Air Force Special Operations Command asked Air Force Materiel Command after the 2004 hurricane season to help it create an online emergency operations site. It had found that some 12,500 personnel overtaxed the single toll-free phone number for Hurlburt AFB, Fla., AFMC produced what it terms AFSOC’s Community of Practice (COP), using a collaborative Web system known as Air Force Knowledge Now. During the 2005 hurricane season, COP provided 24/7 access to evacuation and return notices and information about provisions, power outages, road closings. AFSOC officials call it “invaluable.”
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.