News From USJFCOM: Center works with warfighters to assess systems

Center works with warfighters to assess systems

U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Systems Integration Center recently called on warfighters to help evaluate how well a particular system works and identify ways to improve the system for users.

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By MC2 (AW) Nikki Carter
USJFCOM Public Affairs

(SUFFOLK, Va., August 27, 2009) –- One of U.S. Joint Forces Command’s (USJFCOM) subordinate organizations called on warfighters who use high technology systems every day to help evaluate how well the system works and ways to improve the system for users.

With assistance from sailors from the Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Gravely (DDG-107), USJFCOM‘s Joint Systems Integration Center (JSIC) is conducting an interoperability assessment on how the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) Image Product Library (IPL) operates with the Global Command and Control System (GCCS).

Using the Gravely’s GCCS operators allows JSIC to assess how an operator uses the system in a real-world situation and resolve any interoperability issues with the system in real-time. In return, Gravely’s crew members can familiarize themselves with a completely up-to-date system similar to one being installed on their ship.

GCCS-Joint is a command, control, communications, computer, and intelligence (C4I) system, consisting of hardware, software, procedures, standards, and interfaces to provide worldwide connectivity for information resources.

It fuses select command and control (C2) capabilities into a comprehensive, interoperable system by exchanging imagery, intelligence, status of forces, and planning information.

Air Force Capt. Dan Shinohara, JSIC’s project lead, said the mutually beneficial arrangement is to get the sailors familiarized with the system and USJFCOM will have warfighters on the systems.

“[Using real operators] who will be able to identify whether or not something is not so intuitive and see if people who are creating the system will have to take it back to the drawing board,” Shinohara said.

Navy Chief Petty Officer Dave Yee, Operations Department leading chief petty officer, said one of the challenges pre-commissioning units have is getting sailors opportunities to see and use “new and exciting” equipment and technologies.

“It gives our sailors a chance see what new technologies they’ll be using as warfighters when the ship is commissioned and deployed, ahead of everybody else,” Yee said. “It gives them that much more of a leg up so they’re prepared when they do see these systems get fielded to use them and utilize them properly.”

The sailors all agree the imagery tools are improved from what they experienced with other systems.

“I got a chance to familiarize myself with the system before it actually gets put onto the ship. Hopefully I will get to play around with it a little more; learn about it a little more and share the information I learned here with my shipmates,” said Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Floyd Bussey, a Gravely sailor in the Operations Department. “I’ve never seen a GCCS system before where you can pull up an image and put it on a chart.”

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Shane Gonzalez said she had some prior GCCS experience, but had not used the system since 2003. “Being here helped me refresh my skills with the system,” said Gonzalez.

Navy Seaman Courtney Laurent, said since being fresh out of initial training school she has not worked with a system like GCCS before and getting hands-on with the system has helped her.

“This is a whole brand-new experience for me. I’ve actually learned a lot tooling around and asking some questions,” Laurent said. “I learn by pressing a bunch of buttons and seeing what I can come up with.”

JSIC provides combatant commanders, services and agencies unbiased evaluations of existing and emerging C2 capabilities and recommendations to resolve interoperability problems that impede operations. Additionally, they look for opportunities to exploit new technology to give warfighters the tools they need for operational success.

Shinohara said if JSIC does find a problem while assessing a system, two out of three times JSIC can turn around and work with the engineers in the building as well as the engineers from the customers — in this case it’s NGA— and fix the problem on site.

“However if we can’t [fix it], we package up all the data and [NGA will] take it back to their labs and fix it,” Shinohara said. “The intricate part of this particular assessment is making sure when the intel analyst and targeteers out in the field are trying to put bombs on target, this interface has to be fast and give good products, so the warfighters out in the field can achieve mission success. That is what these folks here are doing for us and doing for NGA.”

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