Tech. Sgt. Andrew Schaeffer, left, explains flight scheduling systems to Airman 1st Class Ashton Gordon at Misawa Air Base, Japan, April 28, 2025. (Hannah Bench/U.S. Air Force)
American airmen in northeastern Japan are developing an artificial intelligence program aimed at streamlining the Air Force’s flight scheduling process, according to the 35th Fighter Wing.
The program, dubbed Moneyball, is designed to modernize scheduling operations by incorporating predictive, data-driven capabilities, the wing, located at Misawa Air Base, said in a May 1 press release.
“We’re digitizing the insights typically written in an aircrew’s pilot log, enabling rapid identification of recurring inflight issues tied to specific aircraft,” Tech. Sgt. Andrew Schaeffer, 35th Fighter Wing innovations noncommissioned officer in charge, said in the release.
Moneyball is scheduled to be tested during the upcoming Resolute Force Pacific exercise, according to the release. Developers also plan to expand the program’s capabilities to include support for additional aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle, F-22 Raptor and B-1B Lancer.
The release did not specify which aircraft the Moneyball program currently supports.
Capt. Leeroy Stark, a spokesman for the wing, declined an interview request on behalf of Moneyball’s development team in a June 3 email, citing “a combination of operational security and internal priorities.”
The Air Force has tested similar AI initiatives in the Pacific in recent years. In 2023, Yokota Air Base’s innovation cell, YokoWERX, worked with the 374th Contracting Squadron to secure a contract with California-based company Lilt to train an AI tool to translate Defense Department jargon into Japanese.
Tech. Sgt. Andrew Schaeffer reviews coding for an AI flight scheduling system being developed at Misawa Air Base, Japan, April 28, 2025. (Hannah Bench/U.S. Air Force)
These projects are part of a broader Pentagon effort to incorporate AI and autonomous technology into U.S. military operations.
“I believe human-machine teaming is a door we need to push through very rapidly,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said June 2 during the AI+ Expo. The event, held June 2-4 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., allowed attendees to “convene and build relationships around AI, technology, and U.S. and allied competitiveness,” according to its website.
AI is being explored for use in data fusion, predictive maintenance, and decision-making support roles, Allvin said at the expo, according to a DOD news release issued after the event.
“We have to keep our imaginations wide open to understand this is a game-changing technology … when it comes to air dominance,” he said. “But we can only do that if we don’t sort of get trapped by the vestiges of the past.”
