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Interim Report
on
Air Force Base Level
Automation Environment
Report to the Department of the Air Force
Committee on Air Force Base Level Automation Environment
Board on Telecommunications and Computer Application
Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, DC January 1986
s
OCR for page R2
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by
the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are
drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National
Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the
committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special com-
petences and with regard to appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors, according
to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members
of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering,
and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of
Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology
with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the
federal government. The Council operates in accordance with general pol-
icies determined by the Academy under the authority of its congressional
charter of 1863, which establishes the Academy as a private, non-profit,
self-governing membership corporation. The Council has become the prin-
cipa] operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the
National Academy of Engineering in the conduct of their services to the
government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities.
It is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine were
established in 1964 and 1970, respectively, under the charter of the
National Academy of Sciences.
This is an interim report of work supported by Contract No. F49642-85-COi20
between the United States Air Force and the National Academy of Sciences.
This document available from:
Board on Telecommunications and Computer Applications
Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems
National Research Council
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20418
Printed in the United States of America
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COMMITTEE ON AIR FORCE BASE LEVEL AUTOMATION ENVIRONMENT
IVAN SELIN (Chairman)
Chairman of the Board
American Management Systems, Inc.
ROBERT B. ERSKINE (Vice Chairman)
Manager, Production Resources Consulting
Genera] Electric Company
DUANE A. ADAMS
Principal Research Scientist
Carnegie-Mellon University
JAMES D. BRUCE
Professor of Electrical Engineering
and Director of Information Systems
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JOHN F. LUBIN
Professor of Management
University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School
Air Force Liaison Officer
Colonel Fred W. Mellor
Staff
Richard B. Marsten, Executive Director
John Burton Stueve, Study Director
Karen Laughlin, Administrative Coordinator
Marlene R. Veach, Administrative Assistant
JOSEPH L. MACKIN
Director of Plant Operations
RCA Astro-Electronics Division
BROCKWAY McMILLAN
Vice President (Retired),
Military Systems
Bell Laboratories
A. ALAN B. PRITSKER
President
Pritsker & Associates, Inc.
JACK B. ROBBINS
Major General, USAF (Retired)
Chairman of the Board
Robbins-Gioia, Inc.
WILLIS H. WARE
Corporate Research Staff
The Rand Corporation
DANIEL J. FINK (Ex officio)
President
D. J. Fink Associates, Inc.
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BOARD ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
DANIEL J. FINK (Chairman)
President
D.~. Fink Associates, Inc.
DANIEL BELL
Professor of Social Sciences
Harvard University
HERBERT D. BENINGTON
Technical Director
Systems Development Corporation
ELWYN R. BE
Professor of Mathematics
University of California
ANTHONY J. DeMARIA
Assistant Director of Research for
Electronics and EJectro-Optics
TechnoJoqy
United Technologies Research Center
GERALD P. DINNEEN
Vice President, Science & Technology
Honeywell, Incorporated
GEORGE GERBNER
Professor and Dean, The Annenberg
School of Communications
University of Pennsylvania
DONALD M. KUYPER
Group Vice President,
Business Services
GTE Telephone Operating Group
Staff
Richard B. Marsten, Executive Director
John Burton Stueve, Senior Staff Officer
Karen Laughlin, Administrative Coordinator
Lois A. Leak, Administrative Secretary
1V
ADRIAN M. McDONOUGH
Professor of Management and
Decision Sciences (Retired),
The Wharton School,
University of Pennsylvania
MISCHA SCHWARTZ
Professor of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science
Columbia University
IVAN SELIN
Chairman of the Board
American Management Systems, Inc.
CHARLES W. STEPHENS
Vice President and
Deputy Genera] Manager
TRW Electronics & Defense Sector
ERIC E. SUMNER
Vice President, Operations Systems
and Network Planning
AT&T Bell Laboratories
GEORGE L. TURIN
Dean, School of Engineering and
Applied Science
University of California
KEITH W. UNCAPHER
Executive Director, USC Information
Sciences Institute, and Associate
Dean, School of Engineering
University of Southern California
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PREFACE
This is an interim report of work by a committee convened in June
1985 by the National Research Council `,~4RC) at the request of the
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management), to assess the
Air Force strategy and program for base ~eve] automation and to make
recommendations for improving the strategy and program. The Secretary
noted that the Air Force is committed to providing automation support for
mission-essential capabilities in the most effective manner possible.
Therefore, he asked that the NRC's independent review and assessment
include an examination of the Air Force "game plan" for the complete
implementation of automation support for the base J eve] environment, as
well as recommendations on the appropriate strategy for the Air Force to
follow in the next decade and beyond. The Statement of Task for this
assignment follows this preface.
In response to the Secretary's request, the NRC established the
Committee on Air Force Base Level Automation Environment (Committee) in
May 1985. The Committee has divided its work into two phases. At the
Secretary's request, the Committee established an accelerated schedule to
address the management issues involved in base J eve] automation before the
end of 1985, and it is presenting its initial findings and recommendations
in this interim report. The Committee's investigation has focused on the
computer and functional aspects of the Air Force's base level automation
program. This has raised a number of important methodological questions
about the way in which the Air Force does software engineering for admin-
istrative systems, and about the ways in which it operates the procurement
process. Methodological topics, and these two questions in particular,
will form part of the basis for the Committee's deliberations in 1986.
At all Air Force bases there are "housekeeping" functions (such as
civil engineering, finance, and personnel) and mission support functions
(such as operations, supply, maintenance). The scope of the Committee's
study is all of the automation functions on ~ standard base, whether
housekeeping or mission support, excluding command and control systems.
The Committee began its review in early June 1985, and it has held
meetings each month, culminating in two one-week workshops in November
1985. The committee members are pleased to acknowledge the excellent
support received from the Air Force activities that have hosted the
Committee's meetings or that have otherwise participated in its activ-
ities. During its ]8 meeting dates, the Committee received 50 separate
briefings and it was supplied 67 documents for review. In addition, the
Committee drew on the report of the predecessor Committee on Modernization
of t.hn II S. Air Force Base Level Automation SYstem.*
*Modernizing the U.S. Air Force Base Level Automation System, National
Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1981.
v
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On June 4-5, 1985 the Committee received initial briefings in
Washington, D.C. on the Air Force's base level automation system capital
replacement program (known as the Phase IV program), on the various
application systems installed or under development for the bases, and on
the Air Force philosophy, architecture, and organization for managing
information systems.
On July 17-~8 the Committee met at Headquarters, Strategic Air
Command (SAC), Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska. Briefings were
provided by base J eve] personnel who represented Offutt as being typical
of many large operational bases. Briefings were also provided by HO SAC
personnel who noted that their command was among the leaders in the imple-
mentation of the Air Force's Phase IV implementation/conversion program.
On August 29 the Committee met at Gunter Air Force Station, Alabama,
to receive briefings from key personnel assigned to the Air Force
Communications Command (AFCC) units that have primary responsibilities for
baseJeve] automation, including Phase IV. This includes the Standard
Information Systems Center (SISC) and two of its subordinate units, the
Automated Systems Program Office (ASPO), which is the Project Engineering -
Office for Phase IV, and the Data Systems Design Office (DSDO), which
develops and maintains the standard systems and applications software
common to al] Air Force bases.
On August 30 the Committee met in Washington, D.C., where it
received briefings on the Army and Navy information systems programs.
The Committee also provided an informal progress report to the Assistant
Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management).
On September 11-12 representatives from the Committee and the NRC
staff participated with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
(Information Systems Management) in a visit to Mather Air Force Base,
California, to see the advanced concepts base facility, where a number of
experimental ideas and prototypes are implemented on microcomputers.
On September 26-27 the Committee met at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,
for an overview of the Air Force Logistics Command (AFEC), its whoJe-saJe
level information systems, and the Air Force's logistical philosophy and
systems (dater supplemented by Air Staff briefings in Washington, D.C. on
October 16~. The Committee also received briefings from the chairman of a
team of industry executives who had independently evaluated the Air Force
supply system at the request of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
(Financial Management), and from the Sperry Corporation, which is under
contract to the Air Force to provide the hardware and services involved in
the Phase IV capita] replacement and implementation/conversion.
During its meeting on October 16, in Washington, D.C. the Committee
reached agreement on the main issues that would be addressed in the
interim report to the Air Force. During the Committee's workshop on
November 4-S it prepared discussion drafts of the interim report and four
issue papers, covering each of the four principal findings. The draft
issue papers were circulated, through the Committee's Air Force Liaison
V1
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Officer, to the Air Force Secretariat, HQ USAF, and Major Command
personnel who were being invited to attend the workshop. The issue papers
served as the basis for discussion between the Committee and the Air Force
representatives at the workshop. During the November 18-21 workshop the
Committee drafted this interim report, and on November 26 the Chairman
provided an informal progress report to senior representatives of the Air
Force Secretariat and theAir Staff, including the Assistant Secretary of
the Air Force (Financial Management), the Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Information Systems Management, the Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the
Air Force (AF/CVA), the HQ USAF Director of Operations (AF/XOO), and
representatives of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
(Logistics and Communications), of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics
and Engineering (AF/LE), and of the Assistant Chief of Staff, Information
Systems (AF/SI).
The Committee has enjoyed the full support and encouragement of the
Honorable Richard E. Carver, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
(Financial Management). We especially appreciate the direct involvement
and superb assistance of Mr. Andrew E. Bilinski, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of the Air Force (Information Systems Management), and Colonel
Fred W. Me1Jor, Assistant for Information Systems. We could not have
reached this interim stage in our work without the support of the Air
Staff, and we are highly pleased with and impressed by the cooperative
spirit displayed by Major Genera] John T. Stih1, Assistant Chief of Staff
for Information Systems, his deputy, Brigadier General Denis M. Brown, and
Colonels Mark E. Anway and Woodrow M. Taylor of the Information Systems
staff. In particular we wish to express our gratitude for the direct and
sustained support provided by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas E. Harms and
Captains Donnie Blanks and Eugene C. Bounds, who between them made most of
the arrangements for the Committee's visits to Air Force bases and brief-
ings by HQ USAF and other Air Force activities.
This Committee, like others in the NRC whose members serve part-time
and without compensation, must rely heavily on its professional staff. In
this regard we are particularly grateful to Dr. Richard B. Marsten and Mr.
John Burton Stueve. Tt is their outstanding and creative effort which has
made it possible to convert the disjointed products of our several
sessions into a smooth Committee report.
A major committee effort like this imposes a heavy burden on its
administrative support staff. We are very pleased to acknowledge the
assistance of Ms. Karen Laughlin, Administrative Coordinator, and Ms.
Marlene Veach, Administrative Assistant, for the outstanding quality of
their work, especially during the two workshops.
Finally, as the Committee Chairman, ~ wish to express my sincere
appreciation and admiration to the committee members for their dedicated
efforts.
IVAN SELIN
Chairman
V1 1
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STATEMENT OF TASK
The Committee will conduct a comprehensive review of Air Force base
J eve] automation activities and their direction and management. The
review will provide a critical assessment of the Air Force approach toward
satisfying the proliferation of automation requirements of (Air Force)
functional users and toward technical solutions that would ensure opera-
bility with the Air Force Base Level Automation Systems.
The sequence of program reviews will start with Phase TV, and will
include the Base Information Analysis Program at a point considered appro-
priate by the Committee and Air Force officials. Base level automation
initiatives will be reviewed as examinations of users' needs and the Phase
IV program illuminate interfaces or possible areas of overlapping func-
tion. The base J eve] architecture will be returned to periodically as
base level automation initiatives and various stand-alone systems are
considered. The Air Force plan for implementation of software systems to
support base level automation will be examined. Recommendations will be
made for planning for expected evolution of these automation systems as
base J eve] functional needs change.
After reviewing current Air Force automation strategies and objec-
tives, the committee will review functional users' needs together with a
review of thestatus of the Phase IV program and of other programs involved
with the base level environment. Reviewers will look for compatibility
with Air Force mission and base J eve] operating objectives and for minimum
essential solutions to mission and operating needs. System integrity and
universality of application will be emphasized, while standardization will
be subordinate to characteristics of program plans and systems architec-
ture that foster economical evolution of the entire base J eve] environment
as functional, and even mission, needs change. Software and hardware
concerns will be emphasized concurrently insofar as practical. The
ability of systems and applications to meet wartime needs wild also be
considered.
Results should provide advice and recommendations to assist the Air
Force in streamlining its base level automation initiatives so that:
overall program may be simplified without loss of functional effec-
tiveness; the broadest possible applications may be made of extant
programs, systems, and initiatives; emerging standalone systems may be
standardized for applications, interoperabiiity, and integration into the
overall, evolving, Phase IV base level environment; and a strategy may be
developed to facilitate the economical evolution of the hardware and soft-
ware environment without need for any future, massive, capital replacement.
Date: June 1985
. . .
v ~ ~ ~
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CONTENTS
COMMITTEE ON AIR FORCE BASE LEVEL AUTOMATION ENVIRONMENT
BOARD ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND COMPUTER APPLICATIONS.
PREFACE. . . . . . . . . .
STATEMENT OF TASK. . . . .
I.
. . .
. . . . . . 1 1 1
.... 1v
INTRODUCTION . . . .
;
II. SUMMARY Of FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. . . . . . .
A.
B.
C.
_
Summary of Findings. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summary of Recommendations . . . . . . . . . .
Correspondence of Findings and Recommendations
III. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Air Force Progress on Base-Leve] Automation. . . .
a. Concept of a Standard Base-Leve] Automated Support
b. Phase IV Capital Replacement Program is Going Well
c. Evolving Beyond Phase IV . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. A Window of Opportunity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. Dependence of Wing/Base-Level Units on Automation Support.
4. Development/Maintenance of Base-Leve] Information Systems.
·
· · ·
System.
IV. RECOMMENDATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
i. Phase IV Post-Implementation Enhancement Plan. . . . . . .
2. Standard Base-Leve] Automation Facility Configuration. . .
3. Base-Leve] Logistics & Operations/Combat Support Functions
4. System Program Office/Prime Systems Contractor Concept . .
APPENDICES
A.
B.
C.
Base-Leve] Automated Data Systems. . . . .
Glossary of Terms and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Phase IV Post-Implementation Enhancement Plan (Outline).
1X
8
TO
~3
~3
~3
14
15
18
22
23
27
27
28
29
31
33
37
41
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