Critical National Defense Mission Keeps AEDC Open Amid Pandemic

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Critical National Defense Mission Keeps AEDC Open Amid Pandemic PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID TULLAHOMA TN Vol. 67, No. 7 Arnold AFB, Tenn. PERMIT NO. 29 April 6, 2020 Critical national defense mission keeps AEDC open amid pandemic By Kathy Jacobsen again after reconfiguring AEDC Public Affairs the control room and other spaces to enforce social dis- Ground testing for criti- tancing and other protective cal Department of Defense measures. projects will continue at NASA limited access Arnold Engineering De- to the National Full-Scale velopment Complex while Aerodynamics Complex mitigating the risks during at Ames Research Center the Coronavirus pandemic. in California, to mission That means some em- essential only personnel ployees will stay on-the- after the governor’s order job and the Complex will to shelter in place at home. remain open. Tunnel 9 AEDC manages and oper- in Maryland temporarily ates the facility at Ames. halted operations for three The 704th Test Group days last week due to the at Holloman, Kirtland and governor’s directive to stay Wright-Patterson Air Force at home. There are more Bases and White Sands than 447 confirmed CO- Missile Range, N.M., con- Chris Easterly, an ironworker, welds a joint on a C-1 pipe support stand April 1 in the Model and Machine VID-19 cases in Montgom- tinues select tests while Shop at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. Easterly is wearing a welding helmet with a powered air purifying ery County where Tunnel 9 following the personal pro- respirator (PAPR) and a hood, which provides protection from smoke and fumes. The PAPR is not required is located, but the facility for welding non-stainless steel, but is being explored as a risk mitigation option for when craftsworkers is already up and running See CRITICAL, page 3 need to be closer than six feet apart to complete the task. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett) Capability improvements at transonic wind tunnel leads to approximately $200,000 in savings annually By Deidre Moon Ron Lutz and Douglas the equivalent power of AEDC Public Affairs Miller were overseeing a running 100,000 100-watt checkout of conditions of lightbulbs. An annual savings of 16T, and during this test, “Being the largest sin- close to $200,000 is ex- the PWT main drive com- gle-user on the TVA (Ten- pected after the facility pressor was being used in a nessee Valley Authority) checkouts of the Arnold way that was not originally grid, the team was able to Engineering Development possible,” McCamey said. demonstrate a way to be Complex 16-foot Transonic “But a Computational Fluid a better steward of power Wind Tunnel, or 16T, at Dynamics analysis and resources without any com- Arnold Air Force Base last promise in capability,” Mc- September. a study of the compres- sor curves predicted that Camey said. By leveraging previous Another way Flight team upgrades to the Propulsion lower compressor speeds, combined with optimal members determined they Wind Tunnel facility’s main could improve test efficien- compressor drive, the 16T blade angle settings, could cy is by better maintaining wind tunnel can be oper- safely and more efficiently air-velocity conditions dur- ated utilizing lower power generate test conditions for ing sweeps of wind tunnel consumption, according to the 16T core operating en- model position. Precise Tyler McCamey, a program velope, where 85 percent of air-velocity control is a cru- manager for Test Invest- the tunnel’s testing occurs.” Tyler McCamey, a program manager, right, Ethan Jobe, a plant operations cial element of providing ment Planning and Pro- Depending on the de- engineer, and Shelby Moorman, an electrical systems engineer, converse the highest quality data to in the Main Drive building of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex gramming funded capital sired tunnel conditions, customers. The Flight team (AEDC) Propulsion Wind Tunnel Facility Feb. 7 at Arnold Air Force Base. AEDC improvement programs at the test demonstrated an determined that augment- team members determined a new configuration of the motors to power the Arnold. instantaneous savings of compressors, resulting in a significant power savings.(U.S. Air Force photo by “Flight team members up to 10 megawatts, or See IMPROVEMENTS, page 3 Jill Pickett) Arnold FES team rescues five people trapped 300 feet underground at J-4 By Deidre Moon the craftsmen had been ceived to be open,” Lom- bard said. AEDC Public Affairs performing maintenance work, diverting water and Upon getting the call, Saturdays at Arnold Air cleaning underneath the test Lombard and his team re- Force Base are typically facility to keep piping clear sponded immediately and quieter days, with most and operational. After com- began to develop rescue of the workforce at home pleting their task, the group plans. spending the weekends was making their way out “The best method, or with their families. of the facility using the ‘Plan A’ in a case such But on Saturday, Feb. elevator when the control as this, is to wait for the 29, it wasn’t so quiet for the system failed to respond. elevator repairman to see Arnold Fire and Emergency if they can get the elevator Services crew. The individual monitoring the work from the ground functioning properly to get A call came into the FES the people out that way,” level called FES when the station around 11:30 a.m., he said. other members radioed they informing the team that five While waiting for the were stuck. craftsmen were trapped in elevator repairman, the “The safety lock showed an elevator at the bottom of FES rescue team set out the J-4 Rocket Motor Test that the door to the elevator their equipment and began Brian Barnes, a rescue technician with Arnold Fire and Emergency Services, was open, and as a safety Facility. building the complex rig- makes the almost 300-foot vertical descent into the J-4 silo to assist in retrieving According to Assistant measure elevators won’t the five Arnold Engineering Development Complex craftsmen on Feb. 29 at Arnold Fire Chief Tom Lombard, move if the doors are per- See RESCUE, page 3 Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force photo) Pursuing Mission AEDC Strategy 2020: Arnold AFB Fire and Excellence: Striving to be A disciplined approach Emergency Services “Second to None” conducts live fire training …Page 2 …Page 2 …Page 9 2 • April 6, 2020 Arnold Pursuing Mission Excellence: Striving Air Force Base to be “Second to None” By Lt. Col. Adam Quick can’t deliver mission excellence ciples of Crew Resource Manage- definition of quality and the met- Chief, Space and Missiles Test Branch without its workforce. ment; and the mechanical aspects rics used to capture status. Let AEDC, through the Test of execution. them determine which processes, “Pursue Mission Excellence,” Branches, Squadrons and Oper- The second, operational com- tools, documentation and train- “Invest in our People,” “Improve ating Locations, is responsible petence, is extrapolating results ing gaps exist. Leadership should and Sustain the Complex;” the for developing and maintaining to the ability to deliver warfight- provide the resources to close three priorities laid out by AEDC a professional DT&E workforce. ing capability. This requires a the gaps. The easiest way to in- Col. Jeffrey Geraghty leadership “to prove the systems Professionally executed DT&E is workforce knowledgeable in the Commander crease capacity is to make sure we required to meet the demands of critical to acquiring systems that system’s operational concepts and deliver the right information the Jason Austin the National Defense Strategy” meet the demands of the National environments. This knowledge is Chief, and put us on a path towards “Sec- Defense Strategy. gained through close collabora- first time. Public Affairs ond to None.” Space and Missiles focuses tion with our mission partners. Once we’re routinely deliver- What does mission excellence on four workforce competencies Technical and operational ing quality T&E, make sure we’re mean for a professional Develop- (technical, operational, safety competence are the foundations of executing at the required Capac- mental Test & Evaluation (DT&E) and security) to achieve mission safety competence. Understand- ity before New Capability. Richard Tighe organization? How does an orga- Strive to be the expert, not just General Manager, excellence. Not just competence, ing how the system interacts with nization balance the demands of National Aerospace Solu- but excellence resides in the the test environment and predict- competent, in today’s mission. tions today’s mission while investing workforce throughout AEDC, and ing system response to test condi- That focus reveals constraints and and preparing to execute tomor- High Mach Staff: must be integrated into a cohesive tions allows the workforce to tai- limitations in test capabilities for row’s? As Space and Missiles team with unity of purpose and lor risk management tools to ac- future systems. Establishing re- Kathy Jacobsen, internalized the AEDC priorities, mission focus. complish the mission. The DT&E quirements traceability provides NAS Executive Editor the Branch leadership team de- Technical competence is the workforce must then be trained the foundation for defining, plan- veloped three principles to guide foundation of the AEDC DT&E and qualified to employ those Jill Pickett ning and growing into tomorrow’s decisions: Workforce before Fa- workforce. It is essential to per- safety principles and requirements NAS Editor mission. Common commercial cilities; Quality before Capacity; forming the functions of T&E: during test execution. High Mach is published by economic terms like time value of Lakeway Publishers, Inc. a pri- Capacity before New Capability. maturing system designs, man- Security competence cannot vate firm in no way connected People execute the mission; aging risks, identifying and re- be overstated.
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