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

This past fall, the Electronic Systems Center delivered the 20,000th Combat Survivor Evader Locator radio to operators, and it is now on track to deliver an additional 20,000.

Credited with saving many lives, CSELs have been in use in Iraq and in Afghanistan for several years. In 2007 and 2008 the joint program office managing the effort received a significant amount of Global War on Terror supplemental funding to procure radios for Central Command theater operators.

However, the program's history runs deep. Shortly after Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady and his F-16 were shot down over Serbia in June 1995, the Department of Defense accelerated the CSEL program. Captain O'Grady survived for six days on the ground in hostile territory, eating leaves, grass and ants, until he was finally rescued.

Because the likelihood of rescue decreases exponentially with time, this incident could have ended in disaster, so the U.S. set a course for reducing such possibilities in the future.

"This program came about because of the lack of capability to quickly locate and positively identify a survivor," said Maj. Charles Leonard of the CSEL Joint Program Office, located here. (More)

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Lt. Gen. David Deptula

By Chuck Paone
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, will keynote this year’s New Horizons Symposium, which will be held Jan. 27 and 28 at the Marriott Newton Hotel, Newton, Mass.

General Deptula is responsible to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force for policy formulation, planning, evaluation, oversight, and leadership of Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

The symposium, sponsored by the Lexington-Concord Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, will also feature Electronic Systems Center wing and group leaders, who will provide program information. As always, each speaker will offer a specific focus on emerging and new business opportunities in the ESC portfolio of programs and their associated acquisition strategies.

On Jan. 28, the symposium will also feature a special ‘warrior perspective’ session and an Air Force Research Laboratory business opportunities presentation.

At the conclusion of New Horizons, ESC Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds will present his Annual State of ESC Address, during a luncheon which will start at 12:30 p.m.

Complete registration information and links to the hotel, as well as the most recent agenda, can be found at www.afceaboston.com or by contacting Claire Goulet at 781-676-7344; cgoulet@oasissystems.com.

ESC to induct Honorary Commanders in 3 p.m. ceremony tomorrow

WBZ-TV News Anchor Jonathan Elias accepts the 66th Air Base Wing flag from 66 ABW Commander Col. David Orr during an Honorary Commander induction ceremony Jan. 7 at WBZ in Boston. First Lt. Will Russell, 66 ABW; Senior Master Sgt. Raul Ruiz, 66th Mission Support Squadron and Senior Airman Haley Roy, 66th Security Forces, participated in the ceremony. Tomorrow, Honorary Commanders to the Electronic Systems Center commander and each of ESC’s four acquisition wing commanders and directors will be inducted in a 3 p.m. ceremony at the Minuteman Club. Everyone is invited to attend. Refreshments will be served. (Photo by Mark Wyatt)

Air Force ISR Agency continues transformation

WASHINGTON -- As part of the Air Force's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance transition, Air Force officials announced Jan. 1 the renaming of the 480th Intelligence Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and the 70th IW at Fort George G. Meade, Md., as the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing and the 70th ISRW.

The renaming of the wings continues the ISR transformation that began in June 2007 with the designation of the Air Intelligence Agency as the Air Force ISR Agency and its realignment as a field operating agency under A2, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

"Throughout the transformation process, we have broadened our scope beyond signals intelligence to include all elements of ISR," said Maj. Gen. Craig Koziol, Air Force ISR Agency commander. "The renaming of our units to ISR solidifies our dedication to delivering the best trained forces and most effective capabilities and to conducting integrated ISR operations for ground, air, space and cyberspace missions."

The ISR transformation also affects the intelligence groups subordinate to the 480th and 70th wings under the Air Force ISR Agency as they were also re-designated as ISR groups Jan. 1.

The groups effected by this change are the 497th ISR Group, Langley AFB, Va; 548th ISR Group, Beale AFB, Calif; 692nd ISR Group, Hickam AFB, Hawaii; 693rd ISR Group, Ramstein AB, Germany; 694th ISR Group, Osan AB, Korea; 70th ISR Group, Fort Meade, Md.; 373rd ISR Group, Misawa AB, Japan; 543rd ISR Group, Lackland AFB, Texas; and the 544th ISR Group, Peterson AFB, Colo.

TARS pod brings picture into focus 

Staff Sgt. George Suonvieri checks out a Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System pod held in place by a giraffe stand Dec. 21 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Ground commanders use TARS imagery to achieve their tactical objectives. Sergeant Suonvieri is one of four 332nd Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron avionics maintainers responsible for the 332nd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron's TARS pods. Sergeant Suonvieri, a native of Duluth, Minn., is deployed from the Minnesota Air National Guard's 148th Fighter Wing. (Photo by Tech. Sgt. Erik Gudmundson)

By Tech. Sgt. Craig Lifton
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- High above Iraq, Air National Guard F-16 Fighting Falcons fly over suspected terrorist areas, taking high-resolution images with a sophisticated photographic system contained inside a Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System, or TARS, pod.

Ground commanders use the imagery from these 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing TARS pods to help them achieve their tactical objectives.

Tucked in a small trailer here, the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron TARS team plays a key role in the production of imagery that is critical for ground forces' mission planning, providing battlefield operators with up-to-date imagery of roads, houses, structures, neighborhoods and other areas of interest.

The missions begin with target selections made by officials at the Combined Air Operations Center and other customer units. Next, Staff Sgt. Matt Dallas, an imagery analyst with the 332nd EOSS, starts to plan out the next day's missions.  (More)

Commentary
Gen. Lorenz on leadership: At war in cyberspace

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Gen. Stephen Lorenz

By Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz
Commander, Air Education and Training Command

RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- "The stark reality is that the bad guys are winning and our nation is at risk."

That's what retired Air Force Lieutenant General Harry Raduege, Jr., writes in an insightful article about cyberspace titled, "Evolving Cybersecurity Faces a New Dawn." As he describes our many challenges in cyberspace, General Raduege observes that "the list of concerns is growing and endless: rampant cybercrime, increasing identity theft, sophisticated social engineering techniques, relentless intrusions into government networks, and widespread vulnerabilities continuously exploited by a variety of entities ranging from criminal organizations and entrepreneurial hackers to well-resourced espionage actors."

Over the last few weeks, we have focused on the security of our computer networks, and we have found that we have big challenges.  (More)

Minuteman Club to host evening of gourmet dining Jan. 16

Senior Master Sgt. Mark Veomett and Minuteman Club Manager Dave Bovio review different menu options for the Jan. 16 evening of gourmet dining at the club. The gourmet evening is the initiative of Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds and his wife, Marcia. Limited tickets are available for the event and can be obtained by contacting the ESC Protocol Office. (Photo by Rick Berry)

By Kevin Gilmartin
66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Limited tickets are available for an evening of gourmet dining featuring five courses, each paired with an appropriate wine, at Hanscom's Minuteman Club Jan. 16.

The gourmet meal will be prepared by Senior Master Sgt. Mark Veomett, enlisted aide to Electronic Systems Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds, and members of the club staff. The gourmet evening is the initiative of General Bowlds and his wife, Marcia. Sixty seats have been reserved for the event, of which 30 are set aside for invitation and 30 available to the Hanscom public. Cost is $60 per person.

"We have attended similar gourmet meals at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and they have always turned out great," General Bowlds said. "Mark is an absolutely terrific chef, so this is not only an opportunity for people to sample some of his culinary skills, but also a chance for him to pass on some of his recipes to the club staff, while learning new techniques from them." (More)

The bleeding edge
-- C4ISR Journal
U.S. information-sharing policy has evolved from “need to know” to “responsibility to provide.” Military leaders are looking for ways to operationalize this new information strategy, and they are turning to service-oriented architectures, or SOAs.

$40 check buys middle-class lifestyle
-- Indianapolis (Ind.) Star
Eighty-year-old Jim Stansberry was about 5 when a miracle occurred.

command comments ...

-- Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England at Dec. 10 AFCEA Cyber Space Conference in Washington, D.C.

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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