The SIGNAL Blog

Integral to Provide Intelligence Support for Deployed Forces

October 24, 2012

George I. Seffers

Integral Consulting Services Inc. recently announced that it has been awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity single award contract worth up to $49.7 million from the U.S. Army’s National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) for all-source intelligence analysis and support services. Integral will provide biometrics-enabled intelligence (BEI) and all-source identity intelligence (I2) analytical support to NGIC, Defense Department customers from the tactical to national levels, and interagency partners. Integral also intends to perform watch list management functions, coordinate reach-back BEI support for deployed forces, and perform related supporting tasks as required.

Departments:

Defense

Cool App-titude: Arlington National Cemetery Explorer

October 23, 2012

By Rachel Eisenhower

A new app released on Monday gives visitors a virtual tour of Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) along with information on burials, wreath-laying ceremonies and other events. To create the ANC Explorer app, the U.S. Army photographed more than 250,000 grave sites and markers. The app links geospatial mapping technology to digital records and the tombstone photos. It also features locations for restrooms, water fountains and shuttle stops, and it has self-guided tours.

In addition to assisting visitors, the program allows ANC staff to assign, manage and de-conflict events, which is a big leap from the paper-and-pen system used to track burial locations just two years ago.

Download the free app from the iTunes App Store or Google Play, or visit the official website of Arlington National Cemetery.

These sites are not affiliated with AFCEA or SIGNAL Magazine, and we are not responsible for the content or quality of the products offered. When visiting new websites, please use proper Internet security procedures.

Remotec Unveils Next-Generation Robot

October 19, 2012

George I. Seffers

The Titus unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) is smaller, lighter, faster and smarter than its predecessors in the Andros family of systems. Titus weighs 135 pounds and measures 27 inches long, 16 inches wide and 23 inches high. It retains the four-articulator design common to Andros vehicles and also features a unique operator control unit with a hybrid touch-screen and game system-style physical controls.

The Andros operating system provides greater information to the operator while easing user workload through more interactivity with intelligent payloads, such as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear sensors. It also includes preset arm positions and the ability to more easily manipulate objects.

Titus was designed using a modular approach, which allows the robot to be adapted for a variety of mission scenarios. Removable articulators, wheels and tracks provide users with the capability to navigate passageways that are only 16 inches wide or race toward a threat at a top speed of 7.5 miles per hour. Industry standard interfaces such as Universal Serial Bus and Ethernet make it easier for users to maintain and upgrade Titus and to incorporate payloads and sensors.

The system was unveiled this week by Remotec Incorporated, Clinton, Tennessee, a Northrop Grumman Corporation subsidiary. Remotec is a Northrop Grumman subsidiary.

Departments:

Defense

Homeland Security

I&W Cyber and Otherwise

Joe Mazzafro

Last month when we gathered around the browser, I was expressing my concerns about a “guns of October” scenario emerging in the Middle East and assuring you that I did not believe the attack in Benghazi on September 11 represented an intelligence failure. Within days of posting, the conflict in Syria expanded to Turkey retaliating with cross border fire against Assad’s government forces. Then on September 28th the DNI issued a statement clarifying that subsequent intelligence showed the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi was not a spontaneous reaction to the YouTube “Innocence of Muslims” film trailer but rather it was a planned terrorist attack meant to kill Americans and embarrass the United States (http://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/96-press-releases-2012/731-statement-by-the-odni-s-director-of-public-affairs-on-intelligence-related-to-the-terrorist-attack-on-the-u-s-consulate-in-benghazi). As I started to write this edition, Secretary of Defense Panetta spoke at Business Executives for National Security (BENS) dinner on October 11th aboard the INTREPID Museum in New York City laying out the cyber threat to national security and how DoD is preparing to deal with it (http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1728).

Departments:

Intelligence

Transportation Security Agency Purchases Personal Screening System

October 16, 2012

George I. Seffers

American Science and Engineering Incorporated, Ballerica, Mass., recently announced that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) awarded the company an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a ceiling value of $245 million for its SmartCheck Personnel Screening System with next generation advanced imaging technology. The IDIQ contract also includes service, maintenance, and training for the SmartCheck systems. As part of this contract, AS&E received its first delivery order for three SmartCheck systems to be tested at TSA facilities. The system was designed to detect concealed threats such as metallic and non-metallic weapons, explosives, and other prohibited items. The SmartCheck system includes the Automated Target Recognition (ATR) capability, which reduces privacy concerns and decreases passenger processing time by displaying only a generic figure with potential threat areas highlighted. In addition, the reduced size of the SmartCheck system is suited for smaller checkpoint configurations.

Departments:

Transporation Security Agency

Ball Aerospace Awarded Research Contract for Infrared Radiation Effects Laboratory

October 16, 2012

George I. Seffers

Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, Albuquerque, New Mexico is being awarded a $9,493,351 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development for the Air Force Infrared Radiation Effects Laboratory. The contracting activity is the Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.

Departments:

Defense

Cool App-titude: MightyText

October 16, 2012

By Rachel Eisenhower

Forgot your phone at home? You can still send texts and see who calls you with instant notifications on your computer screen. The free MightyText app for Android lets you send and receive SMS text messages from your computer or tablet using your phone number.

The program forwards text messages over the phone’s data connection to the MightyText servers. A browser extension then produces the message on the computer or tablet screen. Then, you simply type a reply into your browser and select a contact from your list, and the app sends it in real time. The goal is for the messages to stay fully in sync with your phone’s SMS.

MightyText is free, and it does not add any additional fees to what your carrier charges you. However, the messages route through the phone, so standard SMS fees from your carrier still apply.

Currently, the app has more than 11,000 reviews in Google Play for an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Download it here.

Standing Down the Joint Tactical Radio System Office

October 12, 2012

With the close of the fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Defense has officially shuttered the Joint Program Executive Office for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JPEO JTRS). In its place, the Joint Tactical Networking Center (JTNC), which opened on October 1, will now oversee the development of the Software Defined Radio (SDR) program, including waveforms and network management.

JTNC will build upon work already done to create a system capable of transmitting both voice and data over a secure radio communications network. Testing of new systems will continue to be performed by the U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC), the Navy’s SPAWAR systems center Pacific and other existing military facilities.

Departments:

Defense

Cool App-titude: Passbook

October 9, 2012

Rachel Eisenhower

Lighten up your wallet or key ring with the new Passbook app for iOS, which allows users to store coupons, loyalty cards, movie tickets, boarding passes and more.

Passbook acts as a virtual wallet, storing important information, such as tickets and gift cards, and translating it into scannable cards or tickets in the app.

You can add “passes” to Passbook through apps, emails and websites from participating companies. So far, businesses such as Gap, Target, Walgreens, Sephora, Starbucks and Fandango have signed on to use Passbook, and the list is growing. Simply scan your iPhone or iPod Touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie and redeem a coupon.

The app comes pre-installed on the iPhone 5, and it also comes as part of the latest software update for existing iOS users.

How Captain Kangaroo Is Changing Defense Procurement

October 5, 2012

By Rita Boland

Passion and childhood inspiration are driving the chief information officer of JIEDDO to alter acquisitions through his innovation engine.

Bob Keeshan as Captain Kangaroo in 1970

Jim Craft has been the CIO and deputy director information enterprise management at the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) since March, bringing with him a passion for the mission and an energy to start making changes. Through what he dubs the "innovation engine," he is working to enhance rapid acquisitions by facilitating self-forming networks of people across government, industry and academia. You can read the ins and outs of the initiative in my article, "A Different Type of Self-Forming Network."

Craft's drive in this effort is tremendous and has roots in one of his favorite childhood television shows, Captain Kangaroo. From the program, he heard the story of stone soup, a folk tale that takes different forms, all focused on the benefits of cooperation, especially in times of scarce resources. "It made an incredible impact on me," Craft explains. "That's part of what the innovation engine is all about." In his previous roles in government and industry, Craft discovered that when applied, the lesson can create powerful results.

Departments:

Defense

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