2009 02 SIGNAL Connections

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Any leader in any of the military services will declare that support to the warfighter in ongoing operations is the top priority. For service laboratories and system integrators, support to the warfighter centers on developing and deploying new technologies as quickly as possible.

It is no surprise that these technologies are changing the way war is fought. Most changes in warfare have been technology-driven. But in this post-Cold-War environment, technology change is a two-way street. Technology both is changing warfighting and is being changed by it.

Again, this concept is not new. What is new is the pace of change taking place in both directions of the defense technology flow. Warfighters’ requests for new capabilities are being met in record time as the military speeds new technologies into the field. Similarly, the field is changing almost as quickly as new solutions hit the battlespace. These changes are driving the need for new technology-driven capabilities.

Take networking as an example. Much of the focus has been on extending the network down to the warfighter. The nature of counter-insurgency urban operations has increased the need for the warfighter to have top-notch situational awareness. But as more capabilities enter the network, it increases the requirements for moving information down that network. And, new sources of information—sensor platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles—are being incorporated into the force. These in turn are changing the very nature of the network, which affects how information moves down to the warfighter.

U.S. Defense Department Outlines Roles

The U.S. Defense Department has released its 2009 Quadrennial Roles and Missions Review (QRM) Report to Congress, including the department’s core missions and competencies. Core mission areas include homeland defense and civilian support; deterrence operations; major combat operations; irregular warfare; military support to stabilization, security, transition and reconstruction operations; and the military’s contribution to collaborative security. Among the core capabilities identified are command and control; battlespace awareness; network centricity; force support; and corporate management and support. This is the first review conducted with the intent of establishing a framework for analyzing roles and missions every four years.

Navy Demonstrates Command and Control System

U.S. Defense Department Outlines Roles

The U.S. Defense Department has released its 2009 Quadrennial Roles and Missions Review (QRM) Report to Congress, including the department’s core missions and competencies. Core mission areas include homeland defense and civilian support; deterrence operations; major combat operations; irregular warfare; military support to stabilization, security, transition and reconstruction operations; and the military’s contribution to collaborative security. Among the core capabilities identified are command and control; battlespace awareness; network centricity; force support; and corporate management and support. This is the first review conducted with the intent of establishing a framework for analyzing roles and missions every four years.

Navy Demonstrates Command and Control System

Vehicle-mounted Computer

Digital Torquemeter
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A system that was used in the past primarily to support military morale has been fulfilling a new mission: emergency preparedness. For the past several years, the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) has been called upon during times of crisis, including the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and natural disasters, to ensure continuity of communications. The program trains a cadre of licensed amateur radio operators to understand and become proficient in emergency military communications protocol and procedures, including the use of modern digital technologies. However, this national communications treasure could falter if it does not receive adequate attention and funding.

Started as the U.S. Army Amateur Radio System in 1925 by members of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, MARS was officially established in 1948 with U.S. Air Force participation, and it became a joint service program in 1962 with the inclusion of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Many veterans recall MARS from the Korean and Vietnam wars as a group of volunteer amateur radio operators who relayed telephone patches and morale messages between service personnel stationed abroad and their families at home. Even as recently as operation Desert Storm, thousands of messages were relayed. Today, as a U.S. Defense Department-sponsored program managed separately by the services, MARS can provide an emergency adjunct to normal communications locally, nationally or internationally.

The next generation of the U.S. Department of the Navy’s (DON’s) shore-based enterprise network is expected to employ both industry and government best practices. The DON will start with the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) as the foundation. As the largest corporate intranet of its kind, the department considers NMCI a strategic asset. However, it plans to increase the security and military command and control through the successor to the NMCI, the Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN).

The NGEN acquisition process is underway. NGEN stakeholders have been collaborating for the past two years to define requirements, develop concepts of operation, and prepare for the network, operational and work force changes that will drive the transition from the current network of 700,000 users in 360,000 seats to the NGEN environment. One of the key transition planning elements was the decision to use an open-standard information technology services management framework for NGEN. The DON will organize NGEN service responsibilities using the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 3 framework.

The Bethesda Chapter’s Young AFCEA Council is featuring an ongoing webinar series focusing on Web 2.0 technologies. The Virtual Podium series aims at illustrating through successful examples how Web 2.0 can benefit the federal government.

The series’ development originated last summer, when Steve Krauss, chapter president-elect, expressed an interest in using Web 2.0 tools to the chapter’s advantage. Beth Maloney, a Young AFCEA Council (YAC) program chair, and Tchad Moore, YAC secretary, responded by creating a Web 2.0 strategy for the chapter.

Simultaneously, the chapter’s YAC was planning its events for 2009 and wanted to begin the year with a panel discussing Web 2.0 capabilities. Maloney, Alison Hoover and Mari Oh, YAC program chairs, helped organize the chapter’s executive breakfast panel session, “Web 2.0 in the Federal Government,” in early January. The chapter co-sponsored the event.

“As we gathered speakers for the panel, we realized there are great stories to tell and speakers to feature. We didn’t want the conversation on Web 2.0 to stop with the breakfast event,” Maloney shares.