HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) reviewed its current studies, toured units and met Airmen from April 8-11 during its spring board meeting here.
The Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force task the independent SAB each year to study topics deemed critical to the Air Force mission and to recommend improvements through applications of technology. The spring board marks the midterm of the study period.
“There are two primary objectives during the spring session. One is to determine how the studies are going and the other is to provide our members with some Air Force bluing,” said Dr. James S. Chow, chair for the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.
Some members have experience working with the Department of Defense, but they don’t necessarily have extensive exposure to the Air Force. The spring session allows them to get a broader and deeper perspective of Air Force missions that are being conducted and of the people who conduct those missions, said Chow.
Hill was chosen to host the session because of the diversity of missions performed at the base.
The SAB was tasked with three studies this year: 21st century training and education technology, multi-source data fusion for target location and identification, and fidelity of modeling, simulation, and analysis to support Air Force decision making.
The spring session is the point where the studies switch from information gathering to really crisping up the findings and recommendations and where the entire board is together to deliberate and move forward for the second half of the study, said Dr. Melissa Choi, vice chair for the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.
Most studies begin in January and end in late June when the board votes on approval and adoption of the final findings and recommendations from the studies. After approval, a detailed written report is submitted and results are briefed to senior leaders at Headquarters Air Force, Air Force major commands, and other service organizations and the Defense Department.
The nature of many studies require the reports to be classified, however, some reports are publicly releasable and available on the SAB public website, www.scientificadvisoryboard.af.mil/.
Members of the SAB are from among the nation’s leading experts in science, technology and engineering and are drawn from technical program leadership across federally funded research and development centers, national laboratories, academia and industry.
All SAB members are nominated by the Secretary of the Air Force and appointed by the Secretary of Defense. They are appointed for four-year terms of service with annual renewal appointments and dedicate anywhere from 30 to more than 100 days each year working on the board. Members serve without any compensation other than travel reimbursement.
