AC Summer 08 WIN-T Online - United States Army Signal Center of ...

Chief of Signal’s Comments
Supporting the development of the Incremental WIN–T program
Regiment,
In the last Army Communicator,
I shared our eight critical priorities
established in the Signal Center of
Excellence Campaign Plan. This
edition focuses on one of those
priorities: Support the development
of the Incremental Warfighter Information
Network – Tactical program.
Today, Increment 1 of WIN-T is
fielded to 51 percent of the total force
and is enabling the exchange of
information across the battlefield like
never before. This equipment (formerly
known as the Joint Network
Node) was profiled in a special
Communicator edition (Fall 2005).
In the pages ahead we will lay
out the increasingly powerful capabilities
that we will deliver to the force
with WIN-T Increments 2 and 3, as
they become thoroughly tested and
available.
The articles, ranging from
general to quite technical, describe
future capabilities such as on-themove
network support for command
and control; discuss our testing
strategy; highlight some revisions to
our doctrine, organizational structure,
and training; and provide programmatic
milestones to keep you informed.
In this era of persistent conflict,
commanders demand the rapid
transfer of voice, data, and video
information. Because our Army is not
interested in engaging in fair fights,
we will ALWAYS pursue overwhelming
advantages in all ways possible.
From a communications perspective,
this means being equipped with
state-of-the-art IT capability and the
“know- how” to use it.
Signaleers must guide commanders
as they employ the power of
a network enabled force in the
conduct of full spectrum operations
as outlined in the recently published
Field Manual 3-0, Operations. Our
senior Army leaders get it—they
understand the value of the network
BG Jeffrey W. Foley
Chief of Signal
Our senior Army
leaders get it—they ...
know that WIN-T is the
premier
communications
program for our future
force, as well as, the
Army’s network
enabler for the Future
Combat System, the
Army’s flagship
program.
and the important role that dedicated,
skilled signaleers perform.
They know that WIN-T is the premier
communications program for our
future force, as well as the Army’s
network enabler for the Future
Combat System, the Army’s flagship
program. Leaders acknowledge that
the network is the key weapon
system that links all sensors, decision
makers, and engagement and
logistics systems in order to achieve
dominant battle command.
In a networked and informationenabled
force, fluid arrays of combat
forces must be able to spontaneously
organize in multiple ways to
fight any given opponent at any time.
WIN-T will deliver the core
information network to these combat
forces for all echelons of tactical
communications from theater
through select companies. Its
advanced networking waveforms for
terrestrial, aerial, and satellite-based
communications will enable unprecedented
operational advantages of
shared situational awareness,
enhanced speed of command and
the ability of forces to self-synchronize
– that is a powerful capability.
Capitalizing on state-of-the-art
capabilities and commercial off-theshelf
technology, WIN-T will provide
guaranteed message delivery of
higher priority information within
established timelines. The network
will be inherently interoperable as we
continue to converge all battlefield
data over Internet Protocol. Of
course, security of the network
remains paramount, we must
carefully balance the need to share
with the need to protect.
I encourage you to read the
articles in this edition to learn about
current and exciting new WIN-T
capabilities that we will deliver to the
force. While we cannot provide a
network that does it all today, we
have made significant progress due
to the efforts of many Joint partners,
materiel developers, commercial
vendors and the U.S. Congress. We
are serving in remarkable times and
powerful capabilities are on the
horizon - stay flexible, adaptive, and
embrace the future.
BG Jeff Foley
Army Strong!