(At last, an update from The Federation of American Scientists. You heard it here first - GICC #1)

Air Force glides through Leap Year rollover

Released: 1 Mar 2000

by Staff Sgt. Beverly Isik

Standard Systems Group Public Affairs

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE - GUNTER ANNEX, Ala. (AFPN) -- The Air Force fended off another bout of the millennium bug, feeling little effects from the Leap Year rollover.

Through extensive Year 2000 testing and renovation, the Air Force stamped out many glitches associated with the Leap Year rollover months ago, according to Col. Robert Glitz, Fusion Center director and chief of Standard Systems Group's Software Factory Customer Support Division.

The Air Force activated the Fusion Center last fall as a Year 2000 help desk -- It's central point for collection, consolidation and reporting of Y2K problems that could have arisen, and for resolving automated information systems errors. The center comprises a cross-functional team of SSG experts, augmented by computer specialists across the Air Force.

Leaving nothing to chance, Fusion Center controllers have monitored Air Force combat support information systems worldwide for any unforeseen bumps in the road, paying especially close attention to those that experienced difficulty during the calendar year rollover, Glitz explained.

By the morning of March 1, controllers had received 20 Leap Year-related incident reports from stateside and overseas bases, according to FC Intelligence and Early Warning Officer 1st Lt. Aaron Hopper. Nearly half of those, he said, were quickly resolved.

Six of those calls involved the same problem with one system reported from different bases, Glitz said. There were also minor failures along the lines of bad date stamps and error messages while trying to print some end-of-day reports, he explained.

"We had a few incident reports, but like the fiscal and calendar year rollovers, there was no impact on mission critical systems," he said. Because some anomalies may not have surfaced, the Fusion Center will continue to track Y2K issues throughout the year. The center will also function as a contingency operations support element for Air Force information operations.

The Fusion Center is a dedicated branch of the Electronic Systems Center's around-the-the-clock Customer Service Division. The Fusion Center is an element of ESC, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., and Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

Source: The Federation of American Scientists

http://www.fas.org/2000/signs00/n20000301_000317.htm

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), March 10, 2000

Answers

Earlier report.

AF confident of smooth leap year rollover

Released: 28 Feb 2000

WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- ~snip~ ....."We're just as prepared for leap year as we were for Y2K ," he said. "We tested everything for the leap year date at the same time as for Y2K."

Source: The Federation of American Scientists

http://www .fas.org/2000/signs00/n20000228_000290.htm

Also see on this board: "Air Force - almost 40 Y2k glitches by 1/3/00; 10% were mission impact"

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), March 10, 2000.