{"id":39160,"date":"2023-08-22T20:58:11","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T20:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:18:28","slug":"airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Airmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of the Air Force is again fielding pitches for savvy new schemes and clever gizmos as a part of its annual Spark Tank competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airmen and guardians of all ranks have until Sept. 4 to submit their \u201cbest ideas for improving the department\u2019s capabilities.\u201d Finalists will have the chance to present their proposals to a panel of senior department leaders and industry figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSpark Tank provides a public-facing platform to showcase innovative ideas across the [Department of Air Force],\u201d said Aaron Beebe, the Spark Tank project manager for AFWERX, an Air Force tech acceleration program. \u201cThese are real problems experienced daily by those trying to do their jobs and accomplish the mission. We ask them to help us solve them through a more streamlined approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piloted in 2017, the department\u2019s \u201cShark Tank\u201d knockoff formed part of a broader campaign to expedite and cheapen the process of finding and developing new technologies. AFWERX launched<\/a> the same year in hopes of lowering barriers between entrepreneurs and the Air Force\u2019s procurement teams. Individual installations have begun hosting innovation competitions of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service-wide Spark Tank has shepherded several \u2018sky-breaking\u2019 innovations from dorms and base shops to the forefront of the acquisitions process over its seven-year existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year\u2019s winners, Master Sgt. Sarah Hubert and Tech. Sgt. Raymond Zgoda at Yokota Air Base in Japan, came up with an idea to use ground penetrating radar and augmented reality goggles to precisely map underground pipes, wires and fiber-optic lines on military bases, preventing accidental breaks caused by construction, and also to scan for damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Spark Tank finalists present their projects to Air Force senior leaders and other judges during the 2023 Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 8. (Staff Sgt. Chad Trujillo\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The judges selecting the winning gadget included Air Force Chief of Staff CQ Brown, Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, an NBA executive, and the founder of tech-focused merchant bank Global Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 iteration of the event will pair participants with consultants to help their ideas take flight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Piloted in 2017, the Air Force’s Shark Tank knockoff formed part of a broader campaign to expedite the process of finding and developing new technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":71811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"10":{"categories":["the-americas","newsletters","daily-news-roundup","global"],"primary_category":"the-americas"}}},"categories":[101,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3368],"class_list":["post-39160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VHLG3M7DNFEQVARXZUHGW4PQJ4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nAirmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Piloted in 2017, the Air Force's Shark Tank knockoff formed part of a broader campaign to expedite the process of finding and developing new technology.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Airmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Piloted in 2017, the Air Force's Shark Tank knockoff formed part of a broader campaign to expedite the process of finding and developing new technology.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Air Force TImes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-22T20:58:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T21:18:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jaime Moore-Carrillo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jaime Moore-Carrillo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/#article\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"author\": {\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t },\n\t \"headline\": \"Airmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2023-08-22T20:58:11+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T21:18:28+00:00\",\n\t \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"wordCount\": 357,\n\t \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Air-OTR-Spark-Tank-web.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"articleSection\": [\n\t \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t \"News\",\n\t \"Newsletters\",\n\t \"Your Air Force\"\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/#respond\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Airmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems - Air Force TImes\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Air-OTR-Spark-Tank-web.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2023-08-22T20:58:11+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T21:18:28+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"Piloted in 2017, the Air Force's Shark Tank knockoff formed part of a broader campaign to expedite the process of finding and developing new technology.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Air-OTR-Spark-Tank-web.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Air-OTR-Spark-Tank-web.jpg.jpg\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/22\\\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"News\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"news\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"Your Air Force\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"your-air-force\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 4,\n\t \"name\": \"Airmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Air Force TImes\",\n\t \"description\": \"Independent News For Airmen | Air Force Times\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Air Force TImes\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/air-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/air-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Air Force TImes\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Airmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems - Air Force TImes","description":"Piloted in 2017, the Air Force's Shark Tank knockoff formed part of a broader campaign to expedite the process of finding and developing new technology.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Airmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems","og_description":"Piloted in 2017, the Air Force's Shark Tank knockoff formed part of a broader campaign to expedite the process of finding and developing new technology.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/","og_site_name":"Air Force TImes","article_published_time":"2023-08-22T20:58:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T21:18:28+00:00","author":"Jaime Moore-Carrillo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jaime Moore-Carrillo","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Airmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems","datePublished":"2023-08-22T20:58:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T21:18:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/"},"wordCount":357,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Air-OTR-Spark-Tank-web.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","News","Newsletters","Your Air Force"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/","name":"Airmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems - Air Force TImes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Air-OTR-Spark-Tank-web.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2023-08-22T20:58:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T21:18:28+00:00","description":"Piloted in 2017, the Air Force's Shark Tank knockoff formed part of a broader campaign to expedite the process of finding and developing new technology.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Air-OTR-Spark-Tank-web.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Air-OTR-Spark-Tank-web.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/22\/airmen-guardians-your-ideas-needed-to-solve-real-world-problems\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/","ad_zone":"news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Your Air Force","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/","ad_zone":"your-air-force"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Airmen, guardians: Your ideas needed to solve real-world problems"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","name":"Air Force TImes","description":"Independent News For Airmen | Air Force Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization","name":"Air Force TImes","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/air-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/air-logo-white.png","caption":"Air Force TImes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Air Force TImes","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Air-OTR-Spark-Tank-web.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39160"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39167,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39160\/revisions\/39167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39160"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=39160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}