Subject: [NEXTEL-1] GAO cites barriers in military communication

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Sun, 04 Jul 2004 14:29:59 -0400

06/28/04

GAO cites barriers in military communications

By Dawn S. Onley
GCN Staff
The military saw marked improvements in its
IT networks during recent combat operations
in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Still some
barriers, including the lack of standardized
interoperable systems and equipment,
prevented those improvements from being
even more striking, according to a General
Accounting Office report released today.

In reviewing the operational results of those
three conflicts, with a focus on bombing
operations, GAO found DOD’s ability to
rapidly exchange information was hindered
by disparate systems.

For example, despite the successes in
Afghanistan, ground troops had substantial
problems relaying target coordinates to
aircraft due to an unreliable and limited range
of secure communications and a shortage of
digital communications systems, GAO
found.

“As a result, instead of instantaneously
transmitting targeting information across
digital systems, ground controllers were
required to pass Global Positioning System
coordinates by voice radio to aircrews.
Aircrews then had to write the coordinates on
boards held on their knees, and then read
them back for confirmation,” said Neal P.
Curtin, director of Defense Capabilities and
Management in the report. “Once confirmed,
aircrews needed to load the coordinates by
hand into the weapons, a process requiring
as many as 51 computer keystrokes and
subject to error.”

Also in Iraq, ground forces arrived with several non-interoperable Blue
Force Tracking systems.
BFT is a tool used to identify friendly and enemy forces. It was
installed in Army, Marine Corps and coalition vehicles and helicopters,
as well as at command posts.

The Defense Department says it is addressing its interoperability
issues, in part with the development of the Global Information Grid. GIG
is a framework Defense officials have described as the military’s
private version of the World Wide Web.
Glenn F. Lamartin, director of Defense Systems with the Office of the
Under Secretary of Defense, said DOD mostly concurred with GAO’s
recommendations.

The recommendations include taking steps to improve standardization of
information used in bombing operations; addressing continuing problems
with battle damage assessments; developing a unified battlefield
information system to improve analyses of combat effectiveness; and
developing a joint operations training capability to simulate the
emerging changes to the operating environment due to the quick pace of
war.

http://gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/26412-1.html

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