WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 11, 2016) -- Simplifying, integrating and protecting the entire network, while also planning for the future is key to readiness, said Army leaders who manage network and cyber domains.
A resilient, joint and interoperable network - connected across the tactical, strategic and enterprise levels - is more critical than ever. By modernizing the network to provide uninterrupted and secure access to information, the Army will provide a more consistent user experience and reliable reachback connectivity throughout various stages of operations.
The past fiscal year proved a pivotal one for the Army's network, which included initiatives such as fielding advanced early entry communications, reducing the footprint of today's command post, incorporating cyber into the operational domain, consolidating data centers and beginning the Army's migration to the DoD-wide Windows 10, said Lt. Gen. Robert S. Ferrell, Army chief information officer/G-6.
"We're up for the challenge to ensure we meet the need for the warfighter in the future," Ferrell said. "A lot of what we are talking about today is the 'here-and-now.' All of the modernization efforts that we're working on in our sense, will be done in the next five to six years. What keeps me up at night is the cyber threat and looking at it from a legacy enterprise. We can't get there fast enough."
The Army is making progress on major network priorities to deliver a single network from home station to the tactical edge. In collaboration with Office of the Secretary of Defense and other services, the Army is moving forward on protecting the network through efforts such as migrating to Windows 10, enabling Cloud capabilities, data center consolidation and infrastructure enhancements.
In the enterprise domain 21 installations received modernized infrastructure, with another 44 set to receive upgrades in the next fiscal year. On the tactical side, the Army is not only addressing expeditionary connectivity, but also the cyber domain from a situational understanding standpoint.
These themes were brought out as part of a network related media roundtable at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual meeting on Oct. 5.
"Cyber is a new domain and it is inherently joint in everything we're doing," said Maj. Gen. John Morrison, commander Cyber Center of Excellence. "We need to build a more defensible network, one that reduces the number of points of entry. Our ongoing operations are driving us in that direction."
A series of pilots and initiatives throughout the next year will inform tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) for integrating cyber into the defense of the network. Morrison said he is looking at three core competencies -- cyber, electronic warfare (EW) and signal -- and how to integrate them so they are complementary, adding that this is not just about integration from a network perspective.
"That's the easy piece," he said. "It's how do we integrate capabilities form across cyber, signal and EW so that we have end-to-end solutions that are integrated and not redundant. It's a new way of thinking and a new way of doing business."
For the past two years, the Army has established data flow between the tactical enclave at Combat Training Centers and the regional cyber center, said Maj. Gen. John Baker, commander Network Enterprise Technology Command.
"We are looking at that data flow from the brigade combat team that is conducting its operational maneuver at either Fort Polk or Fort Irwin, and it is helping inform us how we want to protect the network as one enterprise from strategic to tactical," Baker said. "My mission is to provide freedom of maneuver across the DODIN (DOD Information Network) for Army forces and joint forces, while denying the same freedom of maneuver to our adversaries."
An important step in defending the network is building in simplification and sustainment efforts up front as new capabilities emerge.
As the Army moves to an expeditionary network on the tactical side, it is providing more simplistic network integration tools to help defend the network. Network Operations (NetOps) will allow signal officers to "see" their network and better manage it, including spotting cyber and electronic warfare intrusions. This year, the Army will field an over-the-air NetOps capability that will help simplify the management of the tactical network.
"Up to date we've had a fairly significant, manual implementation of these configurations," said Gary Martin, program executive officer for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical. "We have migrated this now and will be fielding this fall the ability to rapidly provision tactical radios over the air from a NetOps terminal so you don't have to physically go in and touch the radios."
Similar initiatives include fielding simplified mission command initialization, automated security patching and wireless capabilities in the command post.
On the other end of the spectrum, as new capabilities are brought into the network, sustainment plans and tech data rights must be baked into the programs from the beginning, said Maj. Gen. Bruce Crawford, commander, Communications & Electronics Command. With the proliferation of systems based on software and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products, this becomes even more imperative.
"Now that equipment is coming due with warranties, how are we going to conduct maintenance if we don't have the tech data packages and if we don't have some of the intellectual property?" Crawford said. "It's not just integrating sustainment for sustainment's sake, it is integrating sustainment earlier in the process."
A comprehensive look at new capabilities and how they operate in a congested and contested environment is key in moving towards readiness, panel members said.
"What we can't have are one-off capabilities that are not integrated," Morrison said. "We've got to start treating the network like it is the weapons platform it truly is. And once we do that level of integration that is going to change the paradigm of how we actually fight the network."
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