Lt Col Norm Eckert

1
Armed Forces Communications and Electronics
Association28 May 2008
Lt Col Norm Eckert 5 CCG/CD AF Forces/A6 Deputy
Director
2
Overview

• Update / Walk through the USAFCENT AOR
• Transition from Tactical to Commercialized Comm
• Near-Term Challenges / Enduring C4 Issues for the
  AOR

3
Our Area of Responsibility
27 Countries 600 Million People 27 Ethnic
Groups 420 Tribes 12 Major Languages
100 Dialects 7 Major Religions
KAZAKHSTAN
UZBEKISTAN
KYRGYZSTAN
TURKMENISTAN
TAJIKISTAN
SYRIA
AFGHANISTAN
IRAN
IRAQ
LEBANON
JORDAN
KUWAIT
PAKISTAN
EGYPT
BAHRAIN
QATAR
U.A.E.
OMAN
SAUDI ARABIA
YEMEN
5400 miles
ERITREA
SUDAN
DJIBOUTI
SOMALIA
ETHIOPIA
3 Combat Task Forces
KENYA
SEYCHELLES
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AOR 1 Oct 09
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USAFCENT Mission
Project decisive air and space power for United
States Central Command to support national
strategic objectives
376 AEW Manas AB, KG
332 AEW Balad AB, IZ
386 AEW Ali Al Salem AB, KU
455 AEW Bagram AB, AF
379 AEW Al Udeid AB, QA
380 AEW Al Dhafra AB, AE
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USAFCENT Major UnitsTotal USAF personnel 27,000
Air Expeditionary Wing Air
Expeditionary Group
MANAS, KYR (376 AEW) USAF 1000
KIRKUK, IRAQ (506 AEG) USAF 1060
BAGRAM, AFG (455 AEW) USAF 2570
BALAD, IRAQ (332 AEW) USAF 5790
BAGHDAD, IRAQ (447 AEG) USAF 1300
KANDAHAR, AFG (451 AEG) USAF 480
ALI, IRAQ (407 AEG) USAF 800
Al DHAFRA, UAE (380 AEW) USAF 1600
Al UDEID, QATAR (379 AEW) USAF 5500
ALI AL SALEM, KUWAIT (386 AEW) USAF 2300
ESKAN, SAUDI ARABIA (64 AEG) USAF 290
DJIBOUTI, DJIBOUTI (449 AEG) USAF 330
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Theater Operations
UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO
OIF
HOA
AFG
ISAF / ENDURING FREEDOM
IRAQI FREEDOM
JTF - HORN OF AFRICA

• Mission Counter-terrorism and counter-piracy
• USAF Contributions
• - ISR to naval operations
• - Train local security forces
• - Humanitarian relief
• - Airlift / Air Evac

• Mission Defeat insurgency, train Iraqi forces,
  enhance security for stable govt
• USAF Contributions
• 150 sorties / day
• ISR, CAS Strike
• 50 Counter-IED

• Mission Counter remnants of terror orgs
  rebuild Afghan govt
• USAF Contributions
• - 50-80 sorties / day
• - ISR, CAS Strike
• - Counter-narcotics
• - Rebuild Afghani security forces
• - Airlift / Air Evac

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO
8
1 Year CFACC Rollup Iraq Afghanistan1
January 2007 31 December 2007

• 99,681 Sorties
• 38,418 Airlift Sorties
• 29,891 Strike Sorties
• 14,572 Tanker Sorties
• 11,007 ISR Sorties
• 5,793 EW Sorties

• 710,744 Personnel moved
• 100,351 Stons delivered
• 4,670 TICs supported
• 2,747 Shows of Force
• 4,479 Strikes
• 512 Airdrops

SINCE H-HOUR
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1 Year CFACC Roll-Up by Operation1 January 2007
31 December 2007

• IRAQI FREEDOM
• 67,834 Sorties
• 19,561 (Strike)
• 2,283 TICs
• 1,106 SoFs
• 1,338 Wpns Employed
• 3,870 (EW)
• 7,298 (ISR)
• 7,911 (Tanker)
• 29,194 (Tac Airlift)
• 5 Airdrops

• AFGHANISTAN
• 31,847 Sorties
• 10,330 (Strike)
• 2,387 TICs
• 1,641 SoFs
• 3,141 Wpns Employed
• 1,923 (EW)
• 3,709 (ISR)
• 6,661 (Tanker)
• 9,224 (Tac Airlift)
• 507 Airdrops

OIF
AFG
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Iraq Success Stories 2007

• Killed or captured 233 AQI terrorist leaders in
  Iraq alone
• Significant improvements in the Iraq security
  environment
• Overall attacks, sectarian violence, high-profile
  attacks, murders and casualties continued to
  decline
• Result of aggressive coalition force actions and
  increasingly active concerned local citizens
• 439,678 total trained Iraqi security forces
• Iraqis completed three successful nationwide
  elections, voted for a new government, and
  approved the most democratic constitution in the
  Arab world
• 2,900 Iraqi reconstruction projects completed
  with 400 underway
• 9-1-1 service for 12 million Iraqis in 15
  cities
• 800 new Iraqi schools for children to date
• Iraqi oil production at all time high 2.28
  million barrels per day

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Free Afghani elections in 2007
Progress in Afghanistan
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Bare-Base Commercialization Event Timeline
Fixed Bases? Permanent Manning ?
TSSR, LMR, DATCALS RTB
NEAR-GARRISON COMM DKETS, Sheltered TCF, NCC,
SL-1, LMR, ATCALS
TDC ICAP RTB
Towers LMR, ATCALS shelter
Commercial LMR and ATCALS Activated more
contractors added
SL-1 shelter
USC-60 RTB
Commercial switch activated contractor added
TCF/NCC shelters
STABILITY AND CAPACITY
Shelterized TCF/NCC/UPS activated, contractors
added
DKET TDC Augment
DKET activated and NOSC Tier 1 Data package
installed
EI Teams
EI begins duct/manhole/cable projects
Initial Bed-down USC-60, TDC ICAP, TAC Cable,
DATCALS
CRISIS
TIME
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Shelterized Commercial Communications Facility
UNCLASSIFIED
Generators
TCF
NCC
UPS
MDF
Telephone Switch
UNCLASSIFIED
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Commercializing the Comm
BEFORE
AFTER
15
Commercializing the Comm
BEFORE
AFTER
16
Commercializing the Comm
BEFORE
AFTER
17
AOR Communications Commercialization Status
Not Planned
Complete
Planned
Other Service
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ATCALS Commercialization
BEFORE
AFTER
TPN-19
CASR
MPN-25
Balad TRAPCON
Balad RAPCON
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ATCALS Commercialization
BEFORE
AFTER
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ATCALS Commercialization
Not Planned
Complete
Other Service
Planned
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AOR Comm Contract OM Support Status
Commercial Equipment Opens the Door to Contract
OM! One contractor typically replaces 3 Airmen
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USAFCENT Near Term Events

• Continue Comm / ATCALS Commercialization
• Define AFCENT Postal Mission
• 3A0XX Consolidation
• Two-Flight Comm Sq
• New CAOC

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Expeditionary Warfighting Ops Center(i.e., New
CAOC)
CAOC
AFFOR
ISRD/SCIF

• Qatari Funded and constructed Facility, Semi
  blast-Hardened, CBR protection
• Total Area 104,209 SF, approx 2.4 Acres
• For comparison, current CAOC/ISRD plus OBs equate
  to 76,520 SF
• Network installs (ESD Jun 08) JWICS, SIPR, NIPR,
  CENTRIXS GCTF and MCF-I, NATO Secret
• Operational date late Dec 08-Jan 09
• Technology being investigated IP video
  distribution and Thin Client

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Enduring Issues for USAFCENT

• Integration with Coalition or Coalition
  Integration
• Full Motion Video (FMV) Dissemination
• Airborne SIPRNET Collaborative Tools Access
• Bandwidth Management
• BLOS Comm for C2
• Limited Spectrum Associated Frequency Issues
• NetOps

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Environmental Challenges
UNCLASSIFIED

• Physical Environment
• Dust contamination
• Rapid temperature changes
• Humidity extremes
• 2-year technology refresh cycle
• People
• Rotational continuity
• Broad range of skill levels
• Planning Timelines
• Anything worth doing must be done yesterday!
• Logistical Challenges
• Transport commercial air, military air, land/sea
  surface freight
• Communication links (satellite hops/bandwidth
  constraints)
• Bad guys with guns bombs!

UNCLASSIFIED
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Communicators are at War!
UNCLASSIFIED

• Over 1,800 AF COMM personnel deployed in AOR
• 544 AOR contractors
• 10 countries / 17 expeditionary locations
• Annual COMM costs in AOR approx 400M
• Daily support for troops in contact, air base
  attacks, SAFIREs
• Ops tempo and footprint has not decreasedcomm
  never rests

UNCLASSIFIED
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Be Proud!

• Our Comm Airmen (AD, ANG, AFRES, Civ,
  Contractors) are . . .
• doing Great Things . . .
• in Combat Conditions . . .
• and Loving It!!!

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Questions?
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Backup Slides
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Comm Officer Expectations

• Expectations
• Officer Leader
• Officers lead period!
• Out rank CMSgt of the Air Force
• Prior enlisted, leave it behind
• Work your boss problems
• Know/Learn your job
• School
• Tech magazines
• Learn from boss, peers, subordinates
• Know AF history and doctrine

• Ops oriented / Customer focused
• Know mission
• Ops impact
• Stay in your lane
• Do your current job
• Dont be a bitcher
• Problem without a solution
• Be expeditionary
• Be proud to be comm
• Have fun starting now!

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USAFCENT/A6
609 ACOMS/CC USAFCENT/A6 609
ACOMS/CD USAFCENT/A60
A6 Support Staff
Det-1 CAOC CST
AOC CST
Det 4 Postal (Bahrain)
OL-B Postal (Langley)
A6X Plans Requirements Div
A6O Operations Div
A6P Policy Resources Div
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Bandwidth Management
600 increase
250 increase
500K
600
350
100
55K
50K
Troops
Bandwidth
Troops (thousand)
Bandwidth (MBps)
Troops
Bandwidth
Desert Storm
Allied Force
OEF OIF