The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center sustains the base communications infrastructure that supports Department of the Air Force mission requirements. AFIMSC partners with communications squadrons and enterprise information technology flights at installations to sustain the IT infrastructure that connects the enterprise and enables Air and Space Force missions.
BOS-IT
AFIMSC's Base Operating Support-Information Technology, or BOS-IT, team provides guidance to installations for sustaining the IT infrastructure that underpins all mission sets and provides an enterprise view of communications infrastructure through the Installation Health Assessment. The IHA provides detailed analysis of the health of BOS-IT assets at each installation and rank orders greatest needs to support data-driven funding decisions.
FY20 BOS-IT Funding Profile
- Backup Power
Provides uninterrupted power supply for common-user IT capabilities/facilities
$2,057,793
- Cable/Antenna
Physical, digital and radio frequency transport networks on base.
$10,037,518
- Legacy Voice
Telephone systems not fully converted to modern, IP-based voice capabilities.
$21,756,247
- Land Mobile Radio
Infrastructure that connects handheld radios and base stations used for command and control, emergency response and base operations.
$24,863,451
- Giant Voice
Audible transmission of emergency messaging to outdoor areas on base including outdoor speakers and consoles.
$309,673
How does AFIMSC maintain mission-ready IT infrastructure?
- Continual Assessment - AFIMSC performs annual Installation Health Assessment surveys and coordinates boots-on-the-ground assessments to monitor system health, identify risks and develop strategy.
- IHAs provide BOS-IT a data-driven foundation for funding advocacy.
- Prioritization and Advocacy - AFIMSC develops and maintains prioritized requirements and works with installation communications leadership and technicians to ensure the most critical operational needs are addressed.
- AFIMSC’s Air Force Civil Engineer Center manages the Engineering and Installation Work Plan, designed for installations to submit for modernization or new base communications capabilities annually.
- Provision of Guidance - AFIMSC gathers and disseminates mitigations, solutions, best practices and benchmarks to help Airmen and Guardians do what they do best.
- In the absence of clear guidance on the requirement for Giant Voice, the BOS-IT team identifies options for bases to consider as part of an integrated Emergency Notification Management System, to include assistance with fully engineered solutions.
- Coordination - AFIMSC stays in touch with mission partners to shape enterprise solutions.
- Through partnerships with the Air Force Office of the Chief Information Officer and Air Combat Command, the lead command for the cyber mission, the BOS-IT Team seeks to best align and support wider Department of the Air Force IT centralization efforts.
Career Field Functional Area Management/Readiness
Airmen readiness is critical to mission success. AFIMSC provides functional area management and oversight for manning, force development and subject matter expertise for base communications through MAJCOM functional managers. As the functional area managers for the cyberspace support and network operations career fields, AFIMSC verifies deployment taskings to ensure requirements are supported downrange, reviews and updates unit type code availability, and provides monthly readiness reports to MAJCOMs to ensure personnel and equipment needs are met.
The AFIMSC Base Communications team supports:
- 22,000 Enlisted Airmen and Officers
- 2,000 Annual Deployment Taskings
Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Processing
AFIMSC promotes transparency and strengthens the public’s trust in Air Force actions by making sure installations comply with Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act requirements.
AFIMSC assigns a FOIA manager to each MAJCOM to provide assistance, guidance and training so that FOIA requests are processed in compliance with federal statutes and defense policies.
(Current as of July 2021)