Uniting Earth and space

With a diverse and profitable portfolio ranging from system engineering and information systems to spacecraft hovering as high as 22,300 miles above the Earth, Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems affects nearly everyone around the world. When you heed a hurricane warning, send a long-distance fax, place an overseas phone call or see today's news televised from distant shores, S&IS almost certainly has touched you.

Today, S&IS is executing Boeing's customer-driven vision of network-centric operations, under which a software-driven architecture melds space-, air- and land-based platforms into a coherent system. NCO will give military and intelligence officials worldwide information with which to make decisions immediately and accurately. NCO, along with the profit opportunities it creates for Boeing, is made possible by the resources and ideas of 11,500 S&IS employees working in more than 20 sites.

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Movie scores direct hit

"Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag," a stunning IMAX film supported by the U.S. Air Force and sponsored by Boeing, is getting rave reviews following its December world premiere at the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington, D.C.

"Fighter Pilot" follows Capt. John "Otter" Stratton, USAF, an F-15 Eagle fighter pilot, through the high-flying Red Flag training exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Stratton arrived at the Red Flag exercise along with hundreds of other pilots, ground crews, mechanics and rescue personnel from allied forces. They've also brought along their planes, meaning that at any given time, the skies above Nellis are filled with American F-15s (built by Boeing), German Tornados, F-16s, British Harrier jump jets and Boeing-built Canadian F-18 Hornets.

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The ties that bind

In times of war, every soldier can use a little divine intervention. A British Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter known as the "Flying Angel" has helped guide the hands of two RAF Chinook pilots during two major conflicts more than 20 years apart, earning both flyers the United Kingdom's highest military aviation honor.

In 1982 during the Falklands War, an Exocet missile slammed into the hull of the Atlantic Conveyor, a converted container ship. The missile ignited a fatal fire that destroyed nearly all onboard war supplies, including three RAF HC Mk 1 Chinooks, six Westland-built Wessex helicopters and one Westland Lynx helicopter. With the late RAF Squadron Leader Dick Langworthy at the controls, one Chinook, call sign Bravo November, narrowly escaped the wreckage. Operating without spares, tools or lubricants, Bravo November flew for several weeks before additional Chinooks arrived on the battlefield.

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Apaches take on Olympic mission

While the world focused on Athens last summer for the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, a championship team from Hellenic Army Aviation was operating Apache helicopters behind the scenes to ensure that events at the Games were "uneventful."

In fact, a team from the Hellenic Army's 1st Attack Helicopter Battalion maintained Apaches on "10 minute alert" for the duration of the Games.

"We never flew over a stadium during the Olympics, and few people knew we were there. But like Olympic athletes, our training left us prepared to do our jobs with precision and accuracy," said Hellenic Army pilot Maj. Chris Dimopoulos, the deputy commanding officer of the 1st Attack Helicopter Battalion. "We felt like guardian angels for the Olympics, and we were ready to serve in our Apaches."

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Moving into the mainstream

Strategic Architecture, the Integrated Defense Systems organization that created the two Boeing Integration Center sites, was reorganized last month to further strengthen Boeing's position as a lead systems integrator and provider of network-centric operations (NCO) solutions.

As part of the realignment, Strategic Architecture's laboratories and demonstration centers, including the two Boeing Integration Centers, were integrated into the Analysis, Modeling and Simulation organization. Analysis, Modeling and Simulation was created in late 2004 to leverage, integrate and strengthen the capabilities of the network of modeling, simulation and analysis facilities at Boeing locations across the United States.

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5 things you should know about the Baldrige Award

All business units of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems are starting internal and external assessments this year after adopting the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria in 2004. As IDS President and CEO Jim Albaugh said when he announced the plan last March, IDS is using Baldrige to "help us continue to build a performance-based culture and improve our business performance."

The creation of the IDS Business Excellence office underscored the importance of the Baldrige framework and the seven categories that are the core of the criteria for excellence. Here are some things Boeing employees should know about the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

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