HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- The Airspace Mission Planning Division’s leadership recently changed hands during a ceremony at the Hanscom Minuteman Commons, here, May 6, 2025.
Col. Louis Duncan relinquished his position as the division’s senior materiel leader to Col. Grant Spear. The division is part of the Department of the Air Force's Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management. The division focuses on developing, delivering, and sustaining software that enables mission planning and command and control for joint service warfighters. The division also supports more than 40 nations through foreign military sales of mission planning software valued at more than $300 million.
During the ceremony, Duncan remarked on his time at the helm of the organization and welcomed Spear to his new role.
“Looking back at the last four years, it has been pretty tremendous to see the amount of work this team has put into making Airspace Mission Planning operate at speeds to which no one would recognize it,” Duncan said. “When you talk about the heritage of an organization, it brings a light in my heart to know that Spear is right behind me.”
Spear thanked Duncan and spoke to the Airmen now under his charge.
“I already know, firsthand, how potent of a team you are,” Spear said. “I really want to take the Airspace Mission Planning vision and figure out how to implement it across the whole enterprise so we are growing in alignment with our operational requirement owners.”
The presiding officer, Maj. Gen. Luke Cropsey, C3BM’s program executive officer, remarked on Duncan’s achievements during his time serving in the position. He also gave Spear words of encouragement for assuming his new role.
“I think it’s a credit to Louis’s leadership, and the leadership team here at Airspace Mission Planning, that you have that same kind of operational focus around everything that you do,” Cropsey said. “Thank you for bringing this team through a lot of change in not a very large amount of time.
“Grant, I look forward to what the future holds for the team,” Cropsey said. “I am 100 percent confident that no matter what great curve balls come at us over the course of the next year or two, we’ll find a way to mission success.”
The division’s Airmen are geographically dispersed between numerous installations, including Hanscom; Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Hill AFB, Utah; and Scott AFB, Ill. The division is comprised of nine core mission planning programs, each uniquely focused on delivering data that enables commanders and pilots to make decisions in real time.
The programs produce products that communicate data in areas such as force generation, mission planning, weapon systems, and logistical movements to collectively support more than 25 aircraft platforms. These C2 systems are integrated into the DAF BATTLE NETWORK.
As an integrating PEO, C3BM is responsible for designing and delivering the DAF BATTLE NETWORK. The DAF BATTLE NETWORK is the integrated system of systems connecting sensor, effector, and logistics systems providing better situational awareness, faster decisions, and decisive direction. In short, resilient decision advantage to the joint force.