I was enlisted in the USAF and was assigned as part of a two-person group to deal with Y2K issue for all unclassified systems on the base. We were outside the

I was enlisted in the USAF and was assigned as part of a two-person group to deal with Y2K issue for all unclassified systems on the base. We were outside the normal AF procedures because the base didn't have wartime mission. The two people assigned to the group were myself (E-3 or E-4 at the time) and a very junior (but smart) lieutenant. We basically inventoried every unclassified computer system on the base. If it was commercial, off-the-shelf software that could be replaced we recommended they replace it. If it could not be replaced with newer version (because it ran software that could not or would not be replaced) we replicated and tested it by changing the computer hw clock. In all cases we recommended shutting down the computer so it wasn't on during the changeover. Most home-grown systems were replaced with commercial software. One interesting case was a really old system, I think it had something to do with air traffic control. It was written by a guy who was still employed there and he was still working on it. I got to interview him a bunch of times and found the whole situation fascinating and a little depressing. Yes, he was storing a 2-digit year. He didn't know what would happen when it flipped. He didn't feel like there was a way to run it somewhere else and see what would happen (it's very difficult to remember but I think it was running on a mainframe in the comm squadron building). The people in charge decided to replace it with commercial software. Maybe the guy was forced to retire? Overall the base didn't have any issues but only because they formed the "y2k program management group" far enough ahead of time that we were able to inventory and replace most everything before anything could happen.