[Scan-DC] FYI: Army Ft. Meade Comms Test...

Fri, 27 Jun 2003 11:31:41 -0000

The cool thing is MARS got to play a role in GF '03 and had a contingent
at Ft. Meade manning the transportable station. MARS stations around the
US got to participate in the exercise directly too.

ALE was rolled out to MARS during this exercise for better
inter-operatabilty with the National Guard and other Federal and DoD
agencies.

Gary Mitchelson
USAF MARS and SHARES station AFA1PU
Maryland/DC USAF MARS SMD AFF1MD
MD/DC MARS homepage http://www.mdmars.org

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dorset, Thomas
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 14:55
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Scan-DC] FYI: Army Ft. Meade Comms Test...

Army exercise puts comm to test
BY Margaret A.T. Reed
June 13, 2003

As part of its continued efforts in the war on terrorism, the Army is
testing its latest communication technology to ensure that secure
connections are always available, whether on the battlefield or at home.
The exercise, known as Grecian Firebolt 2003, is being held at Fort
Meade, Md., June 9-20. It is the world's largest peacetime
communications exercise and it is designed to test new communication
initiatives and systems against realistic scenarios. The Army hopes that
this exercise will ensure it is able "to provide a seamless network all
across the board," said Maj. Gen. George Bowman, commander of the 311th
Theater Signal Command. The exercise also enables the Army to test
whether its systems are interoperable with other agencies, such as the
Homeland Security Department and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.  The Army is conducting testing using the Defense Collaborative

Tool Suite to communicate with federal agencies. DCTS is a set of
commercial products intended to enable geographically separated users to
chat, conduct videoconferences and share documents, slides and
applications online.

The importance of effective and secure communications to the Army's
ability to function is evidenced by the $1.4 million in funding given to
the Grecian Firebolt program, more than any other Reserve exercise. The
money has allowed the base to purchase the latest technology in order to
keep up with the needs of active military around the world.

The specific goals of the Grecian Firebolt exercise are to employ new
systems, train users in new capabilities, operate at multiple
command-and-staff levels, and apply modern information assurance
processes.

Specifically, one improvement made to communications is the creation of
a layered approach to information assurance. In the past, one security
checkpoint cleared access to a broad range of information. The layered
approach protects information by placing checkpoints at each layer as
data is passed from one location to another.

Testing these objectives is not simply the responsibility of the 311th
Theater Signal Command.  The reserve unit coordinates its exercise with
units from across the globe to ensure that, if called upon, different
bases will be able to work in concert with one another to establish
secure connections for the army to use.

"We are taking the lessons learned from the field and then refocusing on
what skill sets our soldiers need to have to support the commanders in
the field," Bowman said.

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0609/web-firebolt-06-13-03.asp

73,

Tom
WB4J
(Scanning with my THF6A)