In December, the chapter welcomed Brig. Gen. Jan C. Norris, commander, 311th Signal Command (Theater), and his presentation titled, "Army Communication in the Pacific." The speech comes just a day after news of the suspected nation-state supported hack of major cybersecurity company SolarWinds and its effect on all six branches of the U.S. military.
"Our mission is similar to AFCEA's," Gen. Norris began, "...connect people." He said discussing the Army's short term communications goals in the region, its priorities during the transition and how industry can support the effort.
Near term, the Army plans to increase joint force lethality, enhance network design and posture, as well as strengthen allies and partnerships, while meeting their overall objective, "keeping the network running.'
"Don't expect praise when things go well; expect hell when they don't," Norris joked, highlighting the criticality of communications in the region.
Going forward, Gen. Norris invited the industry partners in attendance to submit their solutions on some of the Army's technical shortcomings. "Our challenge is to keep up with industry and innovate with velocity [within] DOD constraints." Introducing the CJADC2 concept, in which each of the military's six branches would contribute their sensors, shooters and command nodes into a mesh network, Gen. Norris solicited industry collaboration across several domains under the CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement) framework.
He explained the Army's mission to connect, "any sensor to the right shooter," and directed CRADA proposals to Army Futures Division chief, Col. Tony Crawford.
"We're going to be challenged and will learn a lot," Gen. Norris said. Considering the latest SolarWinds hack and increasing occurrences of nation-state cyber attacks, this initiative appears timely and may be key to maintaining dominance in the region and in cyberspace at large.
Gen. Norris assumed command of the 311th Signal Command at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, in July 2019. He also serves as the G-6 for the U.S. Army Pacific Command (USARPAC). The 311th Signal Command maintains the Army's portion of the Theater Information Grid with over 3,400 soldiers, civilians, and contractors stationed throughout the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.
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