Coming to Andersen soon: AFNet Migrations
By Tech. Sgt. Juan Valenzuela , 36th Communications Squadron
/ Published August 17, 2011
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- The 36th Wing will soon become the second Pacific Air Forces base to migrate its computer users into a central Air Force Network (AFNet).
Over a period of 47 days beginning Oct. 3, technicians will begin migrating Andersen workstations, network users and e-mail into the AFNet.
The goal of this project is to collapse all individual or stand-alone Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard networks into the AFNet. To the majority of Andersen computer users, most of the changes will be transparent and should not cause any interruption to network access or normal day-to-day operations, but for the Air Force, this migration represents a major change to how computer networks are managed.
Until now, Major Commands and various other Air Force organizations have been operating their own independent networks, consequently driving unique and unit specific requirements. Over the years, this approach led to standardization and security problems, high operation and maintenance costs and a lack of enterprise situational awareness. In short, there was no single organization or commander responsible for the network.
The AFNet migration project addresses these issues, and places Air Force cyber operations under the operational control of a single commander. This approach will yield a significant improvement in the Air Force's ability to fight daily virus activity and malicious intrusion attempts. Additionally, AFNet migrations will centralize services like e-mail and data storage, significantly improving network security and standardization. Finally, operational and training costs will be reduced through the elimination of redundant systems and services.
The most visible change will be in the format of your e-mail address. The migration replaces the old first.last@andersen.af.mil e-mail address with a standard first.last@us.af.mil address. The new addresses will remain with users for the duration of their career, employment, or affiliation with the Air Force, regardless of the base or organization assigned. As more bases join the AFNet, Airmen will be able to login to their accounts from any AFNet base without requesting and creating an additional account. This will allow easy access to the network during deployments and throughout temporary duty and permanent change of station moves. Sites such as the Air Force Portal, Air Force Personnel Center and Defense Finance Accounting Service, will also remain easily accessible regardless of your duty location.
As Andersen approaches its projected start date, a team of Air Force Network Integration Center, 690th Network Support Group and 36th Communications Squadron technicians will be busy preparing equipment and resources to facilitate the migration. To ensure a smooth transition to the AFNet, look for future 36 CS generated advisories for additional migration related information.
For any questions or additional information, please contact the 36 CS Communications Focal Point at 366-2666, or by email at commservice@andersen.af.mil.