Communications Squadron team provides cost-effective knowledge operations support

  • Published
  • By Bryan Ripple
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The 88th Communications Squadron’s Knowledge Operations Policies and Technologies Branch provides operationally focused and cost-effective support through technologies that sustain organizational knowledge management.

Formerly known as the Web Software and Development team, they are now frequently consulted for questions about information technology and how it can be used for knowledge operations.

“There’s data, but to become information and knowledge, you have to be able to collect that data and present it in a way that is useful to the mission,” said James Silhacek, branch chief. “You can do that manually or you can enlist information technology to facilitate collecting that data to present it in a useful manner.”

“If there is a real need for an information technology solution to make a process or office more efficient, they can contact us, we take a look at their requirements and provide them with a solution to meet those requirements. We conduct a cost-benefit analysis and go from there,” said Silhacek, but he emphasized that “Our team currently supports 88th Air Base Wing and tenants that have requested that mission support in their host-tenant support agreements.”

Silhacek and his team still maintain four legacy websites which are widely used across Wright-Patterson AFB including the Base Visitor Request System, MeetMe Base Teleconference Scheduling System, BasePhoto Scheduling, and the Firewall Exception Request Tool.

The team created a series of three certified and accredited secure websites for the 88th Security Forces Squadron that comprise the Base Visitor Request System. The user website is used to request permission for someone to come onto the base without an escort; the vetting website is used by 88th SFS personnel to clear people to enter the base, and the third website is used at the base gates and provides all the information needed for those people who have been vetted to be on the base for a particular date.

“The FERT has also proven to be instrumental in providing information and reports that uniquely answered several DOD cyber data calls that were unanswerable through other means, once again demonstrating its value to the information assurance and cyber missions,” Silhacek said.

The team fulfills the role of the SharePoint site collection administrator for the 88th ABW and supported tenants, working closely with various site owners across the base, providing the background work that isn’t visible to most people. They help site owners set up and maintain their sites and distribute guidance received from headquarters on matters such as file maintenance or required SharePoint upgrade actions.

The branch is the go-to place on base for SharePoint solutions. As a cost-savings measure, Silhacek and his team are moving from creating and maintaining legacy websites to providing information technology on supported systems such as SharePoint. Several applications have been created using technical solutions on platforms such as SharePoint and have saved users countless hours and even days, or weeks-worth of work in manually producing reports in response to requirements from higher headquarters, said Silhacek.

“We’re fulfilling user requirements while saving huge amounts of funding because new websites won’t have to be certified and accredited, which is a very expensive process,” he said.

Silhacek’s team has also been working with the 88th SFS this year to collect requirements and design a SharePoint solution to replace an antiquated, unsupported, and uncertified Random Antiterrorism Measure website supporting 61 accountable offices on the base. A functional product has been produced for the current SharePoint 2007 platform and one is being built for future deployment on the SharePoint 2013 platform when the AFMC migration is complete. In addition, an Antiterrorism Self Inspection Tool consisting of a suite of supporting tools and processes has been created in SharePoint to replace antiquated self-inspection tools currently being used by 88 SFS. These efforts directly impact the installation force protection posture of the base with supportable products that won’t need a costly certification and accreditation.

Another successful SharePoint solution Silhacek’s team has created is the Survivors Benefit Plan Appointment Scheduler.

“It definitely gives us much better flexibility,” said Bill Mayo, a casualty assistance officer and survivors benefit counselor with the 88th Force Support Squadron. “We do almost 450 retirees a year. We can control the database scheduling for holidays, or limit traffic during times of lower manning. Our users can also cancel or reschedule their appointment easily and the system will let us know.”

The branch is the Air Force Portal administrator for the 88th ABW and supported tenants. The portal is mostly for “static” content, or information that doesn’t change often such as where an organization is located or what services are provided, whereas SharePoint is used for document collaboration.

The branch authors Wright-Patterson AFB Instruction 33-301, Enterprise Information Services (EIS) and the Air Force (AF) Portal, which provides local guidance for the use of SharePoint and the AF portal by base personnel.

Finally, they are the technical administrator for the Air Force Common Output Level Standards program maintaining role permissions for contributors and viewers within SharePoint for the base. AFCOLS was established to standardize the delivery of installation support so that Airmen and other users will have common experiences and expectations from base to base.

“Our primary function is to manage the knowledge within the 88th Air Base Wing and display that knowledge in the most efficient way possible. It all goes back to document/data content management. So ask yourself if there is a way to make your process or your user’s process more efficient and give us a call. We’ve got some incredibly sharp technologists that are doing wonders with SharePoint,” said Silhacek.

Sheree Coon, Chief of the Knowledge Management Center, cautions users not to expect this to happen overnight.

“Thought to product takes longer than a week or two. It’s longer than a month or two in some cases. It is a process and this team has a very-defined process. We collect requirements from the user so the better they know what their requirement is and the better they define it, the faster the branch can come up with a solution. For instance, the RAMs solution has been about a year in the making,” she said.

For more information, contact the 88th Communications Squadron’s Knowledge Operations Policies and Technologies Branch business line at 937-255-6050 or email them at 88.CS.SCOKW@us.af.mil.