The generals who lead the U.S. Army’s cyber force are responding to a diminishing budget believe that changes to its architecture already under way will not only save money but also greatly increase military cybersecurity. Among the first advances are the introduction of servicewide enterprise email—a move that will save the service an estimated $500 million—and the introduction of secure computer tablets that accept CACs and allows individuals access to the data they need.

Lt. Gen. Susan S. Lawrence, USA, chief information officer/G-6, says the first step toward the Army network of 2020 is an infrastructure that accepts a single ID—the CAC—and brings soldiers directly to their desktops no matter where they are and allows access to the applications he or she needs. This year, the final two hubs are being completed, to accomplish this capability. The next piece of her vision for the service involves cloud computing, but she admits that to move in this direction the service must first clean up the number of applications and amount of data it currently has.

The general’s four imperatives for the near future are to establish a secure, standard-based network; increase the ability for warfighters to collaborate; access the network at the point of need; and ensure that this network is capable, reliable and most importantly trusted. She admits culture change remains one of the largest challenges to realizing this vision.

Also participating in the media briefing with Gen. Lawrence were Lt. Gen. Rhett A. Hernandez, USA, commanding general, U.S. Army Cyber Command. Gen. Hernandez’s primary focus will be on developing a cyber brigade in response to the growing number of cyberthreats. To this end, the Army is incorporating cyber operations into military exercises and conducting a cyber assessment as part of the Network 2020 Strategic Plan. In addition, the service is introducing the use of avatars and gaming to attract and train new recruits.

Maj. Gen. Jennifer L. Napper, USA, commanding general, Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th Signal Command, explained that one of her command’s primary focuses today is transforming the way it delivers capabilities and services to camps, posts and stations globally. To accomplish this, the service is taking an enterprise approach and has developed Army Baseline IT Services to identify what capabilities are needed and the resources available to deliver those, and then it will whittle that down to one enterprise.

Gen. Napper pointed out that one of the biggest challenges to achieving this vision is the availability of qualified personnel. Approximately 34 percent of the people qualified to carry out this work will be eligible to retire in the near future. As in Gen. Hernandez’s units, the goal will be to find and train—or retrain—personnel to develop this enterprisewide network.

Maj. Gen. Alan R. Lynn, USA, Chief of Army Signal Corps, also briefed the press about his vision for the future of the force, which includes fundamental changes. He explained that current processes are based on the Army that fought in operation Desert Storm when the goal was to communicate down to the battalion level. Now, the goal is to be able to communicate down to company and below levels, a gain that must be accomplished without additional personnel. This will require smaller, more capable teams using smaller and more capable systems, he explained. The Army will look to off-the-shelf solutions to provide these, which is likely to include secure cell phones issued to more soldiers.

Gen. Lawrence concluded the briefing calling the future a “year of action. In the next 18 to 24 months, you will see a different [Army] network.”

AFCEA staff frequently participate in community and troop support activities, and in one such event AFCEA provided cards, postage, small gift and prepaid postcards–and a pizza lunch, during which AFCEA staff members hand wrote more than 100 “Get Well Soon” and “Thank You” cards to wounded warriors and the medical personnel who care for them. The prepaid postcard was self addressed to AFCEA so that the warfighters, nurses or doctors could write back if they wanted to.

This activity was done through a group called “Homefront Hugs,” who decided which medical facility needed those cards the most and sent them along.

This week, we got a handful of responses we’d like to share with you:

The 2011 AFCEA Education Summit, cosponsored by ManTech International and ManTech University, will present educational issues and best practices to benefit AFCEA Chapters. The Summit is held in conjunction with AFCEA’s Joint Warfighting Conference on Monday, 9 May in Virginia Beach. It will be broadcast live via streaming video with live chat, enabling online users to listen and join in the discussions. Last year’s Summit featured presentations on Adopt-A-School programs, Ways to Engage with the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association), and IRS Rules & Regulations for 501(c)(3) status.

If there is an issue you would like discussed at this year’s Summit, please submit your Topic idea here. If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Norma Corrales.

As you have likely heard, severe and unprecedented flooding in Nashville, Tennessee forced the cancellation of the 2010 DISA Customer Partnership Conference. For attendees, exhibitors, and AFCEA staffers, the experience was a difficult one—being evacuated from the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, where the event was to take place; spending the night in a local high school shelter; being separated from friends and colleagues; scrambling to arrange return travel; and a general feeling of panic at the rapidly-changing situation in which they found themselves. While everyone is disappointed that this highly-anticipated annual Conference had to be canceled, they are also grateful first and foremost that everyone is safe. The AFCEA staff in particular would like to thank the numerous Gaylord Opryland Hotel employees who truly went above and beyond to ensure that each attendee was secure and comfortable.

Although a major inconvenience, this experience has given AFCEA and all of its conference supporters an unparalleled opportunity to witness the tremendous spirit of “Music City” in action. From Tennesseans opening up their homes to strangers, to residents bringing stranded attendees food and water, to dramatic tales of heroism and rescue—there is no doubt that the remarkable community of Nashville will rebuild and rebound, and come back stronger than ever. In an effort to help the city in this Herculean effort, AFCEA International is proud to make a donation to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and we encourage others to do the same. Please go to The Community Foundation to see how you can help. As one AFCEA staff member put it, “I am glad to be home, but I left part of my heart in Nashville.”

This month’s SIGNAL Connections survey asks readers to weigh in with the main reason they joined AFCEA. Feel free to discuss the value of your AFCEA membership here, whether your affiliation is as an individual member or a corporate associate. And if you have suggestions on benefits you’d like to see, share them here as well.

Educational Foundation Launches BIG IDEA to Support STEM Teachers

AFCEA International and the AFCEA Educational Foundation have an integrated plan to deliver on the recruitment, retention and renewal of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) teachers. (See Rita Boland’s recent post on the need for these teachers here.)

AFCEA will focus on those preparing to become classroom STEM teachers, offering scholarships, and supplying AFCEA STEM teachers with powerful AFCEA Science Teaching Tools grants (STTools) for use in their classrooms and activities.

AFCEA International will grant the AFCEA Educational Foundation $200,000 per year over the next three years, FY 2010-2012.  The grant will enable the Foundation to award 35 scholarships of $5,000 each per year, for a total of $175,000.  (Click here for more information.)

The program will focus on one AFCEA Chapter community each of the 3 years, awarding 5 scholarships and allocating $25,000 in Science Teaching Tools.  In 2010, it will be the Hawaii Chapter.

In addition to the STEM Teacher Scholarship, each graduating STEM Scholarship Teacher will receive a $1,000- AFCEA STTools grant for 3 years, providing they remain teaching a STEM subject.

The AFCEA Education Summit will take place on Monday, May 10, 2010, from 2 to 3:15 p.m. at the 2010 Joint Warfighting Conference, taking place at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. The summit will feature discussions on educational issues and best practices to benefit AFCEA Chapters, and will be broadcast over the internet for those not attending. Click here for topics and details.

AFCEA National Middle School Science Fair
New this year! In 2010, the AFCEA Educational Foundation will sponsor the best Middle School science project related to the communications, intelligence or information systems fields selected from science fairs nationwide. The Grand Prize winner and the First Honorable Mention winner both are eligible to attend Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, during summer 2010.

• Click here for more information, guidelines and a nomination form

AFCEA National High School Science Fair
In 2010 , the National High School Science Fair Grand Prize Winner AND the First Honorable Mention Winner again will be eligible to attend and display their projects at AFCEA’s LandWarNet Conference in Tampa, Florida, August 3-5, 2010.

• Click here for more information, guidelines and a nomination form

Deadline for ALL nominations:  May 7, 2010

For more news from the AFCEA Education Foundation, click here to read the current newsletter.

No, I’m not talking about the classic Marilyn Monroe film; I’m talking about AFCEA’s Homeland Security Conference, going on this Wednesday and Thursday. The theme is “DHS: The 7-Year Itch—Renewing the Commitment.” The event will cover such topics as cybersecurity, securing social media, transparency, identity management, information and intelligence sharing, and more. Speakers include Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and W. Ralph Basham.

For more information and to register, visit the Web site. SIGNAL’s Henry S. Kenyon will be blogging from the conference here on SIGNAL Scape. Monitor the discussions using the Homeland 2010 tag, and follow @signalmag on Twitter as well with the #afcea hash tag.

The next SIGNAL webinar will be held on Thursday, February 25, at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. The topic will focus on service portfolio management, which is new to the world of service management in ITIL V3. It provides the critical guidance to ensure that “the complete set of services that are being managed by a service provider” in terms of the value to the mission and the organizational value that they provide.

For more information and to register, visit the Web site.