Multics > Sites
06 Dec 2009

Site History: AFDSC

Location

United States Air Force Data Services Center, The Pentagon, Arlington VA, USA.

First Installed

November 1973

Configuration

This site had 6 systems: four were multilevel secure, two were unclassified.

[MAJ Jennifer Lyon] At the time I left the Pentagon in 1988, we had 6 systems:

4 were multi-level (D, H, M, & Z)

2 were unclassified (T & X). T & X could be run as a single system or split to be 2 separate systems.

System Z was brought operational soon after I got there in 1983. Sys X came along sometime around 1986.

Some data from 1986

Application areas

[CDT] Big Consistent System users. Lots of database-type work. Financial chartsy-graphsy applications, budget analysis, program analysis and evaluation. Air combat simulations and their graphical interpretation. Lots of "critical reports for the Secreta ry."

Honeywell Marketing

Jesse McDuffy, Bill Cratty, Jane Brady

Site Analysts

AFDSC Personnel

[John Ata] The following AF personnel worked on Multics and were fairly knowledgeable about the OS (more so than some Site SAs):

[Ed Rice] Joan Shields was the head of the entire system support shop at AFDSC.

Umar Khan said he was a "Master Multician" in the Pentagon from 1982 to 1990 in a 1993 USENET posting.

[Eric Swenson] I looked at this page, and noticed that absent was any mention of quite a few of the AF personnel who maintained the 6 Multics systems we ran. Some of the people I remember are:

We all worked there when Major (Dutch) Blake was in charge of systems maintenance and system administration.

System Administrators

Final Shutdown

Applications

The Wartime Manpower Programing System (WARMAPS) was designed and implemented by General Research Corporation starting in 1978. It is described in a final report and in Wartime Manpower Planning System (WARMAPS), ADP System Users Manual, DOD 1100.19-M.

[Jim Densmore] I was on the TAC BRAWLER team at AFSA. We didn't just run graphical interpretation programs. We ran the simulation programs themselves on Multics as well. The over 200,000 line FORTRAN program that ran at that time was eventually ported to many machines using ANSI standard FORTRAN 77, and is over 500,000 lines now. Because of the object-oriented technology we had in play at that time (though we certainly didn't call it that), the program is still in use and still quite maintainable.

Anecdotes

[CDT] I once had a GSA security guard storm into the terminal room with his gun pointed at me when the "BEL" beeper on a Tektronix 4014 got stuck on. Does that count?

[CDT] The operators were relatively untrained. One noticed disk errors from a certain drive two days in a row in the early afternoon. He logged them for the FE without bothering to go into the next room to check out the drive. When the FE arrived to run tests on the drive, he noticed fiberglass dust all over the room from the ceiling repair work -- except for two clean shoe-shaped areas on top of this particular drive. The contractor was standing on it and drilling into the ceiling.

[CDT] The ceiling work was constant, due to the incredibly fragile chilled water system. In 1973, the system blew, damaging nearly every computer and device in the room. After that, the Air Force bought plastic covers for the equipment. Next time the system blew, they put the covers on, but didn't shut the equipment down. Of course, it burned out. From then on, they simply strung up dropcloths like huge tents whenever the water blew. It was like working in an electronic orchard infested with gypsy moths.

[CDT] AFDSC was one of the pioneer sites for Halon fire control. They needed a lot of tanks to flood the huge room, and located them centrally in the same room as a D270 disk farm. They girdered them up at head height to one of the walls. Then they foolishly rigged up the sensors so that any ONE going off would trigger the system. A couple months later, one sensor falsed. The force of the discharge blew the tanks, girders, and all right off the wall and across the room, completely scalping the D270's.

[CDT] GSA personnel upgraded the systems from core bulk store to MOS bulk store by wheeling the MOS box into the Top Secret area, cabling it up, and wheeling out the core bulk. The core bulk had been sitting in the hallway for three days before someone discovered that it had never officially been wiped of classified data.

[CDT] In about 1975, there was a huge five-alarm fire after hours that took out a corner of the Pentagon. It was blamed on spontaneous combustion in the cafeterias, which were being renovated. I got caught in the smoke leaving the building, and had to leave by an unfamiliar exit. It wasn't until I got home and saw the fire live on the news that I realized that the computer room was under that particular corner, and there had been no fire bells and no warning. I called the chief operator and informed them there had been a fire going on over his head for about two hours. He said he had only found out about 15 minutes ago, "when all the water started coming in." I told him to put the plastic covers on and shut everything down. He replied that there were plastic covers for everything BUT the Multics equipment. It seemed to be a good time to take some vacation, so I did.

[CDT] The one about the feral cat that lived under the raised flooring is not particularly Multicious. All the other good stories I know are classified.

Air Force makes long-term commitment to Multics

Article in PRINTOUT, Honeywell Large Information Systems Division, Vol. 12 No. 40 September 30, 1982.

The United States Air Force has announced a $57.1 million award to Honeywell Information Systems, for life-cycle funding of the Multics systems in the Air Force Data Services Center in the Pentagon. Multics was chosen initially because of its ability to handle data with multiple security-classification levels simultaneously and safely. The Air Force already has 12 Multics processors installed at this site, and recently ordered four 8/70M processors. They are expected to order additional 8/70M equipment in 1983, making this the world's largest Multics installation. In addition to funding these equipment purchases, the Air Force award will pay for Honeywell hardware maintenance and services, software training and system analysts to be stationed on-site.

DATAMATION Article

Volume 33, No 7, January 15, 1987.

U.S. TO REPLACE MULTICS UNITS

WASHINGTON, D. C. -- The Pentagon this quarter will an- nounce a request for proposals to replace 21 Honeywell large-scale computer systems, of which 15 run Honey- well's Multics operating system. How the Pentagon will replace the super-secure Multics is still up in the air, but Major Chuck Bowen, who's in charge of the bid, says, "Honeywell isn't going to support the equipment after 1988." Honeywell group vp Eugene Manno hasn't heard about the bid, but says work is progressing on HVS 6 Plus, a new OS that will take some Multics func- tionality and is expected in 1989. Unlike Multics, which runs on a special version of the 36-bit DPS 8, HVS 6 Plus will run on the 32-bit DPS 6 Plus.

Most of this info is from Chris Tavares, with updates from Jennifer Lyon, Ed Rice, Jim Densmore, and Eric Swenson.