Satisfied customer returns for updated trainer

Published June 10, 2009
By 81st Training Support Squadron and Keesler News staff

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- A six-member team from the 81st Training Support Squadron recently delivered an upgraded early warning radar stand-alone trainer, referred to as a UST, that will update missile defense training capabilities at several sites.

"This new trainer is an important tool in preparing missile warning operators to expertly perform their job of protecting the United States," said Lt. Col. Kevin O'Rourke, 81st TRSS commander.

The team that traveled to Beale Air Force Base, Calif., in May to deliver and install the UST includes project manager Roger Toney and programmer analysts Mark Calcote, Tina Landry and John Youngman, electronics technician Woodrow Wilson and machinist Monty Ashley.

"I really like working on this project because it gives us an opportunity to do something that helps protect America from attack and keep our families safe," Ms. Landry commented.

The second UST is being provided to Vandenberg AFB, Calif., this week. By the end of summer, additional deliveries are planned for Thule Air Force Station, Greenland, and Royal Air Force Fylingdales, United King-dom.

The 81st TRSS has developed a reputation across the Air Force for innovation, lowcost and on-schedule production and timely responsive support.

The UST request is just one example of a satisfied customer returning for additional support.

Air Force Space Command asked the 81st TRSS to develop, build and deploy the trainers to provide critical and timely training to space and missile tracking operators.

The new trainers became necessary because the Missile Defense Agency has been upgrading the early warning radars to be integrated into the Ballistic Missile Defense System. This effort has transformed early warning radars into upgraded early warning radars, adding a new missile defense capability while continuing to support the existing missile warning and space surveillance missions.

That upgrade renders the existing solid-state phased array radar trainers obsolete. The 81st TRSS earned the Air Force Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award in 2003 for developing SSPART and installing the trainers at Beale, Vandenberg, Thule and RAF Fylingdales and two other sites.

It took nearly two years to develop the new trainer. Two 81st TRSS teams collaborated on the UST project -- the Simware section and the trainer development flight.

The Simware professionals developed and programmed the highly-complex interactive training software. The trainer development flight designed and built specialized hardware. The result is a highfidelity trainer that looks, feels and sounds like the realworld Missile Warning Operation Center.

The UST simulates the look and feel of the opera-tional early warning radar at each radar site, providing full functionality of all mission operations and display screens, including the capability to receive and respond to all alerts reported to the mission operator.

Operators are able to exercise 100 percent of all early warning radar system tasks with accurate screen replication and radar behavior. The interactive software includes the capability to pause, resume and rewind userfriendly training scenarios.

The UST offers a great deal of flexibility by providing personnel with the ability to develop scenarios prior to training, as well as real-time ad hoc scenario injections during training.

Once all the trainers have been delivered, acquisition costs will approach $500,000, with an annual software maintenance cost of about $10,000.

"These costs are considerably less than the estimated $3 million acquisition price tag and $2.5 million annual maintenance expense for a contractorprovided solution," Colonel O'Rourke pointed out.