WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., March 4, 2010 - White Sands Missile Range Common Control Node employees were recently recognized for their work in the testing and development of command and control software.
The staff of the White Sands Common Control Node, a large simulation complex built to test command and control software for use in the Army combat vehicles, was awarded the 2009 Army Modeling and Simulation Award for their work in the testing and development of the war fighter Machine Interface System.
Originally developed to support the Future Combat Systems program, the software tested at the WCCN is still in development under the Program Executive Office for Integration. An Integrated network and software will be used as a way of providing Soldiers with better tools to use in communicating with each other and controlling of battlefield equipment such as Unmanned Air and Ground Vehicles. "We don't just test the software, but also the network and communications," said Liz Ramos, a project engineer at the WCCN.
Funded and developed by the FCS program management office, and Combined Test Organization, WCCN employees were able to establish the WCCN as a unique and robust test environment that can be used to conduct testing and evaluation on command and control related software packages with reduced development risk, field testing and cost, while speeding up development time and supporting distributed testing.
During Integrated Mission Test, the WCCN was used to provide the initial evaluation of the war fighter machine interface system by giving Soldiers hands on training on the software and the running of a series of exercises involving combined arms, reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition operations. These tests not only allowed Soldiers to provide their own opinions and feedback on the software, but biometric data was also collected to provide developers with information on how the Soldiers stress level and physical condition changed as they performed different tasks with the software. Additionally, the WCCN has conducted technical tests, network capability tests and joint operations with Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Fort Bliss and Lead Systems Integrator's Mobile Node at the Orogrande PEO Integration Test Complex.
The WCCN will continue to support the Army with its System-of-Systems Capability integration technology. Currently, the WCCN is planning to pursue agreements with other DoD organizations to expand operations that would include a mix of opportunities ranging from Joint and Multi-Service M&S, Live Virtual Constructive, Real-time and data processing WSMR test support, and High Performance Computing capabilities.
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