Demonstration Integrates Homeland Defense and Coalition Operations
By Michael Brown
June 2005, SIGNAL Connections

Participants to examine capabilities in two-part scenario.

The Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID) will have a worldwide focus this year, testing and evaluating technologies and capabilities for exchanging information among agencies and the military services. The event features interoperability trials that focus on selected core objectives defined by U.S. combatant commanders (see box at end of article).

U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) will host CWID 2005 from its headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The demonstration will enable U.S. combatant commanders and the international community to investigate command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions that focus on enhancing coalition interoperability. Coalitions now include government agencies, national and international law enforcement organizations, and first responders as well as traditional military allies. The CWID scenario incorporates aspects of homeland security and homeland defense into traditional coalition operations. It is a proving ground for emerging technology applications through the entire spectrum of first responders.

CWID 2005 will be conducted over the Combined Forces Battle Laboratories Network (CFBLNet), which merges homeland defense and coalition task force (CTF) operations into one integrated scenario. The scenario consists of two parts: one for homeland security and homeland defense and the other for the CTF. In the homeland security/homeland defense scenario, NORTHCOM and local, state and federal agencies respond to terrorist attacks within the United States. These fictitious attacks are tied to the conventional U.S.-led CTF operations on another continent. For the CTF portion of the demonstration, CWID provides a framework that facilitates interoperability trials through a full range of military operations conducted by U.S. and coalition forces. CTF operations are set in a notional context and involve fictitious countries.

The Defense Information Systems Agency will manage the event’s day-to-day operations and will engineer the demonstration network. The agency has set up a demonstration architecture that enables controlled and protected communications as prescribed by operational requirements and national security policies. It is a network driven by events.

The host site for CWID is the Federal Building, part of NORTHCOM operations. Other U.S. visitor sites include the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and National Guard Bureau at the Naval Surface Warfare Center; the U.S. Navy at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego; and the U.S. Air Force at the Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.

Nearly 30 sites around the world will host 25 international participants. The demonstration’s global network includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and many NATO nations. These locations also feature demonstration sites and visitor access.

Michael Brown is the chief of protocol and public affairs for the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration 2005.

Additional information about Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration 2005 is available on the Web at www.cwid.js.mil and www.dtais.mod.uk/cwid.