U.S. Army’s Indo-Pacific Tactical MPE Ready To Fight Tonight

The tactical mission partner environment developed by the U.S. Army I Corps and General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) is at an initial operational capability (IOC) and ready for combat operations, according to Lt. Col. Roberto Nunez, I Corps network operations officer.

Col. Nunez, Col. Rett Burroughs, the I Corps chief information officer/G6, and John Sahlin, GDIT vice president of cyber solutions-defense, joined SIGNAL Media for a virtual discussion about the I Corps mission partner environment (MPE).

An MPE is a network environment designed to allow secure and efficient information sharing among joint U.S. forces and trusted allies. Zero-trust cybersecurity principles are central to an effective MPE, and I Corps has been working with GDIT to develop tactical-level zero-trust capabilities at the edge.

A GDIT spokesman described the company’s zero-trust capability set as modular and said it enables mission partners to begin or continue their zero-trust journeys, no matter where they are. It can be fielded in phases to reduce risk and optimize costs and can be built on existing infrastructure.

Army I Corps and GDIT have announced multiple successes regarding the implementation of zero-trust cybersecurity principles for a tactical-level MPE with Indo-Pacific partner nations. For example, in August of 2023, GDIT announced that it, along with its strategic cyber partner Fornetix and I Corps, successfully demonstrated the first-ever zero trust at-the-edge capability at the multinational Talisman Sabre 2023 exercise run by the Australian Defence Force and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. The exercise was the largest Talisman Sabre yet and included 30,000 military personnel from 13 countries.

I Corps and the two companies conducted a specific set of exercises designed to enable rapid, secure and seamless data sharing between global mission partners and support contested battlefield environments with limited or no internet connectivity.

That was followed late last year by the fielding of modular zero-trust capabilities, monitoring insider threats through user behavior analysis, improved protection against advanced persistent cyber threat tactics, and the integration of a common operating picture at the tactical edge during an exercise known as Yama Sakura 85, a multilateral command post exercise spanning 10 days.

Yama Sakura 85 included the United States, Japan and Australia. It was a scenario-driven command post exercise focused on defending Japan’s territorial sovereignty from hypothetical adversaries and is integral to U.S. Army Pacific’s Operation Pathways, according to an Army article. The exercise emphasized the importance of cohesive multinational military efforts across the Indo-Pacific.

“Fight Tonight” essentially aims for the Army to be ready to fight anywhere on short notice. It requires maintaining equipment at a high standard of readiness, effective training, prepositioning supplies and equipment in strategic areas and quickly establishing communications networks. Col. Burroughs first mentioned the “Fight Tonight” concept in the MPE context before having to exit the discussion early for another engagement.

Asked to describe the current status of the I Corps MPE, Col. Nunez said he considers the MPE to be an IOC because it contributes to the Army’s ability to fight tonight. “I would definitely consider [it an] IOC because we are operating on it right now, just like Fight Tonight. We are ready to go now,” Col. Nunez reported. In responses to a follow-up question, he clarified that the IOC designation is not an official status for MPE.

An IOC status indicates that a system or capability needs continued development until it is a so-called full operational capability but is minimally deployable. Col. Nunez acknowledged that I Corps intends to continue improving the MPE. “Would we like to have it better? Of course. There’s always room for improvement,” he said. “As a soldier, we’re always told from [the time] you’re a private or a young cadet or candidate to improve your foxhole, make it better because you never know when the rival or the enemy will attack.”

He added that the tactical MPE is “up and running as far as zero trust,” that the “big Army” will move forward with implementing identity credential access management capabilities, and that I Corps is sharing lessons learned across the service.

Talisman Sabre and Yama Sakura helped I Corps officials identify “some areas in which we need to do more sets and reps,” primarily implementing proper data tagging throughout the network. “We’re able to tag some folks and implement some new security features, but we just need to expand upon that,” Col. Nunez indicated. He cited as an example the need to ensure data flows both ways between Americans and their Japanese and Australian counterparts. “Those were some of our challenges. We were able to get one way through, but they couldn’t return the call or send email one way, or we couldn’t return the email the other way.”

Furthermore, officials need to ensure “that the services are configured correctly and get down to those technical answers that we need to make sure that we’re following this blueprint correctly,” which is essentially where they are now, Col. Nunez elaborated. He also cited the need to ensure better integration “so the operator or the end user does not see these delays that we picked up on during our first two exercises.”

The cutter crew is also conducting outreach efforts with local communities, including subject matter exchanges, educational visits and tours of the Harriet Lane with partner nations’ fisheries departments and marine police officers. Operation Blue Pacific includes Australian Border Force ship riders onboard Harriet Lane for U.S. Coast Guardsman to expand their knowledge base. 

“I am incredibly proud of what the crew has accomplished thus far,” said the cutter’s commanding officer, Cdr. Nicole Tesoniero, in the report. “Harriet Lane’s continued presence in the Pacific is a testament to our decades-long support and adaptability to the evolving needs of our regional partners. We’re not just operating in the region; we’re integrating our efforts with the aspirations and needs of those we serve alongside.” 

In July, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced a contract award for its Project Aegir, which is designed to create capabilities that help track illicit maritime activity and increase maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region. The agency selected Palo Alto-based Orbital Insight for up to $2 million in funding. The selection effort held at the Defense Innovation Unit in Mountain View, California, brought together analysts and geospatial intelligence collection managers from the NGA and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and experts from the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center Pacific.  

These efforts to help combat illicit maritime activity are also combined with continued funding to the region from the U.S. government. The crucial Compacts of Free Association agreements, achieved in March, will provide about $6.6 billion of new economic assistance over 20 years to Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau.  

The Department of Defense relies on locations in these countries, as it helps secure the region and continues to improve operations. The Indo-Pacific Command, in particular, is examining how to improve the military’s logistics in the region and will need flexibility across different locations. 

“The logistics environment will be contested,” shared Dick Palmieri, a long-time study of the Indo-Pacific and president of the AFCEA Hawaii chapter. “How do we get ahead of the bad guys who will be working against our logistics systems or how do we make our logistic decisions faster.” 

With Micronesia’s agreement, the U.S. Air Force can conduct Agile Combat Employment (ACE) operations across the area of 600 islands. In addition, Palau is home to the Tactical Multi-Mission Over-the-Horizon Radar that will provide the Department of Defense with an unprecedented level of situational air domain awareness in the maritime region. The TACMOR system, as it is known, will provide persistent, long-range, detect and track capability of air and surface targets. On December 28, 2022, the military awarded $118.4 million to Gilbane Federal to construct the radar by June 2026.

Meanwhile, the Bucholz Army Airfield on Kwajalein Atoll also allows the U.S. Air Force to position itself well for its ACE operations and for refueling. And the U.S. Army Garrison on the atoll is home to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site. In addition, the Space Force continues to invest in the key space surveillance system located on the atoll. 

The so-called Space Fence, the service’s most sensitive search radar in its surveillance network, became operational in 2020. According to the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, the Space Fence provides uncued detection, tracking and accurate measurement of space objects, including satellites and orbital debris, primarily in low-Earth orbit. 

In July, the Space Force awarded a $25 million contract to Lockheed for the Space Fence’s continued operations, maintenance and support on Kwajalein Atoll. “The new radar permits the detection of much smaller microsatellites and debris than current systems,” the company stated. “It also significantly improves the timeliness with which operators can detect space events. The flexibility and sensitivity of the system also provides coverage of objects in geosynchronous orbit while maintaining the surveillance fence.”

Additionally, the U.S. military is fortifying several other military defense systems. In June, the Navy awarded a $249 million contract to the Black & Veatch/Jacobs joint venture to build a missile defense system and supporting infrastructure in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.

And even while U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has ramped up to respond to geopolitical strife in the Middle East, Palmieri sees the Indo-Pacific Command continuing its steady work in the Indo-Pacific region unabated. It has dedicated funding under the Pacific Defense Initiative.

“Even when I was still active duty several years ago, they started an effort to bring additional funds to the Pacific,” he noted. “It was not considered priority theater at the time compared to CENTCOM, and CENTCOM had special funding to [operate]. So [they] went through the same effort, to put forth a budget proposition that got funded, known as the Pacific Defense Initiative.” 

Before leaving the discussion, Col. Burroughs stressed the importance of the human aspect. The data owners are not necessarily data experts, so they may need training on “Data 101-type stuff,” informing them, for example, on their own roles, what data tagging means and how to manage and properly label data.

“There’s too much data out there, so training the staff while also trying to figure out what the staffs want and need, that’s been very productive this past year, getting after that and building this team, Col. Burroughs said. “Especially within the military, we’re constantly rotating in and out throughout the year and you always have new team members.”

He also noted the importance of the iterative development process. “Sometimes it feels like you’re reinventing the wheel, but then again, that iterative process actually is very helpful because you get to hear it over and over and over again until it sinks in.” The CIO added that people are now starting to understand and take ownership of how they manage data.

GDIT’s Sahlin underscored the importance of developing zero-trust capabilities for the tactical edge MPE. “One of the interesting things about doing this at the tactical level is it allows us to focus on the mission and really solve those problems that are practically relevant in the now because it is a dynamic environment, and it allows us to capture some of the [concept of operations]. Build a little, learn a little, improve and do this at a small scale on the tactical edge, and then as Col. Burroughs was saying, inform the enterprise policymakers of what we’ve learned in this theater.”

Asked to describe cases of soldiers overcoming technical challenges, Col. Burroughs reported that because data was not properly tagged during Yama Sakura in December, the Australians and Japanese forces were initially unable to send any attached documents via email.

“Basically, in order to reduce risk, we just had to block any attachments at all,” he said, explaining that the Americans on the Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System-Japan network could not receive attachments either. “It taught us a lot about digital rules of engagement. The soldiers were able to basically get to the point, send a link in the email instead of attaching [documents] to the email, because that clogs up our traffic, clogs up already limited bandwidth, especially in a denied environment.”

Sahlin noted that as GDIT and I Corps continue to develop edge capabilities, they will test those capabilities in progressively more complex use cases. “I think some of the use cases that we started talking with included access to chat, sharing folders, access to applications. Now that we get to the next step of data tagging, we can start to throttle access to the viewpoints within those applications or within those folders so that what I see might be different from what Col. Burroughs sees because of country of origin, because of unit, because of job function.”

Access based on network behavior also will be tested. “In the world of risk-adaptive access control—not just controlling access based on who you are, what unit you belong to—but now starting to look at your activity and either increase or potentially decrease the amount of data to which I’m giving you access based on monitoring your behavior,” Sahlin offered. “It’s about building trust like we do with human interactions. I’m going to trust you with this amount of information for now, see how you do with it, and then make that decision over time about how much more I want to trust you with more granular information.”

Col. Burroughs concluded his participation in the discussion by suggesting rapid advances will continue. “We’re really at the tip of the spear of this, and we’re really starting to see the momentum build up in the past year and within the next year. It’s only going to get better.”