Page 3 - Desert Lightning News, Nellis-Creech AFB Edition, August 20, 2021

2 August 20, 2021 Commentary Desert lightning news s. nevADA Desert lightning news s. nevADA news August 20, 2021 3
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Sacrifices Made WIDOW:

by Lt. Col. Andrew Gawlikowski grateful for the continued sacrifices of our It never ceases to amaze me how mil-mil marriages and children. We can help one
Scott AFB, Ill. military, but sometimes what our families service members are some of the most level- another know how to remain resolute in Modern mission
go through goes mostly unnoticed. headed, servant leaders I have encountered. our service and support our families while

We all see it, we all know it, but we don’t Let us not forget our Mil-Mil families. It Truly inspiring. serving this great country.
always recognize it. is true that many civilian families have both For my family, we have not been the This uniform we wear is a symbol of planning software
What I am talking about is the great parents working, and while challenging, it is exception. We are not mil-mil, but we have honor, and truthfully only those who have
sacrifice our families make for our ability quite different to wear the uniform and have five children and in 2014 I was deployed and worn it and currently wear it know the real-
to serve. The importance of this sacrifice the added responsibilities the military asks attached to an Army Advisory Brigade. My ity of the sacrifices made. While never easy, allows Nellis
cannot be understated. of us. The dichotomy of serving and parent- wife was pregnant with our third daughter serving is the greatest calling on one’s life. It
The military life is unique in the fact that ing is not easy. Many times one member is and was due during the deployment. Know- is good to recognize the challenges, accept
the whole family sacrifices for the member deployed and the spouse stays back to serve ing I was going to miss the birth was difficult the hardship, and be there for one another. airmen to focus on
or members to serve their country. and hold down the fort. Or when mission for both her and I. To top it off, she had an As a military service-member, a husband,
Just this week I spoke with two families dictates, one member must change their emergency surgery post-delivery and I was and a father, I want you to know that you
that have deployed spouses. One missed schedule so the other member can step up not there to support her. She was ok, but it are seen. I want my wife and children to tactics, lethality
all the birthdays and multiple hospital trips to provide family support. was tough for our family as a whole. These know they are seen. While all that you give
for their children, and the other missed the These families serve when there are no situations can make or break a family. We may not always be returned, I assure you it is
birth of his third son. While the military accolades. No parade. Not even a pat on have to remember that WE are family in the not lost. What you give is a gift that no one
member makes sacrifices to serve, our fami- the back. It just gets done. All this makes military, and we have a duty to take care of can repay. Your service and your sacrifice by 1st Lt. Nicolle E. Mathison
lies also give up a lot to support us, and this me sit back and think over the years how one another. No one besides our brothers is noticed, whether you wear the uniform or Nellis AFB, Nev.
life of service can take a beating on them many have gone before us and how many and sisters in-arms can fully understand you love someone who does. Your country Airmen at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., are using the
physically and emotionally. Our nation is have and continue to make these sacrifices. the impact that this military life has on our thanks you and so do I. modern software application WIDOW (Web-based The Web-based Information Dominant Warfare modern software application is designed to enable real-time and
Air Force illustration by 1st Lt. Nicholle E. Mathison
Information Dominant Warfare) to digitize the tactical- distributed contribution, coordination and visualization of planning details for Airmen, Guardians and Joint partners.
level mission planning process. Once the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System is in place, applications like WIDOW will be able to disseminate
Genuine community plus personal excellence equals achievement ignated as the official U.S. Air Force Mission Planning data to the edge, other applications and mission partners with speed and agility in an effort to achieve the Joint All-
The 100 percent government-owned code that is des-
Cell Tool enables real-time and distributed contribu- Domain Command and Control vision.

by Maj. Matthew McWhirter Diverse not just in mission, but also in those Personal Excellence equals Achievement. pushing the envelope in each of us. This tion, coordination and visualization of planning details
Ramstein AB, Germany that make up the squadron. I realize that I The applicability of this simple equation is includes both personally and profession- so Airmen, Guardians and joint partners can focus on Warfighters use 3-3.Integrated Planning and Em- on in the mission planning cycle, without needing to
come to the table with a set of experiences, far reaching and focuses in on what really ally. Personal excellence is not about being tactics and lethality. ployment, which is a manual that outlines Air Force email each individual with updates,” Short added.
Disclaimer: I fully support diversity and biases, beliefs and family situation that may matters, the people. the best at something. It is not winning Mission commanders, mission planning cell chiefs tactics, techniques and procedures for mission planning “WIDOW improved the access, accuracy and
desire a world where no one treats another not align with everyone in our organization. Genuine Community in this context is awards or being number one at something. and their teams need only an internet connection and a and employment. The manual details what data needs timeliness of information required for the U-2 pilot to
negatively. Additionally, I offer there is still I also realize each member of the organiza- a tight-knit group of individuals who hon- Personal excellence is doing something in browser to use WIDOW, which offers increased speed, to be collected and what products should be generated effectively synchronize capabilities with the compos-
much work remaining in the realms of diver- tion also comes to the table similarly. estly care for the well-being of each other such a way that your genuine community organization and accuracy of planning tasks. with that data for each mission. ite force,” said Maj. John Mattson, former U-2 WIC
sity and inclusion. No, we have not arrived; In the following paragraphs, I offer and the work that they accomplish. They knows that you truly gave it your all. For Applications like WIDOW will be able to live on the “What planners have historically had to do is take instructor, current Naval postgraduate school student.
we have only begun the journey of truly being my leadership philosophy. These are my listen to understand both co-workers and the leader, it is willingly admitting personal Advanced Battle Management System’s secure military several individual pieces of mission data and manually “While the U-2 easily deconflicts vertically by flying
a diverse and inclusive organization. thoughts and I realize they are not perfect, customers, to figure out the best way to sup- faults to foster continual and honest critical digital network environment and disseminate data to input them into spreadsheets and other disconnected several miles above all of the other air domain players,
Leading is challenging due to the very but they are adaptive in nature. The founda- port them. Building genuine community is feedback that not only helps everyone grow, the edge, other applications and mission partners with mission products as designated by 3-3.IPE and then save the objective of WSINT is not to deconflict capabili-
thing that makes us the world’s greatest Air tional principles taught to me by the Bible, not an overnight task. It demands individu- but also points out the value each member speed and agility in an effort to achieve the Joint All- them on a shared drive or email them for dissemination ties, but to integrate capabilities to achieve the desired
Force, diversity. family, friends, mentors, fellow Airmen and als have honest concern for the wellbeing of brings to the team. Domain Command and Control vision. to mission participants. If there is a missing or incorrect effect. WIDOW has improved the U-2 pilot’s access to

However, it is because of diversity that we personal experiences shape this philosophy. others. It also requires a leader to humbly The joy of combining Genuine Commu- “What WIDOW provides the warfighter right now, piece of information, then the process of saving, shar- mission planning information and their ability to input
continue to challenge the norms and push Additionally, they are works in progress and selflessly bring individuals together, so nity with Personal Excellence is that it opens is the ability to do collaborative, all-domain, tactical- ing and emailing happens again. This process is long, timely refinements of mission planning information in
beyond our adversaries. and I look forward to the opportunity to they can get to know each other. It means the door to Achievement. If done properly, level mission planning in a secure and cloud-hosted arduous and leaves a lot of room for error,” said Short. a manner that just wasn’t practical with paper coordina-
In fact, the joy of diversity is that we are grow as we engage with each other. As you not focusing solely on the output of a task, the process of building genuine community environment,” said Maj. William Short, chief of staff Platform One allows all tactical-level planners and tion cards for a geographically or temporally-dispersed

not all the same. We do not all think alike. read this philosophy, ask yourself how well but instead on how each person looks at the and combing it with personal excellence can of the U.S. Air Force Fellow, Blue Horizons, Center for their teams to login to WIDOW at the same time and pilot in a space suit. That’s why the 19 WPS U-2 WIC
We do not all have the same desires and we you know those in your work center. Ask task to best accomplish it and then learning help break down the barriers of mispercep- Strategy and Technology, Air War College, Maxwell simultaneously update the mission data set and prod- cadre were early adopters and are continued users of
do not all have the same motivations. While yourself how well your co-workers know each other’s preferences and nuances to ac- tions and crush biases, because it requires AFB, Alabama. ucts in real-time. WIDOW,” Mattson added.
that is not a revolutionary concept by any you. Trust me, how you answer those ques- complish the task more efficiently the next teammates that truly know each other. WIDOW uses DOD Platform One’s continuous Additionally, Platform One automates the updates, The next step for WIDOW is to build the digital
stretch of the imagination, it highlights that tions matters and will affect your ability to time. The result of genuine community can My goal is to humbly embrace our diverse Authority to Operate (c-ATO) on NIPR (unclassified), security and access to WIDOW via the commercial bridge between the tactical and operational levels by
leading cannot be a one-size-fits-all ordeal lead diverse organizations. For those that be a family-like team that trusts, cares and organization to build Genuine Community SIPR (secret) and JWICS (top secret) networks. software best practice known as DevSecOps. The connecting it to Kessel Run’s family of applications
and it is incumbent on the leader to know, are not a part of the 786th FSS, I offer that desires to act with personal excellence to by inspiring Personal Excellence through “Think of Platform One as a road that all DOD- DevSecOps process enables applications like WIDOW that support the operational planning cycles in air
embrace and understand this concept to the concepts of this philosophy can apply help each other achieve. servant-like actions to lead both individuals approved applications or vehicles can operate on. This to receive direct-user feedback and implement that operation centers.
lead successfully. to any organization. To me, Personal Excellence in this equa- and the organization to Achieve our goals road has built-in rules and security measures, i.e. red/ feedback more quickly, because tactical-level planners This will enable operational and tactical planners
As the new commander of the mighty My stance on leading is simple and, tion is stretching oneself to uncomfortable together. I would challenge you to do the green lights, etc. The security measures enable DOD have direct access to the application’s engineers. to share data back and forth automatically and sig-
786th Force Support Squadron, it is hum- as a person who enjoys math, I offer it in or challenging places. While excellence may same in whatever role or organization you users with a Common Access Card to access the ap- This allows the engineers to truly understand the nificantly reduce the need for shared drives, email and

bling to serve such a diverse organization. an equation. Genuine Community plus look different to each person, it is about find yourself. plications they need to execute their mission, at their challenges and needs of the end user and then imple- SharePoint to disseminate critical planning data.
respective security levels,” said Short. ment software updates as fast as possible. “Kessel Run has created multiple modern software
“WIDOW is only successful because of the zero “With DevSecOps, we can fix bugs and push new applications that live on the cloud, that digitize and re-
Desert Lightning News, So. Nevada edition is Department of the Air Force or Aerotech News and For all submissions, a name and phone number barrier to entry for using it and the fact that you don’t features on a timeline that most in the DOD have never place manual processes for operational-level planning.
published by Aerotech News and Review, a private Review of the products or services advertised. of a person to contact must be included in the event have to install it directly on a computer, like you do seen before,” said Short. WIDOW has done that for tactical level planning, but
firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force. Everything advertised in the publication shall be questions arise. with so many legacy software applications,” said Short. “Utilizing a common dataset, WIDOW also auto- these capabilities are not yet connected,” said Short.
Contents of Desert Lightning News, So. Nevada edition made available for purchase and use of patronage All material is edited for accuracy, brevity, clarity
Desert Lightning News Staff are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national and conformity to the AP Style Guide, to include “WIDOW fills a gap that has never been filled by the matically produces common products necessary to WIDOW is the result of Air Force leadership
Paul Kinison, Publisher, Aerotech News and Review by, Aerotech News and Review, the U.S. government, origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political military ranks and proper writing etiquette. mission planning enterprise. It enables users to com- fly and execute the missions during training exercises and mission partner support of Airmen innovation.
Stuart Ibberson, Editor the Department of Defense or the Department of the affiliation or any other non-merit factor of the Corrections: Desert Lightning News staff plete the mission planning process defined in 3-3.IPE like Red Flag and Weapons School Integration. Some WIDOW is an example of how warfighters can directly
Tinna Sellie, Editorial Layout members strive for accurac y each week .
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