BOSSIER CITY, La. -- A group of Striker Airmen from across Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) recently celebrated graduating from the command’s Striker Airmen Coder (SAC) program in Bossier City, Louisiana.
The team was the sixth cohort of Airmen to finish the six-month program, administered by the Cyber Innovation Center through a partnership intermediary agreement with AFGSC. The command aimed to train Airmen in software development, data analytics and other essential coding skill, equipped to innovate and efficiently solve technical problems in their own units.
The Department of the Air Force recently announced plans to reoptimize the Air and Space Forces to adapt and advance capabilities that are vital for a changing threat environment. The SAC program is just one of the numerous ways that AFGSC, and the entire DAF, are adapting to meet the present and future challenges within the space, cyber, and information spheres in an era of Great Power Competition.
Amongst the recently graduated class is a team of four Airmen who developed an app that provides users real-time resource availability for their installation’s Logistics Readiness Squadron warehouses. The intent is to enable LRS Airmen to reallocate time and energy to instead be more focused on the other required aspects of the asset-acquiring process; they hope streamlining the process will result in an overall decrease in work hours for everyone involved.
“We have a good proof of concept and hope we can stand up this solution to take back to our unit,” said Senior Airman Gabriel Stokes, 791st Maintenance Squadron maintainer from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. “This program is a great resource for Airmen because it strengthens a skill set that is going to be needed more as we move forward.”
Another team of Airmen worked with the AFGSC Logistics Wing Directorate to expedite and simplify the Nuclear Command, Control, and Communication (NC3) report process. Airman First Class Brandon Estrada-Herrera, 2nd Communications Squadron knowledge management technician from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, worked on the NC3 project. He noted their design should increase both the quantity and quality of data being transformed into easily communicable findings, getting in-depth information to decision makers faster.
“I feel like this project will have a huge impact Globe Strike-wide,” added Estrada-Herrera. “This can be used by everybody.”
Airmen who applied to the program were picked through a combination of testing and endorsements by their leadership; members chosen then participated in a three-month coding boot camp. The remainder of the six months was spent working on software and data science problems with industry experts in Shreveport, Louisiana, to create their projects.
For questions, email AFGSC.STWorkflow@us.af.mil or raechel.tobey.1.ctr@us.af.mil