Page 7 - Nov2024Communicator

ACC Hackathon: Airmen are the solution

By SSgt Madeline Herzog SSgt Matthew Boone, another hackathon
Air Combat Command Public Affairs participant, believes the newer generation of
McConnell AFB, KS Airmen bring fresh perspectives, and events like J-
Hack create unique development opportunities for
Fifty airmen and civilians from across the Air them and the Air Force.
Combat Command intelligence, targeting and “We are giving Airmen the power to be self-
communications enterprises gathered in August in starters,” said Boone. “This generation of Airmen
Wichita, KS, for the Nexus Hackathon, deemed “J- are learning computer code and data in high
Hack 24-1.” school. We can harness their knowledge and the
“It is critical that Airmen have the primary voice fact that they have no preconceived notion of what
in resolving the issues we confront because they it’s ‘supposed to be,’ and then they can apply those
are the experts tasked to work those problems skills to fill the gaps in our systems.”
every day,” said Shane Hamilton, ACC Associate Each team was successful in their week-long
Director of Intelligence. “This hackathon is mission to provide a prototype solution for their
undertaking some of Nexus’ most vexing team’s problem.
automation challenges by bringing operational and Team 1’s solution involved building a system that
technical subject matter experts together to explore automated the process of elevating and identifying
the art of possibility.” targets. Using the system, targets can be adjusted
In 2023, the commander of ACC signed the to match the needs and guidance of different areas
“Nexus” operation order, which was initiated to of responsibility to effectively speed up decision-
increase readiness by replacing manual processes making processes.
with automation. Additionally, Nexus aims to Team 2 delivered two pathways for government-
ensure a seamless flow of data between the Air off-the-shelf and commercial-off-the-shelf
Force’s intelligence, targeting and command and capabilities that automate imagery chipping for
control communities on a global scale to enable mission quality assurance as well as future
core airpower missions. computer vision model training which has a high
Airmen from these career fields work toward a pay off when the task is performed automatically
common goal every day but have historically faced and at scale.
challenges in communications and information Team 3 created a prototype that significantly
sharing. reduces network traffic and allows access to
To produce prototype solutions for the “fight intelligence reporting and production through a
tonight” challenges, J-Hack 24-1 brought mostly webpage where the user interface is a simple
junior enlisted Airmen together with different skill website using HTML and JavaScript.
levels and experiences to tackle and break down Finally, team 4 created a baseball card prototype
the walls from the technological barriers they face. that integrates multiple data sources into a
“I think it’s great to experience a really diverse set dashboard to save manpower and time when
of perspectives and every one of us has our own developing decision briefs for each target.
areas of expertise,” said A1C Dominick Johnston, a “A hackathon brings advanced digital Airmen
data operator assigned to the 20th Intelligence together who are knowledgeable about their job
Squadron at Offutt AFB, NE. and apply it to a data and automation problem,”
“When you assemble a said Place. “We have digitally
team and have experts in smart Airmen who can bridge
10 different specialties, these gaps, solve problems at
you produce something their level and help develop a
that is far beyond what culture of innovation and
you could produce by readiness.”
yourself.” “This is a great step toward
Col Thomas Place, ACC normalizing rapid innovation by
Data and Artificial empowering our highly motivated
Intelligence Office, Chief and technically astute Airmen at
AI Officer, kicked off the the lowest level,” said Col Jeffrey
hackathon, speaking Phillips, ACC Director of
directly to participants. Cyberspace Operations and
“Our Airmen are the Warfighting Communications. “I
greatest weapons system Participants during the Nexus am really proud of the team and
that the US Air Force has, Hackathon discuss a team building the results from this Hackathon, I
and you guys are here to question at McConnell AFB. (US Air look forward to future iterations.”
prove that this week.” Force photo by SSgt Madeline Herzog)

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