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Rust Belt Lessons for the Defense Department. By Cmdr. Gregory E. Glaros, USN (Ret.)

The unforgiving world that has taken shape after September 11, 2001, is changing both the nature of defense intelligence and its means of operations. Virtually every aspect of intelligence operations—collection, processing, analysis and dissemination—is changing to address new global threats and the transformation gripping the national security community.

The orderly structure of established nations' mighty militaries differs intensely from the structure of terrorist force organizations. In terrorist cells, distinctions between warfighters who trigger improvised explosive devices and those who detonate car bombs are miniscule. Battle cells may comprise as few as two or three people or as many as several dozen. Information sharing takes place incessantly, using everything from the Web to cell phones. As a force, terrorist groups are inherently flexible.

The U.S. military is expanding its options for creating secure wireless networks in urban and remote areas. The capability will increase the speed at which networks can be created in an emergency while reducing the amount of materiel troops need to haul into an area.

The U.S. military is developing a suite of software applications that will allow secure communications between different national computer networks. This capability is essential to both coalition operations and disaster relief missions.

The convergence of media and services in commercial cyberspace has its counterpart in the defense arena, where experts are tapping commercial technologies and standards to provide seamless information access to warfighters and decision makers.

Invisible conflicts are erupting on the battlefield as U.S. and coalition troops compete for precious electromagnetic spectrum. These e-turf wars may be silent, but they can be as deadly as enemy fire when warfighters have to choose between disarming an improvised explosive device and calling for close-air support. To resolve this conflict, the U.S. Defense Department now has an organization whose primary mission is to ensure that all warfighters have the spectrum they need when they need it.

The U.S. military is reducing excess and providing capabilities to personnel faster by implementing nontraditional contracts. The new arrangements allow the military to pay only for what it needs when it needs it and to take advantage of existing tools instead of duplicating efforts. The contracts enable the force to skip the cumbersome acquisition process and scale up services more quickly.

As debates and controversies continue to swirl about how to allocate the electromagnetic spectrum and how to improve interoperability among first responders, a plan has been proposed to solve part of both problems. The plan would place a specific portion of the spectrum under government control for public safety use. The caveat is that private industry would lease that space and build and maintain the network with the understanding that in an emergency, those private services would make way for public needs.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has never shied away from the toughest engineering and science challenges, and the school is maintaining this tradition by launching a far-reaching program to develop new energy technologies. Researchers are working to create innovative solutions and applications for fossil fuels; nuclear power; biomass and biofuels; and wind, water, ocean, solar and geothermal power.