MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Government civilians assigned to the 38th Cyberspace Engineering Squadron assigned to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, assist Airmen assigned to the 6th Communication Squadron in updating the base’s network infrastructure Mar. 7, 2023.
“Our goal is to set MacDill’s network to a baseline configuration that is Security Technical Implementation Guidelines compliant,” said Richard Carter, 38th CES information technology project manager. “We go to different bases around the world to standardize and optimize their networks.”
Their goal is to standardize AFNet so every base meets a certain network infrastructure requirement: Air Force Base Network Functional Specification. This allows for more consistent training and easier maintenance. “Our goal is to provide a more holistic approach to data for [the 6th CS] so it’s easier for them to approach problems with the network,” Carter said.
“The 38th helped us out a lot,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Hockenhull III, 6th CS cyber systems section chief. “With all the work they’ve done here, we can put our main focus back on the current problems and tickets instead of fixing base-wide errors.”
The team works both virtually and in-person to bring Air Force bases around the world the most updated infrastructure available.
“While most of the diagnostic and planning actions took place while we were still at Tinker, we spent a lot of time here working to stabilize the network,” said Carter.
“We’ve been hard at work with [6th CS] finding and fixing issues in the system since we got here,” said William Kinney, 38th CES cyber systems network evaluation engineer. “ The 6th CS has been great. They stay late and come in early, and are always ready to help improve the base. We don’t see units this welcoming or motivated very often.”
Members of both units routinely stay after the duty day to install new systems and wires and protect MacDill’s internet from broadcast storms.
“A broadcast storm is like a traffic jam on a highway,” said Hockenhull. “[The 38th] helped us upgrade our systems and teach our Airmen the ins-and-outs of the new stuff.”
For more information, contact the 6th Communication Squadron at (813) 828-3336.