Peterson AFB is going to the Cloud

Published Sept. 12, 2017
By Capt. SARAHGRACE AGLUBAT
21st Communication Squadron

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- – On Sept. 19, 2017 most Air Force NIPRNet users on Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, will have their unclassified email accounts migrated to Microsoft’s cloud environment. As a result of this change, those email accounts will now be maintained by Microsoft experts instead of Airmen.

The migration will impact all but a few groups on Peterson AFB. Members of NORAD/U.S. Northern Command, Airmen assigned to 21st Medical Group, and Airmen scheduled for permanent duty station changes in the next six months will not experience a move to the cloud environment.

The change is taking place for a number for reasons. The cloud-hosted environment allows the Air Force to consolidate information technology services, reduce costs and improve reliability. The move also enables the AF to free up manpower through commercializing business tools such as Outlook and Lync.

The most notable change users will see is to the size of their mailbox. Currently most users are allowed 90 megabytes of space, but after the migration all users will have 99 gigabytes of storage.

The 21st Communication Squadron sent out an email titled “Peterson AFB Cloud Hosted Enterprise Solution.” The message contains user instructions that should be reviewed and saved to your computer desktop for future reference. These instructions allow users to complete the quick login process the morning after migration occurs.

All users are highly encouraged to back up their personal storage table file, ending in .pst, in Outlook before the migration takes place. It’s best to save the pst to a CD or DVD and store it in a safe place.

People with an AF-furnished phone used to check unclassified email should contact the unit cybersecurity representatives or the 21st Communication Squadron Focal Point immediately to back up your profile. Additionally, the soft certifications loaded on your mobile phone must be reloaded due to the migration.

Any questions or concerns about the migration, or if another copy of the email is needed, please contact your unit’s CSR, or the 21st Communication Squad FP at 21cs.cfp@us.af.mil, or call 692-2666 (DSN), or (719) 554-2666 (commercial), and choose option #2.