USTRANSCOM commander’s message to the force: Tell your story

By Kessel Run Public Affairs

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HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass., (Feb. 06, 2024) – Airmen - serving both in and out of uniform - have the privilege and duty to share stories of their Air Force careers.

That’s exactly the message Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost, commander of U.S. Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., shared with Kessel Runners and others stationed at Hanscom during her visit here, Jan. 16, 2024.

Van Ovost's career in public service is inspirational. Her lessons in leadership, passion, and perseverance are commendable for anyone, regardless of whether they attain the rank of general in their lifetime.

“Public service is foundational to this nation,” Van Ovost said. “It gives you the opportunity to do things you never thought you would.”

In her current position, Van Ovost is one of only three women to have led a combatant command - a privilege and responsibility she doesn’t take lightly.

“You can’t aspire to be what you can’t see,” she said.

She said the Air Force was the first service within the Department of Defense to adjust their restrictions on women in combat positions, allowing them more job opportunities. The Air Force created a two-year step out program, pushed for paternity leave, and implemented changes to the recovery timeline for women to return to physical training standards after having a child.

“Those necessary changes were made because we saw a dip in retention at the 8- to 12-year mark and we didn’t want to lose our female service members,” said Van Ovost.

During her hour-long discussion, Van Ovost also emphasized Kessel Run’s innovation in software development, which gives USTRANSCOM leaders the capabilities to see and use real-time data to make decisions required to move equipment and personnel around the globe. Innovation in any service involves collaboration, problem-solving, and adaptability.

“There is nothing more compelling than seeing a successful you out there,” she said “You all have a great story – so tell it.”

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
Digital Directorate
HBB, Kessel Run
Public Affairs
Email: media@kr.af.mil

Kessel Run priorities aligned with National Defense Strategy

By Kessel Run Public Affairs

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BOSTON (September 7, 2023) – Kessel Run’s Operational Command and Control product line chief spoke with the organization here, Aug. 2, 2023, about her goals for delivering capabilities to warfighting Airmen, and ensuring alignment with the National Defense Strategy.

During her talk, Kelly Palaia discussed how she stepped into her current role and how her focus for OpsC2 has changed in the past year, to include Kessel Run’s pivot to the U.S. Pacific Command’s area of responsibility.

“One of the things I want to prioritize is solidifying a more thorough and in-depth vision and strategy to provide OpsC2 with a jumping off point for 2024 as we track towards our National Defense Strategy goals,” Palaia said.

The goals outlined in the 2022 National Defense Strategy, or NDS, emphasize the importance of maintaining a strong presence in the Indo-Pacific region, specifically focusing on sustaining and deterring potential challenges posed by China. Simultaneously, it highlights the need to bolster a resilient Joint Force and defense ecosystem in collaboration with a growing network of U.S. allies and partners on shared objectives.

Palaia started working at the organization in 2020 as the design director for the Kessel Run All-Domain Operations Suite, KRADOS. In 2022, Palaia took the position as chief of OpsC2 which supports the Air Operations Center weapon system. AOC weapons systems plan, monitor and direct countless mission-critical operations for the air and space campaign.

The three approaches detailed in the NDS, integrated deterrence, campaigning, and building enduring advantages, have guided the direction of OpsC2’s capabilities. Palaia said OpsC2 is delivering the AOC weapons system and the programs that will be leveraged by Airmen in a high-end fight. Giving OpsC2 the ability to look at integrations from a unit-level, intel perspective, and allowing the wing and OpsC2 capability needs statements to all drive toward the same agenda and alignment.

“I joined Kessel Run because of its mission,” Palaia said. “The way our people surge around problem sets and navigate AOCs to deliver value to our warfighters is inspiring.”

Palaia said the commitment from Kessel Run’s AOC partners encourages her to ensure the capabilities OpsC2 is delivering are meeting their needs and providing value. Palaia also spoke about the operational subject matter experts she works with, saying they not only have the technical skills and experience, but the personal and customer driven perspective of the AOCs and the mission.

“I’m not doing this independently, we’re all working together,” Palaia said. “I’m leaning on people for advice and understanding their perspectives so that we can make the right decisions for OpsC2, Kessel Run and the U.S. Air Force.”

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
Digital Directorate
HBB, Kessel Run
Public Affairs
Email: media@kr.af.mil

C2IMERA designated as the standard for two Air Force MAJCOMS

By Kessel Run Public Affairs

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BOSTON (August 8, 2023) – Two Air Force major commands have designated an application as the standard for developing a common operating picture for their installations.

Air Combat Command and Air Mobility Command each published “concept of employment” directives that standardizes the operational use of the Command and Control Incident Management Emergency Response Application, or C2IMERA.

“C2IMERA is rapidly becoming the standard installation command and control tool across the Air Force for installation-level command and control,” said Gen. Mark D. Kelly, the commander of Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. “ACC views C2IMERA as a foundational JADC2 (Joint All Domain Command and Control) capability, automating the aggregation of flight-line, squadron, and wing data needed to build and execute air/integrated tasking orders.”

C2IMERA is an application focused on reporting, planning, force generation, emergency management, and command and control monitoring and execution. The application is managed by Kessel Run and employed throughout the world. Currently, the application is used by 70 Air Force installations and more than 100 forward operating bases. Kessel Run plans to expand the application to every Air Force installation.

“The commander’s intent is for C2IMERA to be part of the day-to-day business process, normalizing its use throughout AMC,” said Maj. Gen. David J. Sanford, the director of Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. “Per AMC Directive 22-001, C2IMERA implementation, units will use this system to deliver location specific information supporting friendly order of battle data. C2IMERA will provide enhanced situational awareness for the AMC commander and command-wide leaders to make decisions and provide direction.”

Additionally, C2IMERA is a “core program” aligned under the newly established Department of the Air Force Integrating Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management. Core programs are the capabilities needed to build the “DAF BATTLE NETWORK,” an integrated system of systems fusing command and control nodes, sensors, and shooters across air and space.

C2IMERA provides the capability to aggregate base and wing-level information to expedite command-level decisions whether at headquarters, in garrison, or in a deployed environment. The primary purpose of C2IMERA is to conduct C2, allowing commanders and their staffs to issue directives, plan and coordinate operations, conduct and track personnel recalls, accountability and status, and rapidly communicate to C2 personnel through a near real-time live-fed common picture.

The application uses a common operating picture and dashboarding capabilities as communication tools, which consolidates and shares information for leaders, and boasts a plethora of features to provide C2 capabilities. These tools are customizable and optimized based on the individual needs of the installation and also focus on updating and communicating data in real-time to give commanders a constant picture of their installations, environment, assets and personnel.

“C2IMERA continues to expand to more bases worldwide to improve situational awareness for the warfighter,” said Col. Richard Lopez, Kessel Run’s senior materiel leader. “C2IMERA is a good example of how close coordination with users and with our vendor partner leads to delivered operational capability. ”

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
Digital Directorate
HBB, Kessel Run
Public Affairs
Email: media@kr.af.mil

Former CENTCOM Deputy CFACC highlights Kessel Run impact

By Kessel Run Public Affairs

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BOSTON (JULY 14, 2023) – U.S. Central Command’s former Deputy Combined Force Air Component Commander spoke to Kessel Runners about the operational impact their applications deliver to Airmen downrange, here on July 14, 2023.

Maj. Gen. David A. Harris visited Kessel Run headquarters to learn about advances in its various applications, and to talk with employees here about his personal experience with the applications and how the unit is relied on to deliver future capabilities to warfighters.

As DCFACC, Harris used Kessel Run applications while overseeing command and control operations of the 609th Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. There, Harris coordinated assets for not only that AOC, but also a 21-nation area of responsibility in CENTCOM. He said Kessel Run’s applications gave him data in real time that better enabled him to carry out those combined operations.

Halfway through his assignment, Airmen from Kessel Run replaced his 609th AOC’s legacy Theater Battle Management Core System with their own suite of applications. Adopting the software, known as the Kessel Run All Domain Operations Suite, or KRADOS, marked the first time in history that air tasking and airspace control orders were operationally built and flown in that AOC without TBMCS and the master air attack planning toolkit.

“Your applications were so adaptable that I could use the data to work with our allies there and make a compelling argument for why I needed more assets, or certain capabilities,” Harris said.

He also highlighted Kessel Run’s unique Liaison Officer program during his presentation. Kessel Run embeds LNOs directly within AOCs to help troubleshoot any issues that may arise within its applications and also make improvements custom tailored to Airmen’s needs.

“There were three Kessel Run LNOs who were there with us,” he said. “I could give them a requirement or talk about some issues that I was facing. They would go back, or call back here, and within days I had a solution.”

He noted that while Kessel Run delivered great capabilities so far, the team should focus on how to achieve real-time evolution to ensure future warfighter needs are met in the future.

“When you start building the capabilities we need, you need to think about how agile, how adaptable, and how flexible they need to be,” he said. “You need to think about how you sustain programs like these capabilities as they grow and morph, and how do you go back into that code and update it to keep missions going.

“Warfighters need the solutions you provide, and they need them in short order. I want to make sure the professionals at Kessel Run understand that we appreciate the work they do each and every day.”

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
Digital Directorate
HBB, Kessel Run
Media and Communications Engagement
Email: media@kr.af.mil