QUESTION: Why is DOD going to evolve from GCCS to JC2?
ANSWER: Over the past 25 years, the department has changed the fundamental method by which real-time information is made available to forces in the field, both for training and the groups that push it out.

Previously, DOD delivered almost all C2 information by telephone or Teletype. The person or organization that discovered something provided it only to those whom they believed would find it useful. That system’s major limitation was that anyone who discovered something significant then needed to know to whom it should be sent. Almost always, people were excluded because their interest in the information was not known or appreciated.

The backbone of such distribution is a broadcast system to which all enterprises that discover new information send their data for satellite broadcast. The information can be transmitted by any DOD element that has the requisite cryptographic and telecommunications equipment. For example, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will send new pictures via one such broadcast, while video from a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle will transmit on another broadcast. The acronym used to describe this system is TPED, which stands for a series of actions:

• Task a sensor.
• Process the output of the sensor.
• Exploit the information for significant new information.
• Disseminate any important information via an appropriate broadcast.

Multiple DOD fusion centers around the world receive the broadcasts, and large numbers of analysts working on a secure LAN with up to 1,000 terminals apiece then review the data. The analysts combine various bits of information to get a better integrated perception of a situation than would be possible using only one or a few of the multiple broadcasts. But local interruptions in receipt, coupled with differences in priorities and the skills of the individual analysts lead to differences in output by these fusion centers.

At each center, the analysts also combine these views with the operational information associated with that specific fusion center.

"Previously, DOD delivered almost all C2 information by telephone or Teletype. Almost always, people were excluded because their interest in the information was not known or appreciated."

GCCS, by providing a standard mechanism to produce a view of the situation and a display of that view, makes it possible to reconcile the differences from one fusion center to another.

This distribution method has proven effective in providing the basis for joint operations and allowing a pace of operations that’s much faster and accurate than in the past. But there are weaknesses, particularly when supporting smaller units. Although there are numerous fusion centers around the world, they require large infrastructures to support them—up to a dozen satellite channels to receive feeds and LANs linking hundreds of terminals.

To make C2 data available to all engaged forces, no matter their size, DOD is moving from a broadcast system to a networked system more like the Internet. TPED, in essence, will become TPPU:

• Task a sensor.
• Post the data on the network for all users authorized to see it.
• Process that data in parallel to satisfy multiple problems.
• Use it in parallel for multiple needs without waiting for the originating enterprise to get around to processing the data.

Such a system will multiply the problem of the different views, but the timeliness of the information available to all units will accelerate. Registration of divergent views will require a more flexible backbone than that provided by GCCS.

First, all current GCCS users will need to have a common basis for understanding a situation and will have to rely on the Global Information Grid instead of large but locally controlled fusion centers for their outputs. Second, small units will need similar capabilities to large ones so they can also collaborate using the network.

There will be a greater use of pulling information in this network world versus the pushing typical of the TPED world. JC2 will have to support both, but I believe that in short order the move to smart pull will become the basic system. This pulling will become most important in supporting tactical operations where coordination among many small groups is necessary. Therefore, JC2 will become the key to effective tactical operations.

John P. Stenbit was Defense Department CIO from August 2001 to March 2004, when he retired after a 30-year IT career in government and industry. He consults and serves on corporate and other advisory boards.

Let’s discuss: Send questions and topics of interest to johnstenbit@cox.net.

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