DISA Building Data Analytics Support Cell ‘Out of Hide’

Lt. Gen. Paul Stanton, USA, commander, Joint Forces Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN) and director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), is building a data analytics support cell within each of the sister organizations to cross-coordinate and synchronize their efforts and better align data capabilities.

“We have recently established a data analytics support cell that crosses the boundaries between the Joint Force Headquarters and DISA. DISA has a lot of data. The Joint Force Headquarters has an operationally relevant maneuver mission set. We have to combine those two in a way that makes sense,” Stanton said in a recent face-to-face interview with SIGNAL Media, his first major media engagement since taking over the sibling organizations.

He noted that data is essential to modern warfare, with even the M4 rifle having sensors integrated into it, and said the analytics cell will help answer essential questions during operations. “When we execute warfare, there’s a data dependency. There’s not a single system on the battlefield that isn’t a data producer or data consumer—or isn’t intended to be in the near future,” he said. “From our responsibilities, we have to see the battlespace through data. We have to see it effectively.”

When he stands on the operations floor of either DISA or JFHQ-DODIN, Stanton said, he has questions that need to be answered, such as whether data is available, and if not, how it can be collected; whether a new sensor needs to be deployed; whether to change login configuration; whether the “underlying pipes” are in place to transport data to a facility where it can be stored and “run computational, relevant algorithms on top of it”; whether the actual analytic is available and if not, how to write it; and whether it’s a new data set “that I might have to perform, extract, [and] transfer load normalization onto that data in order to pull it in in a meaningful way.”

The data analytics cell should help resolve those questions, and through that cell, the organizations are increasingly “driving what we refer to as an analytic scheme of maneuver,” he said. “My questions need to drive the data sets that have to be collected, transported, aggregated, correlated, analyzed algorithmically and then displayed in a meaningful way to support my decision. These are the sorts of things that the data analytics support cell is helping us drive. So, when they emerge with an analytic scheme of maneuver, now we have a new tool that can help us answer interesting and relevant questions.”

While he may need to ask the same questions multiple times, invariably, he will have to ask new questions. “Because the enemy gets a vote, the operating environment changes, and there’s something that I don’t yet know that I will ask and that this team is dedicated to solving. It’s a new construct. We just built it. We’re in the early stages of driving this process, but I’m wildly pleased with the progress that our team is making.”

Stanton reported that he and his team “built it out of hide,” meaning the analytics cell was created with existing resources and personnel. He explained that he sent a call out to both DISA and JFHQ-DODIN looking for anyone who could write Python scripts, who knows how to normalize or inject data, or knows how to “operate elastic at a level deeper than the configuration, but rather at the data layer,” he reported. “I cherry-picked the team, a small team on purpose in order to drive immediate results.”

The National Defense Authorization Act elevates JFHQ-DODIN, which integrates, synchronizes and leads global command and control of all Defense Department Information Networks, from a component command to a sub-unified command under U.S. Cyber Command.  

After performing a detailed mission analysis, Stanton’s team targeted the same date for JFHQ-DODIN to reach initial operating capability as a sub-unified command with full operating capability to be determined by events and budgets, and he submitted a memorandum to that effect to the secretary of defense. As of March 21, he was awaiting approval of the memorandum from the Secretary of Defense.

 “We are neck deep in mission analysis alongside U.S. Cyber Command right now to think through the function, the organizational constructs, the training requirements. Our mission analysis for the elevation to being a sub-unified headquarters is helping us determine the timing and tempo to build out the data analytics support cell,” he said.

The JFHQ-DODIN will have to provide U.S. Cyber Command with analytics and refined intelligence that is “relevant to how they operate within their area of operations, also incredibly relevant effective planning so that we can campaign, as opposed to being reactionary, building out our J7 [Directorate for Joint Force Development] to support the training environment,” he indicated.  

The general listed some of the remaining questions. “As we look at becoming a sub-unified command, the Joint Force Headquarters on April 22, how do I standardize this model? How do I rewrite our manning documents to ensure that it’s not an ad hoc pickup game in the future but rather dedicated positions where I can write position descriptions and hire talented individuals to come in and perform this fantastic mission that remains in contact with the enemy,” he said, quipping, “That’s my recruiting plug. We’ll take lots of data scientists on my team.”

A large portion of the JFHQ-DODIN team is made up of contractors, so industry will play a central role in manning the new data analytics cell, Stanton pointed out. “We’re looking at the right relationships with industry to write contracts for individuals that have the skill sets necessary to perform some of these actions. But we’re also revising position descriptions for government civilians to come in and perform tasks. We’re also recruiting military folks that have the capabilities to join and fill some of the positions that are military billets within our organizational construct.”

Asked whether he expects to be able to fill the positions, Stanton revealed he has wasted no time. “So, where we are in the movie: we just established the concept of the data analytics support cell. We’re right now in the process of writing the position descriptions. And you know, if you think about the military manning cycle, normally folks move during the summertime,” he said. “I’ll tell you that I’ve recruited heavily, and I’m pleased with my draft picks that will be showing up this summer to help us reinforce the hardworking folks that are already knocking down targets on our behalf.”

Nuray Taylor contributed to this report.