, Florida, has been on a continuous innovation journey to become the Installation of the Future since Hurricane Michael devastated the installation in 2018.
The Air Force Civil Engineer Center's Natural Disaster Recovery Division has been at the forefront of implementing new technologies to reshape the installation into a model of adaptability, efficiency and sustainability for the Department of the Air Force and Department of Defense. Established in 2021 by the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, AFCEC's NDR leads the Tyndall AFB Program Management Office.
For Lowell Usrey, the NDR's Integration Branch chief, innovation isn't a destination but a mindset when rebuilding an installation at a cost of approximately $4.9 billion.
"If you think about the term 'Installation of the Future,' it's always something else," Usrey said. "It's an attitude as much as it is a process. You really have to have the mindset that what you currently have simply isn't good enough anymore. You have to be thinking: 'How do you improve?'"
"There's a whole spectrum of things that we've done at Tyndall that are going to make us the installation of the future," Usrey added.
The rebuild took a big step forward when the PMO deployed the Installation Resilience Operations Center, known as IROC. The IROC serves as Tyndall AFB's digital "nervous system," connecting sensors and systems together to break down information silos that impede the rapid decision making required.
"IROC connects and fuses data from a multitude of operational technology sensors and facility-related control systems on an installation to enhance situational awareness for emergency responders and optimize routine facility maintenance," Usrey said.
IROC also allows cybersecure sharing of information, said 2nd Lt. Nicholas Cap, NDR innovation element chief.
"If something gets updated in another system during, God forbid a hurricane, we can see it in the systems we currently use," Cap said. "It would be a huge help for us to get the right information at the right time."
While IROC serves as the installation's digital nerve center and eyes, the Digital Twin Hololab serves as the lens into what IROC will share, Cap said.
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