FEBRUARY 22, 2023 – The Department of the Air Force’s capstone innovation campaign, Spark Tank, recently concluded submissions — and Airmen and Guardians may now vote for one of the top six selected ideas.
Visit the links in the titles of the selections for more details on each idea. To vote for your favorite, visit the Guardians and Airmen Innovation Network website. First-time users will need to sign up for a free account using their government email addresses and Common Access Cards. Then click “Vote now” next to your favorite idea, limit one idea only. Voting ends March 8.
The semi-final round of Spark Tank completed December 19, with six of 235 ideas advancing to the finals. Finals are scheduled to take place at the Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium March 8 in Aurora, Colorado. Department of the Air Force senior leaders and two celebrity judges will review the ideas and select the winner in a live event.
Spark Tank 2023 Finalists:
Accelerated Development of Multi-Capable Airmen/Guardians
Maj. Caitlin Harris
351st Special Warfare Training Squadron
Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico
Air Education and Training Command
The Special Warfare prototype project will provide linkages between human systems and operational tasks across a spectrum of skillsets that will accelerate training, learning, and retention while developing Airmen/Guardians in multiple competencies. This aggressive modernized training focuses on training the Airmen and Guardians in an efficient and dynamic way, preparing them for wartime situations requiring them to step outside their occupational specialty and operate as expert multi-disciplinarians.
Advanced Maintenance and Troubleshooting System
Master Sgt. Aaron Cordroch
1st Special Operations Maintenance Group
Hurlburt Field, Florida
Air Force Special Operations Command
Imagine a world where we leverage cyber threat and intrusion/anomalies hardware detection and diagnostic mapping tools to take a snapshot of clean data and systems to build a picture of maintenance issues that can be monitored for changes.
Infrastructure in an Augmented Reality World
Tech. Sgt. Sarah Hubert and Tech. Sgt. Raymond Zgoda
353rd Special Operations Wing and 374th Civil Engineer Squadron
Yokota Air Base, Japan
Pacific Air Forces
Realizing the potential of augmented reality enables precise determination of what and where our underground infrastructure is located without digging it up. Scanning installations and using Augmented Reality drastically reduces resources to repair after attack or natural disaster.
Project Kinetic Cargo Sustainment
Capt. Andrew Armor, Master Sgt. Brandon Allensworth, Master Sgt.
Peter Salinas, Master Sgt. Jet Nesle and Tech. Sgt. Justin Sprinkel
18th Logistics Readiness Squadron
Kadena AB, Japan
Pacific Air Forces
Dramatically accelerate mobility cargo processing capacity and throughput by means of operating outside of analog mobility processes and tools for port operations.
Real-Time Asset Management System
Michael Dolan
Space Base Delta 3
Los Angeles AFB, California
Space Systems Command
Imagine leaders and employees optimizing office space, minimizing modernization construction costs and enable tracking and evolution continuity of every location and asset from unclassified to Special Access Programs. This Space Management tool provides real-time assessment and data mining capability for every square foot of buildings and every office space to include IT configurations down to the chip level.
Project Oregon Trail
Staff Sgt. Michael Sturtevant
353th Special Operations Support Squadron
Kadena Air Base, Japan
Air Force Special Operations Command
Reimagined and reduced Time-Phased Force and Deployment Data are afforded because there are smaller, lighter, and faster-to-deploy mechanisms to move cargo and equipment wherever needed, on the spot without the need for pallet jacks or forklifts.
By Crystal Ortiz
Secretary of the Air Force Management and Business