Program prepares acquisition professionals for future challenges

  • Published
  • By Brian Brackens
  • Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – In its fourth year of operations and ninth cohort of students, the Advanced Tactical Acquisition Corps (ATAC) program continues to groom the next generation of Air Force and Space Force acquisition leaders.

While the 12 week program is slightly different this year, with a virtual element, participants are still involved in an engaging program that combines academic coursework, teaming and mentorship opportunities with senior Air Force, government and industry leaders from around the country. 

Some of the mentorship opportunities and coursework this year and in previous years have been at world renowned organizations such as MIT Lincoln Laboratories, Harvard University, the Central Intelligence Agency, Georgetown University, the University of Tennessee, University of California, Berkeley, Amazon, Apple, and Google.

During ATAC, participants are tasked with finding solutions for specific acquisition challenges, which in the past have ranged from replacing legacy helmets for pilots of fixed winged aircraft, to acquiring next-generation gaming technology for joint warfighter training.

The current ATAC team is working with the Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability and Air Force Research Lab to rapidly deploy a technology that will be able to assess within seconds whether an individual has an infectious disease, such as COVID-19.

“Our task is twofold,” said Capt. Tara Crouch, an ATAC member. “The first is to deliver a screening technology that can rapidly identify volatile organic compounds in your breath indicative of a virus. It won’t say which virus you have, it would just be used in some way to say you probably shouldn’t enter this particular mass gathering. Second, we’ve also been tasked with looking at how to effectively bring technology out of AFRL and deliver it to the warfighter. It’s a specific task that is acquisition focused with a greater philosophical question.”

Currently the screening technology is being tested at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and the results will determine how the Air Force proceeds.

The ATAC team working the project have a vast range of experience, which has positively impacted the overall learning experience and shaped how they develop solution to field a screening tool.

“It’s a very diverse group,” said Bryce Stallworth, a logistician and member of ATAC. “One of our team members has a PhD from Oxford University. Many of our team members have been deployed. One was a drone pilot. We have multiple scientists, contracting professionals, and program managers.”

Since members of the team are geographically separated, working from multiple time zones, Stallworth said the group had to be flexible, and some cases shift their life clock to accommodate the Eastern Time schedule.

But any challenge associated with working from multiple states have been worth it added Crouch.
 
“This project has a ton of purpose,” said Crouch. “COVID-19 has affected every single person working in the DOD and the world. When you have such as purposeful project, you really have motivation to jump through hurdles. I anticipate ATAC will have a lot of success in the future and continue to be a staple of the AFLCMC mindset of innovation and speed.”

The following individuals are members of ATAC Team 9:
Capt. Stephen Beaton, Air Force Research Laboratory
Capt. Michael Black, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and Special Operations Forces Directorate
Capt. Eric Bonick, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center
1st Lt. Derek Chaplin, Mobility Directorate
Capt. Tara Crouch, Air Force Research Laboratory
Dawn Davenport, Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, and Networks (C3I&N) Directorate
Capt. Jacob Nicholson, Space and Missile Systems Center
Elizabeth Sams, Bombers Directorate
Bryce Stallworth, Agile Combat Support Directorate