2008 Annual Report - West Virginia Army National Guard - U.S. Army

West Virginia National Guard Annual Report 2008
The West Virginia National Guard continues
to be a leader in information technology,
information security, and mobile incident site
communications. Through the combined efforts
of a joint staff of well-trained and motivated
soldiers, airmen, and civilians, the J-6 section
successfully completed its mission during fiscal
year 2008.
As in previous years, the West Virginia
National Guard continues to lead the way
with the National Guard’s Joint Incident Site
Communications Capability Program, providing
mobile communications services in support of
incident commanders, emergency responders,
and DoD agencies. During
fiscal year 2008, West
Virginia National Guard
mobile communications
packages participated in
several communications
exercises and real world
incidents. Most notably,
two mobile communications
kits were deployed to
support disaster relief
operations in Louisiana and Texas in the wake of
Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. During Hurricanes
Ike and Gustav relief operations, mobile
communications kits provided communications
services for a helicopter battalion conducting
search and rescue missions, two logistical
supply activities, and the Louisiana Governor’s
Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
Preparedness. Through these deployments
the West Virginia National Guard once again
proved its ability to rapidly deploy highly mobile
communications teams in support of natural
disasters and major incidents. The West Virginia
National Guard also participated in the Coalition
Warrior Interoperability Demonstration and
the Northern Command sponsored DoD
Interoperability Communications Exercise
during fiscal year 2008.
Throughout the year, J6 assisted the
National Guard Bureau in testing new services
for the Joint Incident Site Communications
Capability Program. West Virginia also
J6 – Information Operations
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continues to lead the nation in airlifting mobile
communications assets via C-130. One of the
primary focuses of 2009 will be the continued
validation of an ability to provide incident site
communications services to state, county, and
municipal agencies within West Virginia.
As with the private sector, the West Virginia
National Guard faces many technological
challenges. Protecting our over 1,800 networked
computer systems from intrusions, malicious
code, and data theft remains a constant effort
for Information Security staff. Several highly
publicized data compromises at other federal
agencies and private corporations remind us
to be ever vigilant and to
educate end users to protect
sensitive information. To
that end, the West Virginia
National Guard has begun
the implementation of a
data-at-rest solution that will
protect sensitive information
from theft by encrypting
mobile data devices such as
laptops, thumb drives, and
removable hard drives. J6 has also implemented
a new network vulnerability scanning product
that provides detailed scans of all networked
systems. All of this contributes to a more secure
networked computing environment for the West
Virginia National Guard.
Technology continues to advance at a rapid
pace and the West Virginia National Guard
remains at the forefront of the National Guard.
During fiscal year 2008, a project to increase
access to classified networks and information
systems was instituted at five West Virginia
National Guard operating locations. Also,
several improvements were made to the West
Virginia National Guard’s Wide Area Network
providing more bandwidth to armories and
operating locations. The effort continues to
roll out more Voice over Internet Protocol and
Video Teleconferencing services throughout
the state and begin an initiative to provide
added redundancies for critical communications
systems.