Arnold AFB, Tenn. June 17, 2019Vol. 66, No. 12

PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE PAIDTULLAHOMA TNPERMIT NO. 29

AIAA Tennessee section presents annual awards

AEDC Quality Assurance Program Coordinator

receives 2018 AFMC award…Page 3

Tunnel 9 heater system expert passing along

knowledge…Page 3 …Page 4

AEDC simulates deep space test for NASA missionBy Bradley HicksAEDC Public Affairs

Can man-made technology not only survive some of the harshest conditions in the known cosmos but also continue to perform its mission?

SSL, a company under contract to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has called upon Arnold Engineering Devel-opment Complex to find out.

Bao Hoang, SSL project manag-er, commented that, “AEDC has very

unique test capabilities and engineering expertise that are not common in the in-dustry.”

Testing for SSL is ongoing in the 7A Space Chamber at Arnold Air Force Base. This test essentially involves simu-lating deep space conditions to subject a panel from a larger solar array to extreme temperatures.

“It’s a fairly typical 7A test,” said Lindsay Anderson, test engineer/analyst in the Space and Missiles Combined Test Force. “It’s what we refer to as a ther-

mal vacuum test. Basically, we pump 7A down, pull as much of the atmosphere out as we can, and then we cycle the tem-perature between hot and cold points.”

The 7A Space Chamber can reach -424 degrees Fahrenheit and, in the re-cent past, has tested at temperaturesranging from -340 to 300 degrees Fahr-enheit.

The solar array panel arrived in early April. Testing began soon afterward and primarily involves examining how the panel and its wiring, in particular the side

that faces away from the sun, respond to deep space.

“It’s an environmental test of these particular components,” said David Ball, test manager in the Space and Missiles CTF.

The solar array panel being tested is relatively small, able to fit atop a typical conference room table, but it represents a much larger solar array as the test results

See CHAMBER, page 8

VKF Wind Tunnel D officially returns to serviceBy Bradley HicksAEDC Public Affairs

A multiyear, multimillion dollar effort has led to the suc-cessful reactivation of von Kár-mán Gas Dynamics Facility (VKF) Wind Tunnel D at Arnold Air Force Base, officially end-ing a period of dormancy for the tunnel that exceeded its original run.

Tunnel D is operated, man-aged and scheduled by members of the Air Force Research Labo-ratory High Speed Experimen-tation Branch (AFRL/RQHX) at Arnold. The facility is viewed as a cost-effective way to perform diagnostic development as well as supersonic and hypersonic flow phenomenology research.

The tunnel was authorized for routine research operations on Feb. 20. During the seven subsequent weeks, AFRL re-searchers, employing a variety of diagnostic techniques, com-pleted several test entries over more than 70 supersonic wind tunnel runs. Through this pe-riod, the researchers were able to characterize the facility’s freestream flow quality, evalu-ate turbulent corner flows and identify fluid-structure interac-tions.

Originally built as a small-scale demonstrator for VKF Wind Tunnel A, Tunnel D can generate flows ranging from Mach 1.5 to Mach 5 for up to

five minutes at a time. Shorter runs, typically ranging from 30 to 90 seconds, will be common for normal research operations, allowing several runs per day. The downtime between runs can be as short as 15 to 30 minutes.

Tunnel D is a pressure-vac-uum blowdown wind tunnel,

meaning it uses a high-pressure air source and a vacuum sphere to generate the needed pressure ratio across its nozzle. As the air flows through the nozzle throat, it accelerates through Mach 1 to the test Mach Number in the tunnel’s 12-inch by 12-inch test section. This test Mach Number

can be varied between tests via manual adjustment of the flexi-ble-wall nozzle.

“Because the tunnel uses only a very tiny fraction of the base’s vast high-pressure air utility, and because AFRL op-erates its own vacuum system, Tunnel D is able to run largely

independently of other activity at Arnold,” said Tunnel D Lead Engineer Dr. Jerrod Hofferth.

Unlike other VKF continu-ous-flow wind tunnels, Tunnel D is operated intermittently. AFRL/RQHX Branch Chief

Dr. Jerrod Hofferth, von Kármán Gas Dynamics Facility Wind Tunnel D lead engineer, works on a freestream characterization rake, used to determine Mach Number Uniformity, positioned in the Tunnel D test cell June 5 at Arnold Air Force Base. The tun-nel was reactivated earlier this year and is operated by the Air Force Research Laboratory High Speed Experimentation Branch. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

See TUNNEL D, page 5

Space chamber supports Ground-Based Midcourse DefenseBy Deidre OrtizAEDC Public Affairs

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) conducted a successful flight test for a program that the AEDC 10-foot vac-uum (10V) chamber at Arnold Air Force Base has supported for nearly a decade.

MDA, in cooperation with the Joint Functional Component Command for In-tegrated Missile Defense, U.S. Northern Command, and elements of the U.S. Air Force Space Command's 30th, 50th and 460th Space Wings, conducted the suc-cessful flight test March 25 against an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) class target.

A threat-representative ICBM target launched from the Ronald Reagan Ballis-tic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwaja-lein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. It was successfully intercepted by two Ground-based Interceptors (GBls) launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, in the first salvo test of GBls.

The 10V chamber at Arnold pro-vides mission simulation capability for

interceptor and its kill vehicle sensors. The chamber is able to characterize sen-sor performance in a space environment against simulated operational scenarios.

This facility provides simulation of the GBI mission from launch to intercept. Its design provides flexibility to accom-modate future upgrades or alternate sen-sor designs.

The 10V chamber also features a high-fidelity target system containing multiple independent point source systems to characterize target acquisition and track-ing operations. A complex infrared scene projection system is used to simulate ad-ditional objects in the sensor field of view and provides simulation of the endgame phase of the interceptor mission.

A visible projection system is used to generate scenes that enable characteriza-tion of star shots and objects that appear in the visible spectrum. A scene generator system is used to control the target simu-lation and seeker operation in a real-time, closed-loop manner.

In addition to MDA, 10V has the ca-pability to support other DOD, NASA and commercial programs.

The 'trail' Ground-based Interceptor (GBI) launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, March 25, in the first-ever salvo engagement test of a threat-representative Intercontinental Ballistic Missile target. The AEDC 10-foot vac-uum chamber at Arnold Air Force Base provided mission simulation capability for interceptor and its kill vehicle sensors. The chamber is able to character-ize sensor performance in a space environment against simulated operational scenarios. (Courtesy photo/Missile Defense Agency)

2 • June 17, 2019

By Dee WolfeChief of AEDC Workforce Development

DOD, NAS employees and their families partici-pated in the Coffee County Relay For Life event May 11 at the Coffee Raider Academy as a way to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

My husband, Shawn Wolfe, and I were the team captains for Team RE-MEMBER, which raised more than $2,800 during the event; the NAS team raised more than $3,200 during the event; and the event overall has raised al-most $20,000 to date. Fun-draising will continue until August 31 and the event planners hope to meet their goal of $25,000.

Onsite fundraising for Team REMEMBER con-sisted of face painting by DOD employee Misty Layne, chair massages by Amber Haley of Serene Day Spa Manchester, and a silent auction. Shortly pre-ceding the event, the team held a bake sale and raised over $700.00.

Additionally, NAS and the Air Force Sergeant’s Association were two of the sponsors of the event.

Even though this year’s event was moved inside the Raider Academy due to heavy rain, it was well attended by the public and attendance far exceeded expectations. Though DOD and NAS have sepa-rate teams, they encourage teamwork between the two

teams by working together on fundraising events and during the night of the event.

The event kicked off with the Arnold Air Force Base Honor Guard present-ing the Colors. After the opening comments, dozens of cancer survivors wearing purple T-shirts completed a lap in honor of their battle. The second lap around the gym included the caregiv-ers who took care of friends or family members who have/had dealt with can-cer. The third lap included members of all the teams. This year’s event was extra special for me as my father, who is also a survivor, once again traveled from Illinois to attend this event.

After the initial laps were over, Wonder Wom-

an, Cinderella, Tinkerbell, and Tianna of the Princess Parties by Ever After Pro-ductions Company arrived and were available for pic-tures.

Every year we try to increase the awareness as the goal is to fill the field completely with teams and participants. If you are in-terested in participating next year, please call 931-454-4313, 931-454-7824,931-454-5202 or 931-454-4707 for more information.

Coffee County Relay for Life is a local event held annually as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Soci-ety, an organization dedi-cated to eliminating can-cer. For more information about the American Cancer Society and Relay For Life, visit www.cancer.org.

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 Gattis,

NAS Executive Editor

Jill Pickett NAS Editor

Arnold Air Force

Base

Col. Scott CainCommander

Jason AustinChief,

Public Affairs

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• Integrity first

• Service before self• Excellence in all

we do

Use High Mach to market your products and servic-es. Contact Renee at 931-455-4545 or tnadvmgr@lcs.net.

“NAS delivers the best aerospace testing

capabilities today and in the future.”

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 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. Scott CainAEDC Commander

Action Line

Gutierrez promoted to captainCapt. Johnathan Gutierrez, center, shakes hands with Flight Systems Combined Test Force Director Lt. Col. David Hoffman dur-ing Gutierrez's promotion ceremony May 23 at the Arnold Lakeside Center on Arnold Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

Team AEDC supports Relay For Life

Coffee County Relay For Life participants walk a lap during the event May 11 at Coffee Raider Academy. Pictured from right are members of Team REMEMBER, DOD employee Dee Wolfe, FSS contract employee Amber Wolfe, and Dee’s father Larry Dodge. (Courtesy photo)

Luminary bags glow in honor and remembrance of cancer patients during the Coffee County Relay For Life event May 11 at the Coffee Raider Academy. (Courtesy photo)

June 17, 2019 • 3

By Bradley HicksAEDC Public Affairs

Mike Metzger holds a unique position in the world.

A system engineer at AEDC Hypervel-ocity Wind Tunnel 9 in White Oak, Mary-land, he is among a handful of people fa-miliar with the Tunnel 9 heater system and the only system engineer ever assigned to it. The system is used to store and heat the nitrogen gas needed for testing operations at the facility.

This, however, is soon to change. Metzger, who recently celebrated his 40-year service anniversary at the White Oak facility, is in the process of instilling his knowledge of the heater system in the indi-vidual who will serve as his backup in the near-term and his eventual successor.

Metzger has worked at Tunnel 9 for all but around four years of its operational ex-istence. The tunnel became operational in 1976 as part of the Naval Surface Weapons Center. It became an Air Force facility in 1997 after the Base Realignment and Clo-sure commission closed much of the Navy’s White Oak site.

Early in his career Metzger was involved in efforts to develop a high-pressure, high-Reynolds Mach 10 capability. These test conditions increased the aero loads Tunnel 9 produced, causing the heating elements in Tunnel 9 to break during testing. As testing pace picked up in the wake of then-Pres-ident Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as the “Star Wars” program, heater element failures were be-coming frequent and placing pressure on the Tunnel 9 run rate and schedule.

“Around 1986, I was tasked with solving this problem and was sent back to my old Structures Branch to do some forensics and stress analysis to get at what was causing the element failures,” Metzger said. “This was my introduction to the T-9 heating system.”

This led to a successful redesign of the heater elements, just one of the projects with which Metzger has been involved over the years to improve the heating system technol-ogy, reliability and safety.

“It is most satisfying knowing that we’ve solved a technical challenge by adding a significant new test capability and, as impor-tant, completing an upgrade or an improve-ment to the system that enhances reliability

and/or safety of the system, of which there have been many,” he said.

Metzger is currently in the process of passing on his knowledge of the heater sys-tem to Tunnel 9 system engineer Parth Kath-rotiya. Kathrotiya will serve as Metzger’s heater system backup for now and his re-placement when he retires.

“He has been slowly learning about the heating system while spending a lot of time on his own related system which has similar high-heat and high-pressure issues that the heating system has,” Metzger said.

Several of Metzger’s colleagues heaped praise upon him. Tunnel 9 Site Director Dan Marren, who has known Metzger since ar-riving at the facility in the early 1980s, said Metzger’s education, training and experi-ence make him one of the top people in the country to “make Tunnel 9 work properly.” Marren went on to describe Metzger as the detail-minded “quiet genius” who has helped Tunnel 9 become a world-renowned capability critical to every acquisition hyper-sonic program.

“He is a talented engineer, critical staff member and wonderful person who is as reliable as they come,” Marren said. “He is directly responsible for training many of the engineers and technicians onsite today.

“I can safely say that if not for the in-novations and persistence of Mike Metzger, Tunnel 9 may not even be here today.”

Tunnel 9 Engineer/Technician William Betz first met Metzger while the latter was developing a vacuum-packed heater liner process for the Tunnel 9 heater system. After some trial and error, they succeeded, and the technical breakthrough earned several folks at White Oak a quarterly Technical Achieve-ment Award in 1998.

“Mike has always been very generous and appreciative of all the technicians he has worked with,” Betz said. “In my 40-plus years in the research and development field, I can honestly say – and I have told Mike to his face – he is without equal; the very best mechanical engineer that I had ever worked with. The innovations Mike has brought for-ward for the Tunnel 9 heater system has, in my opinion, been responsible for the success of the development of hypersonics.

“He approaches the technical challenges with an uncanny ability to break the problem down and come up with a surefire fix. He listens to whomever has a suggestion and

gives credit for all the contributions.“I hope we have many more years of

Mike Metzger here at White Oak. He is truly one of our greatest assets, and I am proud to have him as a friend.”

Kathrotiya said Metzger has served as a “great mentor and source of knowledge” since he started at Tunnel 9 in 2013 as an undergraduate researcher.

“Over his 40-year career between the Navy and Air Force, he has become a holder of a lot of history and engineering under-standing of our tunnel,” Kathrotiya said. “This probably comes from the various en-gineering functions he has served over the years, ranging from test model designer, diaphragm area engineer and heater system engineer. His engineering knowledge is also vast and deep-ranging from structural analy-sis, heat transfer analysis, fracture and fa-tigue analysis, and much more. These tools he has cultivated allow him to be a great de-signer for the complex engineering systems at Tunnel 9.”

Kathrotiya said the plan is for him to serve as Metzger’s backup on the heater sys-

tem as needed, possibly transitioning fully to the heater system depending on future facil-ity and personnel needs.

Metzger said it is a “privilege” to help equip warfighters with the tools and tech-nologies needed to keep them safe. He used the same word to describe his expe-rience working alongside what he referred to as “the best technical professionals on the planet.”

“For me, it’s the unique and talented individuals I have worked with and con-tinue to work with which is most memora-ble,” Metzger said. “Early in my career, I was on a steep learning curve and, in some ways, still am as there’s always something new to learn or tackle here. But I learned from the skilled people working here, first as a Navy facility and later as AEDC.

“In this business, it seems everything is unprecedented, and there are a vast array of technologies and processes involved in pulling off the testing we do. Throughout my career here, our team has constantly evolved T-9 to meet the latest needs of the aerospace community.”

AEDC Quality Assurance Program Coordinator receives 2018 AFMC award

By Deidre OrtizAEDC Public Affairs

Stacey Lamb, the AEDC Quality As-surance Program Coordinator (QAPC) and Small Business Specialist at Arnold Air Force Base, received the 2018 Air Force Material Command Award for Out-standing Quality Assurance Program Co-ordinator.

Lamb said she’s elated to have re-ceived such a prestigious award.

“It almost feels like a bigger-than-life accomplishment,” Lamb said. “To win this award at the AFMC level, it makes me very proud.”

Lamb has been in the field of govern-ment contracting for 15 years, previously working with the Department of Veterans Affairs. She said she is happy to now be at Arnold and has been part of the contract-ing office here since 2016.

“I love my job,” she said. “I grew up in Manchester and this position was an op-portunity to come back home.”

According to Lamb’s supervisor, Re-becca Gardner, the chief of the Test Range and Specialized Contracting Division at Arnold, the role of a QAPC is to ensure that all services acquisitions integrate mis-sion needs with performance based ser-vice requirements and that all regulatory and administrative requirements of the program are met.

“Stacey is responsible for overseeing the training of Contracting Officer’s Rep-resentatives over multiple contracts, and keeping CORs, COR Supervisors, Con-tracting Officers, and AEDC leadership aware of changes in policy that may affect COR performance and contract surveil-lance,” Gardner said.

The nomination package for Lamb’s award commends her for the overhaul of the QAPC program and creating trackers for compliance monitoring, as well as en-suring QAPC oversight of all contracts. It also mentions that Lamb partnered with AFTC during a review of CORs and re-

sulted in 100 percent compliance. In addition to a plaque, Lamb received a

letter from Heidi Bullock, AFMC Director of Contracting, congratulating her on her award.

The letter reads, “Congratulations on being selected as the AFMC FY18 Out-standing Quality Assurance Program Co-ordinator award winner. Your high-quality contributions resulted in this outstanding achievement. Your accomplishments di-rectly and positively impacted the success-

ful performance of our mission supporting the warfighter.”

One aspect of her job that Lamb espe-cially enjoys is getting to interact with the community.

“Part of my job as Small Business Spe-cialist is promoting AEDC and trying to encourage small businesses to do business with us at Arnold,” she said. “Therefore, I do a lot out in the community. I’ll soon be going out to the Chamber of Commerce meetings as part of that outreach. It really

does take a smiling face and getting out there and getting to know everyone.”

Though proud of her recent accom-plishment, Lamb also hopes it will make a lasting impression on her daughter, Tiffany.

“I like to show my daughter that you can be anything you want,” she said. “I al-ways wanted to serve my country in some way and even though I wasn’t able to join the military, I have the opportunity to do it in a different way. I absolutely love my job and the Air Force.”

Stacey Lamb, AEDC Quality Assurance Program Coordinator and Small Business Specialist at Arnold Air Force Base, displays the award and certificate she received for being named the Air Force Materiel Command Outstanding Quality Assurance Program Coordinator for fiscal year 2018. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett) (This image was altered by obscuring items for security purposes.)

Tunnel 9 heater system expert passing along knowledge

Mike Metzger, a system engineer at AEDC Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 in White Oak, Maryland, works on a project. Metzger recently marked his 40-year service anniversary at the White Oak facility and is among the few people familiar with the Tunnel 9 heater system. (U.S. Air Force photo by A.J. Spicer)

4 • June 17, 2019

Do you have HEALTH concerns?

AIAA Tennessee section presents annual awards

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astro-nautics Tennessee Section held its annual awards lun-cheon May 30 at the Arnold Lakeside Center. During the event, scientists and engineers, including multiple members of Team AEDC, received recognition for out-standing achievements.

Alan Milhoan, left, receives the Billy J. Griffith Engineering Analysis Award dur-ing the AIAA Annual Awards Luncheon May 30 at the Arnold Lakeside Center. Milhoan received the award for bringing innovative control system logic to the Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit through literature, data and simula-tions. Also pictured is Doug Garrard, who nominated Milhoan for the award.

Members of the Adaptive Engine Technology Demonstrator Test Team accept an AIAA Special Award for their work on the AETD Core Engine Test during the AIAA Annual Awards May 30 at the Arnold Lakeside Center. Pictured at far left is Steve Arnold, who nominated the team for the award. (This image was altered by obscuring badges for security purposes.)

Dr. Robert Knapke, right, receives an AIAA Special Award for outstanding mod-eling and simulation support to hypersonic acquisition programs during the AIAA Annu-al Awards Luncheon May 30 at the Arnold Lakeside Center. Also pictured is Craig Mor-ris, who nominated Knapke for the award. (U.S. Air Force photos by Bradley Hicks)

Members of the Non-interference Stress Measurement System Team accept an AIAA Special Award during the AIAA Annual Awards Luncheon May 30 at the Arnold Lakeside Center. Pictured from left are NSMS Team members Ken Bynum, Ron Wood and Brandon Wiley. The team received recognition for its tenacity and detailed work in the manufacture of NSMS equipment for the Air Force Research Laboratory. Also pictured is Joe Wehrmeyer, who nominated the team for the award. (This image was altered by obscuring badges for se-curity purposes.)

Mike Magistro, center, and Will Perkins, right, accept an AIAA Special Award during the AIAA Annual Awards Luncheon May 30 at the Arnold Lakeside Cen-ter. Magistro and Perkins received the awards for outstanding engineering and leadership skills that enabled record-setting aeropropulsion testing in the Aeropropulsion Systems Test Facility. Also pictured is Steve Arnold, who nomi-nated Magistro and Perkins for the award.

June 17, 2019 • 5

are scalable. If it is de-termined that the panel would survive, many such panels could be used to construct a solar array which could be used on NASA’s deep space mis-sion to the asteroid belt.

The array would work in much the same way as earthbound solar pan-els by harnessing energy from the sun to provide power to a satellite.

An emphasis is being placed on how the panel performs in the extreme-ly cold temperatures the 7A Space Chamber is ca-pable of producing.

Anderson said the test simulates conditions around the asteroid belt, where temperatures can range down to -160 de-grees Fahrenheit. The as-

teroid belt is located be-tween Mars and Jupiter, more than 300 million miles from Earth.

Ball said SSL is a com-mercial company sup-porting NASA, so this is not a test of Department of Defense capabilities. However, he said the test is an example of the ser-vices AEDC can provide.

“It shows the diver-sity of programs and test capabilities we can offer across a wide spectrum of customers support-ing various government programs,” Ball said. “We’re actually pretty excited about this and we expect to have con-tinuing work in this area, whether we’re support-ing DOD, NASA or other programs.”

The SSL thermal vac-uum test is not the first time SSL has relied upon AEDC test engineers and facilities. In 2016, AEDC tested SSL’s Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA), a flexible and lightweight solar array that can be rolled up for launch and unrolled in space for use. ROSA was tested in the 7A Space Chamber in preparation for its suc-cessful experimental de-ployment from the Inter-national Space Station in June 2017.

“This company has been here before, and they seem to be pleased with the work our test team is doing,” Ball said.

The current SSL test-ing is slated to continue through the end of July.

TUNNEL D from page 1Glenn Liston said that this operating mode, coupled with the tunnel’s brief downtime between runs, makes it ideal for research operations. Operators have the option of waiting a day or two while evaluating test results without impacting operations costs.

“Tunnel D also achieves different test conditions than AFRL’s other su-personic and hypersonic wind tunnels,” Liston said. “It complements the AFRL’s three high Reynolds Number Mach 3 and Mach 6 wind tunnels at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Taken together, the four wind tunnels provide the Air Force with a wide range of operating conditions for the Air Force’s hypersonic research.”

Tunnel D is set to play a significant role in supporting the Air Force’s hyper-sonic research portfolio. It will also be used as a diagnostics testbed and cali-bration platform. The tunnel can be used to verify test methods and performance characteristics prior to large-scale testing in a continuous-flow wind tunnel.

The upcoming research and test oper-ations schedule for Tunnel D is expected to be very busy.

“We have only been operational for a few months and have just begun ad-vertising our capabilities, and already the rest of 2019 is completely booked with both in-house and external cus-tomers, and many test campaigns for 2020 are in the planning stages,” said AFRL/RQHX Ops Officer Maj. Mark Birdwell. “Long term, the tunnel will operate a balance of projects designed to further high-speed knowledge for an AFRL-centric mission, with AEDC-partnered projects designed to bridge the gap between science and technology on the AFRL side and test and evaluation on the AEDC side. These projects will span the spectrum of AFRL in-house, AEDC-sponsored, government-sponsored Small Business Innovation Research programs, and other customers that can contribute to the AFRL/RQHX mission.”

The majority of the planned research in Tunnel D will focus on aerodynamic phenomena and its impact on high-speed vehicle subsystems. This includes rela-tively simple test articles that incorporate fundamental shapes up to complex sub-scale flight hardware.

“While some potential users are inter-ested in test and evaluation metrics such as forces and moments, a majority of the tunnel campaigns will leverage AFRL expertise in research-grade instrumenta-tion,” said AFRL/RQHX Technical Ad-visor Dr. Scott Peltier. “Non-intrusive and laser-based diagnostics form a cen-tral part of the AFRL/RQHX measure-ment capability, and ongoing in-house and contracted efforts are underway to mature these measurements for use in large-scale facilities.”

Peltier said a key advantage of Tunnel D is its flexibility.

“The branch research portfolio covers fundamental research through applied testing, so we need similar flexibility in the types of test articles we can use,” he said. “Our basic science efforts can use fundamental geometries such as flat plates, or even the walls and corners of the wind tunnel test section itself, for in-vestigations of boundary layer evolution. As we investigate vehicle subsystems and built-up structures, we’ll be mount-ing increasingly complex test articles in the wind tunnel, such as high-speed inlets and panels representative of flight-weight vehicle skins. These can be mounted in the tunnel freestream or integrated into one of the test section sidewalls.

“Each mounting location provides

different constraints in terms of optical access – for non-intrusive diagnostics – and instrumentation. One of our earli-est contracted efforts will design a rigidmodel mount for the facility, and we willbe expanding upon that capability overthe next 12 to 24 months.”

In September 1953, Tunnel D hosted the first paid customer test on AEDC grounds – the Hughes E-1 Falcon, an air-to-air missile. Over the next 24 years, it hosted a variety of tests and research projects.

“Much of what we take for granted today in the operation of supersonic wind tunnels was, in no small part, learned through extensive parametric testing at Tunnel D in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Hofferth said. “Some examples include what is now standard guidance on starting and unstarting pressure ratios, test article blockage area ratios and loads, and the effect of wind tunnel freestream noise on boundary-layer transition.”

The tunnel ceased to operate in 1977, ending 24 years of activity. The facil-ity remained dormant for the next four decades. Over the years, Building 607, where Tunnel D is housed, and the tunnel itself fell into disrepair.

“Although the building was periodi-cally used as a temporary workspace for craft labor crews, it had not been main-tained to where it would be a viable fa-cility for research and test operations. Simply put, it looked like your classic abandoned warehouse,” said Tunnel D Program Manager Dan Ogg. “Almost $1 million in AFRL funding was awarded to help revitalize and modernize Build-ing 607 into what is now a well-equipped lab space, with a new roof, fresh coats of paint, adequate lighting, a modern con-trol room, and a number of engineering workspaces suitable for laser diagnos-tics.”

The AFRL-funded renovation project began in 2016. The remaining compo-nents of the tunnel were disassembled, inspected and refurbished. Most of the supporting subsystems, such as isolation valves, control valves, the heater, hy-draulics, high-pressure air connections,

controls and data systems, were com-pletely replaced.

“Over the course of two years and $4.5 million, and countless labor hours from both AFRL and AEDC, the reacti-vation returned a valuable research and test asset to its former glory,” Ogg said.

The February operations authoriza-tion of Tunnel D followed a series of subsystem checkouts and shakedown runs that occurred over the preceding months. The first on-air operations at the renovated facility were conducted in February 2018, and the upstream systems checkouts, conducted at a subsonic flow, would continue through September 2018.

Supersonic checkouts of Tunnel D at Mach 4 began in November 2018 and continued through the end of January. Af-ter a successful research series at Mach 4 during February through April, the first operations at Mach 5 then occurred ear-lier this month.

Tunnel D is unique in that AEDC owns all of the facilities, including the wind tunnel itself, but AEDC has agreed to grant executing authority of the facil-ity to the AFRL/RQHX. Birdwell said this has required a number of complex partnerships and agreements between AFRL and AEDC, encompassing safety, security, maintenance, logistics and op-erations.

Birdwell, while crediting the diligence of those involved, said operations have been “extremely smooth.” He said the AFRL/RQHX participates in all aspects of AEDC planning and operations in the same capacity as the other Combined Test Forces at Arnold and coordinates the Tunnel D requirements and scheduling through the normal AEDC processes.

“Smooth operations and planning are assisted by the fact that our tunnel was designed to have very low operational requirements, so we barely impact the larger facilities on base even when run-ning at our peak,” Birdwell said. “For instance, our High Pressure Air usage is often noted to be no more than a leak on the overall system, as we would require less than 5 percent of the total base capa-bilities to run an entire day’s operations

at our max flow rate. These low require-ments allow us to run at the same time as the other operations on base, provid-ing for much smoother scheduling and coordinating on both sides.”

Ogg said contractors across Arnold played a key role in the Tunnel D reac-tivation efforts. Although AFRL funded and managed the effort, Ogg said on-base contractors, including engineers and craft personnel, aided in the design, procure-ment, fabrication and installation of vari-ous subsystems for Tunnel D.

“Much of the contracted team remains involved to some extent during our day-to-day operations,” he said. “Much of our supporting subsystems, such as hy-draulics and vacuum, require regular maintenance and upkeep, while we also look to many on-base engineers to help implement robust upgrades as we learn how to more efficiently operate the tun-nel. Because the facility was designed to be operated with a very small number of personnel, most of the day-to-day test campaigns are executed by AFRL per-sonnel. However, we still heavily rely on the contracted support for ensuring the tunnel is operating nominally.”

Hofferth expressed his appreciation for those who worked to make the suc-cessful reactivation of Tunnel D possible.

“AFRL would like to thank the AEDC family for the warm welcome and excel-lent support that our group has received since our stand-up and throughout the ef-fort to reactivate and operate Tunnel D,” Hofferth said.

“Finally, as he retires from 37 years of dedicated Air Force military and civil-ian service this summer, we would like to recognize our Branch Chief, Mr. Glenn Liston, for his leadership and hard work in establishing this AFRL presence at AEDC, populating it with great people, and securing all of the necessary relation-ships and resources for us to build such a capable platform in Tunnel D. With the groundwork he laid, we look forward to many years of productive collaboration with AEDC as we support hypersonic science and technology and test and eval-uation. Glenn will be greatly missed.”

The von Kármán Gas Dynamics Facility Wind Tunnel D test facility operated by the Air Force Research Laboratory High Speed Experimentation Branch at Arnold Air Force Base, seen here June 5, was reactivated earlier this year. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

CHAMBER from page 1

6 • June 17, 2019

See the July Services calendar on page 10.

What to do when lightning is within 10 milesBy AEDC Safety

We’ve all heard the warning or seen the message pop up on computers – lightning within 10 miles. Usually,it comes at a time when the threat of astorm is obvious, but not always. So,what next?

I’m working on a job assignment requiring me to work outdoors. Do I drop everything and go inside immediately?

In most situations, there is time to collect loose tools and secure the job site. Work which requires a Job Safety Analysis should include lightning considerations. Such work includes,

but is not limited to, operating cranes, working: on roofs, on electrical wiring, around steel, from a ladder, inside a confined space, or on/ near open water.

I’m working inside, but I need to go to a meeting, training, or another job location. Is it safe to do so?

There is no “one size fits all” answer to this. Sometimes it’s obvious that even a quick dash to a vehicle poses a threat. At other times, a clear sky may signal it’s OK to go from one building to another for scheduled work or activities, while outdoor work may be unadvisable. Avoid unnecessary trips – those involving a task that can easily be accomplished later. If unsure, check with supervision.

I work near an area where explosives or other hazardous materials may be stored. Is a 10-mile warning enough?

The Operations Center notifies these and certain organizations and work groups when lightning is within a 30-mile radius. These explosives and hazardous materials areas are included in that notification.

I’ve seen lightning and heard thunder, but there has not been a “lightning within 10” warning. What should I do?

Take the same precautions you would if there had been a warning; then notify the Operations Center.

I need to take shelter. Where do I go?• Dwellings or other buildings protected

against lightning.

• Protected underground shelters.• Large metal framed buildings.• Enclosed vehicles with metal tops and

bodies.I can’t make it indoors. What

spaces should I avoid?• Hilltops and ridges.• Areas on top of buildings.• Open fields, athletic fields, golf

courses.• Parking lots, tennis courts.• Swimming pools, lakes; other bodies

of water.• Under isolated trees.• Areas near towers, wire fences,

overhead wires, railroad tracks orelectrically conductive objects.

Fuel for the fight

Tech. Sgt. Arriel Bromley, 78th Aerial Refueling Squadron in-flight refueler, out of McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, op-erates the fuel injection arm of a KC-10 Extender connected to an F-35 Lightning II for a mid-air refueling training mission during exercise Astral Knight 19 over the Adriatic Sea, June 3. Astral Knight is a joint, mul-tinational exercise taking placethroughout various locationsin Europe, with more than 900Airmen participating in the ex-ercise. (U.S. Air Force photo byStaff Sgt. Joshua R. M. Dew-berry)

June 17, 2019 • 7

8 • June 17, 2019

By Airman 1st Class Andrew Kobialka366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho (AFNS) – Weath-er can be an unrelenting force and infamously fickle. Severe weather can adversely affect the safety of aircrew and Airmen working in the elements. Fortunately, advanced radars with weather forecasting ca-pabilities can mitigate the associated risks.

Keeping constant sur-veillance on weather pat-terns and their potential hazards is an important step in enhancing readi-ness and safety of Air-men. Until recently, this often proved to be a chal-lenge when local radars needed to undergo rou-tine maintenance or up-grades.

Mountain Home Air Force Base is the first to show how Portable Dop-pler Radars, or PDRs, can be used to support conti-nental United States op-erations to fix this prob-lem.

Tech. Sgt. Brandon Knight, 366th Operation Support Squadron weath-er forecaster, said due to scheduled maintenance of the National Weather Service’s Next Genera-tion Weather Radar, or NEXRAD, Mountain Home AFB would have been left without any weather forecasting ca-pabilities, hindering the

wing’s ability to maintain mission readiness.

Historically, May through July generate the most severe thunder-storms in Idaho, Knight explained. That is what made Mountain Home AFB officials push to find an innovative solution.

There are only two of these systems working in the United States, ex-plained Staff. Sgt. Daniel Robinson, 2nd Combat Weather Systems Squad-ron weather systems trainer from Hurlburt Field, Florida.

“PDRs are typically used for deployments down-range,” Knight said. “Though we are finding that they can be used effectively for (con-tinental United States) operations and the rest of the Air Force is following our lead.”

The Air Force in-tends to use Mountain Home AFB’s experience with PDRs as the build-ing block for future use across the U.S., Knight explained.

Mountain Home AFB will be relying on the PDR for the next three weeks and sending the data to the Air Force and National Weather Ser-vice.

“The radar will al-low us to see a radius of 60-80 nautical miles,”Knight said. “In thatarea, we can see incom-ing storms, rain data and wind fields, whichcan be interpreted to de-termine whether or not

conditions are safe for flight.”

Knight went on to ex-plain the overarching goal of implementing PDRs is ensuring continual safety management and 24/7 read-iness. Additionally, allow-ing upgrades on NEXRAD mutually benefits the Air Force and public.

“We are making histo-ry,” Knight said. “(366th OSS) are continuing the legacy of innovation and leading the way. It is pretty exciting!”

Mountain Home AFB: First to use Portable Doppler Radar for CONUS Ops

Staff Sgt. Daniel Robinson, 2nd Combat Weather Systems Squadron weather system trainer from Hurlburt Field, Florida, assembles a Doppler system May 25 at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tyrell Hall)

Staff Sgt. Daniel Robinson, 2nd Combat Weather Systems Squadron weather systems trainer from Hurl-burt Field, Florida, explains a Doppler system to Mountain Home Air Force Base weather system person-nel May 25 at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. This is the first time the Doppler system has been installed on a continental United States base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tyrell Hall)

June 17, 2019 • 9

Two local high school graduates receive Bechtel scholarships

By Deidre OrtizAEDC Public Affairs

Two local high school graduates, who are children of employees with National Aerospace Solutions, the Test Operations and Sustainment contractor at Arnold Air Force Base, were recently announced as scholarship recipients through the 2019 Bechtel Global Scholars program.

As scholarship winners, Kayden Fletcher, of Shelbyville, and Drake Size-more, of Decherd, received $3,000 each

toward their first year of studies at an ac-credited college, university, vocational institute or technical school. The schol-arships are funded by Bechtel Group Foundation.

Kayden is the daughter of Jeremy Fletcher, Propulsion Wind Tunnel con-trols engineer at Arnold AFB. She is a 2019 graduate of Cascade High School and will be attending Cumberland Uni-versity in Lebanon, Tennessee, in the fall. She will be majoring in biology. Kayden also received a soccer scholarship.

Drake is the son of Arnold employees Darbie, technical writer/editor, and Billy Sizemore, Safety, Health and Environ-mental professional. He is the grandson of Henry Sizemore, who also works at Arnold as a software engineer.

Drake is a 2019 graduate and valedic-torian of Franklin County High School in Winchester. He will be attending the University of Tennessee at Martin, where he will major in criminal justice.

Kayden and Drake were among the 25 scholarship recipients chosen after

reviewing applications from 159 stu-dents in 10 countries. The selection process was managed by Scholarship America, a nonprofit organization ded-icated to expanding global education opportunities. Since its start in 2001, the Bechtel Global Scholars Program has awarded more than $1.3 million in college funding to 435 students.

NAS leadership congratulates Kayden and Drake on this significant achievement and wishes them the best of luck.

Dr. Rich Tighe, left, general manager of the Test Operations and Sustainment contractor at Arnold Air Force Base, presents a certificate to Kayden Fletcher recognizing her as one of the 2019 Bechtel Global Scholars during a meeting June 7 at Arnold. Also pictured is Kayden's father Jeremy Fletcher, a Propul-sion Wind Tunnel controls engineer at Arnold. Kayden will receive a $3,000 scholarship funded by the Bechtel Group Foundation for her first year of study at an accredited institution. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett) (This image has been altered by obscuring a badge for security purposes.)

Dr. Rich Tighe, second from left, general manager of the Test Operations and Sustainment contractor at Arnold Air Force Base, presents a certificate to Drake Sizemore recognizing him as one of the 2019 Bechtel Global Scholars during a meeting May 31 at Arnold. Also pictured, from left, are NAS Business Services Director Jon Ragan; Drake's parents, Darbie and Billy Sizemore, who are NAS employees; and Drake's grandfather Henry Sizemore, also a NAS em-ployee. Drake will receive a $3,000 scholarship funded by the Bechtel Group Foundation for his first year of study at an accredited institution. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)

Air Force announces partnership with FAABy Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) – The Air Force and the Fed-eral Aviation Administration an-nounced a collaborative effortto counter the national aircrewshortage, May 31.

This effort aims to ensure the continued and long-range health and safety of the aviation indus-try by collaborating to inspire a

passion for aviation in the next generation.

“This collaborative effort will enable the Air Force and the FAA to work with industry partners to share best practices and find ways to get more people to fly,” said Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson.

Through this effort, the FAA and Air Force will explore op-tions and establish agency goals to address aviation workforce is-

sues, with a particular focus on cross-agency collaboration. The work of this collaboration will identify and support solutions based in the following areas:1) Priming the pipeline: What

can be done to attract newpeople to critical aviation pro-fessions?

2) Pathways to proficiency: Howcan efficiency in training bemaximized?

3) Productive partnerships: How

can we promote productive partnerships with government, Department of Defense, aca-demia and industry?

“The FAA is actively working to ensure we have the aviation workforce needed today and in the future. We also are working with our industry and govern-ment partners, like the Air Force, to ensure that we address any barriers to people realizing their dreams of becoming a pilot or

aircraft mechanic,” said Dan El-well acting FAA administrator.

The goal of this collaboration is to develop a more sustainable pilot enterprise that promotes aviation nationwide, increases pilot production, reduces barri-ers to enter the pilot career field and leverage technology and state of the art techniques to im-prove pilot training to meet the overall demands of the nation’s aviation industry.

10 • June 17, 2019

By Benjamin Newell66th Air Base Group Public Affairs

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – System engineers at Hanscom are trying to increase network capacity to the point where no Airman will ever curse the connection or blame the blue circle for work stoppage.

Most Air Force installations, each hosting thousands of users, connect to the outside world through a choke point that resembles single-lane vehicle entry control points on a military base, called a boundary. Traffic piles up, and data is lost during high-traffic times. As a result, the Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks directorate picked up requirements from Air Combat Command that allowed their personnel to put two bases under a microscope to find out why.

What C3I&N network experts found at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, convinced them that these choke points needed to add lanes, and network managers needed better visibility on the data traffic cease-lessly streaming between bases. Their government-led effort installed massive-ly more powerful boundary connections linking base networks, and also gave them insight into how data flows over the fence to the internet.

“We put a tap on those systems,” said Jim Pinder, lead engineer for the Air Force Intranet Control weapons system, managed by C3I&N. “Once we were able to see traffic, and capture data, we could analyze it and identify the root problem. It turns out, there is no single root problem, but by creating a more ro-bust and resilient network, we can move forward and fix interfaces up and down the network.”

C3I&N, tasked with sustaining the ex-isting network, is also working to acquire networks as-a-service, from contractors

who specialize in setting up secure en-vironments for large companies, banks and hospital systems. While that effort is underway, Pinder and his colleagues are trying to improve the baseline perfor-mance of every single Air Force base.

They succeeded in replacing legacy, single-lane connections measured in hundreds of megabytes with multiple, gigabyte-sized connections resembling a highway. In addition to providing a ten-fold traffic capacity increase, the systems are also redundant, which achieves “dual path resiliency” for those bases.

Should one connection go down, an-other can step up to carry the weight of

traffic. C3I&N doesn’t have the manpow-er as a government-led effort to install these freeway connections at every base, but they’ve acquired the knowledge to so-licit bids from major network providers.

“We didn’t really have data on net-work performance until now,” said Pin-der. “What we’re seeing is that, yes, the network capacity is a problem. But there are also many other connections between you, the user, and the application or piece of information you are seeking. If we can trace that path, and identify where the connection slows and data is lost or corrupted, we can methodically handle each of those problems. But we

need to see it first.”Another C3I&N initiative to export

data to the cloud will eventually cause problems that network experts can al-ready predict, should network managers not improve the boundary. If the lion’s share of a base’s data exists on outside cloud storage and the boundary connec-tion is too slow, then users will have a harder time reliably accessing data they are used to having at their fingertips.

One of the C3I&N PEO’s missions is predicting and solving problems like these, ensuring the architecture of the Air Force network can support today’s im-provements and tomorrow’s technology.

See the June Services calendar on page 6.

C3I&N manages exponential network growth

Most Air Force installations, each hosting thousands of users, connect to the outside world through a choke point that resembles single-lane vehicle entry control points on a military base, called a boundary. The Command, Control, Com-munications, Intelligence and Networks Program Executive Office at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, suc-ceeded in replacing legacy, single-lane connections measured in hundreds of megabytes with multiple, gigabyte sized, connections resembling a highway. In addition to providing a tenfold traffic increase, the systems are also redundant, which achieves “dual path resiliency” for those bases and reduces data packet loss. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Lance Beebe)

June 17, 2019 • 11

PEO Digital Airmen decode F-35 maintenanceBy Benjamin Newell66th Air Base Group Public Affairs

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – Software teams from Hanscom are fielding ap-plications that help aircraft maintainers at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, plan for success-ful operational testing of the Air Force’s newest fighter, the F-35 Lightning II.

Hanscom’s software teams travel to Nellis to work with customers in the 57th Wing’s Bolt Aircraft Maintenance Unit. Bolt AMU maintains six F-35 operational testing aircraft. Bolt Airmen serve as beta testers for programmers and designers who custom-build applications Air Force flightline mechanics use daily.

Maintainers work with the Autonomous Logistics Informa-tion System, or ALIS, to track scheduled and unscheduled maintenance issues on specific aircraft and fleet-wide. Hans-com used ALIS (pronounced Alice) as the inspiration for their effort, “Mad Hatter,” in refer-ence to Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

“We’re not necessarily fo-cused on changing ALIS,” said Lt. Col. Aaron Capizzi, who is heading up ’Mad Hatter.’ “We’re here to deliver software our Airmen love and help them spend the most amount of time on the flightline, physically fix-ing the aircraft. We want to pro-vide applications that enable our maintainers to keep the aircraft they have mission-capable.”

Mad Hatter is the Air Force’s ongoing effort to work with Lockheed Martin’s F-35 sys-tems, including ALIS. Lock-heed supports diverse teams of Mad Hatter Airmen, govern-ment employees and specialized contractors by ensuring access to the source code necessary to understand the massive amount

of information generated by the most advanced fighter aircraft on earth. Lockheed has also contributed its own software engineers to the project, adding its experience as the prime con-tractor to government-led efforts to build software to service the aircraft.

One of the F-35’s inherent advantages is its ability to self-diagnose and tell maintainers when certain systems need to be inspected, repaired or replaced. Modern auto mechanics reach for a digital interrogator that they plug into a car’s dash, or under the hood, before they ever grab a wrench. F-35 maintainers use similar tools to keep their jets flying, but PEO Digital soft-ware experts found they relied on more antiquated processes to augment or replace existing F-35 software.

“When we did initial dis-covery, we found that a lot of Airmen had augmented main-tenance software with spread-sheets and printed schedules to track and plan maintenance,” said Capt. Brian Humphreys, an aircraft maintenance officer who is participating in career broad-ening as a program manager for the F-35 software design effort. “There’s all this great data the aircraft can give you, but since the existing system didn’t allow maintainers easy access to the data, we needed to build appli-cations maintainers could use to access it.”

The PEO Digital software teams did what agile software developers always do when they encounter a large, compli-cated system. They isolate it into smaller, modular components that small teams can handle.

Their first success came just last week, in the form of two ap-plications called ’Kronos’ and ’Titan.’ Kronos serves as an interactive scheduler that main-tenance supervisors can use to create short- and long-term

plans for flightline maintenance. Kronos digitized the Airmen’s maintenance tracking process, eliminating repetitive data en-try tasks and helping plan fu-ture maintenance by providing calendars that respond to simple inputs. Titan is an application helping to track an aircraft’s health, ensuring every Airman can see and understand an air-craft’s readiness status in a sin-gle glance.

Mad Hatter saw a similar op-portunity with tracking another vital piece of aircraft mainte-nance: Airmen themselves.

“When a maintenance super-visor is designing a shift sched-ule, he doesn’t actually care that much about ranks on each shift,” said David Zemsky, a civilian product designer who came on board during a special one-day hiring event, run by Mad Hat-ter’s parent unit, Detachment 12. “He cares about the levelsof certification each Airman

has, and tracking that can be ex-tremely complex.”

Zemsky plied his trade as a user-design expert only three days after joining Detachment 12, also known as Kessel Run. He is working on another ap-plication called ’Athena.’ This mythologically-inspired app enables certification tracking in maintenance units by asking su-pervisors to add their Airmen’s certification statuses digitally, feeding into a more complete assignment process.

Putting enough people on duty to tackle every problem that rolls into the hangar is a crucial step for any mainte-nance unit. Athena could make that a nearly frictionless pro-cess.

Another team, led by prod-uct manager Maj. Jennifer Kannegaard, and called ‘Mon-ocle,’ is in initial discovery phases for an application that could one day provide techni-

cal orders, or TOs, to main-tainers in a user-friendly way. Maintainers need TOs any time they touch an aircraft, but the current process for distribut-ing TOs is wasteful and time-intensive, and TO viewers are clunky at best.

Each Mad Hatter team has found success by maintaining tight ties with the 57th Wing aircraft maintainers in order to meet customer needs and ensure their final application contributes directly to aircraft readiness.

Kronos and Titan are al-ready helping one Nellis unit, and the Mad Hatter team is eye-ing the next step in the Agile development process. Capizzi and the Mad Hatter team of 70 government-led personnel are laying groundwork to scale their work for use in more F-35 maintenance units, possibly to include sister services’ and al-lied F-35 variants.

Ron Golan, Peter Wallace, and DeMarcus Townsend from Detachment 12 at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, work with Staff Sgt. Samantha Buxton, dedicated crew chief with the 57th Wing’s Bolt Aircraft Maintenance Unit at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, on the Nellis flight-line, near an F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter April 10. The “Mad Hatter” team from Det. 12 is learning how maintainers navigate technical orders while working on the flightline. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Bailee Darbaise)

Fighting Falcon in flightAn F-16 Fighting Falcon deploys a flare over an undisclosed location on April 15. The F-16 fills a critical role of enabling local security, denying the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria safe havens and preventing resurgent net-works in the U.S. Air Force's Central Command area of responsibility. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Chris Drzazgowski)

12 • June 17, 2019