Changing how we do business Published Nov. 9, 2009 By Lt. Col. Alexander Koven 7th Expeditionary Air Command and Control Squadron Commander SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Change has always been a part of the Air Force. You see it every day here with the way Airmen support the fight. The B-1B Lancer, designed to penetrate into enemy territory, is now using a targeting pod and global positioning satellite-aided weapons to conduct close-air support. In previous conflicts, air control squadrons needed to be within line-of-sight of the aircraft being controlled. Now Airmen control the fight from thousands of miles away. For my own platform, engineers designed the Joint Surveillance Target Attack System to detect Warsaw Pact-era tank columns crossing the Fulda Gap in Germany. In today's battlefield, JSTARS is producing actionable information for the counter-insurgency fight while supporting real-time operations through an upgraded communications suite. Our concept of war fighting has transformed. Change also impacts an Airman's quality of life. As a lieutenant who deployed frequently to this part of the world, the rules limited me to two 15-minute phone calls a week back home. Squadrons had more typewriters than computers and I broke out the air tasking order with a pencil and a photocopier. At my home squadron, 60 people shared a single laser printer. E-mail was a new concept and few people had access to the Web. Most amazingly, Air Force operators were able to launch sorties without the use of Power Point. Overhead projectors, wax pencils and acetates worked fine. Our concept of using technology has transformed. Today's Airmen enter an Air Force that is network-centric. Information travels instantly with the press of a button. Air Force Instructions and forms are available online. Airmen huddle around Wi-Fi hot spots to keep in contact with loved ones, work on their education or network with others on a global scale. It used to take the power of a mighty nation to reach around the globe. Now an individual is capable of doing the same. Our concept of using information has transformed. The mission the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing will continue to change. From our position here in Southwest Asia, our wing helps bring stability to this region. Our mission will ensure that critical natural resources are available for the world economy, while building lasting relationships with our friends and allies. Airpower, with its unique attributes, provides critical capabilities required for operations in this region. These capabilities span from logistics, to intelligence, to surveillance and re-connaissance to kinetic and non-kinetic effects. The bottom line is that the wing will continue its transformation to meet today's and the future's challenges.