Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Communications challenges

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2003 12:27:45 -0500

Communications challenges

Reporter's notebook

BY Dan Caterinicchia
April 2, 2003

FARWANIYA, Kuwait — One of my goals before arriving here
was to do everything possible to report on the various information
technology systems being used throughout the Defense Department
by personnel from each of the military services.

So far, most of my stories have focused on Army systems that are
often used in a joint environment, but today I was able to file my
first Air Force-focused piece.

The Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System is a joint Army-Air Force program that
cut
its teeth during the first Gulf War and is now an integral part of the coalition's air
campaign.

Air Force Lt. Col. Mick Quintrall, commander of 363rd Expeditionary Airborne Command and
Control Squadron, is stationed at an air base somewhere in the desert of southwest Asia,
so I
was unable to conduct an interview with him directly. However, the very able Air Force
public
affairs officer (PAO) coordinated an interview via e-mail over the past few days, and the
result
is now available for you to read ["JSTARS keeps eye on enemy"].

Obviously, this is not the ideal way to do an interview. An in-person, sit-down interview
is
always my first choice, followed by a phone conversation, with e-mail as a last resort.
But if I've
learned anything during the past 10 days of "war reporting," it's that you take whatever
contact
you can get.

Another thing that needs to be recognized is the amazing job the coalition public affairs
staff here
is doing. These PAOs represent all the armed forces and are bombarded throughout the day
and night by everyone from yours truly to CNN to Geraldo. (I told you nothing good would
come of that.)

And although I've had the most success with the Army, that is also because I had the most
contacts in that service before arriving here. The Air Force and Marine Corps PAOs have
also
done whatever they could to assist me, but it has been difficult. As one captain told me:
"For the
stories you want, you really should have been here two weeks before the war started."

That wasn't easy to hear. I told her that although that may be the case, there is nothing
I could
do about it now and anything she could do for me would be greatly appreciated.

My point in sharing this is to shed some light on why some services' IT systems and
personnel
are better represented in my stories than others. The same goes for the companies
represented
in these stories. Many contractors declined interview requests until they could get
permission
from their corporate headquarters or the military customer. Again, very understandable.

I'd like to add that the role of IT vendors supporting the war effort cannot be
overstated, but
don't take my word for it:

* "Contractors are an integral part of our team. We couldn't do what we're doing without
them,"
said Army Maj. Forrest Burke, chief of logistics information management for Coalition
Forces
Land Component Command (CFLCC) at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.

"Contractors are absolutely critical to our operations. Because of the advances in
technology,
contractors are critical to maintaining our relevance," said Army Maj. Gen. Rip Detamore,
commander of the 335th Theater Signal Command at Camp Doha, Kuwait, which supports all
Army land component communications as well as the CFLCC and all of its subordinate
elements in southwest Asia.

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/middle_east/web-notebook-04-02-03.asp

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