Air and Space Operations Centers standardized

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Larry van der Oord
  • Global Cyberspace Integration Center Public Affairs
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFNEWS) --  A four-year effort for the Global Cyberspace Integration Center here culminated April 13 when Air Forces Southern Command officials signed documents officially accepting the newly installed Air and Space Operations Center Block 10.1 Weapon System at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

The AFSOUTH turnover marked completion of upgrades at all five of the Air Force's main Falconer AOCs and brought definitive standardization to the weapon system. 

The AOC standardization effort was initiated in 2003 when retired Gen. John P. Jumper, the former Air Force chief of staff, requested a standard configuration to be implemented throughout the Air Force's AOCs. 

The GCIC provided the foundation for the effort creating the first AOC Weapon System Operational Requirements Document that supplied the top level operational requirements used by the AOC WS System Program Office to engineer, procure, and field the 10.1 baseline.

The GCIC and the AOC WS System Program Office continually worked with the AOC sites and their parent major commands to refine the existing Block 10.1 requirements and participate in the engineering, testing and fielding activities and that brought the 10.1 baseline to the field, said Lt. Col. Mark Whitmire, the GCIC chief of command and control fielding and sustainment division.

"Prior to Block 10, no standard baseline for the AOC weapon system existed," Colonel Whitmire said. "The individual AOC sites and their parent MAJCOMs created and maintained their own AOCs using local procedures and designs."

The fielding of Block 10.1 allows the AOC formal training unit to train to a standard set of equipment, it enables the AOC help desk to provide support and troubleshoot against a known baseline of equipment at each site, and the AOC System Program Office can now more quickly procure, engineer and field a standard configuration.

In addition to the maintenance and training benefits, Block 10.1 also provides a direct advantage to warfighters in today's fast-paced Air Expeditionary Force environment.

"The improved standardization provided by the Block 10.1 fielding allows the Air Force to take any trained AOC crewmember and assign him to any AOC in the world without having to worry about operating on an unfamiliar system," Colonel Whitmire said.

With the complexity of the system a constant challenge in the AOC, standardization and modernization needs are continually being taken into account.

"Fielding Block 10.1 means we have a standardized warfighting capability that we can build on," Colonel Whitmire said. "By standardizing now in 2007, we can begin to incrementally improve the AOC weapon system's ability to take the fight to the enemy faster, with increased precision and lethality, from anywhere on the globe."

The AOC standardization effort has been an Air Force wide endeavor.

"Everyone from the chief of staff of the Air Force down to the units themselves has played a key role in putting the Block 10.1 in the field," said Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Kennedy, the GCIC commander. "The Block 10.1 initiative delivered a critical modernization and standardization need for a system of systems operating in a network of networks." 

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