King Comm prepares for Ramstein AFNet migration

  • Published
  • By Lt .Col. John P. Zapata
  • 86th Communications Squadron Commander
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  The Air Force network migration project, which started more than a year ago, is coming to U.S. Air Forces in Europe this fall.

Team Ramstein is currently scheduled to be the last USAFE base migrated in the mid--November timeframe. This major Air Force project eliminates multiple domains and establishes one Air Force network for all bases and users, centrally managed and controlled by C4/cyber professionals.

The project offers users some significant improvements. The most obvious benefit to all is the standardization and security of the base's network enterprise, and resulting sustained ability to perform required mission tasks.

Individually, the AFNet migration will allow all Airmen to have a single email account always active and accessible at any Air Force location worldwide through the use of their Common Access Card, or CAC.

The days of de-activating and creating new accounts with every move will be over. The migration eliminates the first.last@ramstein.af.mil email address and replaces it with the first.last@us.af.mil address. This will then serve as someone's email address for the length of their service.

As King Comm prepares for the project, most of the actions and changes will be transparent to users. C4 professionals have been busy the past few weeks installing equipment and preparing for the migration of more than 15,000 users.

This is no small task and King Comm, in conjunction with HQ USAFE/A6, will devote considerable resources and effort to make the process a smooth and successful transition. Local technicians will be available and handpicked to respond to any potential issues that may arise. Everyone's patience during the migration will be greatly appreciated.

Another key element of the migration is a sustained, effective 24/7 response to issues. As a result, the Air Force has already established the Enterprise Service Desk, or ESD, system to respond to unclassified network issues and outages.

ESD call centers are located at Maxwell-Gunter AFB, Alabama; Lackland AFB, Texas; Ramstein AB, Germany; and Hickam AB, Hawaii. ESD technicians are essential to the success of the migration and will assume a greater role in problem resolution as the base moves to a more sustainable and defendable Air Force network.

Most problems will be resolved at the ESD level, those that cannot be fixed will be forwarded to the local technicians.

This is an exciting time as we prepare to finally implement the "One Air Force, One Network" concept. It has taken years for the C4/cyber organizations to be developed and for technology to mature to a level that allows base technicians the ability to positively consolidate networks and centralize services.

King Comm will provide more detailed user information as the move gets closer to the migration dates to answer specific questions and educate base users.