The problem is most computer software uses just two digits to record the year; therefore, many of those programs will think it is Jan. 1, 1900 instead of Jan. 1, 2000. "This could cause all kinds of problems including complete failure of a system dependent on a computer program," said Maj. Gary Warren, Air Force Space Command's Year 2000 project officer. Warren and his six-person team are coordinating the effort to find, fix and test 19,486 systems in the command that could be effected by the problem - commonly know by its acronym, Y2K.

"We are on track with our Y2K effort, and thanks to good teamwork we will be ready for this midnight crossing," said Lt. Gen. Lance W. Lord, Vice Commander AFSPC. Lord is overseeing the command's Y2K program.

In order to keep track of this huge project it was organized into three main categories: infrastructure, support systems and mission systems. There are 276 mission systems that include satellite constellations that provide the country vital communications, navigation, surveillance, and missile warning capability. The Eastern and Western launch ranges also fall in this category.

Another critical mission system is the nation's land-based ICBM force. It is ready for the new millennium thanks to hard work and teamwork. "We have a great and long-standing working relationship with Air Force Materiel Command's system program office for the ICMB force. They have been working hand-in-hand with our missile units and the headquarters staff. We have a very high level of confidence that all Y2K problems have been worked out," said Warren. The system program offices have the responsibility to fix all the Y2K problems in the mission systems.

AFSPC monitors and aggressively supports the system program offices. All the Y2K "fixes" will be completed by December for the mission systems. "This will give us a year to ensure operability through more testing and exercises," said Warren.

The second of three categories of Y2K problems are mission support systems. There are 665 of these AFSPC-unique systems. One example of this type of system is the Chef Scheduling System. As the name implies, it is a computer program used to schedule chefs to prepare the meals at the missile alert facilities. These systems will also be ready to go by December.

Finally, there are 18,545 equipment items that fall under the infrastructure category. These include: fire alarms, local area computer networks, fuel systems, elevators, traffic signals and just about any other electronic device with a computer chip.

AFSPC's wings and squadrons have the responsibility to identify, assess and implement upgrades to these items by May. "This is a huge task, but our units in the field are doing great," said Warren. The headquarters functional offices have also given "tremendous" support, he said, to the wings with this huge task.

"Efforts like these will pay off," said Warren. "Our goal is to have every person come to work on Jan. 1, 2000, and be able to perform their job with the tools they've always used. With continued teamwork and leadership involvement, I'm confident this will happen in Air Force Space Command."