Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      20th IS initiative brings first fully-operational Spark Hub to Offutt AFBPublished March 12, 2019
                    
                    By Catherine White
                    
                    
                    363rd Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs
            **OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AFNS) --**In June 2018, five members from the 20th Intelligence Squadron, part of the 363rd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, began building a network of like-minded Airmen to out-innovate U.S. adversaries. Today, this network, known as Soaring Buffalo, consists of Airmen from multiple Air Force career fields, squadrons, wings, Numbered Air Forces and major commands working together to solve warfighter problems.
Soaring Buffalo is part of the Air Force’s innovation ecosystem and makes up Offutt Air Force Base’s first Spark Hub construct – a decentralized network of Air Force bases around the world designed to execute locally generated ideas and projects.
“We think this is the future for squadron- and base-level innovation,” said Capt. Joshua, 20th IS targeting innovation officer in charge and one of the original five Soaring Buffalo members.
The network gives Airmen access to multifunctional expertise and fosters a culture of exploration to create an environment that lets Airmen test ideas.
“This is a real outlet where Airmen can build, refine and prove ideas,” Joshua said. “It ties them into a larger community of experts they never had access to before.”
Since its inception, the original five have grown to a 37-member network that includes industry, academia, senior military leaders, Airmen and civilians.
“We are focused on failing fast and failing forward,” said Ben, 20th IS intelligence specialist and one of the original five. “It is empowering and energizing for us to receive a platform that accelerates our desire and ability to tackle challenges.”
Partnerships with industry and academia are key components of Spark programs. Through these partnerships, Soaring Buffalo members trained with staff from a local university’s College of Information Science and Technology on some of the most advanced data visualization and analytics topics available.
“(As a result of this training), we have identified weapon systems threats and defense systems in record time,” Joshua said. “We are postured to work on small problems that helps us in the day-to-day or work on big problems impacting Air Force lethality.”
One of the many successful projects members of the Soaring Buffalo team has accomplished encompasses creating a dashboard that allows warfighters to make real-time recommendations; designed and coded by Airmen with the 595th Strategic Communications Squadron, Air Force Global Strike Command and targeteers from the 20th IS, as well as deployed warfighters from air operations centers.
A secure, dedicated lab space is part of the overall network that makes collaboration possible across traditional organizational boundaries.
“The Soaring Buffalo Lab is both a targeting innovation and a rapid DevOps lab that includes a core cadre composed of a rotating team of volunteers with experts from the targeting, intelligence and programming communities,” Joshua said.
DevOps is the combination of practices and tools that increases an organization's ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity; evolving and improving products at a faster pace than organizations using traditional development and internal processes. At Offutt AFB, the lab combines warfighter and intelligence systems with commercial internet for capability expansion.
“This gives us unprecedented flexibility and allows members of the team to understand warfighter problems in-depth at their source,” Joshua said. “We have the ability to build data analysis models, visualization or code new software solutions.”
The Air Force continues to further a culture of innovation through programs like Spark and leadership support.
“Innovation is a fostered culture – the passion our leadership has put into this project and what we have all put into making this happen is something that will stick with me throughout my career,” said Staff Sgt. Sean, 20th IS targeting innovation NCO in charge. “Soaring Buffalo is a prime example of what dedicated and charged Airmen can do when leaders believe in them.”
Sean was not the only team member who praised and thanked leadership for their support.
“I am gratified that our Air Force leaders can see the need for change and are putting their names on the line to advocate for teams like this to exist,” Ben said.Air Force 



surveillance 



AF 



community 



numbered Air Forces 



363rd Intelligence 



programs 



warfighters 



595th Strategic Communications Squadron 



Spark 



Reconnaissance Group 



Soaring Buffalo 



20th IS 



multifunctional 



College of Information Science and Technology 



innovation ecosystem 



Spark Hub 



20th Intelligence Squadron 



DevOps 



Air Force Global Strike Command 



Air Combat Command Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil