The wave of the future

In today's volatile global environment, the watchword for the U.S. Navy is readiness—being able to deploy and package force response immediately.

To bring the appropriate military capability to virtually any situation, the U.S. Navy has developed Sea Power 21, its vision for projecting decisive joint capabilities from the sea. Sea Power 21 includes three elements: Sea Strike (projecting offense), Sea Shield (projecting defense) and Sea Basing (projecting sovereignty). These are linked by FORCEnet, the framework for naval warfare in the information age. Aimed at connecting systems, FORCEnet allows warfighters, platforms and sensors to rapidly communicate and collaborate in the battlespace.

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Golden opportunity at Ft. Knox

As coalition forces continue their hard work in Iraq, a U.S. Army–wide initiative to replicate tactics used in Iraq is under way at military installations across the United States. One of these is Ft. Knox, Ky., home to the Army Armor Center and responsible for training armor and cavalry soldiers.

The Armor Center's training curriculum, like many other Army training programs, has changed significantly because of the war in Iraq. In coming years, that curriculum will experience even more dramatic change as the Army begins spiraling new technologies being developed by the Future Combat Systems program into the hands of the current force. A Boeing–Science Applications International Corporation team is the Lead Systems Integrator for FCS.

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Right. On target.

On April 17, 2004, flying a mission over Iraq, U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle pilot Maj. David Grimwood and his weapons systems officer, Lt. Col. Jim Bessel, dropped a 2,000-pound (907- kilogram) Joint Direct Attack Munition on a suspected hideout for insurgents.

It was Maj. Grimwood's first drop of a JDAM. "We had a strike request from the Army," he said. "It was against a position insurgents had used for several nights to fire mortars at a U.S. Army base. We don't know if insurgents were there at the time the bomb went off, but we do know that for the next week, that army unit never got attacked."

Maj. Grimwood and hundreds of other pilots and weapons systems officers (WSOs) who have dropped tens of thousands of JDAMs have been singing the weapon's praises since 1998 when the first JDAM was produced.

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Answering the call

While the world focused on Athens last summer for the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, a championship team from Hellenic Army Aviation was operating Apache helicopters behind the scenes to ensure that events at the Games were "uneventful."

In fact, a team from the Hellenic Army's 1st Attack Helicopter Battalion maintained Apaches on "10 minute alert" for the duration of the Games.

"We never flew over a stadium during the Olympics, and few people knew we were there. But like Olympic athletes, our training left us prepared to do our jobs with precision and accuracy," said Hellenic Army pilot Maj. Chris Dimopoulos, the deputy commanding officer of the 1st Attack Helicopter Battalion. "We felt like guardian angels for the Olympics, and we were ready to serve in our Apaches."

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Taking flight

As Boeing works toward making good on its goal of building its new 787 Dreamliner and pursues other projects, the Commercial Airplanes team has considered a number of options for the engineering work involved. In some cases, Commercial Airplanes has looked south, combining airplane know-how with rocket science..

Well into the fall of 2004, the Engineering organization at Boeing Canoga Park/Rocketdyne in California was facing some very tough choices. The cancellation of NASA's Next Generation Launch Technologies programs in January and an overall flat launch market posed serious threats to viable work for dozens of engineers. Instead of giving in, Rocketdyne hunkered down and began feeling out the rest of Boeing for possible projects. After months of discussion, planning and development, they struck pay dirt—creating a way to save jobs and supporting the company's stable workforce initiative by winning work on Commercial Airplanes projects.

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Windows on the universe

Future visitors to the International Space Station will enjoy a room with an astounding view, thanks in part to Boeing.

Company engineers provided the designs for the specially made windows and attaching mechanisms for the Italian-built cupola, a seven-window observatory for the ISS.

Boeing completed preliminary designs for the cupola in the early 1990s, when a NASA barter agreement resulted in the European Space Agency and Alenia Spazio assuming responsibility for design and construction. Boeing engineers in Huntsville, Ala., played a significant role in developing the window assemblies for the dome-shaped structure, including the large, 29-inch window on the top and six trapezoid-shaped windows on the cupola's sides.

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Safety (and quality) First

Over the past decade, Boeing's C-17 Globemaster III program has built its reputation on worldclass quality. The advanced airlifter has won dozens of prestigious honors, including leading Boeing Airlift and Tankers to the esteemed Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Now, the Long Beach, Calif.–based program is embarking on a journey to become world-class in safety, as well as quality.

"Integral to quality and woven throughout our value system lies a sometimes forgotten imperative—safety first," said Dave Bowman, vice president and C-17 program manager. "When our teammates are injured, it's bad for them and it's bad for our business."

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