Military Commands Will Tap AirWatch to Manage Mobile Devices
By
Bob Brewin
Global Strike Command will piggyback on a system already installed by Special Operations Command.
To manage and secure Apple iPads used by B-2 nuclear bomber crews, the Air Force Global Strike Command quietly selected the same mobile device management software used by the Veterans Affairs Department.
Global Strike Command, which manages the nation’s fleet of nuclear bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles, will piggyback on the AirWatch MDM system already installed by the Air Force Special Operations Command on servers at Hurlburt Field, Fla., the nuclear command disclosed on the Federal Business Opportunities website last month.
MDM systems allow administrators to remotely install software on mobile phones and tablets as well as wipe all software if the device is lost or stolen. Global Strike Command said the AirWatch MDM system will allow it to manage as many as 900 portable devices at any location across the globe.
The Command will use AirWatch software licensed to the Special Operations Command by the Jeppesen division of Boeing, which develops and sells flight navigation software. Jeppesen in turn has a reseller agreement with Airwatch.
Special Operations Command bought 2,725 Apple iPads in May 2012. Global Strike Command said on April 30 it planned to buy between 700 and 1,000 Apple iPads packed with FAA and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency flight navigation software and charts to serve as electronic flight bags.
VA, the next largest department behind Defense, bought AirWatch software in October 2012 through a contract with Firstview Federal Technology Solutions LLC. The Defense Department is expected to award an enterprisewide mobile device application store and MDM contract early this summer.