OBOGS issues making headway

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas – The 19th Air Force hosted a forum of experts from inside and outside the Defense Department as part of an on-going process to improve the safety of the T-6 aircraft’s On-Board Oxygen Generating Systems (OBOGS) during a conference here in Texas on May 29-30. While many of the OBOGS issues are better than last year, the AF is still looking at ways to procure hardware upgrades, increase basic science and research, and collect and apply new data into acquisitions standards in order to address the broader issue of physiological events (PEs) affecting pilots from across all of military aviation. “The team made good progress and consolidated recognition across many functional areas how much we know and don’t know about OBOGS and the surrounding human-machine interaction of our aviators,” said Maj. Gen. Patrick Doherty, 19th AF commander. In the near term, prioritizing and studying oxygen-generating systems that are resistant and immune to oxygen concentration, flow and pressure oscillations, which appear to be producing these particular PEs in pilots, makes sense, Doherty said. “We are especially keen to ensure the new learning and data about OBOGS are applied to new acquisitions like the T-X,” said Brig. Gen. Edward L. Vaughan, physiological episodes action team leader. Collaboration across agencies has been extremely valuable in working towards solutions, with representatives from across the AF, Human Systems Engineering Special Program Office, Navy, NASA, and industry and academia were in attendance. (Source: 19th Air Force 06/12/19) Mississippi Golden Triangle Notes: Units under the 19th Air Force include Columbus and Keesler AFBs in Mississippi; Maxwell AFB, Ala.; and Eglin AFB, Fla. Commands that had been affected by PE issues included Columbus AFB, and NAS Pensacola, Fla.