Q&A: Colonel James E. Dennis
SERVICE M & S PROPONENT:
Leading U.S. Air Force M&S Operations
Across the LVC Environment
Colonel James E. Dennis
Commander
Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation
Colonel James E. “Spanky” Dennis is commander, Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation (AFAMS), Orlando, Fla.. AFAMS is the Air Force’s top-level modeling and simulation (M&S) policy implementation, integration and support agency. As commander, Dennis is responsible for the implementation, integration, support and transition of high-level M&S concepts and capabilities covering the full-spectrum of the AF mission.
Prior to this assignment, Colonel Dennis served as commander, Warrior Preparation Center (WPC), Einsiedlerhof Air Station, Germany. The WPC facilitates the training of component, joint and combined force commanders and their battlestaffs at the operational level of war by providing realistic exercises, mission rehearsals, and operational analysis support. The WPC is Europe’s premier simulation training organization, relevant and responsive today and into the future.
Dennis graduated from Valdosta State University, Georgia in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in international relations. An Air Force ROTC Distinguished Graduate, he received his commission as a second lieutenant in 1981. Dennis was awarded a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1996 and a Master of Science degree in national resource strategy from the National Defense University in 2004. He attended Undergraduate Navigator Training at Mather Air Force Base, Calif., and received his wings in 1982. He has an extensive fighter background in both the F-4 and the F-15E as a flight examiner and instructor. Dennis is also a Distinguished Graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School and the 1989 Tactical Air Command Instructor of the Year.
Dennis has extensive wartime and contingency background. He deployed numerous times as the 494th Fighter Squadron Detachment Commander to Operations Provide Comfort, Northern Watch, Deny Flight, Deliberate Force, Decisive Edge and Joint Endeavor, flying combat missions over Iraq and Bosnia. Colonel Dennis planned and led the first NATO airstrike against targets in the former Yugoslavia during Operation Deliberate Force. He assumed command of the 335th Fighter Squadron on June 1, 2001 and deployed to Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Anaconda and Iraqi Freedom with the Chiefs. Dennis also simultaneously commanded Joint Task Force Tiger during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In 2004 Colonel Dennis was selected by the secretary of the Air Force as the field grade officer who had made the most significant contribution to the global war on terrorism from 2001 to 2003 for his role in Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, Anaconda and Iraqi Freedom. Dennis was selected to attend the National War College Class of 2004 and graduated in June 2004. After graduation Colonel Dennis was assigned to the Combined Air Operations Center 9 as the director of operations where he was responsible to Allied Air Component Command Headquarters, Ramstein, to ensure effective command and control for all NATO and national forces under CAOC 9 authority.
Q: What is the mission of the Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation [AFAMS] and what is your job as commander?
A: AFAMS is a field operating agency reporting to the secretary of the Air Force, Office of Warfighting Integration and chief information officer. AFAMS is located in Orlando’s Central Florida Research Park, along with DoD, joint, service, industry and academic organizations focused on modeling and simulation [M&S]. Proximity to these agencies offers the Air Force maximum leverage and advantage of the developing training programs and technologies enabling the Air Force to provide combat-ready forces.
The mission of AFAMS is to:
- Facilitate the appropriate representation of air, space and cyberspace in M&S
- Maintain configuration control for and modernize selected models
- Establish high-level architectures, interoperable databases, protocols and standards
- Orchestrate and provide AF support for OSD, Joint and AF M&S activities
- Explore new warfighting concepts, roles and missions
- Ensure AF personnel have the appropriate M&S skills, experience and training
- Maintain AF M&S knowledge management
As AFAMS commander, my job is to lead Air Force M&S operations by managing, coordinating, integrating, and representing live, virtual and constructive [LVC] simulation capabilities across not only the Air Force, but to the joint community and the coalition. In addition, I provide AF M&S strategic guidance to meet the requirements of our warfighters.
Q: What are your agency’s top three priorities for fiscal year 2009?
A: AFAMS first priority for FY09 is to integrate LVC capabilities across the AF and accurately represent the air, space and cyber environment to the joint community. Our second and third priority is to provide exercise support and institute an M&S work force with supporting knowledge management environments. AFAMS has the lead on integrating an LVC training environment for the Air Force. As the office of primary responsibility, AFAMS coordinates with all MAJCOMS [Major Commands], JFCOM and sister services for ensuring interoperability across the entire DoD environment.
AFAMS continues to provide exercise support to AF, joint and coalition commands. AFAMS focuses on integrating the air, space and cyber constructive environment, which is a federation of air, space, and cyber simulations replicating AF capabilities to the joint task force commander, component commanders and tactical level warfighters. Some theater-level exercises we support include: European Commands’ Austere Challenge, Pacific Commands’ Ulchi Freedom Guardian, and Air Combat Commands’ Blue Flag. Ensuring AF personnel have the appropriate M&S skills, experience and training is a major priority for AFAMS. We will also maintain the AF M&S knowledge management environments and publicize the AF M&S story through M&S forums, conferences and technical interchange meetings.
Q: How does AFAMS support the evolving DoD live-virtualconstructive training environment?
A: AFAMS was named the office of primary responsibility for LVC training environments by the Command and Control [C2] Enabling Concept Program Action Directive [PAD] 07-13, signed by the chief of staff of the Air Force [CSAF] on January 28, 2008. The C2 PAD and the April 8th M&S Caucus directed the establishment of a persistent, on-demand cross-domain LVC training environment for the AF. AFAMS is in the process of executing a five-year plan addressing the technical and non-technical requirements, policy, POM and the development of metrics for measuring success of the LVC environment.
The new CSAF, General Norton A. Schwartz, has established his priorities for the Air Force. These include, reinvigorate the Air Force nuclear enterprise, partner with the joint and coalition team to win today’s fight, develop and care for airmen and their families, modernize our aging air and space inventories, and acquisition excellence. By establishing a persistent LVC training environment, AFAMS will be able to support these priorities by applying M&S capabilities across the DoD environment.
AFAMS is an active member of Team Orlando, a partnership among the services, industry, and academia working to leverage resources and contribute to the overall security of the United States. This partnership assists the AF to collaborate with the joint and coalition teams to promote M&S capabilities in an LVC training environment to win today’s fight.
Recently, AFAMS was tasked to develop and implement approaches for executing LVC integration in support of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance [ISR] training, experimentation, exercise and mission rehearsal. As a result of the focus on testing and training, the desired end-state of ISR feeds from existing simulations is the flexibility to support all ISR training requirements.
By establishing a persistent LVC training environment, we will continue to build partner capabilities and capacity through improved training, equipping and advising the warfighter.
Q: What are the fidelity shortfalls in the current generation of Air Force full-mission flight simulators? What are several of AFAMS’ efforts to increase the effectiveness of flight simulator mission time?
A: AFAMS does not work directly with the development and design of flight simulators. Our job is to integrate them into the LVC environment to enhance and fill training gaps in live exercises. Fidelity shortfalls vary across different weapon systems. We are starting to see higher rates of increased fidelity than we did just a few years ago. As technologies improve, we can expect a higher rate of return on investments and mission effectiveness. With an increase in levels of fidelity, training is more relevant and realistic and provides more effective training environments.
One area AFAMS is supporting to increase the effectiveness of flight simulator time is through our standardization efforts. Most simulator systems use visual displays generated from many types of databases. Unfortunately, many of these databases are not interoperable and in many cases are proprietary and very costly to buy, maintain and modify. By encouraging the standardization and modernization of databases and to the maximum extent possible, encourage open system architecture, AFAMS can help organizations improve their training effectiveness.
Q: Describe your agency’s progress to improve multi-level security and other security attributes of a networked simulation.
A: Multi-level security [MLS] is not a new challenge within the DoD or the M&S community. Always operating at the highest security level is not a useful approach as it limits participation and often requires upgrades in the simulations, which are not cost-effective. AFAMS is engaged with several ongoing MLS efforts currently conducted by the joint and coalition community and specific organizations. As the technology solutions are identified, we will support the LVC training environment by allowing all participants at all classification levels to share data across security enclaves as well as allowing simulation tempo to stay synchronized.
Q: How is AFAMS integrating cyber-warfare and other evolving missions into service and joint training events?
A: Integration of cyber-warfare and related mission areas into modeling and simulation capabilities is an ongoing and evolving process. Although some existing Air Force models currently possess cyber-warfare capabilities, a full set of defined requirements is not yet complete. AFAMS, the Air Force Information Operations Center and the cyber community are working together to collect and refine M&S requirements and capabilities for AF cyber-warfare. AFAMS supports this effort by providing M&S solutions to support operational and tactical training needs to fulfill identified gaps in training.
Q: DoD has conducted an M&S human capital strategy, how does that effect the Air Force M&S work force?
A: Throughout the DoD, the management, use and development of the M&S work force has historically been ad hoc, informal and unique to each service and DoD M&S community. M&S plays an integral part in the way the services train, educate, plan, analyze, acquire, test, rehearse and conduct operations. AFAMS completed an M&S work force analysis study in 2006. Based on the results of that study, a five-year M&S work force development strategy was developed with associated work force development, knowledge management and culturalization activities. These activities include courseware development, establishment of an M&S body of knowledge, establishment of special experience identifiers for military officers, as well as actions to establish a career track for a government civilian M&S workforce. It is AFAMS' goal to establish a standardized language and associated knowledge base for users, developers, managers and executivelevel personnel to effectively communicate ideas and issues and solve longstanding common problems within and across the diverse Air Force M&S communities.
Q: Your “help wanted list” of the three M&S-related technology challenges you need industry and the academic community’s help to solve.
A: There are many M&S-related technology challenges that need to be solved and the interest and support of industry and the academic community is crucial to the continued success of AF M&S missions.
In a perfect world we would be able to conduct an entire campaign where all the models and simulations talk to one another and everyone involved achieves their training objectives. We need industry’s help to provide the joint task force commander and combatant commanders a realistic training environment in which they cannot tell the difference between live, virtual or constructive. Additionally, we need to better support day-to-day training at the tactical level, especially with fifth generation weapon systems as they come online in the AF and joint community.The Air Force also struggles with having the right mix of M&S expertise at the awareness, application, management and executive levels. Academia and industry partners can support our ongoing efforts in the education and professional development of M&S personnel by offering advanced degrees, training at the application levels and continuing education credits.
We will need industry and academia to help us in our efforts to integrate LVC capabilities, standardization of databases and architectures, and support the M&S work force. ♦