Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428990712
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 307
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Book Description
This history documents a watershed event within the United States Air Force -- the creation of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). As the "high technology" service, the Air Force has always searched for ways to continuously improve its science and technology enterprise. In that context, the making of AFRL was not a bureaucratic accident. Rather, it was the product of a complex mixture of historical forces and pressures at work that convinced people at all levels that the time was ripe to bring about fundamental reform in how the Air Force conducts its business of science and technology. In terms of significance, a wealth of past studies has focused on almost every aspect of the "operational" side of the Air Force. But there has been a scarcity of available scholarly studies that address the far-reaching implications of science and technology. This book is a major contribution that helps fill that gap. Organization and infrastructure are critically important components of the total science and technology picture. Thus, the manner in which its laboratory system is organized is a critical factor in the Air Force's ability to assure that it is investing in and delivering the most relevant technologies possible. This book documents how the Air Force moved from 13 separate labs to one consolidated lab. The narrative is divided into two parts. Part one addresses the reasons why the Air Force decided to consolidate its far-flung science and technology enterprise into one lab. How the new lab was implemented is the focus of part two. This study is especially revealing because the reader is given access to the inner workings and struggles of a major Air Force organizational restructuring through interviews with key individuals who participated directly in the decision-making process to establish a single lab. A chronology of the lab's creation is included. (19 tables, 22 figures, 19 photographs).
Author: Robert Duffner
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781478392323
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 328
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Book Description
Robert W. Duffner's Science and Technology: The Making of the Air Force Research Laboratory addresses the far-reaching implications of science and technology by recounting the events that led to the creation of a single Air Force laboratory. This engaging story of how the Air Force moved from 13 separate labs to one consolidated lab reflects that service's determination to reinvigorate its science and technology infrastructure and thereby strengthen the nation's defense for the twenty-first century. Part one considers why the Air Force decided to consolidate its far-flung science and technology enterprise into one lab, while part two relates how the service implemented the new lab. Dr. Duffner offers a unique perspective on a watershed event in the life of the United States Air Force.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781423522645
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 169
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Book Description
With a team of more than 5,200 scientists, engineers, and support personnel worldwide, the Air Force Research Laboratory is one of the most exciting organizations in the Air Force. AFRL team members are up close and personal with the discovery, development, and integration of cutting-edge technologies for today, tomorrow, and well into the future. AFRL is headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and is the Air Force's largest employer of scientist and engineers-about 3,000-of which more than 800 have doctorate degrees in science and engineering disciplines. These highly skilled and motivated people are critical in leading our government- industry- university team and in making technological and scientific breakthroughs. Our scientists and engineers push the limits of air and space, bringing critical technologies forward into the realm of application. This world-class laboratory harnesses the innovative ideas of the best minds in government, industry and academia to create the future of the Air Force. The men and women of AFRL defend America by unleashing the power of innovative science and technology. AFRL success Stories highlight the cutting-edge research performed within the laboratory. The following pages feature some of our most noteworthy successes during 2002. These stories are just the "tip of the iceberg" of AFRL technologies currently under development.
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030908895X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 78
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Book Description
Under mandate of Section 253, Study and Report on Effectiveness of Air Force Science and Technology Program Changes, of the Fiscal Year 2002 National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. Air Force contracted with the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct the present study. In response, the NRC established the Committee on Review of the Effectiveness of Air Force Science and Technology Program Changes-composed of academics, active and retired industry executives, former Air Force and Department of Defense (DoD) civilian executives, and retired general officers with acquisition and science and technology (S&T) backgrounds. The committee was to review the effectiveness of the Air Force S&T program and, in particular, the actions that the Air Force has taken to improve the management of the program in recent years in response to concerns voiced in numerous study reports and by Congress. The committee's principal charter was to assess whether, as a whole, the changes put in place by the Air Force since 1999 are sufficient to assure that adequate technology will be available to ensure U.S. military superiority. The committee conducted four open meetings to collect information from the Air Force and its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), the U.S Navy, the U.S. Army, and DoD. A great many factors influence any judgment of the S&T program's sufficiency in supporting future warfighter needs; these factors include threat assessment, budget constraints, technology opportunities, workforce, and program content. Given the relatively short time available for this study and considering the detailed reviews conducted annually by the SAB, the technical content of the S&T program was necessarily beyond the committee's purview. Rather, the committee focused on S&T management, including areas that have been studied many times, in depth, by previous advisory groups. Besides addressing technical content, those prior studies and congressional concerns highlighted four overarching S&T issues: advocacy and visibility, planning, workforce, and investment levels. In response, the Air Force instituted changes in S&T management. The NRC is requested to conduct a study to determine how changes to the Air Force science and technology program implemented during the past two years affect the future capabilities of the Air Force. Effectiveness of Air Force Science and Technology Program Changes reviews and assess whether such changes as a whole are sufficient to ensure the following: A. That concerns about the management of the science and technology program that have been raised by the Congress, the Defense Science Board, the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, and the Air Force Association have been adequately addressed. B. That appropriate and sufficient technology is available to ensure the military superiority of the United States and counter future high-risk threats. C. That the science and technology investments are balanced to meet near-, mid-, and long-term needs of the Air Force. D. That the Air Force organizational structure provides for a sufficiently senior level advocate of science and technology to ensure an ongoing, effective presence of the science and technology community during the budget and planning process. This report also assess the specific changes to the Air Force science and technology program as whether the biannual science and technology summits provide sufficient visibility into, and understanding and appreciation of, the value of the science and technology program to the senior level of Air Force budget and policy decision makers.
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309378338
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 58
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Book Description
In 2015, the Air Force Studies Board conducted a workshop, consisting of two data-gathering sessions, to review current research practices employed by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). Improving the Air Force Scientific Discovery Mission summarizes the presentations and discussions of these two sessions. This report explores the unique drivers associated with management of a 6.1 basic research portfolio in the Department of Defense and investigates current and future practices that may further the effective and efficient management of basic research on behalf of the Air Force
Author: Robert W. Robert W. Duffner
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781499274479
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
The thought of consolidating laboratories was not new. Over the last decade, this idea had grown out of the Packard Commission 's blue-ribbon study (begun in 1985) that looked at ways to operate the Department of Defense (DOD) in a more efficient and economical manner. David Packard, a former undersecretary of defense, headed a high-level team of investigators that focused on four core areas that were candidates for change: national security planning and budgeting, military organization and command, acquisition organization and procedures, and government-industry accountability. Packard 's final report, A Quest for Excellence (released in June 1986), proposed sweeping reforms, including substantial personnel reductions, to improve efficiency and save money in DOD. President Ronald Reagan directed implementation of the Packard Commission 's recommendations in National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 219, issued on 1 April 1986. The model acquisition-reform plan called for the establishment of "strong centralized policies through highly decentralized management structures."
Author: United States. Air Force. Office of Aerospace Research
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aeronautics, Military
Languages : en
Pages : 84
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Book Description
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309177014
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 177
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Book Description
The Air Force requires technical skills and expertise across the entire range of activities and processes associated with the development, fielding, and employment of air, space, and cyber operational capabilities. The growing complexity of both traditional and emerging missions is placing new demands on education, training, career development, system acquisition, platform sustainment, and development of operational systems. While in the past the Air Force's technologically intensive mission has been highly attractive to individuals educated in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, force reductions, ongoing military operations, and budget pressures are creating new challenges for attracting and managing personnel with the needed technical skills. Assessments of recent development and acquisition process failures have identified a loss of technical competence within the Air Force (that is, in house or organic competence, as opposed to contractor support) as an underlying problem. These challenges come at a time of increased competition for technical graduates who are U.S. citizens, an aging industry and government workforce, and consolidations of the industrial base that supports military systems. In response to a request from the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Science, Technology, and Engineering, the National Research Council conducted five fact-finding meetings at which senior Air Force commanders in the science and engineering, acquisition, test, operations, and logistics domains provided assessments of the adequacy of the current workforce in terms of quality and quantity.
Author: Stephen B. Johnson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308
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Book Description
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309076064
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 67
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Book Description
The Principal Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition requested that the National Research Council (NRC) review the Air Force's planned acquisition programs to determine if, given its scale, the highly talented scientific, technical, and engineering personnel base could be maintained, to identify issues affecting the engineering and science work force, and to identify issues affecting the aerospace industry's leadership in technology development, innovation, and product quality, as well as its ability to support Air Force missions.
