by Senior Airman Christopher Gross
460th Space Wing Public Affairs
11/16/2012 - BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The
8th Space Warning Squadron recently donated about 50 computer
systems, approximately a $14,000 value, to Morton Elementary School part
of the Pueblo City Schools.
Classrooms that had one or two computers in them will now have at least
five up-to-date systems along with a computer lab consisting of 32
computers. More than 500 students will be reached by the advanced
technology, providing a better academic environment.
"We are very appreciative of the opportunity to have technology
accessible for our students," Principal Floyd Gallegos wrote in a thank
you letter to the squadron. "Thank you for all your diligent efforts in
making this process work for us and your patience with our district in
trouble shooting the many road blocks that occurred."
The lengthy process, which started in April 2012, was well worth it,
according to Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Achuff, 8 SWS satellite systems
operator. Achuff was a part of the team that helped wipe all the hard
drives clean and ensured the school received them.
The school had been struggling to get new equipment, according to
Achuff, and during the delivery there was a lot of energy and excitement
because the faculty was so happy.
"They were all thrilled. The systems we delivered are old by our
standards but for the kids and faculty they were much improved and new,"
stated Achuff. "I had just backed the van up to the doors and some kids
were coming in from lunch recess when one of the kids, with eager
anticipation in her voice, asked one of the teachers there, 'Are those
the new computers?'
'They sure are... I told you we'd get some new ones,' said the teacher.
The little girl said 'Awesome!' with a high-pitched, excited tone."
The first step was replacing 8 SWS's old computer systems with new ones.
The computers still considered functional had their hard drives wiped
clean, a requirement before the school could have them. Wiping the hard
drive is a several hour process per computer.
Lots and lots of paperwork was needed to complete the transfer.
According to Senior Master Sgt. Robert Pacheco, 8 SWS first sergeant,
the most crucial part of the transfer is to make sure the organization
has a non-profit contact and somebody is willing to sign for the
equipment to ensure the equipment is not sold and a profit is never
made.
"You just can't give up because you're going to run into some road
blocks, but you just got to keep working with people," Pacheco said.
"These kids without technology are falling further behind."
Achuff stated that he believes more Air Force units should strive to donate their old equipment if possible.
"Put them to good use and enrich the learning environment for the next
generation of leaders, including possible future Airmen," Achuff stated.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
New DOD Space Policy Addresses Safety, Security, Access
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2012 – The new Defense Department space policy, updated to reflect the fast-growing use and sometimes misuse of the space domain, addresses issues of safety, sustainability and security in space for the 21st century and beyond.
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DOD’s space policy also reflects the 2012 DOD Strategic Guidance, which acknowledged growth in the number of spacefaring nations and threats.
According to the guidance, the United States will continue to lead global efforts with allies and partners to assure access to and use of the global commons of space by strengthening international norms of responsible behavior and maintaining interoperable military capabilities.
“Space capabilities have long provided strategic national security advantages for the United States,” Carter said in a statement.
“This updated space policy,” he added, “institutionalizes the changes the department has made in an increasingly constrained budget environment to address the complex set of space-related opportunities and challenges.”
For DOD, space systems are critical to ground navigation, smart bomb precision, and to relay unmanned aerial vehicle feeds to troops. Space also is necessary for early warnings of missile launches and for keeping the president connected to U.S. nuclear forces.
In an interview with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service, Dr. John F. Plumb, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, described the policy’s main points.
“One is that the Department of Defense will deter attacks on our space systems and the systems of our allies, and [the policy] lays out some ways we’re going to do that,” Plumb said.
Methods to deter disruptions or attacks against space-based systems, according to the policy, include supporting the development of international norms of responsible behavior related to the space domain, building coalitions to enhance collective security, enhancing the resilience of the U.S. space enterprise, and being able to respond to an attack on U.S. or allied space systems using all elements of national power.
The policy also “makes a declaration of how the United States will view interference with our space systems,” the acting deputy assistant secretary said, adding that such interference would be seen as an infringement of U.S. rights and would be “irresponsible in peacetime and during a crisis could be escalatory.”
Plumb noted, “The policy states this very clearly and it’s a message we want to make sure people understand.”
One of the international norms of responsible behavior will target a growing problem for spacefaring nations -- space debris.
“Today there are 60 countries operating in space [and] there are thousands of pieces of debris, pieces of [derelict] rockets or old satellites … flying around in space,” he said.
According to the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office, more than 21,000 pieces of orbital debris larger than 10 centimeters exist in orbit, along with 500,000 smaller pieces and more than 1 million pieces smaller than 1 centimeter.
“We need to have an international system of norms of responsible behavior for operating in space to mitigate debris,” Plumb said. “That’s something we’re working on and it’s something the strategy points toward.”
Generally, the policy identifies how DOD will promote international cooperation and commercial partnerships, drive changes within DOD space architectures and acquisition processes, and work to shape the space environment.
Saving money on expensive space assets is another goal of the department, Plumb said, and working with allies and commercial partners can help accomplish this.
The Defense Department has begun to work with commercial space companies to reduce department costs and to help energize the industrial base.
“We [also] need to make sure that U.S. companies are able to compete fairly for international contracts,” Plumb added, referring to satellites and many systems, subsystems, parts and components that are controlled by the U.S. government for security reasons but that already are being sold commercially by companies around the world.
In April, for example, officials from the Defense and State departments released a report that urged Congress to move communications and some remote-sensing satellites off the tightly controlled U.S. Munitions List and into the commercial enterprise.
The policy also directs DOD to expand international cooperation in space matters, Plumb said, which “allows you to leverage capabilities together so instead of having to build your own system you can use somebody else’s system.”
He added, “It also buys you a sense of collective security. If you’re operating as a coalition in space, you have more partners relying on the same assets. An attack on those space assets by an adversary would no longer necessarily be against you but against a coalition.”
As an example, during a trip to Perth, Australia, last week, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced that the United States would place two key space systems in Australia.
One system, an Air Force C-band space-surveillance radar, will track space assets and debris, increase the security of space-based systems and increase coverage of space objects in the Southern Hemisphere.
The other system is an advanced U.S. space surveillance telescope designed and built by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In Australia, the system will help to leverage space surveillance capabilities for both nations, officials said.
DOD also must be ready to mitigate the effects of attacks on its space systems, Plumb said. One way to do that, spelled out in the policy, is to plan for resilience in space systems, he added.
“Resilience means being able to survive an attack,” the acting deputy assistant secretary said, and it means strategically distributing space capabilities among different satellites rather than putting many on one satellite.
“If that [one] satellite goes down,” he said, “whether it’s due to a solar flare or an attack or bad wiring, we don’t want to lose all these mission capabilities. These things are very expensive, so resilient architecture would be more distributed.”
The second part “of mitigating the ability of an adversary to attack us would be to make sure that we can operate effectively on the battlefield even if our space capabilities are being degraded,” Plumb added.
The growing threat to U.S. and allied space systems, he said, is real.
“Other nations and nonstate actors are developing direct ascent anti-satellite weapons, jammers and ground-based lasers, all designed to interfere with or destroy satellites,” Plumb said.
“We need to be prepared and enhance our resilience so these types of capabilities don’t prevent us from operating in space,” he added. “So we need to move forward with the way we operate in space, for future conflicts in particular. This space policy gives us a good pathway forward.”
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Transcom Strives to Protect Networks Against Cyberthreats
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill., Nov. 20, 2012 – The new Joint Cyber Center here at U.S. Transportation Command is helping protect against persistent cyberattacks while ensuring secure, uninterrupted access to the networks that underpin the command’s global mission.
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Those breaches, if not detected and defeated, could bring the military’s global transportation and distribution enterprises to their knees.
Unlike most combatant commands that interface primarily with other secure military and government networks, Transcom relies heavily on commercial partners that deliver 70 percent of its supplies and passengers around the world, Fraser told legislators.
Ninety percent of the command’s distribution and deployment transactions are conducted in cyberspace, he said, much of it using unclassified and commercial systems lacking the safeguards provided on dot-mil and dot-gov networks.
“We are very cognizant of the fact that U.S. Transcom movements represent an Achilles’ heel for U.S. power projection en route,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Hume, the Joint Cyber Center’s intelligence branch chief. “If that is where you want to disrupt what the U.S. military does, that is where you go.”
Recognizing this vulnerability, Fraser identified unfettered access to secure information networks as one of four major focus areas in the command’s recently released five-year plan.
“Every day, U.S. Transcom operates in a cyber domain that is increasingly at risk,” he noted in releasing the plan. “Cyber defense is a command imperative. We must be much more proactive in protecting our information technology infrastructure and the credibility of the information we exchange with our allies and national partners.”
The new Joint Cyber Center, established last spring, is taking the lead in this endeavor.
As part of the Defense Department’s new cybersecurity strategy, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta last May directed every combatant command to stand up such a center, explained Air Force Col. David Johnson, chief of Transcom’s Joint Cyber Center.
Secure cyber networks are vital to every combatant command, “whether it is a geographic combatant command fighting the war or a functional combatant command moving materials around the world,” Johnson said. “Information is how you provide the direction to your sub-units.”
Panetta gave the combatant commands free rein to organize their centers based on their own requirements, spelling out 65 specific tasks to accomplish. He designated a transitional evaluation period to determine which structure proved most effective.
Transcom already had a running start when Panetta’s mandate came down. About 10 years ago, far-sighted leaders at the command established an informal joint cyber center to protect their networks. That framework brought together the command’s plans and operations, communications and intelligence capabilities to confront the cyber challenge.
“So when we stood up our [Joint Cyber Center], all we really did was take the three entities that already existed and were working together and put them into the same office,” Johnson said. “The relationships were already there.”
The new JCC operates as a 24/7 command-and-control center, focusing on three basic functions, he explained. Working with other elements of Transcom’s Command, Control, Communications and Cyber Systems directorate, its members help secure the command’s information networks and help its partners secure theirs. The JCC also directs defensive operations to protect these networks and offensive operations to stop cyberattacks in progress.
Johnson emphasized that unlike other combatant commands that could use offensive cyberspace operations to create a battlefield effect, Transcom concentrates primarily on defensive operations. Offensive cyberspace operations, if required, would be conducted by U.S. Cyber Command, and only to defend against an attack, he said.
“We are aware what is available to us, and have the capability to use it. But we don’t see ourselves using it the same way that geographic combatant commands do,” Johnson said. “We look at the capabilities on the offensive side primarily to beef up our defense.”
Johnson called Transcom’s decision to maintain an embedded intelligence cell within the JCC one of its strengths. “It gives us incredible insight into enemy capabilities and intent,” he said.
Intelligence experts are “quite literally analyzing, in near-real time, the activity on our networks, and they are able to see enemy activity and react to it,” Johnson said. “We understand the adversary, and we understand what he is doing faster than most of the networks in the Department of Defense.”
Facing “a persistent and pervasive threat to our mission networks and those of our commercial partners,” Hume said Transcom does “a very good job at detecting, characterizing and thwarting this activity.”
The command’s efforts recently garnered Transcom the National Security Agency’s prestigious Frank Byron Rowlett Award for excellence in information systems security. Transcom has been a finalist in the competition for the last three years and won first place in 2003.
But despite a strong track record, Hume recognized that “your networks and your data are only as strong as your weakest link.”
To reinforce those weakest links, Transcom established a chiefs of information forum to help contractors improve their information assurance practices. The command’s acquisition directorate stood up a commercial executive advisory board to educate commercial vendors about the cyberthreat, and changed language in Transcom contracts to hold contractors to specific standards in protecting their data systems.
Transcom also is considering creating a secure network for non-DOD contractors to use for communications concerning command missions.
Contractors, recognizing their own vulnerability, are anxious to strengthen their cyberdefenses, Hume said. “This is a two-way street in that adversaries attempting to leverage access to [contractors’] networks to gain access to U.S. government data also enables them to gain access to their own corporate data and theoretically, undermine their business models,” he said.
Johnson emphasized the fine line between espionage and a cyberattack.
“If I break into your system and see what you are doing, it is only one more keystroke to disrupt what you are doing, because I am already into your network,” he said. “People don’t understand that once they are in there spying, it is exceptionally easy to change what they are doing and attack. It is just a matter of intent.
“And that is something we are cognizant of every day here at Transcom,” Johnson continued. “It’s a recognition that guides everything the JCC does.”
Monday, November 19, 2012
Defense and Industry Narrow Communication Gap
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2012 – As a cost- and time-saving measure, Defense Department officials have developed an experimental website to help government and industry stay up-to-date on developing projects that support the warfighter.
The new site, Defense Innovation Marketplace, is part of the Defense Department’s Better Buying Power initiative to save DOD money, said Jack Blackhurst, a “customer” of DOD, and director of the Human Effectiveness Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Customers from all branches of the military and small-business owners can access the site to see what the government is looking for in “human systems.”
“A human system is anything to do with performance of humans in a particular job -- airplane operator, submarine operator, soldier on [the] ground -- all humans who operate weapons systems,” Blackhurst said.
Human systems ensure warfighters have the best equipment to do their jobs and improve performance, he said.
“It’s about a human being interacting with the weapons system,” Blackhurst said. “Unlike a conventional weapon that an airplane drops, the focus is on the pilot in the cockpit.”
The website is the only forum that increases communication among government, industry and academia, he said. The site, which is expected to save time and money, allows interested parties to learn about projects in development and what capabilities the government wants, he added.
“On the government’s part, it gives us a vehicle to put our information out, and at the same time, it allows industry to put their information out in terms of where they’re investing their dollars in a particular technology area,” Blackhurst said. “It gives us an excellent tool to search these capabilities.”
Industry and academic institutions now have the ability to “know what’s going on out there and then strategize for the government,” he noted.
By first becoming familiar with information on the site, the marketplace can eliminate some conferences. Once they know about particular projects, people from DOD, industry and academia can meet later in a conference to talk specifics, saving time and money, according to Blackhurst.
“There’s a wealth of information that doesn’t exist anywhere else,” he said.
The site stems from communication issues between industry and DOD, said Ron Kurjanowicz, senior adviser to the secretary of defense for research and engineering.
“We made the Defense Innovation Marketplace no more complicated than a one-stop shop where industry could find information about the investment priorities for DOD,” Kurjanowicz said.
Feedback has been positive from industry officials,” he said, adding that the site is updated nearly every day.
“It’s important in this climate of change that we talk about Better Buying Power to reduce costs in our acquisition program and activities, and this site presents that opportunity. We’re out of Iraq and getting out of Afghanistan, so new capabilities will be needed in the future,” Kurjanowicz said.
“Industry needs to know where DOD is making its changes, so they can align their investments with the capabilities of the future. The marketplace is one of those places to keep them connected,” he said.
Kurjanowicz said the site makes doing business more effective and efficient, and that the government will see “enormous payoffs in how it strategically places its investment, [in addition to] leveraging industries’ projects.”
As a result, taxpayers also benefit, he said.
Industry’s payoff, Kurjanowicz said, lies in knowing where DOD is going on its projects, he said.
“We want to do things smarter, and we think this is an opportunity to do that,” he added.
Misawa's energy guru analyzes work centers for energy savings
35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
11/19/2012 - MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan -- Many Misawa Air Base service members have heard the call to conserve energy and resources. Some have even signed pledges to be more energy efficient at work and home. Now, the 35th Civil Engineer Squadron has someone with one eye on the base's energy usage, and the other eye on a checklist.
Cari Schroeder, 35th CES resource efficiency manager, is the guru with the eyes on the energy prize. Armed with her small pickup truck, clipboard and an assistant, she performs spot inspections on the base's industrial buildings to include aircraft hangers, dorms, gyms and work centers.
Some of the discrepancies they look for are buildings that haven't been upgraded with motion sensors for lights, energy efficient light bulbs and low flow faucets. She also seeks out appliances that have been modified, decreasing their efficiency.
Some modifications include breaking automatic thermostat housings in order to manually regulate the heat, Schroeder said. She also looks for modified heaters. These heaters have had their thermostats removed or adjusted to keep them running hotter, longer. These heaters are not only less efficient but dangerous too.
"The reason we do building walkthroughs, is to look for no-cost or low-cost opportunities to make buildings more energy efficient and safe," said Schroeder. "My goal is to do a walkthrough for every building in the 35th Fighter Wing."
When Schroeder finds discrepancies or areas of improvement, she notifies the facility manager of the issues and gives recommendations on how to fix them. She also prepares work request orders for upgrades in previously inspected buildings.
"Inspections like this are good," said Junya Fujihashi, 35th Force Support Squadron Misawa Inn operations manager. "Sometimes you need someone to come around and check out how you're doing business."
During these inspections, Schroeder understands people forget to shut off the lights when they leave a room. On that note, she also understands that inspecting with an iron fist, or yelling at them about issues, isn't always the right way.
"The best thing we can do is to keep the lines of communication open," said Schroeder. "This is so the facility managers know we're their friends and not their enemies. The more we communicate with facility managers, the more likely they will reach out to us when there is a problem."
These inspections are not meant to burden units, but to change the way people think about energy usage, she added.
"It's nice to perform these inspections with someone who has been an energy manager for a while," said Kelly Sussman, assistant to the 35th Civil Engineer Squadron resource efficiency manager. "Experiences like this really open my eyes to my own energy usage at home. It also prepares people for when they need to go somewhere else and start paying for their own energy. It really makes us think of the future."
AFSPC Space and Missile Pioneer - Brigadier General Martin Menter
11/19/2012 - PETERSON AFB, COLO. -- As we celebrate Air Force Space Command's 30th Anniversary we recognize individuals who played a significant role in the history of the Air Force space and missile programs - our Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers ...
Brigadier General Martin Menter, in his May 1959 thesis, asserted that the Roman theory maxim ex facto oritur jus (law rises from fact) was appropriate for developing space law. His was one of the first legal treatises on space law anywhere. He especially was concerned with the effects of space activity on the concept of sovereignty and, from the 1960s onward, was an international leader in the fields of aeronautical and space law.
Friday, November 16, 2012
NSWC Carderock Receives Patent for Galfenol Discovery, Development
By
Brian Hibben, Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Public Affairs
WEST
BETHESDA, Md. (NNS) -- Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock received a
patent Nov. 13 for their discovery and development of a new smart material
called Galfenol.
Galfenol
is a magnetostrictive smart material that can be used in sensors, actuators and
structural supports. The material was co-discovered in 1999 by NSWC Carderock
and the Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and has been in development for
the past 13 years in partnership with Etrema Products Inc.
"By
itself, iron has the characteristics to be considered a magnetostrictive
material, which is material that changes shape when a magnetic field or
pressure is applied to it," explained NSWC Carderock senior research
scientist, Marilyn Wun-Fogle. "In 1999, we discovered that combining iron
with gallium amplifies iron's magnetostrictive capability tenfold.
Iron-gallium, or Galfenol, is ductile [capable of being drawn out into wire or
thread], stable over a wide temperature range and has energy-harvesting
capabilities."
Magnetostrictive
materials, such as Galfenol, are of interest to the Navy because they can be
used to make actuators and sonar transducers that are used in ships and
submarines. Currently, actuators and sonar transducers are made of a material
that is more brittle than Galfenol. Galfenol can be used in structural supports
for vibrating pieces of machinery such as a generator. As the piece of
machinery is running, Galfenol can capture the vibrational energy which can be
re-harvested. As a result, less energy is transmitted to the hull of the ship
or submarine, which could reduce its acoustic footprint.
"Galfenol
can be machined and welded with common metalworking tools which makes it very
versatile," continued Wun-Fogle. "Plus, it is magnetostrictively
active under tensile stress conditions up to approximately 150 degrees Celsius
and to much higher temperatures under compressive stress conditions."
Initially
funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Department of Energy and NSWC
Carderock's In-House Laboratory Independent Research Program, continued
development of Galfenol is being funded by ONR and the Small Business
Innovation Research Program.
"For
more than a decade, we have teamed with our partners to design Galfenol as well
as develop processes to produce the material in large solid form, rolled
sheets, and more recently, wires," said NSWC Carderock's senior research
scientist James Restorff. "The wide variety of forms allows Galfenol-based
parts to be used in a variety of new applications, both commercial and
military."
Research
into metal alloys such as Galfenol is tied to NSWC Carderock's technical
capability in supporting surface, undersea and weapon vehicle materials. Under
this technical capability, NSWC Carderock certifies and validates technical
fleet material requirements; identifies materials and fabrication processes;
develops and validates chemical formulations; and develops materials and
processes for survivability and signature reduction.
NSWC
Carderock's responsibilities span a broad range including science and
technology, research and development, test and evaluation, product delivery and
fleet support. NSWC Carderock leads the Navy in hull, mechanical and electrical
engineering expertise and delivers technical solutions in order to build and
sustain a dominant, ready and affordable fleet. Headquartered in West Bethesda,
Md., approximately 3,600 scientists, engineers, technicians and support
personnel are located across the United States, which includes the Ship Systems
Engineering Station in Philadelphia.
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