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

Fielding Process, the Single Interface
to the Field portal, and the Battle
Command as a Weapons System
Initiative are three specific processes
that have been stood up to manage
these challenges and direct the
implementation of tactical C3
capabilities.
USF is a five-phase process that
manages the planning and implementation
of fielding and reset for
all major Army tactical command,
control, communications, computers,
intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance capabilities. The U.S.
Army and, specifically, the organizations
of the Communications Electronics
Command Life Cycle Management
Command, simultaneously
provided warfighters with everything
they need to perform their
mission in combat through the phase
of USF. This means providing the
Army Battle Command Systems
(ABCS 6.4), the communications
systems, power, the network, and
enablers all at the same time.
The five USF phases are:
1) Planning for fielding and
engineering
2) Fielding execution
3) Supporting while deploying
4) Supporting while deployed
5) Resetting to headquarters
The implementation of the
Army Force Generation model
provides a structured progression of
increased unit readiness over time
resulting in recurring periods of
availability of trained, ready, and
cohesive units. Battle update
briefings held on a bi-weekly basis
coordinate the C3 leads of the USF
process and open lines of communication
with Army Field Support
brigade commanders, engineers and
U.S. Army leadership.
The SIF initiative was stood up
to provide 24/7 reach back support
for warfighters and forward support
personnel through a secure C4ISR
web portal and a support operations
center for on call assistance, whether
a capability is under test, in an
exercise, or deployed in an operational
theater.
The SIF is the primary tool of
For tactical C3
capabilities, there are
two major forces
propelling the
evolution of capability
sets over the next
several years:
operational lessons
learned from the latest
major conflicts and
force modernization
initiatives based upon
evolving Network
Centric Warfare
concepts.
choice for field support information
and integration to be used across
PEO C3T and its incident reporting
module serves as the standard tool
for reporting and tracking issues and
trouble tickets for all C4ISR systems.
Its field support module is the
authoritative source for C4ISR field
support personnel data, where
related missions, region locations,
supported units and contact information
will be maintained.
The focus of the BCAWS
initiative is on managing the readiness
of battle staff, their BC systems,
and associated training for command
posts and command groups
by reporting the status of each as
weapons systems. Through monthly
reports submitted by unit commanders
to the Headquarters Department
of the Army, the Army can conduct
a full examination of equipment
status and training levels related to
its fielded equipment. The goal is
for a standardized solution for battle
command systems to be fielded
across the force.
An aspect critical to the drive
of these processes has been the
institutionalizing of a leadership
vision that energizes both the
operational and acquisition staffs to
deliver the right warfighter capability,
at the right time, and at the best
possible cost.
Lessons learned from Operation
Iraqi Freedom span the full
spectrum of operations. During
Phase 4 (Initial Entry) and Phase 5
(Decisive Operations) operations in
OIF, the importance of mobile
command and control, and beyond
line-of-sight communications was
highlighted. That need was filled at
the time with the implementation of
the Joint Network Node-Network – a
capability that provided battalionlevel
and above warfighters with the
ability to connect to the Army’s
digitized systems, voice, data, and
video via satellite internet connection
at-the-quick halt.
The JNN-N has since
transitioned to the Warfighter
Information Network-Tactical
Project Manager office where a
second increment initiation will offer
a constant satellite internet connection
to the warfighter on-the-move.
At its core, the WIN-T solution
delivers a three-tiered communications
architecture (space, airborne,
and terrestrial), adds on-the-move
operating capabilities, increases
available bandwidth, and delivers
the level of force modernization
required by the Army’s emerging
Future Combat System. But WIN-T
is the backbone to a larger C4ISR
capability.
Currently, the primary mobile
command and control capability in
OIF is delivered by Force XXI Battle
Command Brigade and Below blue
force tracking on key leader platforms
within the Army’s maneuver
formations. When linked with its
satellite communications network,
FBCB2’s core ability to share a
common operational picture can be
supplemented by a basic text-based
“chat” capability, allowing maximum
synchronization of maneuver
platforms anywhere on the battlefield.
The BFT typical display of
blue and red dots depicts friendly
and unfriendly forces providing the
Soldier with answers to the questions:
Where am I? Where are my
buddies? Where is the enemy?
A continued effort to increase
the density of fielding of this core
operational capability across the
Army Communicator 7