Dispatches
Periodic bulletins on the Air Force's favorite software theater troupe. Each one is anchored to something that actually happened, with a citation, because the real record is funnier than anything we could invent.
Archive
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Kessel Run Asks Industry How to Pull Emergency Management Out of C2IMERA
An October 2026 Kessel Run RFI seeks to decouple installation emergency management from C2IMERA, the app Leidos has built for it since 2019.
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Kessel Run's New Project Is Called DUNE. The Air Operations Center Is Still Running Increment 10.1.
Air & Space Forces reports Kessel Run launched DUNE to connect cloud and legacy AOC software. The fielded Falconer is still Increment 10.1.
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Kessel Run's Leader Says It Is "No Longer a Software Factory." He Also Says Nothing Has Changed.
In an October 2026 interview, Kessel Run's new leader says the Air Force software factory is no longer a software factory and its mission is unchanged.
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Senate Orders a Ground-Up Review of the Air Operations Center. Kessel Run Is Not In It.
The Senate's FY2027 NDAA report orders a comprehensive Air Operations Center review by January 2027. Nine years in, Kessel Run is not mentioned in it.
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Kessel Run Renamed Its Next-Gen AOC Program "Revolutionary" and Restarted Market Research
Kessel Run's September draft solicitation never appeared. Instead it archived the Next-Gen AOC announcement and issued a new RFI for a "Revolutionary" AOC.
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Kessel Run's Falconer Contract Reached Modification 90 and a $439.9 Million Ceiling
Federal records put Kessel Run's SAIC Falconer order at 90 modifications, a $439.9 million ceiling and a performance period that lapsed 8 August.
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Kessel Run Pushed the Next-Gen AOC Award to August 2027, the Month the Current AOC Contract Ends
A 24 August SAM.gov update moved Kessel Run's Next-Gen AOC award from June 2027 to August 2027, when SAIC's AOC sustainment contract concludes.
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Kessel Run Missed Its Own August Deadline for the Next-Gen AOC Draft Solicitation
Kessel Run's SAM.gov schedule promised a Next-Gen AOC draft RFP in August 2026. Defense Daily reports it moved to September and the final RFP to January.
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Kessel Run Changed Leaders in June. The August Air Force Org Chart Still Names the Old One.
Col. Richard Lopez handed Kessel Run to Col. Brian Viola on 25 June 2026. AFLCMC's org chart, current as of 30 July, still lists Lopez.
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Kessel Run Awarded $100 Million to Replace Aircrew Scheduling Tools the Air Force Already Built
Kessel Run awarded a $100 million OTA to replace six aircrew scheduling systems, including Puckboard, an app Airmen fielded in 2020. Done by 2030.
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An Air Force Chief Scientist Says the Service Still Needs the AOC Tools Kessel Run Has Supposedly Been Building Since 2017
An Air Force chief scientist told a July 2026 advisory panel the service still needs better air operations center tools. Kessel Run was built in 2017 to deliver them.
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Kessel Run Ran a Two-Day AI Course to Teach Its Own Staff How to Build an App
Nine years into the Air Force's software factory, Kessel Run's AI milestone was a two-day class teaching 30 staff to build an app from scratch.
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Kessel Run Was Built to Replace Prime Contractors. Its Crowning Achievement Is Hiring One.
Nine years after the Air Force killed a failed $745 million prime contract and built Kessel Run to do better, Kessel Run's big move is to hire a prime contractor.