Anyone who spends time on the Internet is well aware of the benefits that Web 2.0 provides. U.S. Forces Korea recognizes these attributes and is transforming its decision-making capabilities by employing Web tools, according to authors Maj. Vincent W. Lau, USAF, and David P. Martin in Command Takes Leap To Web-Centric Knowledge Sharing, published in the current issue of SIGNAL Magazine.

Even though U.S. Forces Korea adopted a command-wide communications strategy to foster collaboration, the authors point out that it still had to deal with huge quantities of fragmented data stored throughout its systems.

Col. Russell Wilson, USAF, chief of the U.S. Forces Korea Knowledge Operations and Initiatives Division (KOIN), describes the command’s initial efforts at online knowledge sharing:

Early on, there was no single, overarching strategy for our knowledge management, so units just posted their data on the networks anywhere and everywhere they could.

Leaders recognize that the power of Web 2.0 on defense C² networks is in making warfighters more effective. It provides tighter decision-making loops and more relevant information through collaboration and networking.

Success in this arena, the authors point out, will be based on two principles: authoritative data enabling users to trust that their information source is the definitive source from which all collaboration and work are based; and data availability anywhere, under any condition, ranging from peacetime to war.

U.S. Forces Korea’s commander, Gen. Walter L. Sharp, USA, sought to fulfill this vision:

I would like to go to a place on [our C² networks] where data is authoritative and accessible to people who want to get it. [I asked my staff to] identify ubiquitous and authoritative information flow [to] flatten the organization.

From the Virtual Knowledge Wall’s (VkW’s) versions, U.S. Forces Korea has moved to the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) because it offers advanced Web 2.0 capabilities.

With KOIN leading the way on the knowledge management front, U.S. Forces Korea has positioned itself–using a platform such as MOSS–to tackle the paradigm shift swiftly and smartly, moving quickly from static to dynamic Web portals across all the networks.

The command will add to the capabilities of its C² networks as a force multiplier to give U.S. Forces Korea even more ability to “fight and win tonight.”

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Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sorenson, USA, chief information officer (CIO)/G-6 policy, and Maj. Gen. Nickolas Justice, USA, program executive officer, Command, Control and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), had a lot to say about innovation in the U.S. Army at the Gov 2.0 Summit last week.

Panel moderator Dr. Linton Wells, Transformation Chair and distinguished research professor at National Defense University, asked them why pursue innovation on the edge. Gen. Sorenson took the opportunity to explain challenges faced by the military in today’s enviroment. “If you look at warfare today, it has dramatically changed from when your father or grandfather fought it,” he said. “We have to function in environments that are asymmetrical, where the enemy is not in uniform and may be in front, behind, around you.” He made a distinction between strategic operations and tactical operations but noted that the two are no longer separate. “You now have tactical forces doing strategic operations,” he explained. “They have to have the best situational awareness at that front edge. The only way to do that is to make sure that data [they need to complete the mission] is available accessible and accurate.”

Gen. Justice had a different perspective on why innovation matters most on the front line. “It’s all about money,” he said. “If I can get my warfighters to solve my problems for me, then I don’t have to go back to the Pentagon to ask for the money to address these capabilities.”

Gen. Sorenson said that in his experience, he’d run across soldiers with intuitions or experience to discern what was needed. When that happens, he continued, “You get some magic.” He is always astonished to find that warfighters are “using systems in ways that were never imagined when we wrote the requirements for it.”

The generals acknowledged that security remains the stumbling block. “We have to ensure that soldiers can trust their network and that the information they are getting is verifiable,” said Gen. Sorenson. Warfighters must be able to trust in the information they get before they can engage, especially if hackers can tap in and change coordinates or instructions.

But, he added, AFRICOM sets a good example. Africa is not networked like Europe, Iraq, etc. “Social networking sites are a way to get messages out from an operational standpoint.”

And these platforms are changing the way military branches recruit. Facebook and Twitter in particular help potential recruits see that the Army is relevant as more people tell their stories using these media. Gen. Justice mentioned that chat rooms and other tools enabled by Army Knowledge Online (AKO) are popular as well.

In the meantime, Gen. Sorenson said, the Army is working together with the Office of the Secretary of Defense to put together a policy for the Defense Department that will establish how social networks will be used.

When Price Floyd, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, came on board at the Defense Department a couple of months ago, he got the directive from Sec. Gates to use social media to engage—not just push out messages. But within days of starting, Floyd found that most of those social media channels had been shut down, he explained at the Gov 2.0 Summit Thursday afternoon.

New policies were in order, and so the DoD examined reasons for making the platforms accessible. They talked to families, and found compelling evidence that the availability of social networking tools was a boon to troop morale. The anecdotes that made their way back to the Pentagon demonstrated  just how valuable social networks are for the troops. In one example, Floyd explained, one woman had shared how her husband was able to help his children with their homework while deployed, thanks to social media.

There were other benefits to troops, including the ability to update insurgency manuals and military blogs in real time, both proving to be tangibly beneficial to men and women in the field.

Floyd also explained some of the features on the new DoD website, defense.gov. It includes links to the DoD’s presence on social networks and offers an interactive component that allows users to send messages to the Defense Secretary.While users are encouraged to ask questions, Floyd said that they were more interested in policy suggestions from readers.

Although the department is finding that the social media landscape is rich with benefits, they are still concerned about risks. Operation security remains a huge concern, and that’s a key risk area. “People sometimes feel more secure talking to their friends, ironically,” said Floyd. Not so long ago, those kinds of communications came in the form of a letter home, where only a few people would see it. But now, he added, it’s there for the whole world to see.

U.S. Army attack helicopters operating in Southwest Asia now can receive video and data from unmanned aerial platforms, enhancing situational awareness and reducing sensor-to-shooter times. The Video from Unmanned Aerial Systems for Interoperability Teaming-Level 2 (VUITTM-2) capability provides the crews of AH-64 Apache attack helicopters with real-time streaming video and metadata shown on multipurpose displays.

The VUITTM-2 can transmit both Apache and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) video via a mini-tactical
common datalink to troops equipped with One System Remote Video Terminals. Army officials explain that the capability enables Apache aircrews to stream imagery to ground units such as Stryker vehicles on combat patrols. The real-time video provides immediate intelligence so that commanders can plan safer alternate routes.

The live UAS data also allows Apache crews to locate and engage time-critical targets quickly. Manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation, the VUITTM-2 was designed and fielded in less than seven months as part of a rapid fielding request from the U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff.

The U.S. Army is enhancing its mobile ground-based radars designed to detect incoming enemy artillery rounds. The AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder weapon-locating radar is a long-range system that is being deployed across the service to locate the sources of enemy mortar, artillery and rocket fire, and to relay that data for counterfire by friendly units.

As part of the Army’s Reliability Maintainability Improvement (RMI) program, the entire inventory of AN/TPQ-37 and AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder systems will be modified with a modular, air-cooled transmitter and new common radar processors.

ThalesRaytheonSystems officials, the company that is contracted for the modifications, note that the upgrades will significantly reduce life-cycle costs, provide higher operational availability and extend the radar’s expected operational life to the year 2030. The modifications are part of a $285 million production contract.

A U.S. Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) is part of the joint mission of the U.S. Air Force 380th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia. The new role marks the first operational mission for the BAMS UAS—a maritime derivative of the RQ-4 Global Hawk—although the aircraft has been used in noncombat roles.

BAMS’ arrival in Southwest Asia is the culmination of more than five months of a joint effort to stand up a maritime surveillance presence in the region. The move came when Navy officials responded to a Defense Department request for more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets in the area.

Air Force personnel will control the system at the forward operating location, and Air Force instructors will train naval aviators. Experts from both military services have come together to create a process to ensure that differences in operational and maintenance rules and standards are identified and resolved quickly.

Future U.S. Navy submarines will be able to obtain a better operational picture by launching their own unmanned aerial systems (UASs). A recent test by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, Rhode Island, demonstrated that a submerged vessel can deploy a UAS at sea.

The demonstration simulated the submarine launch of a specialized UAS to collect intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data in a littoral environment. During the demonstration, two launch vehicles were deployed over the side of a surface ship. The vehicles descended to 80 feet and then surfaced. Once on the surface, the craft stabilized themselves in variable sea states, aligned into the wind and then launched a dummy UAS.

The test, which took place at the Narragansett Bay Shallow Water Test Facility Range, Rhode Island, is part of the Navy’s Submarine Over the Horizon Organic Capabilities (SOTHOC) program. Future SOTHOC tests will deploy a UAS from a submerged submarine to evaluate its performance in a maritime interdiction mission. The UAS and its deployable launch vehicle are designed and manufactured by the Raytheon Company.

Warfighters on the battlefield soon will enjoy the ease of use that touchscreen computer display technology affords. A U.S. firm and a Korean firm are joining forces to manufacture and supply the U.S. Defense Department with proprietary military-grade touchscreen systems that are designed and tailored for use in harsh environments, including extreme temperatures, barometric pressure and humidity.

To create and sell the ruggedized touchscreens to the Defense Department, Woori Technology Incorporated, Seoul, South Korea, entered into an assignment and assumption agreement with MSGI Security Solutions Incorporated, New York. MSGI is purchasing components for the technology from Woori, and the two plan to open a new service facility in northern California where assembly, quality testing and systems integration will take place. The companies are scheduled to complete manufacturing of the touchscreen systems for delivery to the Defense Department later this year.