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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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