Information Technology Complex unveiled

  • Published
  • By Amy Rollins
  • Skywrighter Staff
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio --  The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) unveiled the new, $33 million Information Technology Complex (ITC), Bldg. 802, 2302 8th St., Area B, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, at an official ribbon cutting ceremony Oct. 5, presided over by Lt. Gen. C. D. Moore II, AFLCMC commander.

The event commemorated the construction, opening and transition of the Simulation and Analysis Division's Simulation and Analysis Facility (SIMAF) as well as the Air Force Research Laboratory DOD Supercomputing Resource Center (SRC). Ten years after project planning began, the opening of the ITC completes Phase I of five anticipated construction phases.

Keynote speaker General Moore, who said he admits to being a "card-carrying member of the SIMAF capability club for a number of years," thanked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, represented by Col. Luke Leonard, commander, for its contributions to the ITC project; Messer Construction Co., represented by Kevin Cozart, operations vice president, for its work as the prime contractor; Col. Cassie Barlow, 88th Air Base Wing commander, and the wing's Civil Engineer Directorate for their teamwork in bringing the project to fruition; and community members for their support.

"In these austere times, every penny invested in infrastructure matters -- every cent. I think this ITC facility will provide tremendous return on investment," General Moore said. "It's a capability we need to ensure our Air Force remains second to none."

Noting that the AFLCMC has a new motto -- "Providing the warfighter's edge" -- General Moore said there is no doubt in his mind that the Air Force has that warfighting edge over any potential adversary today.

"With facilities like this, we ensure that we never, ever lose that edge during our watch," the general said.

"In today's dynamic and rapidly changing world, our responsibility is to find 'those systems of systems,'" General Moore continued, "those families of systems - I call them cross portfolio solutions - that link together the capabilities for us to be able to solve complex capability gaps or deal with asymmetric choices we know are out there - this is the tool we need to make that happen."

Within its 60,000 square feet of space housing hardware and software, the facility has world-class modeling and simulation capabilities that will allow the Air Force to find the most cost-effective solutions to meet warfighters' needs, he said.

"This will be a hallmark capability of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for many, many years to come," General Moore said. "This will be a critically important tool for my organization, the Life Cycle Management Center, as we fulfill our mission to acquire and support war-winning capabilities for our Air Force, the Joint Commander and our nation."

Randyll Levine, ITC director and chief, AFL-CMC Program and Integration Directorate Zones, Simulation and Analysis Division, said the building's importance rests on its ability to offer program managers, warfighters and other customers the opportunity "to fly before you buy, providing a cogent level of confidence and familiarity with the systems under test to provide quality decision support and an underpinning by analysis."

The SIMAF program began in Bldg. 145 in 1999 with a single customer, a handful of projects and a $3 million budget. Today, the budget is about three times that amount, performing about 40 projects per year, Mr. Levine said.

An intriguing element of the building's tri-level design is its "green" roof -- a first for WPAFB -- covering part of the basement structure housing the SRC.

During the design of the ITC, the opportunity developed for additional square footage to SRC. A new requirement for a battery room was added to the building's original design and located beneath the entrance plaza. This ground-level roof presented itself as a viable candidate for a green-roof design. A plastic-tray grid system, similar to flower trays, applied on top of a waterproof membrane was devised and filled with noninvasive plantings requiring minimal maintenance. Access at ground level also was a plus for this type of roof.

"It was the 'perfect storm' for a green roof application and earned us LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods) points as well," Mr. Mitchell, senior architect in Civil Engineeering, said.

It is staffed by 90 people and contains workplace seating for up to 140, dedicated simulation bays housing fourth- and fifth-generation cockpit simulators and a variety of reconfigurable human and non-human simulations that represent other aircraft, radars, unmanned air vehicles, systems and ground stations and a multitude of other warfighting and weapons systems equipment, Mr. Levine said.

A 100-seat auditorium in the ITC will allow collaboration with customers, he noted.

The transition of equipment from Bldg. 145 will be completed by the end of 2012, led by Erik Pakulski, program manager, Simulation and Analysis Division.