Norman Pritchard, a fellow in the Global Strike National Security Fellowship Program, pictured in STRIKEWERX at the Cyber Innovation Center, Bossier City, Louisiana, on Dec. 2. Pritchard had his project to improve the loading of munitions on the B-52 Stratofortess tapped by Air Force Global Strike Command for further development with industry through STRIKEWERX and the Cyber Innovation Center. (U.S. Air Force Courtesy Photo by Sean Green, STRIKEWERX)
By Sean Green | Communications Director
BOSSIER CITY, La. — Norman Pritchard’s story is one of how preparation, vision, and commitment can lead to success for oneself and the Air Force.
Pritchard, a fellow in the Global Strike National Security Fellowship Program at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, had his project to improve the loading of munitions on the B-52 Stratofortess tapped by Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) for further development with industry partners. This will be done through STRIKEWERX, the innovation arm of AFGSC Office of the Chief Scientist, via AFGSC’s partnership agreement with the Cyber Innovation Center (CIC).
“This type of opportunity doesn’t exist anywhere else,” said Pritchard. “To be presenting my solution to staff on that level, to be asking leadership for funding my idea is a great experience because I want to be a developmental engineer in the military.”
Pritchard is currently an undergraduate student at Louisiana Tech University and has been a part of the command’s workforce development programs since joining the Reserve Officer Training Corps Cadets Success Program at the CIC in 2022. This year he signed on to the Fellowship program, where he was assigned to the AFGSC Logistics directorate.
Pritchard’s project seeks to refine how Airmen load munitions on to aircraft, updating the loader currently in service, where Airmen raise and lower each munition manually, which is labor-intensive, time consuming, and not as reliable.
He plans to make the current equipment more reliable with a kit that that replaces the manual wrench with a remote-controlled motor. He made several digital models, eventually reverse engineering the current loader to provide a base for testing and refinement of the kits.
The upgrade kit costs $1,000 per kit and the availability and increased safety it provides could easily allow for the kit to be attached to every current model.
“This will slightly modify the device, removing the wrench guide cylinder and attaching the new motor in the same spot,” Pritchard explained. “I’ve been told that building the new [loader] and the kits will be less costly than purchasing the original [loader] by itself.”
Master Sgt. Mark Dravland, project champion at AFGSC’s Logistics directorate, said that watching Pritchard transform their visions into a simple and practical design will likely lead to success for both the project and Pritchard.
“He’s solved a significant hurdle and there is a high probability that Norman’s designs will be on flightlines many decades from now,” he said. “His solutions highlight a level of maturity I suspect may be uncommon in a young engineer.”
Pritchard is a U.S. Space Force officer-select based upon academics and recommendation from his ROTC commander at Louisiana Tech University. He has also applied to graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Southern California.
He credits his success to making himself ready to take advantage of opportunities.
“A perfect example is that I was notified of the ROTC Cadet Success Program late in the school year with little time to apply and I just jumped on it,” Pritchard revealed. “Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.”
Editor’s Note:
References to non-federal entities do not constitute or imply Department of Defense or Air Force endorsement of any company or organization. STRIKEWERX is an innovation arm of the AFGSC Office of the Chief Scientist that connects people and resources across government, industry and academia to solve Air Force Global Strike Command’s most difficult problems. https://www.strikewerx.com/ is operated in alignment with Air Force Instruction 35-101 “Public Affairs Operations”, section 5.4.6, which states, “All official Department of the Air Force public websites will use the top-level internet domain “af.mil,” which is the approved government domain for the U.S. Department of the Air Force. (T-0). Approved exceptions to this policy include, but are not limited to, www.airforce.com, www.afreserve.com, www.afrotc.com, and www.goang.com. Appropriate academic organizations can use the “.edu” domain.”