AFMC Command News

MPUC to bring users and developers together next month

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The 15th annual Mission Planning Users' Conference, known as MPUC, will take place March 23 through 25 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

Hosted by Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds and 951st Electronic Systems Group Commander Col. Gary Hetland, the event is expected to draw 1,600 to 1,700 attendees from the mission planning user community.

According to Randy Foster of the 951 ELSG, attendees will come from the Air Force, Army, Navy, Special Operations forces and 17 coalition nation partners.

"The conference is a forum for the enterprise to meet and exchange information about all aspects of the effort to develop world-class mission planning systems and capabilities," Colonel Hetland said. "MPUC is a golden opportunity for face-to-face feedback on our planning systems with users from all services and allied air forces."

Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, will provide the keynote speech. James G. Clark, director of the ISR Innovations and Unmanned Aerial Systems Task Force within the DCS for ISR Office, will also address the conference along with several other speakers.

Mission planning systems are critical to all ISR operations, including unmanned aerial system routing and deployment, said Mr. Foster.

The annual event is critical to the 951 ELSG, which acquires and manages mission planning systems used by the Air Force, joint and coalition communities. It is designed to elicit feedback on the range of systems currently in use, and to help the group plan future efforts.

The conference will also feature more than 200 breakout sessions, training classes in systems usage and government, and defense industry exhibit areas.

The technology advances that will be demonstrated and discussed are critical to moving mission planning development forward, Mr. Foster said.

"We are always working hard to stay on top of technology because everything we do is software-based, and that's an ever-changing environment," he said.

MPUC is co-sponsored by the Paul Revere Chapter of the Air Force Association.  Registration information can be found on its Web site, www.paulrevereafa.org.