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Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
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OCR for page R1
Modernizing the
U.S. Air Force
Base ·eve!
Automation System
A Report to the U.S. Air Force
by the Committee on Modernization of the
U.S. Air Force Base Level Automation System
Board on Telecommunications-Computer Applications
Assembly of Engineerin
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1981
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 competences 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 policies determined by the Academy under the authority of
its congressional charter of 1863, which establishes the Academy as a
private, nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The Council
has become the principal 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 a report of work supported by Contract No. F 49620 80 C0080
between the United States Air Force and the National Academy of
Sciences.
Available from:
Board on Telecommunications-Computer Applications
Assembly of Engineering
National Research Council
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20418
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COMMITTEE ON MODERNIZATION OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE
BASE LEVEL AUTOMATION SYSTEM
BROCKWAY McMILLAN (Chairman)
Vice President -
Military Systems (Retired)
Bell Laboratories
ROBERT R. EVERETT
President
The MITRE Corporation
JEAN H. FELKER
Vice President (Retired)
Bell Laboratories
ROBERT G. GALLAGER
Laboratory for Information
and Decision Systems
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
A. J. LORENZ
President
United Information Systems
ALAN J. McLAUGHLIN
Division Head
Data Systems Division
Lincoln Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
MUMFORD MILLER
Vice President {Retired)
Sears, Roebuck and Company
ROBERT E. SADLER
Major General, USAF (Retired)
Magnavox Government & Industrial
Electronics Company
RICHARD SHUEY
Corporate Research and
Development
General Electric Company
WILLIS H. WARE
Corporate Research Staff
Rand Corporation
Air Force Liaison Officer
-
Lt. Col. Stephen M. Hunt
Richard B. Marsten, Staff Director
R. V. Mrozinski, Staff Director (until June 30, 1981)
Linda E. Jones, Administrative Secretary
· · ~
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BOARD ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS-COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
BROCKWAY McMILL~N (Chairman)
Vice President Military
Systems (Retired)
Bell Laboratories
J.C.R. LICKLIDER (Deputy Chairman)
Professor of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
FRANK L. ALLEN
Vice President
Arthur D. Little,
TED E. CLIMIS
Vice President, General Products
Division
IBM Corporation
IRWIN DORROS
Assistant Vice President for
Network Planning
American Telephone and Telegraph Co
.
ROBERT R e EVERETT,
President
The MITRE Corporation
JOHN C. HANCOCK
Dean of Engineering
Schools of Engineering
Purdue University
GLEN C. ROBINSON
Professor of Law
University of Virginia
WILLIS H. WARE
Corporate Research Staff
Rand Corporation
Richard B. Marsten, Executive Director
R. V. Mrozinski, Executive Director (until June 30, 1981)
Karen Laughlin, Administrative Assistant
Linda E. Jones, Administrative Secretary
iv
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PREFACE
This report is the product of a committee convened in May 1980 by
the National Research Council, at the request of the Secretary of the
Air Force, to review Air Force plans for modernizing its Base Level
Automation System. At the time of the Secretary's request, a plan for
modernizing existing computer systems--called the Phase IV Program--was
being reviewed by Congress, the General Accounting Office (GAO), and
the General Services Administration (GSA). Appendix A of this report
is a brief historical review of protracted Air Force efforts to
modernize its base level automation system.
In response to the Secretary's request, the National Research
Council established the Committee on Modernization of the U.S. Air
Force Base Level Automation System. While the committee was being
organized, the Air Force reached agreement with the federal review
agencies on a redirection of the Phase IV Program, the plan that is now
being implemented. Accordingly, the committee shifted its emphasis to
the longer range aspects of Air Force base level automation planning.
The committee comprised members with expertise in a variety of
complementary areas related to the planning, development, and operation
of large, complex information systems. The members' backgrounds
embraced such fields as information system planning and development,
software teabnology, computer network design, information system
management and operation, and system privacy and security.
The committee's review involved extensive briefings at Air Force
headquarters in Washington, D.C., as well as during visits to
representative Air Force bases. These included the Tactical Air Command
headquarters at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia; the Air Training
Command headquarters at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
(where committee members were briefed on the San Antonio Data Services
Center and the Air Force Manpower and Personnel Center); and the Air
Force Data Systems Design Center at Montgomery, Alabama.
The committee met as a group seven times for briefings and
discussion. Between meetings, members reviewed materials, conducted
interviews, and prepared report drafts as their full time
responsibilities permitted. The combination of presentations, field
visits, discussions, and background material gave the committee an
insight into the Air Force planning effort and an understanding of the
role of automated data processing in support of Air Force activities.
v
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From this insight and understanding, the committee developed the
judgments that are the subject of this report.
Several members requested assistance in the study from colleagues
in their professional or business organizations. The committee is
grateful, therefore, for the strong support that it received from John
B. Campbell of the MOIRE Corporation and William J. Hawkins of United
Information Systems, Inc.
We have enjoyed the fullest cooperation and support, from then Air
Force Secretary Mark in 1980 and from other Air Force officials, from
the secretary's office to those at the Headquarters and in the field.
In particular we appreciate the strong support that we received from
Brigadier General Avon C. James, Director of Computer Resources,
Headquarters, USAF, and his staff.
This committee, like others in the NRC whose members serve part
time and without compensation, must depend heavily on its professional
staff. In this regard, we are particularly grateful to R. V. Mrozinski
and R. B. Marsten for their sustained support of our work.
A major committee effort like this imposes a heavy burden on its
secretary. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the assistance of Linda E.
Jones, who cheerfully typed what must have seemed endless report drafts
and carried out other essential administrative activities.
Finally, as the committee's chairman, I want to express my sincere
thanks to its members for their dedicated efforts.
Brockway McMillan
vi
l
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CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION , CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
General Conclusions
Spec i f ic Conc lus ion s
Summary of Recommendations
2 THE PHASE IV CAPITAL REPLACEMENT PROGRAM
Adequacy of the Proposed Equipment Configurations
The Phase IV Program Beyond Transition
The Promise and Challenge
of New Technology
Personnel
Software: The Key to Improved Services
Maintaining a Focus on Evolutionary Growth
TRENDS AFFECTING THE BASE LEVEL AUTOMATION PROGRAM
1. Small High-Performance Systems
2. Data Base Management Systems
3. From Batch to Transaction Processing
4. Local Communications Systems
5. The Dispersal of Processing Power
6. Software Trends
Users as Programmers
Programming Cost Problems in Large Systems
7. Evolving Uses of Microcomputers and Minicomputers
Office Automation As Related to Base Systems
8. Base Level Systems in Wartime
APPENDIX A Air Force Planning Leading to Phase IV
APPENDIX B Glossary
APPENDIX C Acronyms
· ~
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