The Honorable Michael Chertoff, former secretary of the Department of Homeland Defense, said that strategic convergence will distinguish the 21st from the 20th century in both threats and solutions. Speaking at the MILCOM 2009 luncheon today, Chertoff used the binary versus the quantum approach as an analogy to describe national security threats as well as the changes that must occur to deal with them.

“In the 1990s, we had the tendency to view the world through a binary lens. On one side of the lens we had traditional military warfighting issues where we were dealing largely with nation-states as the adversary and where our capabilities were lodged in the military services and to some degree in the intelligence services,” he stated. This state is what Chertoff called the “1” of the binary view; the law enforcement issues could be considered the “0.”

Each side of this digital divide included unique sets of capabilities, processes and authorities that governed how the military and law enforcement officials operated. “In reality, the neat division between war, national security and the military on the one hand and crime and law enforcement and police on the other was being overtaken by events, by reality. The facts were beginning to change,” he offered.

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, were the result of those changes. Many lessons were learned that day, and chief among them was that process structures had made it very difficult to share information and tactics across that digital divide. “It was a rude awakening about the need to avoid this kind of distinction,” Chertoff stated. But in addition to this lesson, the terrorist attacks “ripped the cover off” the sea change that was occurring in the security of the nation, he added.

Chertoff says that these events changed the nation’s leaders from looking at security through a binary lens and resulted in what he calls a quantum view of security. Quantum physics proposes that something such as a molecule can exist in a number of areas simultaneously. This is a good metaphor for where the U.S. is in security; threats the country faces not only exist in the two primary points of the military or police but also at many points in between.

The challenges this situation poses are even more difficult to tackle than simply introducing a single architecture, he pointed out. “You have a whole series of legal, bureaucratic and technical structures that were erected under the old regime that are outmoded in dealing with this era quantum events,” Chertoff stated.

“When I look at our adversaries around the world, what I see is that we can no longer kid ourselves into believing that we face challenges that will be easily boxed based on regions and categories. We have got to tear the categories down and recognize that every threat we face can appear simultaneously as a military threat, a terrorism threat, a criminal threat and a community threat that directly impacts our civilian governments,” he states.

This means that communications capabilities must be retooled for the 21st century, Chertoff said. Military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies must be able to integrate their strengths, and this can be done—at least in part—by working through the private sector for solutions, he stated.

MILCOM 2009’s first panelists spoke about the practical challenges of the convergence of communications capabilities. Representatives from U.S. government agencies as well as local law enforcement agreed that plans for emergencies and special security events must involve collaboration and preparation, but they also admitted that a plan is just that—a plan. Everyone involved in the command and control of these activities—from the cop on the beat to the person in charge—must be ready for the unexpected.

Representatives from the Boston Police Department shared their insights about the various special events that have required unusual security and communications to ensure the safety of the citizens. During the past several years, in addition to annual events such as the Boston Marathon and Independence Day celebrations, the department has dealt with sports teams’ championship-winning partying and the Democratic National Convention. Each event presented its own set of challenges, and the department continues to improve; however, planning and practice are still needed for the problems an act of terrorism would cause, Daniel Linskey, superintendent-in-chief, Boston Police Department, said.

Lt. Kevin Buckley, tactical operations team, Boston Police Department, shared that while the city’s law enforcement personnel has the advantage of state-of-the-art technologies, many of the smaller localities around the city cannot afford the latest communications gear. Finding themselves in situations where interoperability becomes an issue, they adapt, but “we’re not really there. We’ve come to a certain point, but we have a long way to go in my opinion,” Buckley said.

From the Secret Service, David O’Connor, special agent in charge for the dignitary protective division, spoke about the presidential inauguration and the challenges that particular event—as well as activities surrounding it—posed. Although the event was a huge success with very few incidents—none serious—there was an issue with crowds backed up in the Third Street Tunnel that gained national attention.

The special agent explained that people were going from north to south rather than south to north as was the plan. When alerted that there were people in the tunnel, O’Connor’s staff was not concerned: they expected the crowds. But when up on The Hill the next day, O’Connor heard for the first time about “a thing called Twitter. I was told that if I’d been monitoring Twitter, I would have been more cognizant of what was happening in the Third Street Tunnel. …I can assure you that at the most recent G-20 Partnership [in Pittsburgh], we did have Twitter access.”

Robert Lentz, moderator, posed several questions to the panelists for discussion. While it was evident from the panelists’ presentations that their organizations were getting better all the time when connected during special events, he asked if they also practiced what to do when networks go down, either by accident or design as part of a terrorist attack. Members of the panel agreed that they are prepared to go back to the way activities were conducted before networks were available, but they admitted that they do not practice this scenario nearly as much as they should.

In response to Lentz’s question about whether government users of commercial technologies are aware of all the vulnerabilities of using these tools for official business, O’Connor responded that public-private partnerships are the best way to ensure information security when commercial products are used in this manner.

The U.S. Coast Guard is taking steps to enhance its command, control, intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities with new unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and network-centric systems for its ships. At a press briefing late last week, RAdm. Ronald J. Robago, USCG, the service’s new assistant commandant for acquisitions, discussed steps being taken to evaluate and select a new shipboard UAS.

The Coast Guard is interested in the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, which will soon equip the U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ships. Under the Coast Guard’s original Deepwater plan, UASs would increase ships’ operational range ships by providing a search and reconnaissance asset with greater range and endurance than shipboard helicopters. The original UAS platform selected for the Deepwater program, the Bell Helicopter tilt-rotor Eagle Eye UAS, was cancelled due to its technical immaturity, the admiral said.

Adm. Rabago explained that the Coast Guard is considering the Fire Scout because of its maturity, versatility and the advantage of sharing a common platform with the Navy. However, he emphasized that that the service has not yet selected Fire Scout.

Another key issue delaying acquisition is the Fire Scout’s lack of a maritime search radar. The key Coast Guard role for a UAS will be to detect and identify ships and boats for a variety of search and rescue, anti-narcotics, anti-piracy and homeland security missions. Adm. Rabago claims that a search radar is key for accomplishing these missions.

Funding is available in the Coast Guard’s budget to acquire a variety of UAS platforms, the admiral remarked. For example, the service is also conducting tests with land-based Predator B UAV’s for coastal patrol operations. A dry-fit test with a Fire Scout was recently conducted on the Coast Guard’s newest ship, USCGC Bertholf. Adm. Rabago explained that the cutter has sufficient onboard space to house and operate the UAVs. He added that the Coast Guard will conduct tests at the end of this month with a Fire Scout equipped with a prototype maritime search radar.

The search radar is important because the Coast Guard and Navy require different missions from their UAVs. Coast Guard ships often operate alone, while Navy vessels work in battle groups. Navy Fire Scouts will rely on targets being detected by shipboard sensors, while the Coast Guard requires the UAVs to operate as search platforms.

Besides acquiring UAS platforms, the Coast Guard is also taking steps to enhance its interoperability with other U.S. military services. The Coast Guard’s first national security cutter, the USCGC Bertholf will soon be equipped with a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) to handle classified data. It will be the first Coast Guard ship equipped with a SCIF, which will allow the vessel to operate more closely with Navy and coalition ships.

The admiral explained that the SCIF was not installed in the shipyard, although a space with all the required power and data connections was left in place. The facility will be installed with the assistance of the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Center. All of the Coast Guard’s national security cutters will be equipped with SCIFs.

A major disaster recovery exercise is concluding today in Washington D.C. The week long event was held by AT&T to test, evaluate, refine and improve how the company restores communications in the wake of a natural or manmade disaster. The network disaster recovery (NDR) exercise filled the capitol’s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium with equipment trailers and personnel providing satellite and broadband fiber optic communications links. (more…)