Public Affairs, Volume 63, Number 55
Serving the community of Edwards Air Force Base California www.edwards.af.mil - www.facebook.com/EdwardsAirForceBase
KC-46A Pegasus tanker approved for production Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs and 412th Test Wing Public Affairs
The KC-46A Pegasus program received Milestone C approval from Frank Kendall, the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, signaling the aircraft is ready to enter into production. Work is now underway to award the first two low-rate initial production lots within the next 30 days. “I commend the team for diligently working through some difficult technical challenges,” said Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James. “The KC-46 program has made significant strides in moving the Air Force toward the modernization needed in our strategic tanker fleet.” Securing approval to begin low rate initial production required completion of
A KC-46 Pegasus prepares to refuel an Edwards AFB F-16 Fighting Falcon July 13, 2016 over the northwest United States. (U.S. Air Force photo by Chris Okula)
Aug. 19, 2016
several aerial refueling demonstrations, to include refueling an F-16 Fighting Falcon, C-17 Globemaster III and A-10 Thunderbolt II off the boom, and an AV-8 Harriar II and F/A-18 Hornet off both hose and drogue systems. The KC46 also proved its receiver capability by taking fuel from a KC-10 Extender. The 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB is the lead developmental test organization for the KC-46 program. “This was a huge effort by the 418th Flight Test Squadron, and they did an incredible job fulfilling the test wing mission to get the program to Milestone-C,” said Col. Scott Cain, 412th Operations Group commander. Some demonstrations were delayed due to higher than expected axial loads in the boom. Boeing installed hydraulic pressure relief valves to alleviate loads and last month all remaining demonstrations were quickly completed. “The KC-46 is ready to take the next step,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein. “Our Air Force and Boeing team stepped up to meet the recent challenges. I’m especially proud of the employees on the floor of the Boeing plant and employees of all our industry partners, who work every day to deliver game-changing capability to the warfighter. My hat’s off to them and our program leads.” The Air Force will soon award contracts to Boeing for two lots, totaling 19 aircraft, and associated spare parts for a pre-negotiated $2.8 billion combined value. The first aircraft deliveries will be to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, and Altus AFB, Oklahoma. A total of 18 tankers are scheduled to be delivered by early 2018. “I am exceedingly proud of the KC-46 program office for clearing the production hurdle,” said Darlene Costello, an Air Force Service Acquisition executive. “We have crossed an important milestone, and I appreciate Boeing’s continued focus as they work to finish development prior to first aircraft delivery.” Going forward in the test program, the KC-46 will complete a robust schedule of Federal Aviation Administration and military certification flight testing, including refueling test flights, in order to achieve certification for aircraft in the Air Force and Department of Defense inventory.
F-35 to undergo chemical, biological decontamination tests
By Kenji Thuloweit 412th Test Wing Public Affairs
After years of preparation, the 461st Flight Test Squadron and Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Test Force are ready to test the F-35 Lightning II’s ability to be decontaminated from chemical and biological weapons exposure. Contractors, Airmen and Air Force civilians have been tirelessly working in the High Desert heat the past few weeks to finalize the construction of a decontamination system and facility on the flightline to house and decontaminate an F-35A. It will be the first time an F-35 has been decontaminated. It will show the Department of Defense and joint-partner nations that the F-35 has met the F-35 Joint Program Office’s requirements for decontamination and certify the weapon system to go into full-rate production. The effort is to demonstrate the fifth-generation fighter’s survivabil-
ity can be maintained if exposed to such threats around the world. “Our focus is on the aircraft decontaminability and that’s what we’re here to prove,” said Joe Nemes, Air Force Research Laboratory, Chemical/Biological project lead engineer. AFRL is the lead organization responsible for developing the test plan and techniques for gathering decontatmination data for analysis for the JSF JPO. The 461st Flight Test Squadron’s F-35A, tail number AF-04, will be contaminated several times starting the end of August and towed into the decontamination facility to see if it can be cleaned of chemical or biological weapons exposure. AF04 is a highly-instrumented F-35 test jet with modifications to specifically collect data while being tested in the air or on the ground. “Because these are tests we’re doing here, there’s an extensive amount of sensors and test equipment that
After four weeks, the decontamination shelter is nearing completion and decontamination tests will begin on an F-35A toward the end of August. (U.S. Air Force photo by Brad White)
were going to use to analyze and make sure the plane is clean. But, in the real world, theoretically, you put it in (the decontamination facility) and run the system, pull the jet out
and go fly,” Nemes said. For the tests, the F-35A will be “contaminated” with simulants, See Decontamination, Page 2
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Four-star innovator to speak on third offset strategy
By Kenji Thuloweit 412th Test Wing Public Affairs
Brig. Gen. Carl Schaefer and the 412th Test Wing Innovation Team are pleased to announce a two-day innovation kick-off event Aug. 2425. The special guest speaker is retired Gen. Gregory S. Martin who will be on stage Aug. 24 at the base theater with Schaefer to deliver a keynote address discussing strategic innovation and the DOD’s Third Offset Strategy. The event begins at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to run until 10:30 a.m. Martin will also be participating in a working lunch with innovators from across the test wing and will be involved in discussions with many young leaders who may become the future leaders of the Air Force. Martin retired from the Air Force in September 2005 as the commander of Air Force Materiel Command after serving 35 years on ac-
tive duty. AFMC is responsible for executing nearly $40 billion per year, or approximately half of the Air Force’s annual budget. Since retiring from the Air Force, Martin has become an independent consultant and has served on the board of directors for the National Academies’ Air Force Studies Board and performs mentoring duties as a highly-qualified expert for the joint staff in the DOD. He has also been a member of two Defense Science Board task force committees. Additionally, he serves on several advisory boards and as a consultant for a number of defense and aerospace industry corporations. The Third Offset Strategy, put forth by secretary of Defense Ash Carter, is to maintain the country’s competitive and dominant edge in defense with technological and operational innovation being key. The strategy aims to harness America’s
By Kenji Thuloweit 412th Test Wing Public Affairs
Decontamination, from Page 1 which are elements that have been researched and tested to be safe, but mimic the properties of harmful agents. “The aircraft is going to be exposed to simulants, chemicals and biological materials that are harmless, but have been examined in labs and by other field-operational tests to be harmless and safe in California,” said Nemes. Each test procedure will be conducted in three parts. “To contaminate the aircraft for our tests, we’re going to do engine runs at a different location (on the flightline) from the decontamination structure. We’re going to spray simulant down the engine inlet and let it get distributed throughout the interior of the aircraft, said Melanie Link, 461st Chemical/Biological 06 project lead. “Once that contamination is done the F-35 will get towed to the decontamination shelter and decontaminated. During decontamination, samples will be taken from both the aircraft and
Retired Gen. Gregory S. Martin will speak at the base theater Aug. 25 about innovation and the DOD’s Third Offset Strategy. Martin was formerly the commander of Air Force Materiel Command. He is now a consultant and serves on several advisory boards. (U.S. Air Force photo)
intellectual activity in a way that transcends any particular technological trend. This follows the First
and Second Offsets that took place in the 1950s and the 70s and 80s respectively.
New commander for Rocket Lab Maj. Gen. Robert McMurry Jr., Air Force Research Laboratory commander, and Col. Anne L. Clark, pose for a photo while holding the unit guidon as Clark becomes the new commander of Air Force Research Laboratory Aerospace Systems Directorate Detachment 7 here at Edwards. A change of command ceremony was held at the “Rocket Lab” Aug. 11 where Col. Patrick Davis (far right) relinquished command to Clark. Davis heads on to a temporary duty assignment at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, home to AFRL headquarters, before retiring Dec. 1, 2016. Clark comes to the high desert after serving as the military assistant to the chief scientist of the U.S. Air Force in Washington D.C. She is now responsible for the work and wellbeing of 500 military, civilian and contractor personnel at the laboratory’s $2.5 billion, 65-square-mile research site. She also directs safety, security and logistics compliance activities supporting research and development operations valued at over $110 million per year. Her experience spans a variety of acquisition, technology and academic assignments. The Edwards research site for AFRL emphasizes space and missile propulsion technology research. AFRL can claim that nearly every U.S. rocket-propelled system used today for tactical, ballistic launch, space launch and space operations can trace propulsion technology back to the Edwards site. (U.S. Air Force photo by Edward Cannon)
surrounding environment so we’ll have a baseline to see the effectiveness of how the decontamination process is working from beginning to end.” Once complete they’ll tow it to a third site and collect more samples and conduct another engine run to verify no damage was done to the aircraft. The decontamination shelter takes about four weeks to construct and is nearly complete. It consists of four components. First, an external air beam shelter, which some refer to as a tent, protects an inner structure, the aircraft enclosure. The tent is there to absorb solar loads, wind loads and all the desert climate the system is going to experience throughout its roughly sixmonth tour here. The aircraft enclosure allows the plane to be simultaneously decontaminated externally and internally within walls made up of panels with insulation in them. The other two parts of the system will de-
contaminate the F-35 by exposing it to high temperatures. The heat is created by Large Capacity Field Heaters and the Tactical Cargo and Rotary Wing Aircraft Decontamination systems deliver a specified high level of heat to the enclosure for a specified length of time. “If we started at a level of contamination and then run the decon process, and we see that the contamination is lower, we’ve met our goal, regardless of the decon system,” said Nemes. The last several chem/bio tests over the past years at Edwards were buildups testing the decontamination system, technology, and also the risk mitigation on using an actual aircraft. Testing will be conducted with AF-04 through December, and if all goes well, additional testing will be conducted with a Marine Corps F-35B from the operational fleet early 2017. That effort will be the final decontamination tests for the F-35 Joint Program Office.
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ALS graduates 26 future NCOs By Kenji Thuloweit 412th Test Wing Public Affairs
Club Muroc hosted the latest graduating class from the Airman Leadership School Aug 11. Class 16F saw 26 senior Airman, not only from Edwards but from across the Air Force, take the next step towards more responsibility and possibly entering the noncommissioned officer ranks. Congratulations to those Airmen who completed an important assignment in their Air Force careers.
ALS Class 16F
Airman Leadership School Class 16F graduated Aug. 11. (U.S. Air Force photo by Joseph Gocong)
Chyanne Walker, 412th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Dominique Lyles, 412th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Bobby Gonzales, 412th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Ernest Vang, 412th Communications Squadron Peggy Henley, 412th Force Support Squadron Teandre Pacheco, 412th Force Support Squadron Nicholas Loar, 412th Maintenance Squadron Nicholas Covello, 412th Security Forces Squadron Huey Doan, 412th Security Forces Squadron Cedric Grant, 412th Security Forces Squaron Graham Dawson, 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron
Christina Mighty, 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron Daniel Abston, 912th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (March Air Reserve Base, California) Michael Cotten, 912th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Marco Arellano, 912th Air Refueling Squadron (March Air Reserve Base, California) Aaron Jackson, 912th Air Refueling Squadron Cedric Burrell, 187th Medical Group (Alabama Air National Guard) Famellajaimie Gregorio, 154th Civil Engineer Squadron (Hawaii Air National Guard) Kelsey Janckila, 148th Logistics Readiness Squadron (Minnesota Air National Guard)
Jaden Foor, 193rd Special Operations Maintenance Squadron (Pennsylvania Air National Guard) Brett Darensbourg, 147th Combat Communications Squadron (California Air National Guard) Michael Charsar, 171st Communications Flight (Pennsylvania Air National Guard) Mark Seidenberg, 452nd Maintenance Squadron (March ARB) Elvia Sanchez, 452nd Air Mobility Wing (March ARB) Phillip Houk, 8th Space Warning Squadron (Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado) Corey Fugate, 349th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (Travis Air Force Base, California)
Edwards AFB STEM program helping to inspire Antelope Valley youth
Commentary by Kerri Cortez 412th Test Wing Plans and Programs
The Edwards AFB Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program is rising to the challenge of promoting opportunities available for those interested in or already pursuing an education in one of the STEM disciplines. Though the Air Force has a nationwide STEM program, Edwards’ program focuses on reaching out within the Antelope Valley. There has been a concerted effort behind this task and the base organizations involved have successfully reached over 3,100 young students in the last year with information about the program. By doing this, the program has been able to make long-term connections with local schools and after-school programs. These connections can benefit many children and young adults as they make decisions for their future studies. The largest event Edwards STEM participated in was last October’s “Salute to Youth” at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. The annual event lets students from the community mingle with industry professionals and learn about various careers. The Edwards STEM program was awarded “Most Interactive Booth.” The booth focused on new interactive robotics. Due to the success of the booth and the event, Edwards STEM was able to make contact with 2,600 student attendees. Edwards STEM also had the pleasure of working with a Civil Air Patrol squadron from Bakersfield, Calif. CAP leadership was able to arrange
their week-long summer camp close to Edwards so that 51 cadets could take a tour of the base. They were able to see the F-22 Raptor and Global Hawk, have lunch at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, tour the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and visit the Air Force Flight Test Museum. Edwards STEM was able to donate funds to offset the cost of the summer camp for the cadets. Edwards STEM program also attended a career day at Helendale Elementary School located in Helendale, Calif. Fifteen volunteers from Edwards, which consisted of engineers, pilots and scientists, gave presentations on the different fields that one can enter with the STEM program. This resulted in 500 students learning about the variety of studies that STEM encompasses and how the students can get involved. Edwards STEM hosted students from the Aerospace Institute in Palmdale, Calif., to educate young students on the types of technological advancements that are occurring. The STEM team hosted a tour of the base for 30 students. Edwards STEM is a growing program that continues to seek out new ways to reach the local community. The program does not just want to educate students, but also inspire them to see that their dreams are achievable. (U.S. Air Force graphic) Future events that Edwards STEM is looking forward to joining are an educational fair on base, and Antelope Valley Salute to Youth 2016 in October. For further information on Edwards AFB’s STEM program, or to find ways to become involved, please contact program director Humberto Blanco at humberto.blanco@us.af.mil, or visit www.edwards.af.mil/stem.
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This Week in Edwards Flight Test History On Aug. 16, 1948 the XF-89 Scorpion made its first flight, flown by Northrop test pilot Fred C. Bretcher. The twin-jet night fighter was selected by the Air Force after a fly-off with the XF-87 and the Navy’s Douglas XF3D-1 Skyknight because of its potential for development. (Edwards History Office file photo)
Fee-free layaways for holidays Army and Air Force Exchange Service Public Affairs
Once again, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service is offering fee-free layaway for Airmen, families and retirees who want to get a jump-start on their holiday shopping and keep gifts hidden safely out of sight from prying eyes. Starting Sept. 1, the Edwards Exchange will waive the $3 service fee for items that are placed on layaway and paid for by Dec. 24—including toys and bikes. Purchases of $25 or more are eligible for the layaway plan. “By waiving the service fee, the Edwards Exchange is giving military shoppers extra incentive to consider layaway, both as a budgeting tool and as a way to keep snooping loved ones from finding their gifts before the big day,” said Edwards Exchange General Manager, Chad Davis. “With a few months to go before the holidays, shoppers can start checking off their gift lists - and keep those presents safely hidden.” A deposit of 15 percent is required to hold items on layaway. Shoppers can visit customer service at the Edwards Exchange for complete program details and eligibility information.
Back to School
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Base schools opened up Monday, Aug. 15. Parents and drivers in the housing and school areas are reminded to slow down, use the proper dropoff lanes and don’t make u-turns. There is increased traffic around the school areas so always be cautious.
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Commander, 412th TW ................. Brig. Gen Carl Schaefer Installation Support Director ..................... Dr. David Smith Command Chief .............. Chief Master Sgt. Todd Simmons Director, 412th TW, Public Affairs ................... Ed Buclatin Editors ........................... Kenji Thuloweit, Christopher Ball Contributor ................................................. Dawn Waldman To submit articles or upcoming events send an email to newsroom@edwards.af.mil
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