Watch what they do... not just what they say.

Just... contingency plans. (And actually, wed expect this from them). Why is there STILL little encouragement for the rest of us to prepare? Questions... questions.

Diane

SEPTEMBER 6, 1999

Cold War bunker made Y2K post

BY BOB BREWIN (antenna@fcw.com)

http://www.fcw.com/pubs/fcw/1999/0906/fcw-newscoldwar-09-06-99.html

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

Montgomery, Ala. -- In a facility once used to track Soviet bombers and missiles at the height of the Cold War, the Air Force last week opened a command post to monitor and engage the last threat of the millennium: Year 2000 date-code bugs that could infect the service's worldwide computer systems and networks.

The Air Force has set up its so-called Fusion Center in a refurbished space on the top floor of a windowless, hardened bunker annex at Maxwell Air Force Base here. The building once housed room-size computers that powered the Air Force's early warning system -- called the Semi-Automated Ground Environment -- that could warn the United States of incoming Soviet nuclear missiles. Now filled with state-of-the-art computer terminals and monitors, the Fusion Center "will be building the big picture of Y2K" for top commanders on New Year's Eve, providing them with a near-real-time status of Air Force computer systems worldwide, said Brig. Gen. Gary Ambrose, director of the Air Force Year 2000 Program.

Ambrose said the center is "truly pivotal to the Air Force Y2K effort...connected to every Air Force command post and [computer and network] help desk worldwide.''

The Fusion Center is operated by the Air Force's Standard Systems Group, which developed and maintains code for a wide range of Air Force software systems. Experts from each of those systems staff help desks at the Fusion Center.

Any of the Fusion Center's 40 staff members on around-the-clock shifts can drill down on the live network picture, right down to the main router on a base, according to Col. Robert Glitz, chief of the Customer Support Division at the SSG.

Glitz said that if the Fusion Center staff detects a serious Year 2000 problem at a particular base, staff members working with the Air Force Network Operations Center, located next door at the Gunter Annex to Maxwell AFB, can isolate that base from the rest of the network. "We own the af.mil and af.smil [domains]," Glitz said. If necessary, the Fusion Center, working with the AFNOC, can "shut down af.mil,'' Glitz said.

Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, the closest Air Force base to the international date line, will serve as the Air Force's Year 2000 "canary," Glitz said. The base will send back any reports on systems failures there, providing an early warning to fix or close down systems on bases located hours from the date line, Glitz said.

The Fusion Center -- a facility unique to the Air Force among the services -- will feed its data to the Year 2000 cell headed by Ambrose in the Air Force Operations Center at the Pentagon. That operations center in turn will relay Air Force Year 2000 data to the National Military Command Center, which will feed the information to the Pentagon's central Year 2000 Decision Support Activity.

That office will coordinate the federal response to Year 2000 problems with the Information Coordination Center, which is managed by the General Services Administration.

The Fusion Center also will be the central reporting facility for networks and systems developed and managed by other commands, including key aircraft and command and control systems. The center will serve as a worldwide super-help and monitoring desk by transferring calls to the right military or commercial software expert.

Senior Master Sgt. Kip Jacobs, who supervised the installation of information systems in the Fusion Center, said it can support up to almost 150 staffers at one time, with incoming calls carried on four T-1 (1.5 megabits/sec) lines. The 720-drop local-area network handles data, voice and fax calls, with all phone traffic treated as just another part of the bit stream.

The Fusion Center's window to the rest of the Air Force -- as well as to the other military services and top Pentagon commanders -- will be a secure World Wide Web site operating in the .smil domain, Glitz said. He declined for security reasons to give its address.

"Some things can be expected to fail,'' Ambrose said, "but we need to continue with our mission,'' with the Fusion Center serving as a "key point of vigilance" to ensure that bad code does not impair Air Force systems and its mission.

The Fusion Center will continue to operate at full strength well into the new year, Glitz said, with staffers ready to monitor other possibly troublesome 2000 dates such as Feb. 29. After the millennium problem dissipates, Ambrose said the Air Force likely will turn the Fusion Center into a key facility for servicewide information assurance efforts.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 07, 1999

Answers

Diane,

I think another notable quote from the article is this one:

[snip]

Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, the closest Air Force base to the international date line, will serve as the Air Force's Year 2000 "canary," Glitz said. The base will send back any reports on systems failures there, providing an early warning to fix or close down systems on bases located hours from the date line, Glitz said.

[snip]

And, after reading the article carefully, it seems as if the Air Force has concerns about the potential for corrupted data being passed between systems.

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), September 07, 1999.

And this appeared over the weekend. I see the same general is mentioned.:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001MJr

JUN 99

FROM

CSAF WASHINGTON DC//CC//

TO

ALMAJCOM FOA/DRU/CC/SC//

HQ USAF WASH DC//SC/IL/XO/DP/SP/SG/SF/TE/JA/FM//

SAF WASH DC//IG/FM/AQ/IA/GC/MI//

HQ AFCIC WASH DC//SY/IT/XP//

INFO

AFCA SCOTT AFB IL//CC/ITY//

HQ AFCIC WASH DC//AFY2KO//

UNCLAS

SUBJECT: MAJCOM Y2K OUTREACH PROGRAMS

1. THIS MESSAGE FOLLOWS UP OUR CORONA TOP DISCUSSION REGARDING THE

IMPORTANCE OF Y2K OUTREACH EFFORTS. PRESIDENT CLINTON'S FEDERAL

OUTREACH PROGRAM IS TARGETED TOWARD 12,000 COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE.

THE PRESIDENT'S PLAN IS TO LEVERAGE FEDERAL ACTIVITIES NEAR THOSE

COMMUNITIES TO SERVE AS FOCAL POINTS FOR TRANSMITTING THE UNGARBLED

WORD REGARDING YEAR 2000 PREPARATIONS. DOD INSTALLATIONS ARE

EMERGING AS THE CENTERPIECE OF THAT PLAN.

2. OUR INSTALLATIONS HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN COMMUNITY Y2K

PREPAREDNESS. THOSE COMMUNITIES ROUTINELY PARTNER WITH OUR BASES AND

WILL LOOK TO OUR BASES WHEN Y2K FAILURES OCCUR. ALTHOUGH TIME IS

SHORT, WITH OUR HELP COMMUNITIES CAN STILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE

THEIR Y2K READINESS. TO THAT END, AIR FORCE INSTALLATION COMMANDERS

SHOULD INCLUDE LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES IN THEIR Y2K PLANNING EFFORTS AND

EXERCISES. THOSE COMMANDERS SHOULD USE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO TELL THE

AIR FORCE Y2K PREP STORY TO BUILD CONFIDENCE IN OUR SERVICEMEMBERS

AND THEIR FAMILIES, AND TO CREATE A REALISTIC EXPECTATION FOR Y2K

EFFECTS IN ADVANCE OF ANTICIPATED SENSATIONALISTIC, NEGATIVE HYPE.

IN ADDITION, COMMANDERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO AGGRESSIVELY CONTACT KEY

SUPPLIERS OF GOODS AND SERVICES TO ASCERTAIN THEIR Y2K PREPAREDNESS.

3. INSTALLATION COMMANDERS' GREAT CREDIBILITY WITH THEIR LOCAL

COMMUNITIES MAKES THEM THE LOGICAL FOCAL POINT FOR Y2K COMMUNITY

OUTREACH EFFORTS. BGEN GARY AMBROSE, THE AIR FORCE'S Y2K PROGRAM

DIRECTOR, DSN 332-2211, AND HIS STAFF WILL PROVIDE ANY ASSISTANCE YOU

REQUIRE.

-- (wastedeep@inthe.bigmuddy), September 06, 1999

I think it's the real deal.

-- Lewis (aslanshow@yahoo.com), September 07, 1999.

Good catch, Lewis!

Yes, Linkmeister, I would not wish to be in the canary seat, and it does appear data corruption is a concern.

Little tidbits... adding up.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 07, 1999.

Strange; I couldn't get into any of the Air Force Y2K sites found through Yahoo. Anyone else having problems?, or have I been killfiled by the .mil webmasters for some reason ;-)

I checked back at the Navy site to see if they had any Air Force Links, and I found some newish stuff:

http://www.doncio.navy.mil/y2k/pol_guide.htm#DoD

One item is a PDF of a Aug 19 1999 DoD memo encouraging bases to participate or sponsor Community Conversations meetings:

http://www.doncio.navy.mil/y2k/DEPSECDEF18Aug99.pdf

An interesting read...

-- Lewis (aslanshow@yahoo.com), September 07, 1999.