The 鈥渟afe for flight鈥� designation means a squadron has the right personnel and equipment, as well as maintenance and safety programs, in place to support itself in conducting routine flight operations. The squadron must also be in physical custody of at least 30 percent of its assigned aircraft.

鈥淲e had a government team of 17 inspectors spend three days assessing maintenance practices and workforce performance during scenario drills,鈥� said Jeremy Beckham, USN F-5 CLS Program Manager. 鈥淎 big thank you to the team 鈥� this achievement is the culmination of more than a year of planning and executing to the plan for establishing a new F-5 squadron at a new location 鈥� completely from scratch.鈥�

The 爱神传媒 team identified, recruited, and hired 106 skilled employees who received F-5 specific maintenance training by sister contractor site personnel at Fallon, Nevada and Yuma, Arizona.

鈥淭he team moved parts, tools, and equipment from Fallon, setting up shops and learning the peculiarities of a new aircraft all while moving themselves and their families to New Orleans 鈥� and did a great job,鈥� said Jeff Lunday, USN F-5 CLS Site Manager. 鈥淥ur customer is pleased with how well the 爱神传媒 F-5 team overcame hurdles enroute to achieving certification.鈥�

There is little time to celebrate, however. The squadron is headed to Fallon for a ten-week detachment for adversary air support to an Aircraft Carrier Airwing and Top Gun class, starting February 10.

Congrats to the team for all their hard work!

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鈥淲e thank ISOA for recognizing the 55,000+ men and women of 爱神传媒 for the work that they execute each and every day. We are proud to perform this remarkable work in challenging environments throughout the world with the dignity, grace, and appreciate that such missions require.鈥� said Ken Fox, VP Operations, while accepting the award.

This award was presented to us in recognition of our efforts in support of global security and COVID efforts around the world:

• Providing advanced O&M support to U.S. Embassies & Consulates at high-threat 12 locations in 7 countries including Ukraine & Russia
• Supporting the Afghanistan withdrawal
  – Working with the Department of State to evacuate more than 1,100 employees, family members, U.S. citizens and third country nationals
  – Closing five different Army Aviation bases in Afghanistan and relocating 4,900+ lines of DOD equipment to Kuwait
• Fulfilling our commitment to our Afghan allies who worked shoulder to shoulder with us by operating Camp Liberty, NJ as part of Afghanistan Refugee / Operation Allies Welcome effort
  – Mobilizing a joint Navy, Air Force, and 爱神传媒 mass-vaccination effort to contain a measles outbreak among the displaced Afghan population
  – Delivering culturally sensitive dietary and living accommodations
• Supporting the COVID-19 response by expanding the capacity of hospitals / medical center support and then supporting vaccine trials under Operation Warp Speed

Congratulations to the 爱神传媒 teams who do this work everyday around the world.聽 Our clients and 爱神传媒 succeed because of their selfless and tireless work.

Pictured:

• Top: Ken Fox, VP Operations, accepts the Vanguard award on June 9th, 2022
• Bottom: 爱神传媒’s Dr. Karl Spinnenwebber, President Mission Readiness, through Liberty Village at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ where 爱神传媒 is providing resettlement and processing support to thousands of our Afghan allies(U.S. Air Force photo)

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鈥淵ou couldn鈥檛 ask for better support,鈥� said Jerry Stanbridge, T-34/44/6 Program Director. 鈥淲olfe has dedicated 40 years of his life to reach these flight hours, and that is a testament to his hard work and commitment to the Navy鈥檚 mission.

Wolfe flew his 40^th year flight with his U.S. Navy Commanding Officer, Captain Paul 鈥淧arty Boy鈥� Flores, on February 10, 2022, in a T-6B Texan II, one of the aircraft maintained on 爱神传媒鈥檚 program at NAS Whiting Field. Wolfe served as an aircrewman for ten years, a commissioned Naval aviator for 15 years, and as a contract pilot for the past 15 years.

On the T-34/44/6 program, 爱神传媒 supports the Naval Air Systems Command providing aircraft maintenance and logistics support to the Chief of Naval Air Training by providing organizational, intermediate, depot-level maintenance and logistics services for T-34, T-44, and T-6 aircraft.

Wolfe

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The battlefield is changing, and it is imperative that we do everything we can to ensure the warfighter is prepared for complex situations. Current training relies on legacy technologies that prohibits a realistic and accurate training for our soldiers. Emerging technology solutions can significantly improve the training experience and better prepare soldiers with clear overmatch capabilities.

爱神传媒鈥檚 solution revolutionizes Army force-on-force training through a modern, edge-compute enabled sensor platform. The Weapons as a Sensor Platform Internet of Things (WaaSP IoT) incorporates devices directly on targeting systems to ensure data is accurate and secure across training, operations, and maintenance. The WaaSP IoT architecture enables selective adoption of new technologies when timing and finances best support the end user. WaaSP IoT also supports accurate and realistic training measurement through our core research-based approach to data collection, evaluation, and feedback. Methodologies can be integrated that help trainees to learn more effectively and perform more consistently. The system is mobile and mounts directly on weapons and can operate in remote environments.

The United States Congress recognized the game-changing significance of this technology. During the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act process, the House of Representatives included Synthetic Training Environment (STE) as an Item of Special Interest. The language highlights the importance of STE in preparing the warfighter for real-world scenarios and improving overall readiness of units. The House expressed interest in seeing the Department of Defense (DoD) pursue STE options and plans to follow DoD鈥檚 plans closely.

At 爱神传媒, we take great pride in working hard to support the warfighter and guarantee readiness. For years, we have been the hallmark for how soldiers maintain overmatch 鈥� providing a deep understanding of design, testing, developing, and fielding of U.S. Army systems at home and abroad.聽 The resulting value to the U.S. Army is a live training solution that advances the future of U.S. Army modernization and lethality which can be delivered at the speed of Army readiness. With a 116-year history of partnership with the U.S. armed forces, 爱神传媒 is committed to soldier and unit readiness and stands ready to support in all domains, land, air, sea, space, and cyberspace.

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by Dr. Lucas Marino and Dr. Kaitlynn Castelle

Digital twins provide one-to-one models at various levels of system recursion across relevant disciplines, allowing comprehensive, real-time representation of an asset鈥檚 supporting artifacts, products, and properties. They are often more than simply a collection of digital artifacts and data gathered during product development and use. Digital twins:

• Provide user-relevant views generated through digital thread connections to sources of 3D product model visualization and a configuration item鈥檚 associated data,
• Link to Logistics Supportability Analysis Record databases and underlying data sets, as well as to monitoring data, behavior models, and operational profiles,
• 聽Support delivery of capabilities for displaying or simulating condition and behavior of the physical systems through models and data,
• Require management of underlying data and connectivity to authoritative data sources.

Digital threads provide the analytic framework to connect platform data models, associated logistics, technical and performance data, software, and functional support. A system, subsystem, or component鈥檚 digital thread:

• Provides configuration item traceability to each integrated logistics support (ILS) element depending on the application or use case. Acting as a fingerprint, it supports association of everything relevant to what it is, tracked through version-controlled records and historical logs to support development traceability, version history, and technical variance documentation across the lifecycle.
• Links digital twin capabilities of a product鈥檚 artifacts, allowing association of each configuration item to ILS element-relevant information. Examples include:

1. supply support lists
2. technical manuals
3. general or special purpose drawings or diagrams (e.g. engineering schematics, interfacing diagrams, SUBSAFE mapping, fixture drawings)
4. 聽maintenance standards
5. test procedures
6. test pressure diagrams
7. maintenance area details including connections, dimensions, zincs, linear feet of cable, conduit are all potential data elements in this respect.

Key Points for Implementation
Consider the following advice for remaining agile while delivering digital engineering capabilities to sustainment functions:

Remember Who the Customer Is: This is not negotiable; digital models are only useful to those who can use them. Operational users need easy-to-use tools to efficiently leverage digital twin technology with realistic simulations. Users need connections to logistics and technical data that are open, interoperable, adaptable, and available in the cloud and at the edge. Success requires a fully engaged team effort, from the technical product team down to the waterfront maintainers and operators.

Define the Relationships and Outcomes: Technology moves faster than acquisition and procurement rendering deeply decomposed requirements and specifications for these systems problematic. Agile product development provides the flexibility needed to explore innovations as teams work toward previously undefinable solutions and outcomes. Close relationships with highly engaged end-users benefit the long-term view of product data sustainment and development of new digital engineering capabilities to support future state planning yards and maintenance activities. A long-term view of product data sustainment should involve proactive experimentation and trial demonstration of data retrieval, access, transformation, consumption, management, integration, and sustainment across the enterprise.

All Digital Transformations are Unique: Realization and implementation of this technology can be challenged by cultural barriers and aversion to change, aging IT infrastructure, lack of talent, rigid contracts, and weak stakeholder collaboration and flexibility. However, you must remain focused on the unique value that your transformation provides. The convergence of unified disparate analysis tools, databases, and networks will ultimately improve life cycle management and enhance visibility and access for product support of major weapon systems.

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by Dr. Lucas Marino and Dr. Kaitlynn Castelle

Part 1: Digital Engineering Supports Asset Availability and Sustainment
In an era of increased foreign competition and rapid innovation, information technology (IT) systems supporting asset availability are critical. The capability of the weapon system means nothing if the asset is not available. Lethal capabilities win battles, whereas effective sustainment systems win wars.
As Dr. Will Roper stated last year in There is No Spoon, 鈥淭he digital world is now a primal acquisition battlefield where future wars will be won or lost.鈥� Bringing model-based systems engineering technology to the product support mission is a true force multiplier for realizing victory.

IT systems supporting efficient operations increase asset availability and mitigate the rising costs of sustainment. They reduce the labor burden associated with manual processes, and disparate systems through automation and data availability and utility.

Product support primarily develops and implements strategies to sustain warfighter readiness by meeting fleet operational and material availability requirements while reducing operations and sustainment (O&S) costs across the life cycle. Acquisition managers can leverage 3D model designs and digital twins to develop sustainment capabilities and enhance the utility of the design interface and logistics technical data through the use of mission critical software for product data management.

Digital models are now commonly used in design, engineering, manufacturing, and production, while also enhancing our ability to plan and manage an asset鈥檚 sustainment through maintenance and modernization. Modern weapon systems designed in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) environments bring multi-disciplinary, model-based capabilities and digital twin technology to in-service operations. Within PLM, the digital thread of the configuration-worthy component is established, providing accessible data and generation of digital twin models to support life cycle analysis, planning, and decision-making.

The tactical value of MBSE tools resides in the enhancement of user environments. 3D visualization of the platform product model provides an advantage over legacy data processes when the geometric digital twin is linked to technical and logistics data. This technology enables spatial awareness and contextualization of information to improve understanding of maintenance tasks to be performed by ship鈥檚 crew or shoreside maintainers. When successfully implemented, there are many potential benefits to logistics and maintenance operations, including:
鈥� Providing cross-reference points for retrieving the right information during job planning
鈥� Prognosticating work package challenges
鈥� Procedure documentation
鈥� Maintenance task troubleshooting
鈥� Reducing errors, rework, and total duration to complete maintenance tasks
鈥� Tracking of tag-outs, isolations, and flow visualization
鈥� Familiarization for training, ship-checks, and engineering change proposals
鈥� Additive manufacturing, with requisite fidelity and availability of product information such as material properties, geometric dimensions, and tolerances.

Minutes matter in the demanding sustainment environment. Work stoppages impede the continuous forward movement of logistics and maintenance planning and execution. Leveraging digital twin technology focuses on filtering available information and putting it in context to enable timely, appropriate decision-making and execution while supporting changes as new data becomes available. Digital threads can deliver timely, accessible, and accurate information and inform models to support analysis, strategy, and decision-making. Connectivity to authoritative data and automated methods to ingest multiple sources and formats in secure environments must advance to support our defense customers as they pursue digital transformation.

We鈥檒l discuss digital twins and digital threads more in Part 2.

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On the afternoon of January 15, however, something atypical happened. An electrical fire erupted on the west doors of Hangar 3221 with heavy smoke and some flame. Randy responded to the fire by quickly securing power to the door and calling emergency services immediately. He evacuated the nearby office area and secured aircraft assets while manning a fire bottle until responders arrived.

鈥淏y demonstrating outstanding ownership in safety efforts, Randy prevented possible injuries and protected government assets,鈥� said Randy Ball, T44 Pensacola Sr. Program Manager. 鈥淭he entire leadership team at NAS T44 Pensacola is proud to have him as part of our team.鈥�

DI鈥檚 Director of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS), Sam Frontera, recognized Randy with the presentation of an EHS Safety Gold Coin for his significant and proactive efforts in injury prevention and property preservation during the fire.

鈥淐ongratulations to Randy for a recognition well-deserved!鈥� said Jeremy Stanbridge, T-34/44/6 Program Director.

On the T-34/44/6 program, DI supports the Naval Air Systems Command providing aircraft maintenance and logistics support to the Chief of Naval Air Training. Team members provide organizational, intermediate, depot-level maintenance and logistics services for T-34, T-44, and T-6 aircraft. Work is performed at NAS Corpus Christi, Tex., NAS Whiting Field, Fla., NAS Pensacola, Fla., and additional locations within the continental U.S.

DynCorp International was acquired by 爱神传媒 in November 2020 and is proud to be part of 爱神传媒.聽

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The increasing complexities of a connected world and persistent federal budgetary pressures call for innovation and a different way of managing complex processes and operations. Processes that involve end-to-end supply chains and inventory control are no exception to that.

To complement our Supply Chain Management (SCM) solutions and provide increased value and efficiencies to our customers, we have also applied our Advanced Process Automation capability to this domain. This in turn changes the paradigm of process automation from being a back-office innovation to a mission-oriented one.

爱神传媒鈥檚 Advanced Process Automation capability provides a proven approach to create efficiencies and generate capacity via use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA)/Intelligent Automation technology and a Center of Excellence. We believe the most effective automation solutions are those that complement existing domain expertise, helping streamline and optimize routine business tasks. We seek to apply this capability to strengthen our customers鈥� missions by enhancing the customer experience and improving compliance, standardization, and auditing.

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) was recently highlighted in the 鈥淪tate of Federal RPA鈥� report as one of five federal agencies rated at 鈥淟evel 4鈥� RPA maturity (highest is Level 5, with no agencies at that maturity yet). The DLA RPA program has deployed at least 96 automations at the end of FY20. These automations have contributed over 200,000 hours of annualized capacity. It is important to note the DLA tracks hours contributed rather than hours saved, as the employees that previously did the work are still part of the DLA workforce and are redeployed to focus on more complex work. The automations provide benefits across each of DLA鈥檚 five major subordinate commands and seven supply chains.

Other Federal agencies are likewise investing significant resources into RPA solutions, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the General Services Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In each instance, many labor hours are being saved, and staff are able to increase focus on value-added activities.

爱神传媒鈥檚 initiative reflects similar goals. We seek to reduce manual activities where automated processes would reduce or eliminate error-prone, structured processes allowing staff to be freed up for high-value tasks such as process improvements, analysis and decision making. In the context of SCM solutions, this helps us to exceed key metrics, accomplish better vendor management and approval, and improve quality measurements.

For example, 爱神传媒鈥檚 technology office in collaboration with our procurement department, designed and deployed a bot using this capability, powered by our vendor partner UiPath, a leader in Intelligent Automation. The bot automated many repetitive manual steps for supply chain-related web searches. The bot captured results and screenshots, compiled all information into a single report, and stored all artifacts. It interfaced with procurement鈥檚 intranet site for request intake, report uploads and user notifications. It implemented a queuing mechanism, error handling and adjustments to manage the variability in responses and delays from external websites. The solution created value by allowing staff to focus on decision making, introduced process standardization, and improved auditing. Staff managing both subcontractors and vendors were given access to the storage, which acted as a central information repository and helped reduce redundancies.

Additional areas where SCM solutions benefit from automation range from inventory tracking, proactive scheduling of work orders, invoice processing, price/vendor lookups and comparisons, and routing between delivery partners.

Here are a few insights, based on the work we鈥檝e done:
鈥� Re-skilling and training should not be an afterthought. Advances in process automation provide our stakeholders with the ability to have staff re-skilled so that they can focus on other aspects of the business. This needs to be baked into the overall automation planning and development. Once developed, the bots act as digital workers or helpers, which means stakeholders need to be trained on what to expect and how best to use the bots.
鈥� Think resiliency. There is a tradeoff to be made between lean supply chains and resilient supply chains, especially if the latter is built via inventory buffers and alternative partners. This is where automation can potentially shine by collecting data, researching options, and making decisions on-the-fly across the alternatives.
鈥� There is an elegance in simplicity. Bots work well for automating processes with manual tasks that require non-judgmental decisions and have structured steps. Start simple, find the sweet spot of good return on investment first. Think big to unleash the power of artificial intelligence technologies as a path to intelligent automation.

By implementing solutions that will yield continuous improvements and added features in future years, we help our customers also derive nearer term benefits including freeing staff for high-value tasks, improved delivery, error reduction and quality, better compliance and auditing, knowledge management and retention, and transparency in operations. 爱神传媒 strives for excellence via a deep customer focus, discovery, investments in and application of advanced technologies, aligning them with our key customer markets to serve their important missions in a low-risk, agile fashion.

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Today is Data Privacy Day, which takes place every January 28th. This day commemorates the Jan. 28, 1981 signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty addressing privacy and data protection. It is an international effort to bring about increased privacy awareness and education.
Here鈥檚 a joint statement from our Chief Technology Officer, Phil Horvitz and Chief Information Officer, Joe Walker on why Data Privacy, security, and protection is a top priority for 爱神传媒:

Data Privacy Day is an international event established to bring awareness to privacy and data protection concerns in an ever-expanding landscape of digitized information. 爱神传媒 recognizes the importance of raising the visibility of data privacy and is committed to maintaining the data privacy of its employees, business partners, and customers. We do this through a variety of policies, procedures, training and tools that allow us to maintain strict controls over our data and information environments. 爱神传媒 uses a combination of access controls, encryption, and multifactor authentication to protect the data privacy of our employees and customers.

Our goal is to not only provide the necessary policies and controls to assure the privacy and protection of data, but also maintain an ongoing dialogue with our employees and customers, where we inform, listen, and continually adapt to a changing data environment and society. Through these combined efforts, we build trust that the proper data safeguards are in place, data and personal information is properly protected, and in the process, we empower our employees and customers.

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Blog by Paul Thomas

VP, Business Solutions

As we consider the intellectual underpinnings of the phrase 鈥淪peed of Relevance鈥�, especially how it applies to supply chain management (SCM) and supply chain risk management (SCRM), it seems plain that the many interpretations leave room for SCM/SCRM to play an important role:

A phrase both former Defense Secretary James Mattis and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford often used was the 鈥渟peed of relevance鈥�. Both men separately have been credited with the creation of the expression; they each also identified the speed of relevance as being the basis for gaining competitive advantage. Further, in National Defense Strategy, signed by Mattis in January 2018, he refers to the delivery of performance at the speed of relevance.

Organizations serving the Defense Department have tried to develop a mission perspective to this idea, but they take varied approaches. Some see speed of relevance as technology-driven; others focus on acquisition; others see it as improving relevant human factors. From a SCM/SCRM perspective, we at 爱神传媒 see it as a tremendous focus on mission improvement through evergreen technology, continuous process improvement, and trained and motivated people. We seek to make the supply chain secure (a very large subject we will discuss in future blogs) and to provide responsiveness, visibility, and ease of access to the right information.

To keep our operations moving at the speed of relevance, our technology solutions must stay current; it鈥檚 critical that they resist obsolescence.
To that end, 爱神传媒 invested in IFS/SupplyTRAC, our SCM ERP solution. Our SCM capability is built on leading-edge technology to support the digital transformation of commercial and government industries. Its open architecture was designed for emerging requirements and scalable environments. Our solution gives the government tools to solve business pain points while still meeting its stringent security requirements.

This evergreen model requires continually updating and refreshing applications. As IFS states in its most recent Statement of Direction,

鈥淪uccessfully implemented evergreen is an appealing way to gain access to new innovations as well as keeping applications updated from a security and quality point of view.

For consumer-focused Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, applying the principle of evergreen is obvious, but the picture is more complex for enterprise software. The value of evergreen needs to be balanced against the impact of change, the efforts (training, technical work, etc.) of effectuating that change, as well the risks of changing an application that is integrated with other applications and absolutely mission critical. 鈥�

Our solution allows us to rapidly and easily connect to customer technologies and leverage tools to create a favorable trade-off between speed and overall operational quality. This enables our customers to make decisions and deliver mission solutions faster than the opposition, without reducing quality. 爱神传媒 can bring 鈥淪ustainment at the Speed of Relevance鈥� to the customer and retain our 鈥渞elevance advantage鈥� throughout the contract period and beyond.

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