The Role of Experimentation Campaigns in the Air Force Innovation Life Cycle: Proceedings of a Workshop (2016)
Chapter: 1 Introduction
1
Introduction
In Development Planning: A Strategic Approach to Future Air Force Capabilities,1 the authors laid out a planning process intended to improve U.S. Air Force pre-acquisition technology development. The Development Planning Study highlights the need for broad use of experimentation and experimentation campaigns to inform development planning.
As a follow-on to the development planning study, the U.S. Air Force Office of the Assistant Secretary for Science, Technology and Engineering asked that the Air Force Studies Board conduct a workshop and a study on the subject of experimentation campaigns. The workshop was to cast a wide net to capture a diverse set of perspectives on the subject, and the study was to build on information from the workshop to provide more focused and detailed findings and recommendations.
The workshop assembled speakers on four topics. First, the organizing committee sought input on the problem and the opportunity as seen by senior Air Force leaders, with presentations by:
- General Ellen M. Pawlikowski, Commander, Air Force Materiel Command,
- William A. LaPlante, former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, and
- Colonel Chuck Ormsby, Military Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Science, Technology and Engineering.
Next, information was provided on best practices in experimentation both within and outside the Air Force. To share information on successful experimentation efforts within the Air Force, presentations were made by:
- David E. Hamilton, Jr., former Director of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office,
- Robert Andrew Kirk Mitchell, former President of Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, and former Vice President for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, and
- Chet Wall, Civ., 90th COS, 318th Cyber Ops Group, 24th Air Force.
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1 National Research Council, 2014, Development Planning: A Strategic Approach to Future Air Force Capabilities, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
To share information on successful experimentation efforts outside the Air Force, the organizing committee invited three presenters from industry:
- Brett Lindenfeld, Vice President, Operations, Motiv Space Systems,
- Joel C. Sercel, Founder and Principal Engineer, TransAstra, and
- Arif Janmohamed, Partner, Lightspeed Ventures Partners.
Finally, the workshop focus turned to the identification of possible barriers to experimentation, with presentations by:
- Lt. Gen. Steve Kwast, Commander and President, Air University,
- Lt. Gen. C.D. Moore (Ret.), Commander, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, and
- Camron Gorguinpour, Director of Transformational Innovation for the U.S. Air Force, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition.
Together, these presenters offered unique insights on the importance of experimentation, as well as the tremendous challenges of institutionalizing experimentation within the Air Force.
The report summarizes the views expressed by individual workshop participants. While the committee is responsible for the overall quality and accuracy of the report as a record of what transpired at the workshop, the views contained in the report are not necessarily those of all workshop participants, the committee, or the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
