2012 Annual Report to the Stakeholders - PEO C3T - U.S. Army

2012 annual report to the stakeholders
chAnging dAtA pRoductS
to meet RequiRementS
As it makes major upgrades
to its tactical network,
the Army is also revamping
the way it maintains
the digital “glue” that enables the
flow of information between different radios,
mission command applications and
other communications systems.
PEO C3T’s Project Director Tactical
Network Initialization (PD TNI) has developed
a user-friendly tool, the Warfighter
Initialization Tool (WIT), designed to
enhance the Signal officer’s ability to visualize,
modify and manage the unit task
organization and network architecture for
systems that rely on the Command and
Control Registry data. This collection of
mission data, known as Data Products, is
required to initialize networked systems,
enabling end-to-end connectivity and interoperability
across the tactical internet.
Currently, once Data Products are built
and delivered to a unit they cannot be
updated in real time.
The WIT will change that, enabling
Signal officers to update their “digital
WIT
functionality is
part of the CS 13
baseline
phone book” to reflect what
occurs in theater, such as
equipment or organizational
changes like receiving a new
communications technology or
temporarily cross-attaching another unit.
Commanders will be able to take a more
hands-on approach, defining and adapting
their systems architecture based on
their fight.
“In the past we were never able to
manipulate the Data Product itself, so
this is giving us that capability,” said Chief
Warrant Officer 2 Mark Smith, a signal
officer with the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored
Division (2/1 AD).
The tool will also provide senior commanders
with a more accurate Common
Operational Picture that provides a single
display of relevant information to multiple
commands.
The WIT was integrated into mission
scenarios as a System Under Evaluation
at the Network Integration Evaluation
(NIE) 12.2, where it received positive
feedback from Soldiers who used it to
update their Data Products during the
Capstone portion of the exercise.
“There were times that I saw in real
world deployments where you were attaching
a company or a platoon to another
element out there – this allows you
to do that without having to either wait
six months or fall in on equipment that
may not have the same role name or
IP address,” said Warrant Officer 1 Eric
Bache, another signal officer with 2/1 AD
who used the WIT at NIE. “you’re able to
receive units and put them into your Data
Product fairly seamlessly.”
The WIT is considered an interim step
to a long-term Data Products solution
that will enable “dynamic initialization.” By
creating common standards to simplify
the data that governs initialization, PD
TNI aims to make initializing tactical
systems faster and cheaper. In this
scenario, using tactical systems would
be like logging into an email account: The
system automatically recognizes you,
updates your inbox and connects you
seamlessly with other users.
Without Data
Products, troops
would lack critical
information
to plan and
coordinate the
battle. In response
to operational
needs, we have
increased our
output of Data
Products, building
and delivering
them faster while
also streamlining
how Soldiers will
initialize systems
in the future.
Maj. Gen. N. Lee. S. Price
PEO for PEO C3T
Program ExEcutivE officE command control communications-tactical // 21