TOP STORY >> Little Rock receives electronic flight bags

By Staff Sgt. Jacob Barreiro
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

Little Rock Air Force Base received 721 iPads, to be used as electronic flight bags, for its C-130 aircrews July 2, 2012, as part of Air Mobility Command’s effort to reduce paper waste and costs by replacing flight bags and the loads of paperwork they hold with the electronic tablets.

This marks the beginning of a six-month trial period where aircrew members will be able to store publications and other paperwork electronically on the devices, rather than carrying them on-board in a flight bag. The tablets are scheduled to become ubiquitous across the base by December.

Moving from a paper-based electronic flight publication system to an electronically based system can not only improve operational efficiency and safety, it can save the Department of Defense significant time and money.

“A publication bag can weight anywhere from 60-80 pounds,” said Master Sgt. Brandon Bowers, a 19th Operations Group evaluator flight engineer. “Just one of them costs more than an Ipad. The tablets will give us more information with less weight, while saving money and conserving resources.”

Every aircrew member will eventually have one of these tablets for duty, if everything goes as planned, but right now the base is just a leading unit for the testing phase of the plan, and unforeseen circumstances could impede progress.

The tablets were presented months after the Air Force awarded a $9.6 million contract, giving them the option to buy as many as 18,000 of the tablets if they choose to do that. 
By replacing the flight bags and the piles of paperwork they amass, with the electronic devices.

Annual Mobility Air Forces savings estimates for the required flight documents paper printing and distribution are approximately $5 million annually.  The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Air Force Materiel Command are responsible for printing and distribution of the required paper aeronautical documents needed by the Air Force’s flying crews.

 According to Letitia Long, NGA Director, the Air Forces are the agency’s largest account holder, with a total annual budget for flight paper of $20-24 million.

By moving to an electronic format, a significant annual savings for the DoD Enterprise can be realized.