New Horizons: Life Cycle Management Center plan and future opportunities revealed

Published March 6, 2015
By Justin Oakes
66th Air Base Group Public Affairs

NEWTON, Mass. -- With more than 3,000 Air Force programs falling under the Life Cycle Management Center umbrella, Lt. Gen. John Thompson, the center's commander, revealed his plan for the way ahead to an audience that will potentially help the military reach its goals and deliver needed capabilities to the warfighter.

Focused on processes, people and products, the commander and myriad other speakers addressed more than 400 industry, academic and government attendees during the annual Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association's New Horizons symposium here March 3.

Centered on Hanscom Air Force Base-managed programs, the symposium is sponsored by the Lexington-Concord Chapter of AFCEA and serves as the primary means of making industry aware of Hanscom weapons system acquisition opportunities.

"This is our most important industry event this year," said Steve Wert, Air Force program executive officer for Battle Management. "Make no mistake, our mission starts with partnering with industry. That's how we get things done."

At the forefront of the event was a topic that applied to many -- cyber security.

"We've worked very closely with our industry partners, and this year, Dr. William LaPlante, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, has approved LCMC to execute a 2015 cyber campaign plan," said Thompson. "We have a rock solid systems engineering process that we've used in the materiel enterprise for decades, but we need to make sure that we incorporate cyber security/system security engineering into that standard process."

In addition to integrating security into the engineering process, the campaign plan also includes improving operational cyber mission thread analysis.

The mission thread analysis itself involves: mapping out the mission, determining vulnerabilities, identifying risks and recommending mitigation and program actions.

The general used personnel recovery as a prime example.

"It's very complicated, and there are tons of cyber-oriented systems involved in that kind of assessment," Thompson said, referencing items such as communications, precision navigation, voice over internet protocol and crypto equipment.

Another aspect of the cyber campaign centers on workforce development.

"I've got 26,000 employees working on 3,000 programs every day, and I need to make sure they are cyber savvy," Thompson said.

According to the general, development includes everything from building small teams of experts to ensuring people have the right tools and necessary education.

In addition to the LCMC commander discussing future plans of the center, both Hanscom program executive officers presented and identified a variety of potential business opportunities for industry attendees.

For more information, visit http://www.hanscom.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123441067