The United States Air Force and the Culture of Innovation, 2002, *
Author : Center for Air Force History (U.S.)
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 37,8 MB
Release : 2002*
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ISBN :
Author : Center for Air Force History (U.S.)
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 37,8 MB
Release : 2002*
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Author : Department of Defense
Publisher :
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 15,38 MB
Release : 2017-04-14
Category :
ISBN : 9781521069943
This exceptional work demonstrates in fine detail how the application of systems management by the United States Air Force to its ballistic missiles and computer programs not only produced critical new weapons, but also benefited American industry. Systems management harmonized the disparate goals of four interest groups. For the military it brought rapid technological progress; for scientists, new products; for engineers, dependability; and for managers, predictable cost. The process evolved, beginning shortly after the end of World War II, when Gen. Henry H. "Hap" Arnold directed that the Army Air Forces (later the U.S. Air Force) continue its wartime collaboration with the scientific community. This started as a voluntary association, with the establishment of the Scientific Advisory Board and Project RAND. At first represented by Gen. Bernard A. Schriever's ballistic missiles program, ARDC bypassed traditional organizational structures. Schriever's Western Development Division (WDD), located at Inglewood, California, made its case, based upon the Soviet Union's nuclear threat, to engage in the race to develop long-range ballistic missiles. Ultimately, Schriever's new project management and weapons systems procedures-concurrency-produced a family of missile and space vehicles. However, in bypassing administrative red tape, this development also eliminated some necessary checks and balances that led to a series of flight test failures and cost overruns. Topics and subjects covered include: ARDC, AMC, missiles, space vehicles, ICBMs, RAND, MITRE, Ramo-Wooldridge, computer control, General Hap Arnold, Dr. Theodore von Karman, Brig. General Donald L. Putt, Convair, Titan rocket, Atlas rocket, Minuteman missile, Whirlwind computer, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, SAGE, Sputnik crisis, BOMARC, F-106. Chapter 1 - Complexity and the Organization of Research and Development * Ballistic Missiles * Automation of Command and Control * Technical Complexity and Systems Approaches * Systems Management * A Social Story of Air Force R&D * Conclusion * Notes * Chapter 2 - Building the Air Force of the Future * Army Aircraft Procurement Through World War II * Forming Organizations to Communicate with the Technologists * Development Planning and the Organization of the DCS/D * The Rise of the Weapon System Concept * Conclusion * Notes * Chapter 3 - Building the Weapon of the Future: Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles * ICBMs and Formation of the WDD * Establishing WDD's Authority * Applying the System Concept * Systems Engineering from the Ridenour Report to Ramo-Wooldridge * Testing Concurrency * Responding to Failure: The Creation of Configuration Control * The Systems Approach in Industry * Conclusion * Notes * Chapter 4 - To Command and Control * The Navy's Problem Child * The Air Force Reaps the Whirlwind * Organizing a Controversial Computer Project * Learning to Develop a System * Semi-Automatic Air Defense * RAND Enters the Scene * Programming Crisis and Response * Conclusion * Notes * Chapter 5 - Standardizing the Systems Approach * The Researchers' Refusal: The Formation of SDC and MITRE * Profiting from the Inside: From TRW to Aerospace Corporation * Ad Hoc Organization for Electronics * Schriever Takes Command * Standardizing Systems Management * McNamara, Phased Planning, and Central Control * Conclusion * Notes * Chapter 6 - Securing the Technological Future * Recruiting the Scientists and Engineers * Solving the Puzzle of Complexity * Reconciling Political Interests * The Schriever Factor * Paths Not Taken * Founding the Future
Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 117 pages
File Size : 16,81 MB
Release : 2016-11-10
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 0309451159
The Air Force (USAF) has continuously sought to improve the speed with which it develops new capabilities to accomplish its various missions in air, space, and cyberspace. Historically, innovation has been a key part of USAF strategy, and operating within an adversary's OODA loop (observe, orient, decide, act) is part of Air Force DNA. This includes the ability to deploy technological innovations faster than do our adversaries. The Air Force faces adversaries with the potential to operate within the USAF's OODA loop, and some of these adversaries are already deploying innovations faster than the USAF. The Role of Experimentation Campaigns in the Air Force Innovation Life Cycle examines the current state of innovation and experimentation in the Air Force and best practices in innovation and experimentation in industry and other government agencies. This report also explores organizational changes needed to eliminate the barriers that deter innovation and experimentation and makes recommendations for the successful implementation of robust innovation and experimentation by the Air Force.
Author : Caitlin Lee
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 11,78 MB
Release : 2016
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ISBN :
Author : Orson S. Porter
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 29,17 MB
Release : 2023
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ISBN :
The United States Air Force (USAF) is seeing a shift in global powers. In order to stay ahead of the new threat of near-peer advisories, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force established a plan, Accelerate Change or Lose. In this plan, General Charles Q. Brown asks USAF personnel to become innovative problem solvers. One way to bridge this gap is to use the small business innovative research (SBIR) program. Through this program, the USAF funds small businesses with innovative products, technologies, or services and then integrates them into current USAF systems. The USAF started Pitch Day in 2019 to rapidly fund and contract with innovative companies, with a goal to integrate their products, technologies, or services for end users within the USAF. Shortly afterwards the USAF created AFWERX to standardize process. Both USAF employees and private sector companies were interviewed in a semi-structured format. USAF employees over each of the processes were interviewed to fully understand the USAF's approach. Fifty-two companies were also interviewed and the semi-structured format allowed for open-ended questions and provided unfiltered responses. The information provided by the interviews was then analyzed and overarching themes were identified. The baseline processes are mapped, and the various inputs and outputs required by the USAF and the private sector companies are then added to the baseline process. Social behavior is also added to the process models, which creates a holistic view of the entire system. The social behaviors include both enablers and barriers and include both formal and informal processes. The models help explain how companies move through the entire AFWERX system from Phase 1 to Phase 3, explain how the contracting process works for each solicitation and contract, and explains the possible factors that can lead to the "Valley of Death." Within each of these different process flow models, feedback and balancing loops explain how informal requirements actually impact the formal requirements, both positively and negatively. The purpose of this thesis is to propose a new framework that can better enable the USAF and companies to understand the complexities of the government-to-industry innovation system.
Author : Patrick L. Brady-Lee
Publisher :
Page : 24 pages
File Size : 31,62 MB
Release : 2017
Category : Corporate culture
ISBN :
When tracing the long legacy of Air Force culture, images of icons like Billy Mitchell, Hap Arnold, and Curtis LeMay emerge. These heroes often receive credit for the development and stewardship of the earliest concepts of Air Force culture. The United States Air Force’s ethos of innovation, an inclination to embrace bold action, and a willingness for cognitive risk taking enabled a budding service to become a longstanding and essential component of U.S. national security. U.S. Air Force culture plays a critical role in underpinning U.S. security. A review of how the culture of the Air Force has changed over the years provides useful insights to answer two critical questions. First, has the culture of the U.S. Air Force evolved or eroded and second, what effect does this have on U.S. National Security Strategy? Responses to these questions enable tactical, operational, and strategic level Air Force leaders to better influence the employment of culture in support of National Security objectives.
Author : David E. Shahady
Publisher :
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 21,81 MB
Release : 2008
Category : Military research
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Author : David L. Morris (CAPT, USAF.)
Publisher :
Page : 43 pages
File Size : 19,63 MB
Release : 1971
Category : Attitude (Psychology)
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Author :
Publisher :
Page : 104 pages
File Size : 23,66 MB
Release : 1984
Category : Technological innovations
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Author : United States. Air Force. Air Research and Development Command
Publisher :
Page : 44 pages
File Size : 19,61 MB
Release : 1952
Category : Science
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