ADX project begins April 19

  • Published
  • By Air Force Network Integration Center
  • Scott AFB, Ill.
Minneapolis, St. Paul --  AIR FORCE NETWORK INTEGRATION CENTER, SCOTT AFB, ILL.--Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport ARS will soon become the fifth Air Force Reserve Command base to migrate its computer users into the Air Force Network.

Over a three-week period beginning April 19th an Air Force's Active Directory and Exchange (ADX) project team will begin migrating Minneapolis-St Paul ARS, IAP workstations, network users, and email into the AFNet. At this time the 133rd Airlift Wing will not be migrating.

The goal of ADX is to collapse all individual Air Force, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard networks into the AFNeT. While this change will be relatively transparent, the migration represents a major change for the Air Force.

Until now, bases or MAJCOMs have operated their networks independently. This approach led to standardization, and security problems, high operation and maintenance costs, and a lack of enterprise situational awareness. In short, there was no "single" organization or commander responsible for the network. The ADX project addresses these issues. It will place Air Force cyber operations under the operational control of a single commander. This will yield a significant improvement in the Air Force's ability to fight daily virus activity and malicious intrusion attempts. Additionally, ADX will centralize services like email and data storage, significantly improving network security and standardization. Finally, operational costs will be reduced through the elimination of redundant systems and services.

How will this affect you?
The most visible change will be in the format of your e-mail address. The migration replaces the old first.last@minneapolis.af.mil e-mail address with a standard first.last@us.af.mil address. The new addresses will remain with users for the duration of their career, employment, or affiliation with the Air Force regardless of the base or organization assigned. As more bases join the AFNet, Airmen will be able to login to their accounts from any AFNet base without requesting and creating an additional account. This will allow easy access to the network throughout TDY's and PCS moves. Sites such as the Air Force Portal, Air Force Personnel Center, Defense Finance Accounting Service, will remain easily accessible regardless of your duty location.At Minneapolis-St. Paul

As this base approaches its projected start date, a team of Air Force Network Integration Center, 690th Network Support Group, and 934th Communications Flight technicians is already busy preparing equipment and resources to facilitate the migration of almost 1,500 users.

The 934 CF will publish additional information in the coming weeks to ensure the smoothest possible transition into the AFNet.