Command And Control Operational Prototype Success At Exercise

USJFCOM, Suffolk VA: Joint Systems Integration Command's (JSIC) Command and Control on the Move (C2OTM) project reached a major milestone recently during the U.S. Army's V Corps mission rehearsal exercise (MRX) in Grafenwohr, Germany.

According to JSIC C2OTM project leader Navy Lt. Cmdr. Stephen Fahey, V Corps assessed the program's operational prototype in real-world conditions, and the system successfully met all expectations.

JSIC, a U. S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) subordinate command, focuses on near-term transformation of joint force command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities through prototype development, interoperability testing, and assessing new technologies.

C2OTM represents one of several programs under development at JSIC which address different aspects of battle management command and control. According to Fahey, the system gives task force commanders the ability to move around the battlefield while maintaining situational awareness.

“We've built a system where the commander doesn't have to trade capability for mobility,” Fahey said. “It's as if he never left his desk.”

C2OTM provides an Internet protocol-based system that uses an auto-tracking satellite dish and spread-spectrum modem technology to allow broadband, mobile reach back to operational information across three different networks, including the common operational picture provided by the Global Command and Control System.

It allows the use of collaborative tools, two-way video teleconferencing, secure telephone calls, and email. It also provides secure wireless access to classified systems for dismounted users, further extending the flexibility and capability it provides.

Based in Heidelberg, Germany, V Corps, scheduled to deploy to Iraq later this year, came to USJFCOM late last year with an operational requirement identical to the C2OTM concept JSIC was working on. The system went from concept to an operational prototype that's ready to deploy in 11 months.

“From a functional perspective, we gave them everything they asked for and more.” Fahey said.

JSIC mounted the system in an M4 Command and Control Vehicle (C2V) for V Corps' MRX. The C2V is a variant of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Engineers initially mounted the operational prototype in a HMMWV when the system's first operational prototype was rolled out at USJFCOM's Suffolk Campus in May of this year.

“V Corps wanted armored protection for the commanding general,” Fahey explained. “We also expanded on the system's capabilities since the initial roll-out. We've improved the system and hardened it for real-world operations. At this stage of development, it could deploy tomorrow. We've integrated a system that's ready to go to war.”

V Corps put the system through its paces during the exercise, using it continuously for two weeks.

“They took it on the move for hours at a time and used it over rough terrain,” Fahey said. “They also used it to power their assault command post.”

Fahey explained that one of V Corps' operational requirements made it necessary to allow the general to move around the battlefield, but also to use the C2OTM system to power a command post for the staff.

“The vehicle can be on the move, stop at the command post, and in under two minutes all the computer equipment in the command post can be connected through the vehicle,” he said. “The vehicle is always connected, whether it's on the move or stationary.

“We demonstrated the two key concepts that were most critical to them – the commander being able to move and still maintain connectivity, and the ability to set up a tactical operations center on the fly. That gives the commander a lot of options.”

Fahey said JSIC will coordinate advanced training for V Corps soldiers to take place in multiple U.S locations during September.

“It's important that V Corps' soldiers take ownership of the system, and they have,” he said. “It's no longer USJFCOM's system; it's V Corps' system. These soldiers love what they have. They take personal pride in it and they're thinking of new things they can do with it. They've fully embraced it and are eager to take it into battle.”

He said USJFCOM will work to fit out a second vehicle for V Corps, possibly in a Stryker Light Armored Vehicle III. Fahey hopes JSIC's success with C2OTM in Germany will spur better and faster acquisition of systems for the services.

“C2OTM has applicability across all the services,” he said. “It could just as easily be in Marine units or aboard ships. The various programs of record that are trying to solve the command and control on the move problem can benefit by the work we've done, and perhaps see this system, or parts of it, as the solution they've been looking for.”