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[infowar.de] Knowledge Warriors
Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
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Army transforming Intel, IO amid war
by Maj. Chris Conway
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, April 11, 2002) - Despite the demands of the
war on terrorism, the Army's senior intelligence and information officers
agreed April 9 at a symposium here that the Army is on track with
transforming intelligence and information operations to meet the nation's
new needs. "You're looking at a nation that was basically sucker punched on
9/11," said Lt. Gen. Robert W. Noonan Jr., the Army G-2, responsible for
both current intelligence support to the Army leadership and formulating
Army intelligence policy, plans and programs. "And now we've taken a force,
and within six-months time, gone into Afghanistan so that nation is no
longer a sanctuary for large-scale transnational terrorist organizations
like Al Qaeda," Noonan said. But neither Noonan, nor Maj. Gen. Steven W.
Boutelle, the Army's director of information operations, networks and
space, CIO/G-6, said they underestimate the terrorist threat and the
daunting task of transforming the Army to meet other threats of the 21st
Century. During a candid 90-minute media-roundtable discussion at the
Association of the U.S. Army's Intelligence, Information Operations and
Asymmetric Warfare Symposium, both men noted current challenges related to
their fields. "Almost everything we do today is commercial off-the-shelf
technology and the enemy can buy it just as quick," said Boutelle, who
recently returned from visits to Afghanistan and other Middle East
countries. "The enemy has a vote. He has in those mountains (in
Afghanistan) commercial portable satellite terminals that he buys like any
other commercial customer." According to both Noonan and Boutelle, winning
the war on terrorism and transforming the Army will require even more
improvements in technology and enhanced "C4 and ISR" - command, control,
communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
"C4 and ISR are critical to The Army Vision," Noonan said, "You have to be
able to see first, understand first, act first, and finish decisively. All
of those critical tasks are based on improved C4 and ISR capability."
Boutelle also said the Army is relying more on C4 and ISR by moving away
from increasing armor protection, a practice that often increased vehicle
weight and limited the ability of the Army to rapidly deploy. "You're
making a trade. You're trading heavy armor, steel, and guaranteed survival
of a first round enemy hit for C4ISR, stealth and other technology
capabilities," Boutelle said. "At the same time, you have to be able to
fight the full spectrum of operations, from the peacekeeping missions that
we continue to provide throughout the world to classic armor engagements
like we saw during Desert Storm in Iraq," Noonan said. "You can have the
best technology in the world, but if you don't have the right people, then
you're in deep trouble." The key to effectively transforming Army
intelligence and information operations will be to get the right
information to the right people at the right time, said Noonan and
Boutelle. As an example, Noonan noted that significant progress had been
made with automated translation devices for soldiers. "Within eight years
we should have automated translators," said Noonan. "The goal is to have
them with soldiers on patrol so they can have a dialogue on the street."
Both Noonan and Boutelle said they are convinced they have the right people
on the right path to meet the Army's C4 and ISR needs. "We're revitalizing
the workforce, we have a much better pictures of the science and technology
and we're truly beginning to understand what network-centered warfare is
all about," Noonan said. (Maj. Chris Conway works media relations issues
for the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs.)
---
Knowledge Warriors amass at symposium
by Patrick A. Swan
KANSAS CITY (Army News Service, April 4, 2002) -- More than 500 war
fighters, functional experts and information technology professionals -
dubbed "knowledge warriors" by the Army's chief information officer -
massed forces here April 1-4 for the second annual Knowledge Symposium. The
symposium covered a wide range of issues, including how to use knowledge
concepts when designing systems and tools necessary in the Objective Force
environment, said Col. Jane Maliszewski, lead symposium organizer. Some of
the nation's top Knowledge Management professionals shared lessons learned
on how their companies have used KM to improve performance and dramatically
increase their competitive edge, she said. The symposium was sponsored by
the Army's CIO/G-6, Lt. Gen. Peter Cuviello, along with the Center for Army
Lessons Learned and the Association of the United States Army. "Next to
building the objective force, information superiority is our Army's next
highest priority," said Cuviello in his welcoming address. "Knowledge
management is not about centralizing authority. It may start from the top,
but we execute it from anywhere in the Army. We must all be on board to
make this work. The Army, run as an enterprise, is our mission focus." Sgt.
1st Class Gerald C. Ecker said he found useful the knowledge-sharing
theories and philosophies discussed at the symposium.
"We need to grow leaders who are deeply rooted in this knowledge culture,"
said Ecker, the medical NCO for "Project Warrior," in the Army Medical
Department's lessons learned office at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. "We have
the technology and we should exploit it," Ecker said. "I'm not a technical
guy, but I understand we should use every resource at our disposal to win
our nation's wars. When we leverage technology to spread knowledge, we can
also save soldiers' lives on the battlefield. We have weapons for mass
destruction; we should use knowledge sharing for mass potential. I believe
in the `train-the-trainer' mentality: The more NCOs learn about knowledge
management, the more credibility - and usefulness -- this concept will
have." "This is all about sharing knowledge so soldiers can do their jobs
better," said Command Sgt. Maj. Cynthia Pritchett of the Combined Arms
Center and Fort Leavenworth, Kan. "Soldiers want to know what's going on.
They don't want to reinvent the wheel to address problems that someone else
has already solved." In an effort to help soldiers share knowledge more
effectively, Col. Robert Coxe, the Army's chief technical officer, CIO/G-6,
unveiled the new Enterprise Collaboration Center for the Army Portal. "ECC
is now operational," he said. "Soldiers staffing a requirement or issue can
now post documents to a dedicated site on Army Knowledge Online, rather
than send huge files to numerous addresses via e-mail. This will unclog the
e-mail pipelines, so to speak, and allow soldiers to set up their own
collaborative groups based on mission need rather than organizational
structure."
John Garstka, the assistant director for Concepts and Operations at the DoD
Office for Force Transformation, briefed attendees on strategies for
leveraging a knowledge advantage in network-centric operations. "Technology
is enabling us to be a transformed, network-centric force operating in the
three domains of warfare," Garstke said. Those domains are physical,
informational and cognitive. "Our soldiers and equipment operate in the
physical domain," Garstke said. "The information they need for battle is
created, manipulated, and shared in the informational domain. But, to
succeed in network-centric warfare, we must transform our operations into
the cognitive domain, where our force has the capability to develop and
share high-quality situational awareness. Through the cognitive domain, we
must give our force the ability to develop a shared knowledge of
commanders' intent and the capability to self-synchronize its operations."
In his keynote dinner address April 2, retired Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan
praised attendees as moving in the right direction. "You are applying
knowledge management to real tasks completed by real people," said
Sullivan, a former Army chief of staff and current president of AUSA. "You
are using knowledge to develop a common base of understanding. This allows
you to move knowledge around so you can share lessons learned through the
Army. This ultimately allows you to successfully fight and win our nation's
wars."
F ollowing Sullivan's remarks, Cuviello presented the first "Army
Knowledge" awards to nine representatives from various Army activities.
Army Knowledge awards covered the following categories: best business
practice; best electronic Army initiative; best community of practice; best
e-learning initiative; best transformation innovation; most innovative
knowledge management initiative; and best overall knowledge management program.
Patrick Swan, Patrick -
Swan -!
- us -
army -
mil, is public affairs liaison to the
Chief Information Officer/G-6.)
http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/Apr2002/a20020404kmwarriors.html
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