PRSRT STD Arnold AFB, Tenn. October 5, 2020 TULLAHOMA TN ...

By Deidre MoonAEDC Public Affairs

In late 2019, Arnold Engi-neering Development Complex leadership implemented the AEDC Spark Cell, a campaign headed by AEDC team members meant to instill a culture of inno-vation Complex-wide.

According to Cameron Liner, chief of the AEDC Capabilities Integration Branch at Arnold Air Force Base, the Ideascale ap-proach was the chosen method for soliciting innovative ideas from the AEDC workforce.

Liner said he believes the ef-fort was effective.

“It worked very well,” he said. “We received a total of 39 ideas.”

The Spark Cell is still ongo-ing, with the team working to

By Bradley HicksAEDC Public Affairs

Leadfoots, beware.A group of skilled officers now

has eyes on the roads in and around Arnold Air Force Base, helping to ensure the safety of the work-force by enforcing adherence to speed limits and other regulations throughout the installation.

Department of the Air Force Police Officers have been patrol-ling Arnold since late August. The DAF Police Officer program is new to Arnold AFB, and the offi-cers are part of the Arnold Security Forces Office.

“They are fully-trained and highly-qualified federal police offi-cers employed by the United States Air Force,” said Arnold AFB Secu-

rity Forces Chief Ray Kelly. The officers have already been

quite busy. “Our DAF officers’ primary

mission is to keep the roads of Ar-

nold Air Force Base safe from traf-fic violators and dangerous driv-ers,” Kelly said. “The first week of

Arnold AFB, Tenn. October 5, 2020Vol. 67, No. 18

PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE PAIDTULLAHOMA TNPERMIT NO. 29

Arnold AFB marks 73rd birthday of U.S. Air Force

with food, fun…Page 2 …Page 2

What a year we have had at AEDC

Filtered water stations installed around Arnold AFB

…Page 3

AEDC Spark Cell implementing ideas submitted by workforce

AEDC exploring high-speed video for engine vibration testing analysis

By Jill PickettAEDC Public Affairs

Arnold Engineering De-velopment Complex test cells and test articles can be outfit-ted with hundreds to thousands of instrumentation sensors that can capture data at a rate of one to more-than-150,000 samples per second.

Even with all of those mea-surement points, an AEDC team member is seeking to ex-pand the analysis capabilities for engine testing.

Through a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) effort in the Aeropropulsion Ground Test Branch at Arnold Air Force Base, Seth Beaman, a Naval Air Systems Command Aeropropulsion Test Analyst assigned to AEDC is working

to test high-speed camera tech-nology for vibration analysis.

Mechanical Solutions Inc. (MSI) submitted a proposal to the SBIR program in response to an “open call” solicitation by the Air Force for defense-relat-ed dual-purpose technologies outside of areas being focused on in the SBIR program, the idea being to identify proven non-defense commercial tech-nologies with possible Air Force applications. MSI pro-posed to develop a non-contact, wide-field vibration sensor for the test cell environment using motion-amplified video tech-nology that would generate both numerical and visual out-put for understanding system vibration.

MSI provided the AEDC

See SPARK CELL, page 4

New officers monitor roadways, enforce laws at Arnold AFB

Seth Beaman, a Naval Air Systems Command aeropropulsion test analyst, uses a laptop to check the view of a high-speed camera Sept. 1 in the sea-level test cell SL-1 at Arnold Air Force Base. The camera, combined with software, allows for the observation and measure-ment of vibrations. Beaman is studying the potential for its use as an analysis tool for engine testing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

Troy Haywood, lead computer network technician, stages a com-puter Dec. 12, 2019, in the PC Staging Area at Arnold Air Force Base before deploying it to be used by an AEDC team member. With the baseline configuration for new computers and laptops dramatically increasing Air Force-wide, the bandwidth was recent-ly expanded to 10 gigabytes per second divided amongst multiple circuits at Arnold, and the standard computer hardware installed for users is now significantly higher performance. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

Department of the Air Force Police Officers pose for a photo Sept. 2 at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. Pictured are, from left, Officer Todd Malone, Officer Bill Hernandez, Sgt. Andy Scwegler, Sgt. George Blasingame, Officer Josh Brown, Officer Jennifer Curbow and Officer Derek Jones. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

AEDC Commander, Col. Jeff Geraghty recently pro-vided an update on AEDC’s Source Selection efforts to the entire workforce via email. Below is his message sent Sept. 17.

Team AEDC,

In a continued effort toward transparent communica-tion with a workforce that includes military, civilian, and contractor Airmen, I want to share the latest information in contract acquisitions.

First, a bit of a broader background about how much of our mission is supported by our contracted partners, who comprise more than three-fourths of our workforce. Our service acquisition contracts include: Test Operations and Sustainment (TOS), Technical Management and Advisory Services (TMAS), Facility Support Services II (FSS II), Base Communications and Information Technology Ser-vices II (BCITS II), High Speed / Hypersonics (HS/H) Advisory and Assistance Services, Precision Measure-ment and Equipment Laboratory (PMEL), Performance Based Restoration (PBR), and AbilityOne (A1).

I realize contract changes have significant impacts on our workforce and I am committed to working with our leadership team to minimize these impacts, and keeping you informed. Below are two recent services acquisition updates.

TMAS II – The TMAS I contract has been extended six months and will be in place until March 31, 2021. The TMAS II contract is expected to begin performance on April 1, 2021.

BCITS II – On Sept. 15, the BCITS II contract was awarded to Abacus Technology Corporation. BCITS II is a four-year, $46.6M firm-fixed-price contract that fa-cilitates the execution and support of all aspects of base communications, plans, and operations. Those functions include: program integration and management, commu-nications focal point, cybersecurity, IT asset management (hardware and software), communications maintenance, network infrastructure and operations, server/system ad-ministration and support, and knowledge operations. This work will be performed at Arnold Air Force Base, Tunnel 9 at White Oak, Md., and the National Full-Scale Aerody-namics Complex at Moffett Field, Calif. Transition will begin Nov. 2, and performance will begin Feb. 1, 2021.

It is the AEDC leadership team’s commitment to keep you informed as our contract acquisition efforts proceed.

Col. Jeff GeraghtyCommander, AEDC

Base Communications and Information Technology

Services II contract awarded

See HIGH-SPEED, page 4

See OFFICERS, page 4

2 • October 5, 2020

Values

Vision

• Ethics. We are uncompromising in our integrity, honesty, and fairness.

• Safety & Health. We are relentless in keeping people safe from harm, andwe provide a safe and healthy work

environment.• Security. We are disciplined and vigilant in protecting sensitive AEDC information and ensuring system integrity to support

national security and our customers.• Excellence. We thrive on challenge, accomplishment, and mission success.• Quality. We are passionate about doing

our work right the first time.• People. We have a mission-focused,inclusive workforce who have a diverse skill set, are committed to success, demonstrate innovation and have a can

do attitude.• Culture. Our team is proud of our diver-sity, inclusiveness, and collaborative work environment. We are proud of what we do

and how we do it.• Relationships. We build positive, long-term business relationships through trust,

respect, and collaboration.• Innovation. We overcome challenges through creativity, perseverance, technol-ogy, and flexibility. We actively seek to

continually improve.• Sustainability. We plan and act for thelong term benefit of our communities and

our environment.

High Mach Staff:Kathy Jacobsen,

NAS Executive Editor

Jill Pickett NAS Editor

Arnold Air Force

Base

Richard TigheGeneral Manager,

National Aerospace Solutions

High Mach is published by Lakeway Publishers, Inc. a pri-vate firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, Arnold Air Force Base, Arnold Engi-neering Development Complex (AEDC) or National Aerospace Solutions (NAS), under exclu-sive written contract with NAS at Arnold AFB, Tenn., 37389.

Everything advertised in this publication will be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital sta-tus, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other non-merit factor of the purchaser, user or patron.

The High Mach office is located at 100 Kindel Drive, Suite A236, Arnold AFB, Tenn. 37389-1236. Editorial content is edited and prepared by NAS. Deadline for copy is Wednes-day at close of business one week before publication.

This commercial enterprise newspaper is an allowable NAS contractor publication for personnel at Arnold AFB.

The content of High Mach does not necessarily reflect the views of the Air Force, Arnold AFB, AEDC or NAS. The ap-pearance of advertising in this publication does not constitute endorsement of the products or services advertised by the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force, Arnold AFB, AEDC, NAS or Lakeway Publishers, Inc.For general information about High Mach, call (931) 454-5655 or visit www.arnold.af.mil.

Core Values• Integrityfirst

• Service before self• Excellence in all

we do

Use High Mach to mar-ket your products and services. Contact Joe at 931-455-4545 or [email protected]

“NAS delivers the best aerospace testing

capabilities today and in the future.”

Col. Jeffrey GeraghtyCommander

Jason AustinChief,

Public Affairs

Smoking Policy1. The following revised Arnold AFB smoking policy is effective immediately and applies to all individuals on

Arnold AFB.2. Traditional Tobacco products (e.g. cigars and cigarettes):

a. Smoking is permitted solely in Designated Tobacco Areas (DTAs) identified by designated signage. If nosignage exists, smoking is not permitted in that area. It is the responsibility of all smokers to keep DTAsclean of cigarette butts.

b. Tobacco use on the Arnold AFB Golf Course is permitted, but discouraged based on the health hazardsof tobacco use and secondhand smoke. No smoking is permitted within 50 feet of golf course buildingsexcept in the approved DTA.

c. Smoking in government-owned/leased vehicles is strictly prohibited. Personnel are allowed to smoke in theirpersonal vehicles at any time; however, at no time will personnel discard cigarette butts outside their vehicle.

d. For government employees, the fact that a person smokes has no bearing on the number of breaks theymay take. Breaks should be taken in accordance with the current supervisory and personnel policies thatafford all employees the same break opportunities consistent with good work practices and accomplish-ment of the mission.

3. Smokeless Tobacco products (e.g. snuff and dip):Smokeless tobacco products are not to be restricted to DTAs. Smokeless tobacco use will be permitted in allworkplace areas (inside and out) subject to reasonable safety and sanitary conditions. Specifically, containersof tobacco waste product, including sealed containers, must not be left unattended or disposed of in trashreceptacles. Users of smokeless tobacco must flush tobacco waste down the toilet.

4. Electronic Cigarettes (also known as “e-cigs”):Pursuant to Air Force Instruction (AFI) 40-102, Tobacco Free Living, e-cigs are considered to be equivalent totobacco products; however, e-cigs are not restricted to DTAs and are allowed to be used outdoors at a minimumdistance of 25 feet from building entry/egress points. (This policy is dated July 27, 2016)

Team AEDC,I believe in free and open communications

with our Team AEDC employees, and that’s why we have the Action Line available. People can use the Action Line to clear up rumors, ask ques-tions, suggest ideas on improvements, enter complaints or get other issues off their chests.

The Action Line has been expanded to in-clude an option for your ideas, comments, or suggestions on the AcqDemo personnel sys-tem. Simply call the normal x6000 commander’s action line. You will then be prompted to select option 1 for the Commander’s Action Line or Op-tion 2 for the AcqDemo line. They can access the Action Line via the AEDC intranet home page and by calling 931-454-6000.

Although the Action Line is always available, the best and fastest way to get things resolved is by using your chain of command or by con-tacting the organization directly involved. I en-courage everyone to go that route first, then if the situation isn’t made right, give us a chance.

Col. Jeffrey GeraghtyAEDC Commander

Action Line

What a year we have had at AEDCBy Sarah Beth MorganChief, AEDC Complex Support

In October 2019, AEDC held the 2020 Strategic Planning Off-site with dozens of se-nior leaders to deliber-ately identify actions to become the “AEDC We Need” and transform AEDC to support the National Defense Strate-gy. The plan the leader’s developed would support the strategic priorities of: 1) Pursue mission ex-cellence, 2) Invest in our people, and 3) Improve and sustain the complex.

In the AEDC We Need effort, there were 80 comments requesting clarity in our organiza-tion and over 200 com-ments requesting bet-ter communication and definition of roles and responsibilities. There-fore, the first action was to organize in a wing structure. This will help posture AEDC to be able to efficiently and effec-tively accomplish our strategic priorities and conduct our mission. It was an eight-month ef-fort involving a large part of our workforce to review our organiza-

tion and the roles and re-sponsibilities required to operate as a proper wing – not to mention the con-sternation an organiza-tion change has on ourworkforce. AEDC sub-mitted our proposal to the Air Force Test Centerin September.

As if the Wing trans-formation was not enough; the unimagi-nable happened…CO-VID-19. The effects of the pandemic on our Complex are not entirely measurable. In the midst of a major National De-fense Strategy change and our efforts to pos-ture our critical test mis-sion complex, we had to figure out how to operate with basically a three-month “base shutdown” and maximum telework. We faced several chal-lenges with computer equipment availability, virtual meeting platforms connectivity and band-width. During arguably the biggest change for AEDC in the last five years, we were forced to operate in a “new nor-mal” with social distanc-ing, mask wearing, vir-tual meetings and distrib-uted operations.

The truly incredible

news is, AEDC came to-gether and worked even harder to ensure we could continue our critical test mission as well as contin-ue our organization strate-gic implementation. Just to put it into perspective, we were able to develop a two-phased organiza-tion change request that, if approved, will establish a support division and a test group at Arnold Air Force Base, a test group at Holloman Air Force Base, several operating loca-tions, and a more integrat-ed and robust wing staff; all while meeting with the Crisis Action Team (CAT) daily to handle the pan-demic.

During the pandemic crisis, AEDC employ-ees had to support data calls, track requirements and disseminate informa-tion related to 234 Ma-jor Command and Cen-ter CAT Directives. The AEDC team also had to support 20 COVID-19 recurring tasks and 24 one-time taskers. If that wasn’t enough additional workload to our everyday mission, our team also had to track dozens of positive COVID cases to date to ensure our work-force received the medical

attention and support they needed to recover – our number one priority is the health of our workforce.

However, in true AEDC fashion, we did not let the pandemic response deter us from our strategic priorities, we still pursued mission excellence by evaluating and propos-ing organizing in a wing construct while conduct-ing approximately 6,700 hours of testing and 100 test shots/runs, provid-ing an executable fiscal year 2021 financial plan, staying on target with the FY22 and FY23 Program Objective Memorandums and ensuring lost earn-ings reimbursement from AFTC and Air Force Materiel Command – all accomplished since the last strategic summit in October 2019. We also invested in our people by working with AFTC to eliminate Acquisition Demo tiers, obtaining ap-proval and implementing accelerated promotions for our workforce; im-proving our communica-tion with Tools for Suc-cess forums, Supervisory Forums, In-person and Virtual Commander’s calls, AEDC We Need Newsletters and a weekly

Facebook Live event to take questions and give information during our COVID-19 response. We received authority to hire 26 additional support personnel to support our growing mission – where we also continue to advo-cate for more mission re-sources. Finally, we host-ed the Secretary of the Air Force, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and other senior ranking of-ficials who are recogniz-ing and aggressively sup-porting the critical AEDC test mission. We have the highest level attention on the resources needed to improve and sustain our Complex.

Who would have thought at last year’s strategic offsite that we could have accom-plished these achieve-ments while in the midst of a pandemic. This is a true testament to the hard work, ingenuity and commitment of the AEDC team. I look for-ward to our 2021 Stra-tegic Summit and the next phase of strategic thoughts to ensure we continue on the path of making AEDC “Second to None” – hopefully minus the pandemic challenge.


In an effort to promote healthy lifestyle choices and provide more drink-ing water sources for employees, the Arnold Air Force Base Civil En-gineering group worked with the Test Operations and Sustainment contrac-tor’s potable water team to have filtered water fill stations installed on base.

According to Joshua Cooke, senior utility man-ager at Arnold, the two groups worked together to identify areas where water fill stations could be installed to supply water to the Arnold Engineering Development Complex workforce at Arnold.

“While filtered water is not an OSHA (Occupa-tional Safety and Health Association) requirement, the Air Force agreed to purchase these stations as part of the quality of life program,” Cooke said.

As of Sept. 23, 15 of the 18 filtered water fill stations had been in-stalled by the Base Civil Engineering, or BCE, pip-efitters and electricians, with base carpenters and painters providing the fin-ish work. To maintain the filtered water fill stations, preventive maintenance will be scheduled and per-

formed every six months by the Base Civil Engi-neer pipefitters.

They are located in the following areas: the Propulsion Wind Tun-nel Maintenance build-ing, Engine Test Facility Shop, PWT Model Instal-lation Building, von Kár-mán Facility Compressor building, ETF J1/J2, ETF Air Compressor And Test Building, Electric Fabri-cation Shop, Aeropropul-sion System Test Facil-ity Air Supply Building, Aerodynamic and Propul-sion Test Unit Mainte-nance and Storage Build-ing, Rigger’s Building, J6 Solid Rocket Test Facility Field Office, PWT Ple-num Evacuation System Motor Control, ETF Sea Level 2 and 3 Control Building, Test Fuel Farm Support Building, and the Little Tin Building. The three remaining build-ings where filtered water fill stations are being in-stalled include the Photo Lab, Secondary Pumping Station, and Model and Machine Shop.

“The team did a great job to expedite the pur-chase and installation of the water fill stations,” said Ronnie Skipworth, the AEDC Base Opera-tions and Support direc-tor. “This project included TOS (Test Operations and

Support) Acquisitions, the construction super-intendent, BCE planners

and schedulers, pipefitters, electricians, carpenters, painters and supervisors

all working together to ensure the stations were installed on schedule.”

Filtered water stations installed around Arnold AFB

Andrew Bowen, pipefitter with Base Operations and Support, installs a filtered water fill station at Arnold Air Force Base, Sept. 16, as part of a project ensur-ing that the AEDC workforce has drinking water sources available on base. (U.S. Air Force photo)

October 5, 2020 • 3

What a year we have had at AEDC


Arnold Engineering Development Complex team members at Ar-nold Air Force Base and their families gathered Sept. 18 at the Arnold Lakeside Complex to celebrate the U.S. Air Force’s 73rd birthday.

The free outdoor event, hosted by the Ar-nold Services Office, featured birthday cards created by attendees, a cookout, live music, door prizes, caricature artists and, of course, cake. It also featured an address from Chief Master Sgt. Robert Heckman, superinten-dent of AEDC, which is headquartered at Ar-nold AFB.

While dozens were present to mark the branch’s birthday, Heckman emphasized that the festivities were as much a celebration of the men and women who serve with or work for the Air Force.

“As we celebrate to-day’s Air Force birth-day, I would tell you that this birthday is just as much yours as it is the United States Air Force’s because, with-out you, there is no Air Force,” Heckman said.

The Air Force be-came its own branch of the nation’s military on Sept. 18, 1947. As Heckman pointed out, getting to that point wasn’t easy.

“The adversity asso-ciated with becoming a service is no different than dealing with the pandemic on our door-step, or dealing with our shrinking competitive advantage next to our adversaries,” he said. “It doesn’t keep me up at night because I know that our people will rise to the challenge. Why? Because they’ve done so for 73 years.”

To illustrate this point, Heckman pro-vided a brief history on the establishment of the Air Force, a tale he said accentuates the de-termination, resilience and patience of those involved.

The events leading to the official formation of the Air Force actu-ally began nearly 40 years prior and include a cast of characters who believed so fervently in an independent air force that they feverishly en-deavored to remove the obstacles preventing it from becoming its own branch, sometimes at their own expense.

It wasn’t long af-ter the Wright brothers successfully flew the first powered airplane on Dec. 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Car-olina, that H.G. Wells penned a book titled “The War in the Air.” A theme of this 1908 work is that the use of airpower would change the way in which war is conducted.

Nations around the world had begun think-ing about how airpower could be used in war-fare and national de-

fense in the years fol-lowing the book’s re-lease, but no movement on this truly occurred until 1917 when Win-ston Churchill, who was then Britain’s minister of munitions, lamented his decision not to in-vest in airpower.

World War I ended in 1918 and, in April of that year, Britain be-came the first nation to have an independent air force. Despite seeing an ally accomplish this, it would be several years before the first steps to establish a U.S. Air Force were taken.

In 1923, Gen. Wil-liam Lassiter was com-missioned to study air-power. However, no action was taken on Lassiter’s submitted findings, which recom-mended that the U.S. Army expand its Air Corps to include a force of new planes.

This inaction led Brig. Gen. Billy Mitch-ell to step in and begin his airpower advocacy. As Heckman explained, Mitchell was described by some as bold and visionary while others viewed him as combat-ive and insubordinate. Mitchell’s adversarial approach toward his su-periors led to his 1925 court-martial for insub-ordination. He resigned from the service the following year. Still, he continued to champion further investment in airpower.

In 1934, then-Presi-dent Franklin D. Roos-evelt tasked a commit-tee headed by Newton Baker, who served as secretary of war during WWI, to take another look at national air-power. This committee recommended the es-tablishment of a Gen-eral Headquarters Air Force, that more planes should be purchased and that personnel be dedicate to this force. The majority body, however, recommend-ed that air units remain under the control of the U.S. Army.

Pilot James Doo-little, a member of that committee who would go on to lead a group of bombers known as Doolittle’s Raiders during World War II, submitted a minority opinion. Doolittle ar-gued that airpower is the next generation of warfighting and will be needed to protect the U.S., and that a na-tional air force would be stronger if separated from the Army.

It was also in 1934 that Gen. Henry “Hap” Arnold, the namesake of AEDC and Arnold AFB, was made the chief of the Army Air Forces. Arnold worked to allay the concerns leaders in other mili-tary branches shared about the Air Forc-es operating its own planes. These efforts would eventually pay off.

On July 26, 1947, then-President Harry S. Truman was set to take a flight from Washing-

ton National Airport to be with his ill mother. But the president had unfinished business. He needed to sign into law the National Se-curity Act of 1947, which created both the Department of the Air Force and the U.S. Air Force. The July heat was bearing down, and the documents took over an hour to ar-rive. Despite all that was going on, Truman remained patient and signed act into law be-fore departing.

“He’s a patriot, so he had determination to sign those documents, and he did,” Heckman said. “And the rest is history.”

The official birthday of the U.S. Air Force is recognized as Sept. 18, 1947, as that was the date that W. Stuart Symington was sworn in as the first secretary of the Air Force.

“What does all this have to do with us be-ing the greatest Air Force in the world? I would answer with this – it takes resilience, patience and determi-nation to navigate any adverse and uncertain environment,” Heck-man said. “If you look at the decades-long history of what it took to establish us as a ser-vice, nobody can dis-pute there was adversi-ty and nobody can dis-pute that it was fraught with uncertainty.”

Heckman said that the determination of Airmen to navigate ad-

versity while exhibit-ing the resiliency and patience necessary to succeed has not waned over the past 73 years.

“So what makes us the greatest Air Force in the world? You,” he said. “Our people make us the greatest Air Force in the world. If you look at the prob-lems that we solve, if you look at the new capabilities that are de-veloped, that is done by you.”

Those who coordi-nated the event wish to express their appre-ciation for those who worked to help make the celebration pos-sible. They include: Melissa Effingham and her Facility Support Services team for their planning and execu-tion, Master Sgt. Jose Flores for his coordi-nation the Color Guard presentation and Proto-col Officer Sonja Smith for her support.

Arnold AFB marks 73rd birthday of U.S. Air Force with food, fun

2nd Lt. Riley Vaught, left, and Col. Carl Ise cut the cake during the Air Force Birthday celebration Sept. 18 at the Arnold Lakeside Complex on Arnold Air Force Base. It is tradition for the youngest Airman, in this case Vaught, and the oldest to cut the cake together. (U.S. Air Force photo by Bradley Hicks)

Wende Pepper with Arnold Air Force Base Services grills burgers for the hungry attendees of the Sept. 18 Air Force birthday celebration at the Arnold Lakeside Complex on Arnold AFB. Dozens gathered to help mark the 73rd birthday of the Air Force, which was officially established on Sept. 18, 1947. (U.S. Air Force photo by Bradley Hicks)

Zone Status, a group based out of Murfreesboro, performs during the Air Force birthday celebration Sept. 18 at the Arnold Lakeside Complex on Arnold Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Bradley Hicks)

One of the more than a dozen birthday cards cre-ated by attendees is set out for display during the Sept. 18 Air Force birthday celebration at the Ar-nold Lakeside Complex on Arnold Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Bradley Hicks)

track ideas that have been selected for implementa-tion.

“We will begin thinking about our next campaign, which may be through

Ideascale or another meth-od, once these efforts are well on their way,” Liner said.

One of the suggestions offered during the first

phase of the Spark Cell, which has since been suc-cessfully completed, was an idea by Craig Morris to improve internet band-width across Arnold.

The idea from the Spark Cell team aligned with ongoing Test Sup-port Division efforts to in-crease network bandwidth at Arnold AFB. The effort resulted in a total increase of bandwidth of up to 10 gigabits per second that will be divided amongst multiple circuits at Arnold. Additionally, the new Air Force requirements for standard computer hard-ware are now significantly higher, at 32 gigabyte Ran-dom Access Memory and 500 gigabyte Solid State Drive, and roll-out of this hardware is expected to dramatically increase pro-ductivity over time.

According to the Spark Cell team’s findings, if the Arnold workforce has a time savings of at least 1 minute per day as a result of these improvements, it will equate to a cost sav-ings of $533,000 a year for the Complex.

Another suggestion of-fered through the AEDC Spark Cell campaign was to establish better analytics by providing query devel-opment access and ana-

lytic support to the various offices in AEDC to enable test and project manag-ers the chance to com-bine specific data needed rather than rely on canned reports. Jim Burns, who submitted the idea, com-mented doing this would allow active analytics and process improvement ver-sus reactive management.

To help implement this idea, training is being de-veloped for test and project managers on how to better use available data. AEDC leadership and stakehold-ers will be involved in this process to best tailor the training to the needs of the workforce.

Other suggestions made were meant to help boost employee morale. For example, Joshua Os-borne submitted an idea to have a display with a list of deployed, POW, MIA and KIA who are part of AEDC family to serve as a reminder of service members’ sacrifices and ties to the AEDC mission.

The Arnold Junior Force Council has agreed to act as the lead for im-

plementing this idea. The JFC is planning to obtain funding needed for labor and materials, to include a flat screen and input de-vice, which will then be installed inside Café 100 at Arnold. It is estimated that the project will be completed by spring of 2021.

To learn more about the other ideas that have been submitted, visit https://usaf.ideascalegov.com. Anyone who doesn’t already have an Air Force Portal user profile will first need to create one before logging onto the site. Once logged in at the website listed above, find the AEDC link.

Though the Ideascale campaign is currently closed to new suggestions at this time, AEDC leader-ship is always accepting suggestions and ideas via its Commander’s Acceler-ated Initiatives Office, or CDX. AEDC Team mem-bers can email these [email protected] or by call-ing the Commander’s Ac-tion Line at 931-454-6000.

4 • October 5, 2020

Aeropropulsion Ground Test Branch with a kit consisting of a high-speed, high-resolution camera and software for use during engine tests. Beaman first put the kit to use during an acceler-ated mission test in the sea-level test cell SL-3 late last year. To expand upon the knowledge gained during that test, he is utilizing the camera during engine runs in the sea-level test cell SL-1.

“The major benefit of this system is that it is

portable,” Beaman said. “I can set up pretty much anywhere to see most parts of a test article, unlike engine-mounted instrumentation. This system can be used to validate engine mounted data, or analyze the cause of unexplained system vibration.”

The camera mount uses strong magnets al-lowing it to be mounted on most surfaces in a test cell. The main limitation in placement is the need to isolate the camera

from surrounding vibra-tion.

After a recording is made, the software allows the user to select specific vibration frequencies and amplify them in the vid-eo. The amplified video allows viewers to more easily see and understand the movement occurring in a system.

“The initial demon-strations of this technol-ogy have shown prom-ising results,” Beaman said. “This unique capa-bility could prove to be

very useful in diagnosing or analyzing vibration is-sues on future test articles or in ground test support equipment.”

A Motion Amplifica-tion Camera is also being employed by the Condi-tion-Based Maintenance team at Arnold Air Force Base to help identify the source of vibrations in equipment, such as mo-tors and compressors. Read about that effort at www.arnold.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2298144/aedc-team-members-use-spe-cial-motion-camera-to-troubleshoot-excessive-vibrations/.

HIGH-SPEED from page 1

Seth Beaman, a Naval Air Systems Command aeropropulsion test analyst, aims a light mounted alongside a high-speed camera at an aircraft engine Sept. 1 in the sea-level test cell SL-1 at Arnold Air Force Base. Beaman is studying the potential for its use as an analysis tool for engine testing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

The feed from a high-speed camera is displayed on a laptop in software that uses the video to analyze vibrations Sept. 1 in the sea-level test cell SL-1 at Arnold Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

A high-speed camera is temporarily mounted in the sea-level test cell SL-1 using magnets Sept. 1 at Ar-nold Air Force Base. The portability of the system is one of the benefits over the standard test cell cameras. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

OFFICERS from page 1patrolling garnered 19 traf-fic citations with an average speed of over 16.5 miles an hour over the posted speed limit, as well as passing on a double yellow line and failure to stop at a posted stop sign.”

While traffic is a focus of the DAF officers’ efforts, it is far from their only re-sponsibility. The officers are also responsible for force protection and per-forming law enforcement functions on the base.

“All of the officers are engaged in installation pa-trol duties while serving as a deterrent to crime and other violations of laws, rules and regulations,” Kelly said. “Typically on Air Force bases world-wide, DAF officers are in-tegrated with the Security Forces Defenders and can perform all aspects of force protection from installa-tion access control to Base

Defense Operations Center operations.”

Each DAF officer has received more than 280 hours of Security Forces training. All of the offi-cers possess prior experi-ence as military or civilian law enforcement officers and, according to Kelly, have brought with them a “wealth of law enforce-ment knowledge.”

Kelly said there is a goal to hire additional DAF officers soon to potentially allow for a 24/7 patrolling capability by the end of the year.

From Aug. 30 to Sept. 13, the DAF officers issued 41 total traffic citations. Thirty-five were for speed-ing. The average speed of those cited was 16.3 miles per hour over the posted limit. The highest overage among those cited was 22 miles per hour over the posted speed limit.

Four of the citations were for stop sign viola-tions, one infraction was for passing on a double yel-low line, and the remaining citation was for driving on a revoked license.

“To have Air Force po-lice officers patrolling Ar-nold Air Force Base is the culmination of a great deal of preparation behind the scenes over the past few years,” said AEDC Com-mander Col. Jeff Geraghty. “From articulating to head-quarters just how valuable DAF officers would be on Arnold AFB to advertising, hiring and training these professionals, team Arnold has invested deeply. I’m confident their presence will bolster Team AEDC’s commitment to safety and the rule of law, and I’m thankful for the men and women who put forth the extra effort to invest in our people this way.”

SPARK CELL from page 1

October 5, 2020 • 5

Understanding depression

By Greg ChadwickAir Force Materiel Command Health and Wellness

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – This is a stressful, uncertain time. The COVID-19 pan-demic has brought many sig-nificant changes to how we live daily life. Social distanc-ing, quarantine, and isolation can be overwhelming and may cause feelings of insecu-rity, confusion, hopelessness, and, ultimately, depression.

The National Institute for Mental Health defines de-pression as a common but se-rious mood disorder that neg-atively affects how you feel, think, and handle daily activ-ities such as sleeping, eating, and working. People who are dealing with depression typi-cally experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• Persistent sad, or “empty”mood

• Feelings of hopelessness,or pessimism

• Irritability

• Feelings of guilt,worthlessness, orhelplessness

• Loss of interest orpleasure in hobbies andactivities

• Decreased energy orfatigue

• Difficulty concentrating,remembering, or makingdecisions

• Difficulty sleeping, early-morning awakening, oroversleeping

• Appetite and/or weightchanges

• Thoughts of death orsuicide, or suicideattempts

• Aches or pains, headaches,cramps, or digestiveproblems without a clearphysical cause and/or thatdo not ease event withtreatment

We all have days when wefeel down, but when the peri-ods of sadness persist and are severe enough to impact daily functioning, it may be time to assess your emotional health by completing a self-assess-ment. You can take a free, anonymous, and confiden-tial mental health screening today at: myhealth.va.gov.

Screening results are educa-tional, not diagnostic, but are provided so participants may find out quickly if a consulta-tion with a mental health pro-fessional would be helpful.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, you may experi-ence stress, fear, sadness and loneliness. Learning self-care strategies can help you take charge of your life and are good for your mental and physical health. A guiding principle that can help us all cope effectively during this time is to focus on what we can control.

• Keep routines as muchas possible. Maintainingstructure and routineis critical because itreinforces order andpredictability, and issomething over which wehave control.

• Stay connected. Identifyfriends and family thatyou can check in withregularly. FaceTime,Skype, phone callsand other social mediaplatforms can be a greatway to connect family andfriends.

• Take breaks from listening

to the news. Constant news about COVID-19 from all types of media can heighten fears about the disease. It is important to stay informed, however, if you are noticing an impact on your mood/stress, it may be time to limit your exposure.

• Engage in self-care.Participate in regularphysical activity to reducestress and improve mood.Eat healthy, nutritiousfoods and drink plentyof water. Avoid tobacco,alcohol and drugs. Get atleast seven hours of sleepeach night.

• Do what you can toprotect yourself and yourfamily, including excellenthygiene and socialdistancing practices. Washyour hands frequently andthoroughly, wear a maskwhen you venture out, andkeep your distance frompeople you don’t live with.

How can you tell when baddays or weeks have turned into a clinical depression that you shouldn’t try to address on your own? A consultation with a mental health profes-

sional is recommended when feelings or tendencies have become persistent and have af-fected you consistently for more than two weeks. Your initial phone call or email doesn’t commit you immediately to treatment, so don’t be afraid to reach out.

Getting support plays an essential role in coping with depression. Professional coun-seling services are available for the AFMC workforce and their families.

Military members can con-tact their local mental health clinic for services. Military OneSource is another option for military and their families. For more information, call 800-342-9647 or visit militaryonesource.mil.

Civilian employees may con-tact the Employee Assistance Program for free, confidential counseling services at 866-580-9078 or visit the EAP website at AFPC.af.mil/EAP.

For more information on depression education materi-als, visit USAFwellness.com or contact your local Civil-ian Health Promotion Services team. Comprehensive infor-mation on mental health can be found at the National Institute of Mental Health at: nimh.nih.gov.

The National Institute for Mental Health defines depression as a common but serious mood disorder that negatively affects how you feel, think, and handle daily activities such as sleeping, eating, and working. (Courtesy graphic)

By Maj. Cody ChilesCombined Force Space Component Command Public Affairs

VA N D E N B E R G AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – For the first time, the Combined Force Space Component Command’s 18th Space Control Squadron began publically sharing data for debris-on-debris conjunction predictions via www.Space-Track.org, Sept. 24.

Previously, the 18 SPCS only released debris-on-active satel-lite conjunction predic-tion data publically due to limited conjunction screening and reporting capacity.

Through a project ti-tled Reduction of Con-

junction Assessment Processing (ReCAP), 18 SPCS personnel re-duced the daily number of legacy low to no-risk early conjunction reporting to satellite owners and operators by more than 30 per-cent. Additionally, the 18 SPCS increased the total number of objects screened daily by more than 350 percent.

“The objectives of project ReCAP were to improve spaceflight safety by reducing the number of unnecessary conjunction reports, and screen more than 27,000 objects that could po-tentially collide and create more debris in space,” said Lt. Col. Justin Sorice, 18 SPCS commander. “Through

innovation and automa-tion the space warfight-ers in the 18th Space Control Squadron im-

proved frontline space defense and awareness for all satellite owners and operators.”

The 18 SPCS mis-sion is to defend free-dom of action in space for the Joint Force, multinational partners, and humanity. The 18th SPCS monitors approxi-mately 3,200 active satellites for close ap-proaches with approxi-mately 24,000 pieces of space debris, and issues an average of 15 high-interest warnings for active near-earth satel-lites, and ten high-inter-est warnings for active deep-space satellites, each day.

Additionally, 18 SPCS shares Space Do-main Awareness infor-mation with more than 100 governmental, aca-demic, and commercial partner organizations from 25 nations through

formal Space Situ-ational Awareness data sharing agreements, and www.Space-Track.org.

“Project ReCAP is just another example of how we are support-ing spaceflight safety, and protecting the space domain for future gen-erations,” said Sorice. “This was a big data problem that was solved by young, motivated, and innovative space operators. I’m honored to work alongside a superior team of space professionals at the 18th Space Control Squad-ron; and project ReCAP is just another example of what our stellar space warriors are doing to protect our assets and interests in the space domain.”

18 SPCS now predicts debris-on-debris collisions in space, enhancing Space Domain Awareness for all

An artist’s depiction of the Space Based Space Sur-veillance satellite tracking space debris. The 18th Space Control Squadron uses data collected from SBSS, and other sensors in the Space Surveillance Network, to track objects orbiting the earth, and provide Space Domain Awareness for space faring nations. (Courtesy image)

6 • October 5, 2020

By Donna LindnerAir Force Research Laboratory

W R I G H T - P A T -TERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – Scien-tists at the Air Force Re-search Laboratory and Hanyang University are developing smart struc-tural composites that are robust and photo-thermally responsive, enabling next genera-tion composite materials that are repairable with the application of light sources.

This is a joint col-laboration between the United States and South Korea with participation of AFRL and Hanyang University through col-laborative sponsorship of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Re-search Foundation of Korea.

“This partnership has helped us to lever-age resources and ac-celerate our technology development,” said Pro-fessor Youngjong Kang, Hanyang University.

“We are developing an evolving and trans-

formative materials technology that enables real-time system readi-ness and cost savings in the area of system sustainment and elec-tromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding,” said Dr. Dhriti Nepal, Re-search Materials Engi-neer, AFRL.

The structural dam-age repair in traditional epoxy composites is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Compo-nent downtime during repair also adds to loss of squadron readiness, in addition to excessive labor-intensive repair cost.

Traditional epoxy thermosets are infusible and unable to be remold-ed. It is nearly impos-sible to repair without completely replacing the entire component.

The development of smart photothermally activated composites re-pair via light activation adaptable to non-inva-sive (practically elimi-nating human touch labor) provides a sig-nificant breakthrough in sustainment of aircraft systems. This enables

exceedingly low-cost re-pair.

This technology and EMI shielding have the potential to transition the research to system applications to meet warfighter needs.

Vitrimer materials, otherwise known as a class of plastics de-rived from thermoset-ting polymers, is one solution to providing a material that will al-leviate issues related to mechanical repair. Vit-rimer properties can be tailored to incorporate electrospray ionization (high voltage applied to a liquid to create an aerosol) shielding.

“Prime aerospace in-dustry members see an immediate need for this technology for significant cost savings and boosted system readiness,” said Dr. Ajit Roy, Principal Material Research Engi-neer, of AFRL. “We are excited to experiment on the development of new generation nanopar-ticles incorporated into composites to meet ap-plication requirements for filled elastomer (a semi-flexible polymer

that is added in between structural components to fill component gaps and to provide electrical connectivity) and EMI shielding.

To coincide with the development, Dr. Yixin Ren and Dr. Amber Hub-bard of AFRL recently participated in a “Sci-ence as Art Competition” at the 2020 Spring Ma-

terials Research Society meeting.

Ren’s “Carbon Nano Shish Kabob,” show-ing carbon nanotubes’ growth on carbon fibers, was awarded in the top 50 of the competition.

Hubbard’s “(Ther-moplastic) Flower in the Sun,” showing a system that can transform films into 3D shapes based on

a photothermal response, won second place.

Fundamental techni-cal challenges remain to be worked to make the technology insertion to Air Force systems hap-pen; however, a cohesive and productive multidis-ciplinary team is in place to advance this important and scientifically rel-evant technology.

AFRL repairs next generation composite materials with light

Carbon Nano Shish Kabob. This science as art piece is created by the scan-ning electron microscope image. Carbon nanotubes were deposited on car-bon fibers via chemical vapor deposition method. The overgrowth of carbon nanotubes on carbon fibers created the shish kabob like carbon nanostruc-ture. (Courtesy photo by Yixin Ren)

By Corrie PolandAir Force Operational Energy

W A S H I N G T O N (AFNS) – Airmen from Rickenbacker Air Na-tional Guard Base, Ohio, and Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, helped revise outdated procedures for testing the condition of aircraft batteries on the KC-135 Stratotanker and C-130 Hercules, preventing the premature disposal and replacement of bat-teries and avoiding un-necessary equipment costs and maintenance hours.

The batteries serve as the aircraft’s backup to power essential equip-ment should engine generators fail. To date, the Air Force C-130 and KC-135 fleets, more than 600 aircraft glob-ally, operate with the batteries.

The Airmen deter-mined that by updat-ing the technical guid-ance and adjusting the required voltage and charging settings for specific processes, the legacy charging equip-ment can now sync with the modern battery and provide accurate test re-sults. Currently, a draft Technical Order is au-thorized for testing by select field and depot maintenance units, and the Air Force Research Laboratory expects to release a formal TO later this year. The team anticipates the update will decrease the rate of condemned batteries en-terprise-wide, avoiding an estimated $463,000 in battery-replacement

costs annually, while saving approximate-ly 5,280 maintenance hours across the Air Force.

In mid-2017, depot personnel at Tinker AFB first discovered that the sealed lead-acid aircraft batteries, manufactured by Teledyne Technolo-gies, Inc., were failing periodic maintenance tests at a rate three times faster than expected. As a result, Airmen were required to reject and replace them before the end of their service life.

The depot notified the 422nd Supply Chain Management Squadron and the AFRL Materi-als and Manufacturing Directorate, ultimately finding that the 121st Maintenance Squadron

was having similar is-sues with the newly pro-cured batteries.

According to De-fense Logistics Agency data, procurement of battery replacements increased by 50 percent since the installation of the Teledyne battery.

“We noticed that we had condemned more batteries in six months, than we had in the pre-vious year,” said Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Frey, 121st Maintenance Squadron electrical and environ-mental specialist. “The battery is coded as an expendability item, so if they fail maintenance tests, they are thrown away – which requires us to complete addi-tional paperwork and go through the discard and

replacement process.”According to Frey, if

the battery fails the first test, it will be tested two more times before going through the condemna-tion process. While tech-nicians can complete a testing cycle in approxi-mately one day, the ad-ditional testing extended the process to nearly four days of maintenance.

While the batteries were not passing main-tenance tests, their re-search found no evidence to support the notion that there was widespread malfunction during op-erations.

“None of the batteries were failing during flight or showing any physical defects. There was only an issue during mainte-nance,” Frey explained.

The team worked with subject matter ex-perts from AFRL, Tele-dyne, and the 422nd Supply Chain Manage-ment Squadron and De-pot Battery Backshop at Tinker AFB to identify the root cause and de-termine a way forward. They also brought on DLA, the University of Dayton Research Insti-tute (UDRI), and the C-130 and KC-135 Sys-tem Program Offices for further support.

Through ground test-ing and data capture, the team discovered that the maintenance procedures were incompatible with the legacy model of charging equipment (Christie RF80-K), causing inaccurate test results. Working with

Teledyne and subject matter experts, the team updated the technical interim instructions to sync with the existing equipment and success-fully charge and main-tain the batteries. The update required no phys-ical modifications to the battery itself.

“Our goal was to help all depot and field main-tainers reduce mainte-nance man-hours while decreasing the number of battery condemnations,” said Kelly Ward, Tinker AFB 422nd SCMS elec-tronics engineer.

For the 121st MS, charging time decreased by approximately two hours and reduced the number of maintenance procedures.

“These batteries go through periodic main-tenance and charging ev-ery year, and with proper use, they’ll last about five years,” said Ed Clark, AFRL’s Advanced Power Technology Of-fice aviation program lead. “So when we dis-covered that the turnover had increased so rapidly, we wanted to know why. With the team’s help, we were able to find a solu-tion.”

With the draft TO in place, depot backshops at Tinker AFB, Rick-enbacker ANGB, and Robins AFB, Georgia, have approval to update the settings across all Christie chargers. Once the formal TO is issued, all bases will be able to implement the change, resulting in reduced maintenance hours and significantly decreas-ing the number of re-jected batteries.

Airmen find solution to KC135 and C130 battery testing failure, reducing cost and maintenance delays

A KC-135 Stratotanker from the 121st Air Refueling Wing sits on the flightline at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Ohio. Airmen from Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Ohio, and Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, helped revise outdated procedures for testing the condition of aircraft batteries on the KC-135 Stratotanker and C-130 Hercules. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tiffany A. Emery)

October 5, 2020 • 7

By Terri Moon CronkDOD News

It’s election season again, when federal, state and local political campaigns kick into high gear. Defense Secretary

Dr. Mark T. Esper’s lat-est ethics video lays out the importance of political activity rules that Defense Depart-ment civilian employ-ees and service mem-bers must follow.

In the 2020 DOD Public Affairs Guidance for Political Campaigns and Elections memoran-dum of Feb. 11, DOD spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman summa-rized the rules that apply

to all DOD personnel re-garding involvement in political events.

“The Department of Defense has a longstand-ing and well-defined pol-icy regarding political campaigns and elections to avoid the perception of DOD sponsorship, ap-proval or endorsement of any political candidate, campaign or cause,” Hoffman wrote.

“The department en-courages and actively supports its personnel in their civic obligation to vote, but makes clear members of the armed forces on active duty should not engage in par-tisan political activities,” his memo read.

The DOD’s Federal Voting Assistance Pro-gram (FVAP) was cre-ated to ensure that Ser-vice members and their eligible family are aware of their right to vote and have the tools and re-sources to successfully do so – from anywhere in the world.

Sources of Authority

The Hatch Act is a federal law passed in 1939 that limits certain political activities of federal employees, ac-cording to the U.S. Of-fice of Special Counsel. It applies to DOD ci-vilian employees. The law’s purposes are to ensure that federal pro-grams are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal em-ployees from political coercion in the work-place, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on politi-cal affiliation, the OSC site added.

DOD policy for ser-vice members is con-tained in Department of Defense Directive 1344.10, Political Ac-tivities for Members of

the Armed Forces. It is DOD policy to encour-age members of the armed forces to carry out the obligations of citizenship while keep-ing with the traditional concept that members on active duty should not engage in partisan political activity. All members of the armed forces, including active-duty members, members of the reserve compo-nents not on active duty, and retired members are prohibited from wearing military uniforms at po-litical campaign or elec-tion events.

As the secretary said in his ethics video, both active-duty service members and civilian employees must under-stand federal rules and DOD policies pertain-ing to political activi-ties. Service members and employees should direct any questions to their supervisors or their supporting legal office, said a senior official in DOD’s Standards of Conduct Office.

Resources

For particulars and more in-depth informa-tion concerning politi-cal activities, check out DOD Directive 1344.10 for service members and the U.S. Office of Spe-cial Counsel website for civilian employees.

Service members can register and request an absentee ballot at FVAP.gov.

Ethics and Leadership

In his ethics video, and in previous ethics messages to the depart-ment, Esper emphasized the importance of lead-ers regularly training their subordinates in the importance of maintain-ing ethical standards.

“Maintaining the hard-earned trust and

confidence of the Amer-ican people requires us to avoid any action that could imply endorse-ment of a political party, political candidate or campaign by any ele-ment of the department,” he said.

“As the secretary has stated, we must continu-ously train and prepare so that we are ready to do what is right when ethical dilemmas arise,” said Scott Thompson, director of DOD’s Stan-dards of Conduct Office. “Training is not a one-time event. The secre-tary expects department leaders to be person-ally involved in training their organizations, and to talk about examples of ethical decision-mak-ing, good and bad. In addition to annual ethics training, leaders should routinely make conver-sations about ethics a natural part of meetings and engagements with personnel.”

As leaders, team-mates and colleagues, all must inspire one an-other by setting the right example of ethical con-duct, Thompson empha-sized.

“Shortly after taking office, Secretary Esper reminded DOD person-nel that each of us takes a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitu-tion. The department’s mission imparts a spe-cial responsibility on each of us to serve with the utmost integrity and be vigilant in pro-tecting the duties and confidences with which we have been entrust-ed,” he added. “To en-sure we are ready to do what is right when ethi-cal dilemmas arise, we must train and prepare ourselves.”

(Katie Lange of De-fense Media Activity con-tributed to this report.)

8 • October 5, 2020

Service members, civilians bound by DOD rules during election campaigns

James Brady, 14th Force Support Squadron community readiness specialist and installation voting assistance officer, talks with Air Force Staff Sgt. Cory Henning, 14th Civil Engineer Squadron, during Armed Forces Voters Week in the base exchange on Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., June 27, 2018. Though federal election years have a large effect on the voting community and activity, elections are happening across the country every year. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Keith Holcomb)

October 5, 2020 • 9

AEDC team members observe Insider Threat Awareness Month


National Insider Threat Awareness Month was observed by AEDC team members throughout the month of September.

The recognition of Insid-er Threat Awareness Month is a collaborative effort be-tween several organizations – the National Counterintel-ligence and Security Center; National Insider Threat Task Force; Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Intelli-gence and Security; Depart-ment of Homeland Security; and the Defense Counter-intelligence and Security Agency – to emphasize the importance of detecting, de-terring and reporting insider threats.

This year’s theme for Insider Threat Awareness Month was “Resilience.”

On Thursdays through-out the month of Septem-ber, Elise Sherrell, Facility Security Officer for the Test Operations and Sustainment contractor at Arnold Air Force Base, and her Secu-rity Office staff, along with the Office of Special Investi-gations, or OSI, and Facility Support Services contractor Security Office staff, shared information regarding in-sider threats and resiliency with AEDC team members at booths they set up around base.

Some examples of in-dividual resilience they

shared, included: having good sleep patterns, devel-oping a mental strategy to handle difficult situations, being able to bend and not break in difficult times, be-ing supportive and practic-ing optimism.

“Insider Threat is a sig-nificant issue and the dam-ages across government and private industry continue to grow, and are significant,” Sherrell said. “We are the trusted insiders who have access to critical and valu-able information. We must ensure we are well-equipped to combat the potential by having a highly-trained workforce who are aware of the indicators, who buy-in to the Insider Threat Program; who are engaged in their work environment and with co-workers; and who are not hesitant to report.

“One of the primary purposes of a good Insider Threat program is preven-tion; that is, through edu-cation and awareness, pre-vent or break the cycle of circumstances which could lead someone down the path to becoming a true insider threat.”

Mike Schnable, Coun-terintelligence Chief with OSI Det. 106 at Arnold, added that insider threat awareness is an important topic to reflect on not just during the month of Sep-tember but year-round.

“Our consistent message

throughout the year is to re-port any anomalous behav-ior; and while 99.9 percent of the time the incident is prob-ably nothing, we cannot af-ford to be wrong that .1 per-cent; we just can’t,” he said.

“Those who work day-to-day with potential insider threats know them better than anyone and are usually the first to notice a change in behavior. They will of-ten rationalize this behavior and become complacent in reporting even minor con-cerns. However, reporting doesn’t get people fired or in trouble. It might actually prevent someone from do-

ing something harmful to themselves or others. Or, they just might need to use a resource they didn’t know existed.”

Schnable said it’s the re-sponsibility of every AEDC team member to deter, detect and mitigate insider threats.

“What we often see after the fact is that there were warning signs not acted on by those close to the insider. People will rationalize warn-ing signs as just ‘a bad day’ or ‘not their business.’ When these warning signs occur, they often elicit concerns in family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers,

but those who notice con-cerning behavior might not report their concerns for a variety of reasons.

“When an individual identifies a concerning be-havior, no matter how slight, it is imperative that informa-tion is shared with personnel or organizations who have the capacity or authority to act.”

AEDC team members are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to the

TOS FSO, 931-454-5891; Arnold Protective Services, 931-454-5662; or Base Op-erations Center, 931-454-7752.

OSI has anonymous tip lines available on its social media platforms: https://twitter.com/RealAFOSI; https://instagram.com/Re-alAFOSI; or https://www.facebook.com/AirForce-OSI. Anonymous tips can also be submitted via text by sending AFOSI to 847411.

AEDC team member Dr. Robert Howard speaks to Security Specialist Alecia Davis at Arnold Air Force Base on Sept. 10 as she hands out information on how to recognize insider threats. In conjunction with the Air Force, staff with the Test Operations and Sustainment contractor Security Office pro-vided important messages on the topic of insider threats throughout the month of September, which is National Insider Threat Awareness Month. (U.S. Air Force photo by Deidre Moon) (This image has been altered by obscuring a badge for security pur-poses.)

AEDC team member Jay Potter receives information and participates in a drawing Sept. 10 at Arnold Air Force Base as part of an initiative by the Air Force and Test Operation and Sustainment contactor Se-curity Office to remind everyone about the impor-tance of recognizing insider threats. (U.S. Air Force photo by Deidre Moon) (This image has been altered by obscuring a badge for security purposes.)

Arnold AFB Fitness Center powers its way into fourth decade


For the past 30 years, the Arnold Air Force Base Fit-ness Center has been a des-tination for those looking to whip themselves into shape.

The official opening of the Arnold AFB Fitness Center was marked with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Oct. 1, 1990. While both the size of the facility and the number of activities of-fered were relatively lean at that time, it wouldn’t be long before work was done to help the center bulk up. This paved for the way for the center to house a wider variety of exercise equip-ment and provide space for center staff to offer a broader array of fitness programs to its users.

Upon completion of its construction, the Arnold Fit-ness Center was comprised of one basketball court and a 1,642-square-foot room located upstairs for strength, conditioning and cardio ac-tivities.

Ronald Stephenson, now a contractor at Arnold AFB, worked in the Fitness Center in various capacities over the course of 27 years. He began his stint there in 1991 and served as the center di-rector from around 2000 to 2018.

“During my tenure, the Fitness Center grew from 1,642 square feet of exer-cise area to its current over 4,000 square feet with the incredible help of then Lt. Col. John Laviolette who, at the time, was Base Civil En-gineering commander and was directly responsible for getting the additional fund-

ing for the new square foot-age and all the upgrades you see currently,” Stephenson said.

Aside from this expan-sion, which included the addition of a 3,200-square-foot strength and condi-tioning exercise room, upgrades completed over the years have included the installation of new light-ing throughout the center and the replacement of the basketball court with subse-quent refinishes.

Laviolette, now a civil-ian employee in Arnold AFB Base Civil Engineer-ing, said more space was needed within the Fitness Center to accommodate an ever-increasing number of exercise enthusiasts.

“For military, civilians or contractor personnel, being physically fit is an important aspect of the Air Force cul-ture,” Laviolette said. “Over the years, the Fitness Center personnel grew their pro-grams to fit the needs of base personnel and the military re-tirees in the local area, and it became obvious that a larger facility was needed.”

Laviolette said project programmers within Base Civil Engineering worked quickly to develop a project to expand the Fitness Center. Eventually, the undertak-ing was funded through the Construction Task Order Program managed by the Air Force Civil Engineer Center.

“That additional space certainly helped the Fit-ness Center staff to allevi-ate congestion, expand their programs and to provide state-of-the-art conditioning equipment for base per-sonnel,” he said.

The Arnold Fitness Cen-ter is open to DOD employ-ees and retirees, active duty service members from all military branches, military retirees, and civilian con-tractors across Arnold AFB. The center is typically open 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.

However, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Fitness Center operations. Currently, au-thorized users are able to utilize the facility through appointments only and group exercises class have been temporarily curtailed. Users are subjected to

screening questions upon entry, and there is no lock-er room access at this time.

While the pandemic has somewhat dampened facil-ity usage, it has not stopped Laviolette and others from considering how to grow

the Arnold Fitness Center. “Despite that chal-

lenge, we’re still look-ing toward the future and working to obtain addi-tional dedicated space to accommodate group class-es without taking over the

basketball court,” Lavio-lette said. “It’s unclear when the project might be funded, but we’ll keep the need in the forefront so the Fitness Center can better execute their fitness programs.”

The court inside in the Arnold Air Force Base Fitness Center is not only used for pickup games of basket-ball, it is also used for many of the exercise programs offered at the facility. A ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of the facility occurred on Oct. 1, 1990. (U.S. Air Force photo)

The Arnold Air Force Base Fitness Center, pictured, has been in operation for 30 years this month. A ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of the facility occurred on Oct. 1, 1990. (U.S. Air Force photo)

By John LambAEDC Facility Support Services

Every year, there are more than one million deer-vehicle collisions, or DVCs, in the United States resulting in more than 200 human deaths.

State Farm lists Ten-nessee as number 32 in its ranking of states where you are most likely to be involved in a DVC. While the likelihood of this hap-pening at Arnold Air Force Base has decreased over the last few decades, caution is still urged.

An analysis of 32 years of DVC data at Arnold AFB reveals that October through January is when deer colli-sions peak. On base, motor-ists should always assume they are driving through deer habitat but, based on analysis of the locations of DVCs since 2002, there ap-pears to be areas at Arnold where DVCs are more con-centrated and pose higher risk.

The following tips for avoiding DVCs were com-piled from a number of sources such as the Insur-ance Institute for Highway Safety, Tennessee Depart-ment of Safety, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Highway Loss Data Insti-tute, Deer-Vehicle Crash Information Clearinghouse and Michigan Deer Crash Coalition, all of which offer similar advice. These tips include:• Use extreme caution

during the months of Oc-tober through January.

• If you see one deer, you should expect others.

• Be attentive from sunset to midnight and hours shortly before and after sunrise. These are the highest risk periods for DVCs.

• When driving at night, reduce your speed and use high-beam head-lights when possible.

The high-beams will better illuminate the eyes of deer on or near the roadway.

• Slow down when you notice a deer in or near your path but stay in your lane. Many seri-ous crashes occur when drivers swerve to avoid a deer and hit another vehicle or lose control of their cars.

• Do not rely on devices such as deer whistles to deter deer because they have been proven not to change deer behavior.

• Avoid the use of cell phones and other dis-tractions while driving.

• Scan both the roadway

and roadsides. • Be especially careful in

the rain – deer can be harder to see and they slip easily on the pave-ment. If a DVC is unavoidable,

the same sources offer this advice:• Don’t swerve, brake

firmly, stay in your lane, hold onto the steering wheel and bring your ve-hicle to a controlled stop.

• Pull off the roadway. Turn on the vehicle haz-ard flashers and be care-ful of other traffic when you leave your car.

• Don’t attempt to remove a deer from the roadway unless you’re convinced

it’s dead. A deer can in-flict serious injuries.

• Contact law enforce-ment to report the inci-dent. At Arnold, be sure to report it to the Arnold Security Forces office or the Operations Center so that we can continue

to track and evaluate the problem.

• Contact your insur-ance agent or company representative to report any damage to your car. Collision with a deer is usually covered under the comprehensive por-

tion of your automobile policy. Tennessee law allows

deer killed in a collision to be taken and used as food as long as you contact the nearest TWRA regional office to report the acci-dent within 48 hours.

10 • October 5, 2020

Arnold AFB Milestones35 YEARSWalter Bishop, TOSValerie Pew, TOSRonnie Rogers, TOSCharity Vandergriff, TOS

25 YEARSJames Cantrell, TOSDottye Davis, TOSDylana Seay, TOS

20 YEARSKaren Hillstead, AFDavid Lynn, TOS

15 YEARSCarrie Barham, TOS

Dan Blaylock, TOSWilliam Garner, TOSChristopher Gernaat, TMASJames Horine, TOSGerald Jones, TOSDiane Ladd, TOSSteven Lowe, TOSAnthony Overman, TOSAndrew Riis, TOSKim Russell, TOSJohnny Watson, TOSJustin Weibert, TOS

10 YEARSNathan Dotson, TOSKeith Gipson, TOS

5 YEARSBrandon Anderson, TOSZachary Jones, TMASZachary Smith, TMAS

INBOUND MILITARYMaster Sgt. Don Wilson, AF

OUTBOUND MILITARYMaster Sgt. Beverly Spademan, AF

RETIREMENTSGary Cates, TOSTimothy Emerton, TOS George Jenkins, TOSRobert Lovitt, TOS

Jay Montgomery, TOSRoger Owen, TOSCol. Charles Roberts, AFJohn Sain, TOSRichard Sells, TOS

NEW HIRESSusumu Cherrix, AFDavid Barrow III, TOSMitchell David, TOSHaley Douglas, AFPaul Gilles, TOSEmily Higdon, AFYagasher Jones, AFSeth Mann, TOSJohn McKelvey, AFJoseph Muir, TOSKayla Vance, AF

Walter Bishop, TOS35 Years

Arnold motorists urged to take caution as return of peak deer-vehicle collision season approaches

Motorists traveling on and around Arnold AFB should always assume they are driving through deer habitat but, based on the geo-spatial probability analysis represented in this map, there appears to be areas at Arnold where deer-vehicle collisions are more concentrated and pose higher risk. (Graphic contributed)

An analysis of average number of deer-vehicle collisions, or DVCs, per month from 1987 to 2019 shows most DVCs occur at Arnold AFB annually from Octo-ber through January. Motorists traveling in and around Arnold Air Force Base are urged to use caution, particularly during these months, to avoid DVCs. (Graphic contributed)

Stop in the name of safetyBy Jill PickettAEDC Public Affairs

Stop signs have been installed at an intersec-tion near the J-4 Rocket Motor Test Facility at Arnold Air Force Base in response to the observa-tions of an Arnold En-gineering Development Complex team member.

David Scheuermann, a fuel farm machinist, noticed an increase in traffic flowing through the four-way intersec-tion. Realizing it posed a safety risk, he noti-fied the Base Operations Safety Leadership Com-mittee.

“I just don’t want to see anyone get hurt,” Scheuermann said.

The paths of travel entering the intersection, while not main thorough-fares, have been carrying

a heavier traffic flow due to testing and construc-tion. Adding to the haz-ard is a visual obstruction

for drivers approaching from the southeast.

The intersection is now a four-way stop.

Laborers Danny Smartt, left, and Kelvin Sweeton uncover one of four stop signs installed at an in-tersection near the J-4 Rocket Motor Test Facility at Arnold Air Force Base, Sept. 11. The signs were uncovered after craftsmen were notified of their in-stallation during toolbox meetings. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

By Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTER-SON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The Air Force Digital Campaign kicked off the first Virtual Industry Exchange September 21, hosting indus-try and academia to share the Digital Campaign strategy, invite input from the com-mercial and private sector, and to prepare participants for how the Department of the Air Force will conduct business in the digital age.

The event follows the Air Force’s recent announce-ment of the eSeries approach to developing aircraft, weap-ons and satellites which will be digitally engineered and virtually tested before ever taking physical form. The strategy is to use digital en-gineering to achieve acqui-sition agility and disrupt the nation’s adversaries.

More than 1,500 people tuned in for the virtual event, co-hosted by Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Tech-nology and Logistics, and Gen. Arnold W Bunch, Jr., Commander, Air Force Ma-teriel Command.

Bunch noted the Digital Campaign is well aligned with the National Defense Strategy, AFMC’s strategic plan, and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles C.Q. Brown, Jr.’s “Accelerate Change or Lose” white pa-per calling for innovation, collaboration and risk taking to deter and win a high-end fight against a peer adversary like China or Russia. The intent is to use digital tools to drastically speed weapon de-velopment, acquisition and fielding.

“This is an effort that we started as a team back in Feb-ruary with [the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition Tech-nology & Logistics,] Space and Missile Systems Center, and all of Air Force Mate-riel Command centers being represented, as well as all the program executive officers

laying out what we thought it would take to go toward digi-tal engineering and to have a Digital Campaign across AFMC which we hope will grow out even broader,” said Bunch.

Roper described the scale and pace of China’s mili-tary modernization, fueled by determined leadership, a controlled economy and a massive force of cheap labor. He added the U.S. will not be able to match that, absent a disruptive force to level the playing field.

“I think that digital engi-neering and digital transfor-mation have the potential to be that (force),” Roper said. “We’ve got to make this work. Having interconnected models that also connect to our supply and the need to use technology and digital engineering approaches to supply chain and assembly process is a noble ambition that will snowball as we con-tinue in future programs, but there’s so much more we can do and will have to do if we are to truly be a disruptive designer.”

Digital engineering is so much more than computer aided design, according to Roper. The acquisition exec-utive said he’s been working with many companies and consulting firms to learn how they are using digital tools and models to dramatically reduce the time to develop, build and test virtually, hun-dreds of times, before metal is bent for the first time in the physical world. He offered Formula One auto racing as an inspiration space where this is being done success-fully.

“Formula 1 with Digital Twins is a great example as one of the things I believe we can use as a way to evolve. The entire design, develop-ment, verification and train-ing of the driver is all ac-complished digitally because the models are that good, they’re one-to-one with the real world. The digital world actually supersedes the physical one. We will always

require that real world data and our reason for getting it should be to come back to come back to the digital world,” said Roper.

Roper noted the T-7 Red-hawk, Next Generation Air Dominance and the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) programs among only a handful of examples where digital engineering tools and models are now being used in the acquisition process, not only in design, but across the entire lifecycle of the weapon system. He and Bunch want to share these lessons, build “digital fluency” knowledge across the department’s acquisi-tion workforce and scale the capability to become the standard for both the Air Force and Space Force.

“The more complicat-ed, the more risky some-thing is, the more digital engineering makes sense, the more you are likely to see amazing results,” Roper said.

Three exemplar ac-quisition programs where digital tools are being in-corporated were briefed: Air Force Nuclear Weap-on Center’s GBSD re-placement for the Minute-man III intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system; Air Force Life Cycle Management Cen-ter’s WeaponONE; and the Space and Missile Systems Center’s Pro-tected Anti-jam Tactical Satellite Communication System (PTAS).

Bunch identified Six Lines of Effort (LOEs) for AFMC, along with senior leader champions who will provide focus and drive the accomplishment of the command’s objec-tives in support of the Air Force Digital Campaign.

Industry questions and comments ranged from intellectual property con-siderations, to theft of technology by adversar-ies, to model based simu-lation, visualization and analysis tools, and their

limitations. A significant focus of the discussion centered on policy issues, along with educating and incentivizing the acquisi-tion workforce to embrace digital engineering prin-ciples.

Bunch reiterated that uniformed and civilian Airmen will be the most important piece of this digital transformation.

“Our Airmen will be the driving force of this future we’re discussing

today. We must recruit, equip, and retain our tal-ent to get to the Air Force we need.”

Jackie Janning-Lask, director of the Air Force Research Laboratory Sen-sors Directorate, also leads the AFMC Line of Effort focused on Workforce and Culture. “Culture eats strategy for lunch,” she said, to underscore the criticality of getting work-force buy-in to the Digital Campaign. The task of

implementation across the workforce will be diffi-cult, she said, but will en-able the fast fielding and disruption Dr. Roper seeks for the nation.

Nick Shouse, an engi-neering technical advisor with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Cen-ter, and event organizer, acknowledged he sees this as the first of many such events as the Air Force continues its digi-tal journey.

October 5, 2020 • 11

Arnold motorists urged to take caution as return of peak deer-vehicle collision season approaches

Air Force Research Laboratory tracks Sporadic EBy Joanne Perkins377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFNS) – Researchers at Air Force Research Labora-tory have discovered a new way to track and character-ize a phenomenon called “Sporadic E” naturally oc-curring in the upper atmo-sphere, where large struc-tures of dense plasma form.

These plasma structures, which occur at mid latitude locations around the world, disrupt radio frequency (RF), electromagnetic waves (or simply “radio waves”) and impact both the Department of Defense and civilian radio systems in positive and negative ways, depending on the applica-tion.

“Previous methods to ob-serve these structures were insufficient for identifying and tracking these structures over large regions,” said Ken Obenberger, AFRL re-search physicist. “It would be advantageous to actively identify where these struc-tures are, where they are go-ing, and how dense they are, and we thought we could find a better way.”

The new method de-veloped by Obenberger and collaborators at AFRL and the University of New

Mexico, leverages the un-intentional RF emissions from power lines, and using broadband radio noise, they can map and track dense Sporadic E structures.

“Since power lines are widespread we can observe Sporadic E over a very large region surrounding our ob-servatory, the Long Wave-length Array (LWA), which is an asset of our collabo-rators at the University of New Mexico,” Obenberger said. “This technique could be used anywhere in the world where there is an elec-trical grid and an instrument similar to the LWA, and we are lucky because there are not many.”

This kind of technology could be very interesting to industries that work on or rely on High Frequency (HF) and Very High Fre-quency (VHF) communi-cations like Marine radio, citizen band (CB) radio, FM radio, and digital TV.

Amateur HAM-radio operators have long used Sporadic E for long-range communications in the VHF band, also known as the “2-meter” and “6-me-ter” bands by hams. Clima-tology of Sporadic E can provide a probability that it will occur, but the actual presence of sporadic E can only be determined through trial and error observations

at the time.“This is similar to how

meteorologists can predict how likely thunderstorms will occur in the afternoons above New Mexico dur-ing monsoon season, but use Doppler radar to iden-tify and track specific thun-derstorms as they occur,” notes Chris Fallen, one of Obenberger’s collaborators at AFRL. “Ken’s technique basically provides weather radar for sporadic E, only using radio noise from pow-er lines as the radar transmit-ter.”

Having accurate now-casting of sporadic E can be critical during disaster situations where oftentimes

HAM operators play a key role in communicating vital information.

In the devastating af-termath of the 2017 Hurri-cane Maria, Puerto Ricans were without power for many weeks, and 130 local, amateur radio operators im-mediately became the only method of emergency com-munication.

“Better understanding will lead to improved design and use of radio systems that mitigate the negative ef-fects and take advantage of the good effects, thereby en-suring a stronger emergency communication network,” Obenberger said. “We are interested in Sporadic E

and the effect it has on ra-dio wave propagation, both good and bad.”

The effects are also rel-evant in U.S. military appli-cations.

“In the case of the U.S. warfighter, reliable commu-nication, position, naviga-tion and timing (PNT), and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, and understand-ing those effects, and un-derstanding how Sporadic E develops and moves, can improve our ability to de-sign and use those systems,” Obenberger said. “And ev-erything we do at AFRL is to advance the technology for our military members.”

Long Wavelength Array stations sit in the desert near Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., Sept. 8. Researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland AFB have discovered a new way to track and characterize a phenomenon called “Sporadic E” naturally oc-curring in the upper atmosphere, where large structures of dense plasma form. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo)

The Air Force Digital Campaign kicked off the first Virtual Industry Exchange September 21, hosting industry and academia to share the Digital Campaign strategy, invite input from the commercial and private sector, and to prepare participants for how the Department of the Air Force will conduct business in the digital age. (Air Force Digital Hangar illustration by Kenneth McNulty)

Roper joins first Digital Campaign virtual industry day

12 • October 5, 2020

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