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A commentary...
ISEC Commander
reflects on the
command’s
engineering and
implementation
mission
By Col. Kris Kramarich, ISEC
In 2008, as the 44th Expeditionary
Signal Battalion Commander,
during a 15-month deployment
in support of Operation
Iraqi Freedom, we had 44 sites
with Soldiers deployed across
a 10,000 square-mile area of
operation, and because of the
sheer size of the area of operation,
nearly every major operation
“as seen on TV” had one of
our command post node teams
on-site in a supporting role. I
couldn’t say anything about it
for operational security reasons,
but we watched with anticipation
as events unfolded. I thought
as I departed that assignment
that I would never again be in a
unit or position with that level of
strategic relevance or impact…
until now.
Upon my arrival to ISEC in 2010,
it became quickly apparent
that ISEC supports or enables
projects, although not nationally
televised, for many enterprise
information technology initiatives.
I can see ISEC’s behind-thescenes
role in nearly every senior
leader information technology
briefing, not only within the Army
but at the Department of Defense
level.
Through ISEC’s support to the
Army Cyber Command’s Network
Enterprise Command and Army
Intelligence and Security Command;
and Program Executive
Office Enterprise Information
Systems’ Program Manager Defense
Communications and Army
Transmission Systems, DCATS,
and PM Installation Information
Infrastructure-Communications
and Capabilities, I3C2; ISEC’s
area of operation exceeds 10,000
square-miles as our global footprint
spans the Armed Services.
We supported a plethora of
global enterprise initiatives
like Army Data Center Consolidation;
Host-Based Security
System; Installation Information
Infrastructure Modernization,
Modernization of Earth Terminals;
Korea Transformation/Yongsan
Relocation Project, and a myriad
of other Army and DoD projects.
ISEC has supported the audiovisual
capability engineering
and implementation, Military
Construction-Army IT support;
Unified Capabilities testing;
and support to Joint Special
Operations Command; African
Command; Southern Command;
and the Defense Medical Agency,
comprising ISEC’s global area of
operation and strategic influence
on the Army’s IT infrastructure.
Nearly every ISEC employee can
see the tangible benefits of their
work to the DoD at large. The
ability to inform greater DoD enterprise
IT initiatives lies resident
in the concentration of IT engineering
professionals in ISEC. In
this command I don’t have to be
silent about the mission for security
reasons. On the contrary, this
vantage point affords ISEC leaders
at every level the opportunity
and responsibility to identify
synchronization opportunities to
senior leaders in concert with our
supported customers.
ISEC provides The Critical Link
to IT systems engineering,
infrastructure, integration and
enterprise data consolidation
efforts in support of DoD and our
nation’s Army.
Col. Kramarich has commanded
the U.S. Army Information
Systems Engineering Command
since August 2011.
10 THE LINK | SPRING 2013