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 F-35 Joint Program Office has officially announced plans to issue multiple sole-source contracts to Pratt & Whitney to upgrade the fighter’s F135 engine—a widely expected move after Pentagon officials indicated they would do so earlier this year instead of developing an entirely new engine.