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A joint inspection is an important part of preparing cargo for transport on military aircraft. Nearly every day, there are aerial porters in the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing, spread across multiple areas of responsibility, who inspect pallets of equipment and supplies to confirm proper packaging, weight, balance and preparation, ensuring the cargo can be safely transported via aircraft.
It's an efficient process, but what if these airmen couldn't inspect the cargo in person?
That's the question that the 725th Air Mobility Squadron has been trying to answer since 2021. The HoloLens, an augmented reality headset enabling aerial port experts to aid and guide technicians by looking through their eyes, could be the solution.
The squadron airmen have demonstrated how the augmented reality capability can be used to increase rapid global mobility in a variety of maintenance, air transportation, and command and control scenarios, increasing the speed of maneuver to sustain joint force lethality across the competition continuum.
Stationed at Aviano Air Base, Italy, the 724th Air Mobility Squadron regularly partners with users in the region to prepare their cargo for forward deployment. They received an opportunity to work with the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza, Italy, to perform a joint inspection remotely using the HoloLens. To best test the utility of the device, the 724th AMS worked alongside the 725th AMS, the operations wings' foremost authority on the technology.
"We spent a year working with the manufacturer and experimenting with different add-ons to figure out the right software and process we needed to get to where we are today," said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Anthony Sewejkis, 725th AMS superintendent. "Now it's plug and play. We can connect anywhere just using the HoloLens, a Wi-Fi hotspot and a laptop."
From a conference room back in Aviano, Air Force Airman 1st Class Delaney Boehm, a 724th AMS aircraft services specialist, guided the personnel in Vicenza through the joint inspection, circling areas on her screen that she wanted them to focus on.
"It was a great experience that showcased our squadrons' innovative approach to conducting routine inspections and allowed a technician in the field to work hands-free while receiving real-time guidance from a remote expert," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Devin Robert, 725th AMS noncommissioned officer in charge of network operations. "The ability to highlight individual objects in the technician's field of view goes beyond the capabilities of a traditional video call."
Although the remote inspection was just a proof of concept, it demonstrated flexibility and ease of use to joint partners and to the headquarters Air Mobility Command staff.
"There is a push in the air transportation career field to explore new ways of accomplishing our mission, irrespective of geographical constraints," said Air Force Lt. Col. Katherine Wilson, 724th AMS commander. "We tried the HoloLens alongside a traditional video call, and the immersive hands-free component of the HoloLens experience streamlined communication and overall speed of the inspection."
Leveraging this new technology, the 725th AMS is continuing to refine processes and enabling mission execution despite the geographical separation within the operations wing.
