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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Modernizing the U.S. Air Force Base Level Automation System. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10450.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Modernizing the U.S. Air Force Base Level Automation System. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10450.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Modernizing the U.S. Air Force Base Level Automation System. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10450.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Modernizing the U.S. Air Force Base Level Automation System. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10450.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Modernizing the U.S. Air Force Base Level Automation System. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10450.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Modernizing the U.S. Air Force Base Level Automation System. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10450.
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Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Modernizing the U.S. Air Force Base Level Automation System. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10450.
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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

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

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 · · ~

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

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

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

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 · ~ V11 1 2 3 9 12 13 14 14 16 17 18 20 21 22 24 25 26 30 31 32 33 35 36 39 43 45

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