PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - The United States Army Garrison (USAG), Presidio of Monterey (POM) continues to move forward in the information age. While we each individually may not be hip to today's cutting edge technology as your average 15-year old, we are using many of the tools that many of our Service Members (SM) and Family Members (FM) are using.
We are actively posting information and photographs of our community members to three Websites: the Presidio of Monterey Website, the "Presidio of Monterey" Facebook page, and the "Presidio of Monterey" Flickr photo book where we post numerous pictures of our events.
The POM Facebook page, where we post short news updates and answer questions, has 596 people who follow the page and we are adding almost 20 new fans each week. We make every effort to get quick answers to questions that are posted to our Facebook account. We get questions from the Monterey Military Community members as well as from inbound SM and FM, asking who to talk to about housing or other information they need. Got questions or want to keep in the know' Join our Facebook at: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/USAGPresidio"> Presidio of Monterey Facebook</a>
The Presidio of Monterey Flickr website is a year old. To date, the site has surpassed 150,000 views and has over 3,000 images that detail the activities within the Presidio community. Have you checked it out recently' <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/presidioofmonterey"> Presidio of Monterey Flickr site</a>. Who knows maybe you or someone you know is in a picture there.
The POM Website, <a href="http://www.monterey.army.mil"> Presidio of Monterey Web site</a>, is where we post more in-depth stories and informational pieces for the use of our audience. It also contains information about the units on POM, the directorates and support offices that support the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and links to hundreds of other Websites.
Internet Access in Housing
Another area we are trying to improve is Internet access in the housing areas. To this goal, our Privatized Housing Partners, Clark Pinnacle, have recently entered into a contract with a locally-owned company. Razzolink will be taking over the Verizon Avenue Service at Ord Military Community and parts of La Mesa. This changeover will be completed by the end of May 2010. Additionally, our partners are working with the local cable TV providers that service Ord Military Community, Presidio of Monterey and La Mesa Village to improve that infrastructure as well, thus allowing our residents to hopefully receive additional options for cable and internet services.
DOIM Changes Name to NEC and Command/Control to NETCOM
You may have asked yourself, why did the Directorate of Information Management, better known as DOIM, become a Network Enterprise Center' Well in FY09, the Chief of Staff of the Army mandated that effective in FY10, the Installation Management Command (IMCOM) Directorates of Information Management (DOIM) would transfer to the Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM), and as a result the DOIMs were given a new name NEC, or more formally the US Army Signal Network Enterprise Center (NEC). This transfer involved all baseline Information Technology services with the exception of Audiovisual Services and Land Mobile Radios (i.e. Police and Fire radios) which have remained under the direct control of the garrisons.
The purpose of the transfer was two-fold. First, was to provide a standard common level of information technology services at each location and secondly to gain economies of scale by consolidating Information Technology contracts and equipment acquisitions wherever possible in order to reduce overall Army IT expenditures. The transfer of the DOIMs to NETCOM occurred during FY09 in two stages. To facilitate this transfer, a DOIM Transformation team was established by the Plans Integration and Analysis Office. The team was chaired by the Deputy Garrison Commander and members of the team included representatives from DOIM, Resource Management, Public Works, Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, Human Resources, Civilian Personnel Activity Center, Contracting, and Staff Judge Advocate.
The first stage involved the transfer of Operational Control (OPCON) to NETCOM and this became effective April 1, 2009. This meant that the day-to-day operational functions of the DOIMs were now under the control of the NETCOM Signal Brigade's, while the Administrative Control (or ADCON), i.e. the funding, personnel actions, etc. remained with IMCOM. The second stage was an exhaustive effort to identify all resources i.e. personnel, equipment and contracts which supported information technology baseline services that would transfer from IMCOM to NETCOM in FY10, culminating in the assumption of Administrative Control (ADCON) of the DOIM's by NETCOM on October 1.
This resulted in the official stand-up of the US Army Signal Network Enterprise Center, Presidio of Monterey (POM NEC). Effective Oct. 1, 2009, the funding and control of all baseline C4IM services became the responsibility of NETCOM and as a result POM NEC became a tenant of the Presidio of Monterey. The NEC POM current chain of command is 106th Signal Brigade located at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio TX; 7th Signal Command located at Fort Gordon, Augusta, GA; and Network Command located at Fort Huachuca, Sierra Vista, AZ. POM NEC's main objective throughout this transfer of control has been the continued uninterrupted and seamless support of IT services to its customers.
While the DOIM name may have changed, POM NEC has striven to provide the same high level of service its customers have come to rely on. A very good indication of this sustained level of support was POM NEC receiving the Headquarters Department of Army 2009 Network Enterprise Center of the Year Award, Small Category - CONUS, on Aug. 21, 2009 at the LandWarNet Conference held in Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
So in closing, I would ask you to read the article on Information Assurance (IA) and understand the importance of IA in protecting our networks that allow us freedom of maneuver in cyberspace. Just as on land, when you have an enemy engaging you with directs fire, it limits your ability to maneuver, and the same is true in cyberspace where our networks are under attack each day. Information Assurance allows us the opportunity to continue to operate on safe and secure networks. Thank you for your continued service to your country and the sacrifices your Family Members make to support you.
Hooah, COL Brewer
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