Tesseract Podcast

Advancing Airman Innovation with Technical Sergeant Daniel Kosty

In this episode, James talked with Technical Sergeant Dan Kosty, a Tesseract Core Member and Program Manager with our Concept Integrations Branch. They discussed his experience as a C-17 Maintainer, Co-Founder of Tron, and working within the Innovation Ecosystem.

Testing the Mission Generation Group with Col. Bary Flack

In this episode, James talked with Colonel Bary Flack, commander of the 436th Mission Generation Group at Dover AFB. We talked about how the new organizational structure - the MGG - intends to unite work centers under the common mission of power projection.

Tesseract Summit 2023: Senior Leader Panel

In this episode, James talked with Ms. Brown, HAF/A4L Deputy, Col. Hartle, HAF/A4L Associate Director, and Mr. Malby, HAF/A4PA IT Specialist and Innovator. We talked about the unique set of circumstances that innovation brings to the traditional hierarchy of a military staff and their experiences with overcoming hurdles and scaling to the enterprise.

Project Madagascar with SrA Jackson Wynn & Team

In this episode, James talked with grassroots innovators SrA Jackson Wynn, TSgt Aaron Garcia, and TSgt Adam Funderburgh. We discussed their idea, Project Madagascar, and how it supports the Air Force’s next-generation warehouse. We also talked about being an innovator at the field level and prototyping with almost zero cost.
Team Email: 7LRS.spark.hydra@us.af.mil
Application Link: https://bmswens.github.io/Inventory-Management/
*Note: This podcast was recorded at LOA '23, we apologize for any background noise.*

Acquisitions in Air Force Innovation with Chris Shaheen

In this episode, we sit down with Chris Shaheen, a Contracting Officer at Air Force Material Command. Chris talks about the duties and responsibilities of his position as well as roadblocks faced by an Airforce contracting/acquisition specialist. He discusses Small Business Innovation Research (SBIRs) and the plethora of systems and tools that exist for different organizations to fund innovation.
*Note: This podcast was processed through an AI tool to help remove background noise. Some may still remain.*

Resiliency, Redundancy, and Operator Requirements with Maj. Kyle “Gouge” McAlpin

In this episode, James talked with Major Kyle “Gouge” McAlpin, C-17 pilot and ML Project Manager at the DAF-MIT AI Accelerator. We talked about the difficulty in transitioning solutions from one domain to another in the Air Force and the broader DoD, especially when AI/ML is involved, and how operators have extremely nuanced requirements for the tools they use.

Preparing the Next Generation of Airmen with Brig. General Lyle Drew

In this episode, James talked with Brigadier General Drew, Commander of the 82nd Training Wing and Installation Commander at Sheppard AFB. We talked about how to invest in your people and empower them to meet their full potential, whether they be seasoned managers or bright-eyed young airmen fresh out of BMT.

Airpower History and Innovation with Dr Heather Venable

In this episode, Matt talked with Dr Heather Venable, Course Director of Airpower Strategy and Operations, Department of Airpower at the Air Command and Staff College. In this episode we talked about the importance of history and how it influences the future, and the roots of innovation of the United States Air Force. While we are focused on the future, we must take the time to understand the past.

Adaptation Under Fire with Lt Gen David Barno, Ret. and Dr Nora Bensahel

In this episode, SSgt Matt Miranda sat down with Lt Gen David Barno, Ret. and Dr. Nora Bensahel, authors of Adaptation Under Fire: How Militaries Change in Wartime. In this episode, we discuss their book, the difference between adaptation and innovation, and case studies highlighting the importance of adaptability in conflict. Lt. Gen. David W. Barno, USA (Ret.) is a Visiting Professor of Strategic Studies and Senior Fellow at the Merrill Center in The Johns Hopkins University - Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. He was the senior American commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan from 2003–2005. Lt. Gen. Barno was a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and writes the Strategic Outpost column with Dr. Nora Bensahel. Dr. Nora Bensahel is a Visiting Professor of Strategic Studies, a Senior Fellow of the Merrill Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a Contributing Editor and Columnist for War on the Rocks. She is also an Adjunct Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses. Her work focuses on the future of warfare and military strategy and operations. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS). Don't miss this fascinating conversation with two experts in the field of military strategy, adaptation, and innovation. Listen to the episode now, and check out their book for a deeper dive into the topic of adaptability in the military.

Leading the Future of the A4 with Lieutenant General Tom Miller

If you're an Airman in maintenance, logistics readiness, civil engineering, or force protection, you can't miss this episode! We sat down with Lt. Gen. Tom D. Miller, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection. We talked about mentorship between officers and enlisted, the Basing and Logistics Enterprise Strategy, and how we must prepare for the future. Lt. Gen. Miller is responsible to the Chief of Staff for leadership, management and integration of Air Force logistics readiness, aircraft, munitions and missile maintenance, civil engineering and security forces. He is also responsible for setting policy and preparing budget estimates that reflect enhancements to productivity, combat readiness and quality of life for Airmen. He has served in a variety of leadership positions and has commanded maintenance squadrons in the United States and Iraq, a maintenance group in Afghanistan, a nuclear wing, an air logistics complex, and has served on the Air Staff and the Joint Staff. Before his current position, he was the Commander of the Air Force Sustainment Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

Logistics in the Falklands War with Major General Kenneth Privratsky, Ret.

In this episode, SSgt Matt Miranda talked with Major General Kenneth Privratsky, Ret., author of Logistics in the Falklands War: A Case Study in Expeditionary Warfare. 

Leadership and the Joint Force with SEAC Ramón ”CZ” Colón-López

In this episode, SSgt Matt Miranda had the opportunity to sit down with SEAC Ramón "CZ" Colón-López to talk about leadership and the Joint Force.
SEAC Ramón "CZ" Colón-López is the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the most senior enlisted service member, by position, in the United States Armed Forces, and the principal military advisor to the Chairman on all matters involving joint and combined total force integration, utilization, health of the force, and joint development for enlisted personnel.
SEAC Colón-López enlisted in the United States Air Force in December 1990. He has held assignments in U.S. Air Forces Europe, Air Combat Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Education and Training Command, Pacific Air Forces, Joint Special Operations Command, and Air Forces Central Command. He has deployed numerous times in support of operations Southern Watch, Northern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, New Dawn, Resolute Support, Inherent Resolve, and to several other classified locations. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as the Command Senior Enlisted Leader for United States Africa Command.

Future Warfare with Lieutenant General Mike Dana, Ret.

In this episode, SSgt Matt Miranda sat down with Lieutenant General (Ret.) Mike Dana. We took a deep dive into the future of conflict. We discussed a variety of topics spanning from strategic-level planning, evolving domains of warfare, all the way to the importance of reading.
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Mike Dana retired in 2019 after thirty-seven years of service in the United States Marine Corps, having last served as the Director of the Marine Corps Staff. During his decades of service, he was the head logistician for the Marine Corps, deployed ten times, and served on joint duty three times, including in the Indo-Pacific. He has developed particular expertise in autonomous systems and additive manufacturing. 

Military Logistics in War with Colonel Jobie Turner, Ret.

In this episode, Jobie Turner and Matt take a deep dive into the history of military logistics. Jobie is the author of Feeding Victory, Innovative Military Logistics from Lake George to Khe Sanh.Jobie Turner is a retired Colonel who served in the United States Air Force from 1996 to 2020. He received his commission and Bachelor of Science as a distinguished graduate from the United States Air Force Academy in 1996. He has served in a variety of operational and staff assignments at Air Mobility Command, United States Air Forces in Europe, United States Transportation Command, and the Headquarters United States Air Force at the Pentagon. These tours included participation in Operations NOBLE EAGLE, JOINT FORGE, IRAQI FREEDOM, ATLANTIC RESOLVE, and UNITED ASSISTANCE.
‍He served as the commander of the 37th Airlift Squadron and the 314th Operations Group, leading those C-130 flying units to numerous awards including a finalist selection for the best flying unit in the United States Air Force.

Theory of Constraints Application at Kadena Air Base with Lt Col Joe Perez

In this episode, we take at a look at Theory of Constraints in action with Lt Col Joe Perez! He was a commander on the ground during TOC initiatives, and shares his insights into what it takes to make your projects successful.  

Indo-Pacific Insights with Colonel David Maxwell, Ret.

In this episode we take a deep dive into the Indo-Pacific region and what logistics Airmen should be aware of from a strategic and tactical perspective. If you are in PACAF, you absolutely do not want to miss this episode!David S. Maxwell is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He is a 30-year veteran of the US Army, retiring as a Special Forces Colonel. He served over 20 years in Asia, primarily in Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. Colonel Maxwell served on the United Nations Command / Combined Forces Command / United States Forces Korea CJ3 staff where he was a planner for UNC/CFC OPLAN 5027-98 and ROK JCS – UNC/CFC CONPLAN 5029-99; he later served as the Director of Plans, Policy, and Strategy and then Chief of Staff for the Special Operations Command Korea. Following retirement, he served as the Associate Director of the Center for Security Studies and the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Colonel Maxwell is a fellow at the Institute of Corean-American Studies, and on the Board of Directors of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, the International Council of Korean Studies, the Council on Korean-US Security Studies, the Special Operations Research Association, the OSS Society, and the Small Wars Journal. He earned a B.A. in political science from Miami University, and an M.A. in Military Arts and Science from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and from the School of Advanced Military Studies, and an M.S. in National Security Studies from the National War College. Colonel Maxwell teaches Unconventional Warfare and Special Operations for Policy Makers and Strategists.

Defying Entropy with Dr Will Roper

In this episode, we sat down with Dr Will Roper. He is the prior Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. As the Air Force’s Service Acquisition Executive, Dr. Roper was responsible for Air Force research, development and acquisition activities totaling an annual budget in excess of $60 billion for more than 550 acquisition programs. In this position, Dr. Roper served as the principal adviser to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force for research and development, test, production and modernization efforts within the Air Force.Prior to that position, Dr. Roper was the founding Director of the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office. Established in 2012, the SCO imagines new—often unexpected and game-changing—uses of existing government and commercial systems: extending their shelf-life and restoring surprise to the military’s playbook. Since 2012, SCO has grown from an annual budget of $50 million to the current $1.5 billion request in the President’s 2018 budget with projects spanning new concepts such as hypervelocity artillery, multi-purpose missiles, autonomous fast-boats, smartphone-navigating weapons, big-data-enabled sensing, 3D-printed systems, standoff arsenal planes, fighter avatars and fighter-dispersed swarming micro-drones which formed the world’s then-largest swarm of 103 systems. During his tenure as SCO Director, Dr. Roper served on the Department’s 2018 National Defense Strategy Steering Group, Cloud Executive Steering Group and Defense Modernization Team.Previously, Dr. Roper served as the Acting Chief Architect at the Missile Defense Agency where he developed 11 new systems, including the current European Defense architecture, advanced drones, and classified programs. Before this, he worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and served as a missile defense advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.

Explaining Aether Sprint with Phillip Barry

In this episode we sat down with one of our team members, MSgt Phillip Barry. He is the program manager responsible for the Aether Sprint competition! This is a low key conversation just to get more Airmen up to speed on Aether Sprint, some of our recent successes, and how you can get involved.Visit our website at www.tesseract.af.mil or check out our LinkedIn page for more details.

What is Tesseract?

Tesseract is the Air Force Office of Logistics Innovation. We exist to accelerate Airman innovation and we trust that Airmen know what it takes to win the future fight. Our mission is to accelerate combat-focused Logistics innovation by empowering Airmen and connecting them to a network of ideas and resources in order to improve the Agile Combat Support and Mission Generation capabilities of the United States Air Force. Our vision is to rapidly actualize change through the voices of Airmen to strengthen Airpower.Through Tesseract Podcast, our goal is to connect you to ideas to advance your innovative solutions. Whether it is a conversation with a senior leader at the Pentagon, an innovative organization, or Airmen in the field, we do our best to provide a variety of perspectives across the Department of Defense and industry.

Persistent Mission Generation with Colonel James Hartle

In this episode, SSgt Matt Miranda sat down with Col. James Hartle, and they talked about the new logistics strategy. The Basing and Logistics Enterprise Strategy (BLES) is the framework our Air Force logistics enterprise will follow and execute, in order to posture logistics as a strategic deterrent and provide persistent mission generation. More importantly, we talk about how this strategy is relevant and important to frontline leaders and warfighters.Col. James Hartle is the Associate Director of Logistics, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Arlington, Virginia. He assists the directorate’s efforts for organizing, training and equipping more than 180,000 logisticians who maintain and support mission generation and the aerospace weapons system inventory. He ensures strategic guidance for materiel management, fuels, vehicle operations and management, deployment and distribution, personal property, traffic management and logistics plans. He also promotes the development of policy and oversees force development for logistics readiness, maintenance and munitions, ensuring the readiness of the single largest element of manpower supporting Air Force combat forces globally.Col. Hartle received his commission in 1996 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia. During his military career, Col Hartle has held positions as an aircraft maintenance unit officer-in-charge, maintenance operations officer, aide-de-camp, officer-in-charge of a base honor guard, action officer on the Pentagon’s air staff, squadron commander, deputy maintenance group commander, and maintenance group commander. Prior to his current position, the Colonel was the Wargames and Analysis Division Chief, Joint Staff Directorate of Logistics, Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Pentagon.

The Krulak Center of Innovation and Future Warfare with Major Ian Brown

We had an amazing opportunity to sit down with Major Ian Brown, who is the operations officer for the Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfare at Marine Corps University.
Major Brown is a helicopter pilot by trade. He is the author of A New Conception of War and is a contributing author to Foraging Wargamers. Both titles can be found at Marine Corps University Press in hard copy or online!
We talked about what the Krulak Center does, and took a deep dive into wargaming. There is a lot both the United States Air Force and United States Marine Corps can learn from one another. You can find Tesseract Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

MICAP Prime Policy Update with Chip Litchfield

In this episode, we take a deep dive with Major Chip Litchfield about the policy update with MICAP Prime and how YOU can dent the universe.
For over three years, our MICAP Prime pathfinder has been tested, championed, and supported by many change agents throughout the logistics enterprise. Major Chip Litchfield, a Logistics Readiness Officer and the thought leader who first conceptualized MICAP Prime, hypothesized “What if we could guarantee next-day delivery on EVERY in-stock, aircraft-grounding MICAP in the continental united states by borrowing a page from the #Amazon Prime playbook?”With Tesseract’s partnership, Major Litchfield had an opportunity to collaborate with mission partners at the Supply Chain Operations Wing, IMSC, and DLA, ultimately earning the chance to brief the Logistics Board and gain approval to start Tesseract’s first pathfinder named MICAP Prime. During the initial testing at only a handful of bases, we fulfilled over 500 lateral 1A MICAPs with a 20% faster response time on C-5, KC-135, and F-16 weapon systems.Tesseract partnered with Headquarters Air Force/A4LR Cargo Distribution Policy Owners, AFIMSC, and Supply Chain Operations Wing Airmen to implement a policy change to AFI 24-602 Volume II and to inbound cargo procedures. Notably, “to the maximum extent possible N1A MICAPs should be moved by next day air or the fastest most reliable method” and “N1A MICAPS will be processed before all other shipments”. In other words, Airmen are empowered to make decisions by evaluating the effectiveness – rather than just efficiency in cost – when shipping aircraft grounding MICAPs.

Strengthening the Logistics Enterprise with Major General Hurry

In this episode we sat down with Major General Linda Hurry, the Director of Logistics of the United States Air Force. In this episode we don't just talk about logistics: we talk about human capital, innovation, and the Chicago Cubs! She is responsible for organizing, training and equipping more than 180,000 logisticians who maintain and support mission generation and the aerospace weapons system inventory. She provides strategic guidance for materiel management, fuels, vehicle operations and management, deployment and distribution, personal property, traffic management, and logistics plans. She also develops policy and oversees force development for logistics readiness, maintenance and munitions, ensuring the readiness of the single largest element of manpower supporting Air Force combat forces globally.

Condition Based Maintenance with the Rapid Sustainment Office

In this episode, we take a deep dive into Conditioned Based Maintenance with the RSO. If you are interested in learning more about the RSO, you can check out their website here.
 

Lighthouse with the Rapid Sustainment Office

In this episode, we take a deep dive into the Rapid Sustainment Office and talk about their Lighthouse initiative. If you are interested in learning more about the RSO, you can check out their website here.
 

Equipping the Force with the Combat Ready Airman Program

Have you ever wondered who was responsible for all your personal equipment, gear, and uniforms? In this episode we sat down with Taylor Harrison with the Combat Ready Airman program. She discusses how CRA equips the force, and partners with Joint services to make their mission possible. 

Theory of Constraints Education Opportunities at AFIT with Steven Riedl

So where can you learn about the Theory of Constraints for FREE if you have a CAC? Check out AFIT's courses on the Theory of Constraints! In this quick episode, we talked with Major Steven Riedl about how you and your Airmen can dig into coursework offered by the Air Force Institute of Technology. There are tools we can leverage, all we need to do is make the time.
 
You can find TOC Fundamentals, 101, and 201 on AFIT's website. Check out AFIT's Logistics courses here: https://www.afit.edu/LS/
 

Tesseract’s Theory of Constraints Sustainment Strategy with Tim Jordan

In this episode, we talked with the Senior Enlisted Leader of Tesseract, CMSgt Tim Jordan about Tesseract's Theory of Constraints sustainment strategy. Change is hard, but we have a strategy to help the operational Air Force meet mission requirements all while giving more time back to Airmen by using TOC. 
Want to learn more or connect to our Theory of Constraint efforts? Check out our website at www.Tesseract.AF.mil.

OCONUS MICAP Prime with Vince McLean

In this episode, we talked to Major Vince McLean about taking MICAP Prime overseas, and what the data has shown to support its viability. He expanded upon Major Chip Litchfield's work for his thesis "Accelerate Logistics or Lose" and talked through his research methodology while at school.
This is a conversation pulled from our archives! Recorded in the summer of last year after Vince's graduation from ASAM, it is still relevant context to help our logistics leaders learn about our supply chain capabilities. 

How Tesseract Advances Logistics Software Strategy with Mike Comiskey

How Tesseract Advances Logistics Software Strategy with Mike Comiskey
In this episode, we talk about how Tesseract works with frontline Airmen to enable our logistics software strategy. Mike is the lead of our Concepts Integration team at Tesseract. He is a maintenance officer by trade and doesn't miss a chance to tell you he's a North Carolina State super fan!
Want to learn more and connect with our team? Go to our website at www.tesseract.af.mil