WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sept. 22, 2010) -- The most current and relevant improvised explosive device facts are a few clicks away, online, at the Joint IED Defeat Organization's Knowledge and Information Fusion Exchange website.
At the site -- called JKnIFE for short -- warfighters, trainers and observers have access to lifesaving information.
"We think our greatest return on investment comes from reaching the next-deploying warfighters and trainers," said JKnIFE director Mike McLean.
"The JKnIFE site gives warfighters a counter-IED common operational picture. You get the latest C-IED Task Force reports and situational awareness, organized by task force and location," said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Chad Hedleston, a JIEDDO training officer.
Site performance is quick, offering customized searches and eye-catching graphics. A service called RFI Watch takes requests for information, and promises a response within 24 hours, though it answers most within three.
Users can also share IED information and provide feedback.
"If there were shortcomings they saw, we will look into what we provided," said JIEDDO Command Sgt. Maj. Todd Burnett. "We want them to use JKnIFE to give us that feedback."
McLean said some feedback from the training community indicates JKnIFE helps them tailor their training to the type of IED being seen in a particular area of responsibility.
"We are very pleased that we can go to one site and access 99 percent of what we need, to remain current and relevant, in C-IED and IED defeat training," said one respondent.
Recent additions to JKnIFE include direct portals from operational commands where coalition partners get the same look and feel as everyone else. Joint Forces Command and JIEDDO maintain the site with the goal to make counter-IED information available quickly and easily.
"It is a one-stop shopping site that prevents a unit or individual from having to waste the precious time leading up to a deployment developing a comprehensive training plan," wrote a recent visitor to the JKnIFE site. "A clearinghouse such as JKnIFE is a must prior to deployment."
The JKnIFE website is available at <a href:"https://knife.jfcom.mil/Pages/KnIFEPublic.aspx">https://knife.jfcom.mil/Pages/KnIFEPublic.aspx</a>. Users will need a common access card to access the site.
(Franz Holzer writes for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization)
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