SIGNAL Connections

Three U.S. Air Force electronic warfare specialists create and route test signals, and field a call from the maintenance supervisor, from a maintenance station aboard a RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft. The Air Force Research Laboratory is developing a Virtual Combat Environment for Electronic Conflict to ensure the military stays at the cutting edge of sensor technologies and electronic warfare.

The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, has embarked on a 72-month effort to develop the Virtual Combat Environment for Electronic Conflict (VCEEC, pronounced v-seek) within the Sensors Directorate’s Virtual Combat Laboratory (VCL). “The virtual combat environment will prepare the U.S. Air Force and other services for a wide range of challenges, including traditional, irregular, catastrophic and disruptive threats,” explains Barbara Masquelier, VCEEC program manager.

Brig. Gen. John E. Seward, USA (l), deputy commanding general for operations, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, and Brig. Gen. Ronald M. Bouchard, USA, director, J-6, U.S. Pacific Command, cut the ribbon symbolizing the activation of the first Wideband Global SATCOM satellite.

The WGS combines commercial spacecraft capabilities and features eight steerable and shapeable X-band beams formed by separate transmit and receive phased arrays. In addition, the satellite has 10 steerable Ka-band beams that are served by independently steerable, diplexed gimbaled dish antennas, including three with selectable polarization. It also includes one X-band Earth coverage beam. Onboard the craft is a digital channelizer that divides the uplink bandwidth into more than 1,500 independently routable 2.6 megahertz subchannels.

U.S. sailors and Marines are accustomed to sitting down in front of their computers and tapping into the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI). But recently Naval Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM) personnel and EDS contractors practiced moving command and control (C²) of the intranet quickly so they are prepared to relocate to safe ground when a natural disaster such as a hurricane is imminent.

The two-day continuity-of-operations drill involved maintaining the ability to monitor the intranet while EDS’ Enterprise Network Operations Support Center (ENOSC) and the U.S. government’s Global Network Operations Center (GNOC) move from one location to another location within the Norfolk, Virginia, region. At an appointed time, each six-person shift at the ENOSC evacuated their base site and headed to an area at the Little Creek Amphibious Base, then reconstituted the centers. During the 90 minutes of the move, ENOSC responsibilities were transferred to EDS’ Pacific Theater Battle Watch; NETWARCOM retained control of the GNOC.

Greg Burke, director, NetworkOperationsCenter services for NMCI, EDS, explains that the exercise confirms that network C² is available from any location. The activity ensures that intranet users can continue to access tools and capabilities from the network even when the ENOSC is in transit to another location prior to an emergency and that the center can be reconstituted in the new location without incident, he adds.

A Canadian company is offering two free software packages that allow a single computer to support two workstations. Besides supporting multiple computers, the software provides computers with a range of office applications.

The Userful Corporation is giving away the software as part of a promotional package, explains the firm’s marketing head, Sean Rousseau. He says that the firm has extended its offer, allowing people to sample the free product and then buy it for their businesses or organizations. “It is a full-fledged product. It’s not a beta,” he shares.

Userful is mainly targeting libraries and schools for its promotion. Rousseau notes that the company represents some 20,000 “seats” in schools and in many libraries in the United States and Canada. But he adds that the firm also supports government and military customers. For example, the Canadian military is currently using Userful desktop applications in Afghanistan to support Internet cafés for its troops deployed there. The software’s ease of use, its security and the ability to manage multiple workstations were key reasons for its selection by the Canadian military.

The ongoing conflict in Southwest Asia is changing the thrust of many charities that support warfighters and their families. As patterns of need have emerged over time, charities are shifting their focus toward specific activities that address those needs.

The charities are not abandoning their original purposes. Instead, they are taking on new roles that are increasing in importance. And despite the slow economy, people are responding to charities’ appeals on behalf of men and women in the armed forces.

However, the public is taking a closer look at military support charities. The American Institute of Philanthropy recently gave a sizeable number of veterans and military charities failing grades, and an additional number are cited for managing their funds poorly.

But among the military charities that received the institute’s highest rating, an A+, is the Fisher House Foundation. The foundation is raising funds for a new generation of houses that reflect the new reality of caring for the wounded. A total of 38 Fisher houses, which provide lodging for the families of wounded warfighters during treatment, are in operation, mostly around U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force bases. Five new houses are under construction, nine are in planning or design, and six are slated for a 2009 start.

Jim Weiskopf, executive vice president for communications, explains that Fisher House’s current and future construction plans represent a major shift in focus. Four of the five houses currently under construction are at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, and all six of the planned 2009 houses are at VA facilities.

Federal agencies have their choice of two secure wireless devices under the SME PED program.

The Secure Mobile Environment Portable Electronic Device (SME PED) program—pronounced smeeped—takes the solutions to a variety of government security needs and puts them into a single device capable of performing clear and secure voice calls up to the Top Secret level. Owners can even send e-mail and browse the Web over classified and unclassified networks such as the nonsecure Internet protocol router network (NIPRNET) and the secret Internet protocol router network (SIPRNET). SME PED handhelds also are cleared to operate in secure compartmented information facilities (SCIFs).

In late April, hackers attempted to penetrate the computer networks of several U.S. military academies and graduate schools. The intruders tried to infiltrate the school’s cyberdefenses to plant malicious software, shut down servers and cause damage to data. The military institutions resisted the attacks with varying levels of success, for which they were graded—there was a trophy at stake.

These attacks weren’t real—but they could have been. In this case, the schools were participating in the 8th Annual Cyber Defense Exercise (CDX), held near Fort Meade, Maryland. Participants included all of the service academies: the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and teams from the Air Force Institute of Technology and the Naval Postgraduate School. Although the Air Force Institute of Technology and the NavalPostgraduateSchool were allowed to participate, they were not eligible for the trophy. West Point won the CDX for the second consecutive year.

E-communities are growing by leaps and bounds in the U.S. Air Force’s premier professional networking venue: Air Force Knowledge Now (AFKN). With more than 225,000 users and nearly 12,000 communities of practice (COPs), AFKN is fast becoming the virtual go-to place for airmen seeking to connect with each other to discuss issues and solve problems. And although the e-space was originally established for members of the Air Force, it is quickly becoming a joint collaborative environment as members of active-duty, Reserve and Guard of the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps join the ranks of users.

The social networking and e-collaboration that has been seeping into the organizational fabric of the commercial sector today is a tool Air Force personnel have been taking advantage of for some time. In fact, in 1999 when the service first introduced AFKN, it had to create its own technologies to establish the capability because nothing like it existed on the commercial shelf. Over the past nine years, however, the Air Force has seen it take on a life of its own, continuing to produce benefits that even its originators did not foresee.

At the core of the AFKN’s structure are COPs that registered users create to open discussion about specific areas of interest. Topics can range from procurement procedures to security forces. Randy Adkins, director, Air Force Center of Excellence for Knowledge Management, says the increased use of AFKN simply reflects how technology has changed professional interaction. In the past, airmen would call or e-mail each other to get information or collaborate; now many look to the Web as the venue for exchanging ideas and solving problems.

While most military planning focuses on how to win wars, a concept developed by forward-thinkers in the joint world is honing methods to prevent them. Dubbed cooperative security, the plan aims at helping countries with struggling governments and economies so they do not fall victim to internal conflict or become tempted to open their doors to terrorists.

The formalized document, titled “The Military Contribution to Cooperative Security,” is the brainchild of the U.S. Joint Forces Command’s (JFCOM’s) Joint Innovation and Experimentation Directorate (J-9), Suffolk, Virginia, and the U.S. European Command (EUCOM), Stuttgart, Germany. Originally called “shaping,” the approach is now commonly referred to as cooperative security.

Rear Adm. Dan W. Davenport, USN, director, Joint Concept Development and Experimentation Directorate (J-9), JFCOM, explains that nearly two years ago, the U.S. Defense Department recognized that it lacked a concept that covers its geographic combatant commanders’ day-to-day efforts that lead to a more stable security environment. The department sought concept proposals describing these activities, and JFCOM and EUCOM offerings were so similar that the Joint Staff directed the two to partner to create the final concept. In many ways, the joint operating concept essentially documents and institutionalizes what the military services have been doing for quite some time, the admiral allows.

Information professionals from all over Europe are gathering on June 4 at the SHAPE Club in Mons, Belgium, to learn and share their ideas about the pitfalls and benefits of using commercial technology in the battlespace. Sponsored by AFCEA Europe, “The Dual Use of Technology” symposium and exposition features a variety of speakers from industry, government and the military.

Topics will be discussed from two angles: national and commercial. Featured speakers such as Dag Wilhelmsen, general manager, NATO C3 Agency; Lt. Gen. Ulrich Wolf, DEU  A, director, NCSA; and Tom Conte from Dell Incorporated will offer their insights about topics such as current and emerging technologies, reasons the military has turned to the commercial sector, and how industry is adopting their on-the-shelf products to meet the specific needs of the military.

Following the event in Mons, AFCEA Professional Development Europe is offering a two-day course titled “Doing Business with NATO–Understanding the System” on June 5 -6 at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Brussels, Belgium. Based on his work with NATO, John Roberts, retired British Army colonel, will lead this workshop-style class that focuses on sharing experiences about working with NATO and offers the opportunity to network with potential collaborators on future projects.