JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- Air Education and Training Command’s Spark Tank 2021 submission window is now open and Airmen with innovative ideas that can help the U.S. Air Force sustain a competitive advantage are welcome to submit.
From now until midnight Oct. 16, 2020, all AETC Airmen are encouraged to submit ideas they believe may make significant impacts on Air Force missions within six to 24 months. Spark Tank ideas must be submitted using the U.S. Air Force Ideation Platform at https://usaf.ideascalegov.com/.
“Innovation is at the core of how AETC executes force development for the Air Force,” said Col. William Mamourieh, HQ AETC’s Director of Analysis and Innovation (A9). “We know AETC Airmen are doing amazing and creative things to improve mission capabilities. The Spark Tank competition is a great way to share those good news stories with the rest of Air Force, and to potentially get resources to turn those ideas into reality”
Lt. Gen. Brad Webb, the AETC Commander, will chair the command’s judging panel that will review submissions and choose the top five entries. Those five individuals/teams will then have the opportunity to virtually pitch their idea to the AETC selection committee. Two will be selected to represent the First Command at the Air Force-level semi-finalist competition.
Winners at the semi-finals move on to the final round of competition, which is scheduled to be held at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 24-26, 2021.
This is another exciting opportunity for innovative AETC Airmen to showcase their skills and create new ways to improve AETC and AF operations. AETC Airmen from the 56 Operations Support Squadron at Luke AFB shared the top prize with a team from USAFE in last year’s AF-level competition. The AETC team created a low-cost, mobile threat emitter system to be used in training for fifth-generation aircraft.
“The Luke team’s success is a fantastic model for today’s AETC Airmen,” Mamourieh said. “Your ideas matter to our most senior leaders, and this is your chance to put those ideas on the table. We’re counting on AETC Airmen to get into the competition and we hope to give the commander a large pool of innovative ideas to pick from.”
Mr. Brian Marchitello from the HQ AETC/A9 directorate is the lead action officer for AETC Spark Tank 2021. For more information or assistance, Airmen can email the HQ AETC/A9A Innovation Advancement Division workflow at aetc.a9a.workflow.2@us.af.mil.