ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- In times of less financial resources and operating in a joint service environment, it's imperative to identify opportunities for collaboration and teaming, according to one general at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Chief Information Office.
Maj. Gen. Robert E. Wheeler, deputy chief information officer for Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4) and Information Infrastructure Capabilities (DCIO for C4IIC) on the Secretary of Defense staff, visited the C4ISR Center of Excellence at Aberdeen Proving Ground, June 21, to explore the depth of capabilities across the C4ISR domain and identify ways to leverage capabilities across services.
Wheeler and his team were looking for opportunities to exploit cross-service capacities in specialty areas and find efficiencies for the good of all services, Wheeler said.
Wheeler was welcomed by the C4I Surveillance and Reconnaissance, C4ISR, community here, each sharing their mission, capabilities, special projects, customers and relationships within DoD's C4ISR industry.
"The intent is to build relationships and raise awareness within the defense community of the capabilities available to them here at Team APG," said Maj. Gen. Robert S. Ferrell, command of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command and APG senior mission commander. "The technology and synergy that exists here is incredible. C4ISR capabilities are conceptualized, developed, tested, integrated, managed and fielded right here from APG. We're looking forward to identifying opportunities to strengthen and grow our relationships with our DoD partners."
The C4ISR Center of Excellence campus is comprised of the Army Materiel Command's CECOM, Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center; and Army Contracting Command-APG; and the Assistance Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology's Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications--Tactical, PEO for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors, PEO for Enterprise Information Systems and the System of Systems Engineering and Integration Directorate.
During the visit, Wheeler met with Ferrell, Maj. Gen. N. Lee S. Price, program executive officer of PEO C3T, and other C4ISR campus senior leader representatives to learn about what the C4ISR Center of Excellence has to offer, covering topics such as post-production software support; expanding radio communications; cloud.mil as a Platform As A Service; renewable power sources for expeditionary communications; electronic warfare; cyber security; and plans to support the future force structure and providing field support.
Wheeler toured lab spaces on the campus, including CECOM's Joint On-Demand Interoperability Network, Enterprise Solutions Directorate, and Army Reprogramming Analysis Team ISR Lab. The tour also covered the Joint Technical Integration Facility; Joint Satellite Engineering Center; CERDEC's Communications Systems Integration Lab, Cyber Security and Information Assurance Lab; PEO C3T's WIN-T Lab; among others.
For example, the JOIN, provides DoD organizations a Common Operating environment to test and integrate network systems before certification, working to eliminate interoperability issues in order to validate operational readiness, perform risk reduction and mitigation activities in a tactical environment before deployment, according to John Kahler, JOIN chief. Available 24/7, JOIN serves as an information grid capability, providing the full range of Defense Information Systems Network services and unites the APG C4ISR community with remote sites across the globe, under one Common Operating Environment in support of the Combatant Commands, U.S. Armed Forces, interagency and multinational partners.
The C-SIL also provides an integrated lab environment, capable of tactical network configuration, integration and interoperability, routing protocol, radio configuration, network operations, security assessments and Mission Command/Battle Command applications.
"The labs are physical manifestations of the teaming that occurs on the campus. One organization can't do it alone," said Ferrell. "That's why this campus is so pivotal…it provides collaborative, integrated, seamless support to C4ISR systems. I want to thank Maj. Gen. Wheeler for taking time to visit Team APG. This was tremendously valuable for all involved and I look forward to teaming with our DoD counterparts to deliver our servicemembers superior, cost-effective C4ISR support services."
While planning to support the future Joint Force, Wheeler looks ahead, considering the possibilities the APG C4ISR community.
Wheeler said he looks forward to further exploring and leveraging the technologies and capabilities he saw during the visit.
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