For an aircraft maintainer on the flight line, the digital world of servers, databases and code can feel a million miles away. But when an aircraft needs a critical component or a repair signature is required before takeoff, that maintainer relies on the digital backbone built and maintained at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.

The 78th Communications Directorate’s Special Missions Division, or SCP, operates as that technological foundation for Robins AFB and across the enterprise.

“Everybody here supports Robins, but also outside of Robins,” said Derek Horton 78th Communications Directorate SCP division chief. “Whether it's for Air Force Materiel Command, Air Force Sustainment Center, or even Space Force, SCP does a little bit of everything for a little bit of everybody. The whole reason we’re here is to help the warfighter complete their mission efficiently and effectively.”

Legacy Systems

The division supports the legacy systems used by the maintainers at Robins, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, and Hill AFB, Utah. They maintain the Enterprise Management Information System that was built organically at Robins over two decades ago, providing the essential accountability for the 402nd Aircraft Maintenance Group during their critical work on mission-essential aircraft that warfighters rely on.

“EMIS was developed by us specifically for our users, filling the gaps that older systems couldn’t,” Horton said. “Whenever mechanics perform work on an aircraft, that work has to be certified and stamped. If anything ever happens, EMIS lets investigators trace exactly who performed the work and when.”

The Facilities and Equipment Maintenance System works alongside EMIS, supporting more than 3,300 users across Robins, Hill and Tinker Air Force Bases, as well as the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. It tracks maintenance schedules, tool inventory and calibration records for the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory, ensuring each tool is accurate and safe to use.

“These maintenance records are critical,” said Patricia Johnson, FEMS IT specialist. “We’ve had instances where an aircraft went down in the field, and investigators suspected a piece of calibrated equipment was involved. They contacted us to pull the records and find out why it failed. Our systems keep our maintainers working quickly, efficiently and safely.”

Application Development

Searching for available tools and parts across the flight line can cause costly delays. The 78th Communications Directorate SCP software development branch led a major overhaul of the Air Force Global Enterprise Tracking System, an enterprise-wide asset tracking system that was developed by Airmen at Robins AFB.

In the past, tracking parts required bulky, expensive battery tags bolted to equipment. Today, AFGET uses paper-thin passive labels that cost a fraction of the price. Specialized sensor tags can also monitor heat and humidity, ensuring the environment doesn’t degrade these mission essential assets.

“Think of AFGET like AirTags on steroids,” explained Teddy Madison, AFGET system developer and computer scientist. “With passive technology, you don't need batteries anymore. You can aim a handheld scanner at a 20-foot wall of parts and inventory an entire warehouse room in seconds.”

The system also uses automated alerts, which further enhances readiness on the flight line. When an essential part leaves a back shop, maintainers can receive an immediate notification so they can prepare for its arrival.

Enterprise Capabilities

Outside of maintenance applications, SCP operates the ServiceNow platform, an operational powerhouse that manages IT support tickets and server certificates to prevent website downtime, tracks IT hardware lifecycles, and manages project demands across the AFSC.

Robins AFB was selected as one of only five host platform teams out of more than 40 ServiceNow instances across the Air Force. That track record led Headquarters Space Force to select the Robins team to engineer their custom platform tools and human resource services.

“We started three and a half years ago with just two or three people, and today we’re a team of seven civilians and six contractors,” said Thomas Smith, ServiceNow program manager. “Bringing that data together into one unified platform lets leaders see live information and make the best decisions quickly.”

Center of Automation

In addition to supporting over 750 SharePoint sites for Robins AFB, the business division’s Center of Automation is aiming to empower Team Robins Airmen to develop solutions to their own day-to-day headaches within their work. Through its Civilian Developer Program, the CoA trains non-programmers to build their own apps and automated workflows to reduce redundancies and give them more time to invest in higher-level processes.

“We are empowering Team Robins to automate their own processes, even the simplest little things that might take them an hour a day. If they can get automation to do it for them, it creates time they can use to focus on more important things,” said Candace Wilder, digital transformation section chief.

The payoff is already felt base wide with a multitude of tools including a desktop hazard reporting tool and a digital workflow for in- and out-processing checklists. The digital workflow for new and outgoing Airmen replaces manual checklists and reduces the time needed to complete the document from one to two weeks down to a couple of hours.

Its impact goes far beyond the Robins AFB gates. The initiative helped launch the enterprise-wide DAF Automation Hub, and other services, including the U.S. Navy, have adopted the Robins training curriculum for their own personnel.

Looking Forward

As the mission moves forward, the SCP is focused on recruiting talent and answering the call for enhanced security.

“Cloud modernization is critical for security,” Horton said. “In the cloud, enterprise vendors can patch vulnerabilities in days rather than months, keeping our flight-line systems protected.”

From the flight line to the server room, the Special Missions Division keeps the wheels turning behind the scenes.

“A happy mechanic makes a wing commander happy,” the team noted. “We build technology that makes life easier for the warfighter, gets the job done, and keeps the mission moving.”