Electronic Systems Center commander visits CAOC

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shawn J. Jones
  • U.S. Air Forces Central Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --   - A top Air Force expert on command and control visited the Combined Air and Space Operations Center here Monday and Tuesday.

The purpose of Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds' visit was to gain first-hand exposure to an air and space operations center at war.

ESC is the Air Force's product center for the acquisition of command and control assets and manages approximately 200 programs. One of those programs is the AN/USQ-163 Falconer, the weapons system the CAOC encompasses.

"This Falconer is performing unbelievably well considering the magnitude of what it has to support," General Bowlds said in reference to the CAOC's role as the nerve center for command and control of air operations above both Iraq and Afghanistan.

However, the general said the high operations tempo and high-stress environment have revealed areas for improvement.

"When I came here, I had a pretty good idea it was going to be an austere location, but what I didn't realize until I walked the floor was the degree of that austerity," he said.

General Bowlds cited the less-than-optimal cooling and air-filtration system, which struggles against Southwest Asia's desert conditions, as area needing improvement. Another is the facility's layout and design. Reorganizing the locations of Airmen's workspaces and offices would boost efficiency, he said. Furthermore, the CAOC facility wasn't designed to handle the more than 67 miles of cable wiring that connect its vast communications system.

"It's ready for an upgrade. It's ready for some new facilities," the general said. "What we have to do at ESC is be responsive to those warfighter needs."

General Bowlds' visit included a stop at the new state-of-the-art facility that will house the CAOC by the end of this year.

The new CAOC facility will include many upgrades over the current facility. The amount of dust and dirt in the new CAOC will be vastly reduced due to improved methods of sealing the building and a more effective air-filtration system, said Col. Michael Humphrey, the director of the CAOC Program Management Office. The new facility also will offer indoor plumbing and all utilities and communications lines will run under the raised floor.

"We will no longer have the 'spaghetti bowls' of wires on the floors," said Colonel Humphrey.

The general said he sees the Falconer evolving in terms of generations, and these improvements are a natural part of the upgrade process.

"The first generation that was stood up to support the first Gulf War was a pick-up game - a bunch of computer terminals and smart people," General Bowlds said.

The current Falconer - the second generation - has incorporated dramatic improvements in the quality of automated tools and training, he said. "But it's not where we want it to be."

He said he considers the new CAOC, in which many of the physical and systems deficiencies have been solved, to be a third-generation Falconer.

"As we learn from the experience here at Al Udeid as to how to make the systems better and how to make the training that supports the warrior Airmen who come here better, we're going to make this process run better, faster and be more efficient."