The digital battery "TOC"

FA Journal, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Ryan A. Howell, Craig B. Abler

At 0300, the radio crackled to life. The battalion assistant S3 came over the net and announced a pending warning order (WARNO). Rather than calling in battery commanders (BCs), sending runners to the batteries or taking the time to read the data over the net, the battalion commander switched on the radio and executed a digital file transfer of the order. Each BC then opened, reviewed, edited and printed multiple copies of the order for his battery leadership.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The BC then called in key leaders and issued the WARNO. Only 20 minutes had passed, and the platoons' leaders all had the critical information they needed to begin troop-leading procedures.

This scenario is reality and the result of Force XXI technology: the single-channel ground and airborne radio system (SINCGARS) file transfer. Thanks to an application of existing research and products, any unit can acquire and implement SINCGARS file transfer.

The 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery (1-10 FA), located at Fort Benning, Georgia, as part of the 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized), completed its rotation at the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin, California, in 2004 and came away with some valuable lessons learned. 1-10 FA's tactical operations center (TOC) employed a means to transmit documents via SINGARS. During the rotation, on the average, 1-10 FA BCs were able to hand out full printed WARNOs to their leaders within 20 minutes of receiving the battalion's digital traffic.

The equipment needed for this exchange provides multiple capabilities to BCs. Computer files of any type can pass through SINCGARS connected to a laptop. The laptop can be mounted in the BC's high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV), creating the digitized battery "TOC." Commanders throughout the battalion can receive and transmit files at will. Battery commanders can produce orders, employ digitized battery systems and provide the tools normally associated with a TOC.

Equipment for File Transfers. SINCGARS transmits documents via the RS-232 data feature of the 1523E Advanced System Improvement Program (ASIP) model. RS-232 is a data protocol commonly used by terminal emulation programs, such as Hyper Terminal, to communicate over a computer's serial port. The RS-232 data feature of the ASIP allows a user to connect two computers via radio and communicate back and forth using Hyper Terminal (which is included with the Windows family of operating systems) or other such terminal emulation programs. Hyper Terminal allows for simple text messaging from end to end or for file transfer.

Each end of the transmission link can setup for file transfer by simply connecting a cable from the serial port of a computer to the AUD/DATA jack of the ASIP radio. Figure 1 shows a laptop computer mated to an ASIP SINCGARS through a modified data cable. Unfortunately, a cable equipped with the proper connectors and the correct wiring pin-out currently is not available in the Army supply inventory; therefore, the cable must be fabricated.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Chief Warrant Officer Two Kenton Groombridge of the 442d Signal Battalion, Fort Gordon, Geogia, has provided a document with national stock numbers (NSNs) and step-by-step instructions for modifying the cables to transfer the documents as well as setup and directions for RS-232 file transfers. CW2 Groombridge's instructions are available at www.team-signal.net.

Advantages. Such transfers offer many advantages for the TOC and BCs.

* Digitizing information flow allows the battalion to minimize the use of couriers or the frequency of the battery leaderships' trips to the TOC and reduces lengthy radio transmissions to distribute vital data from higher headquarters to subordinates rapidly. There is a significant time savings in information dissemination, and the digitization reduces the chances of errors.

* The reduction of travel gives BCs more time to plan and execute their missions (e.g., fewer late-night, low-visibility drives to and from the TOC).

* By reducing the need to dispatch couriers (generally gunnery sergeants for a firing battery), there are fewer operational tempo (OPTEMPO) miles, reducing Soldiers' exposure to the environment and the enemy, thereby, helping to protect the force. The battalion observed that this single digital document technique netted substantial gains in force protection for the battalion during the rotation.

With the fewer OPTEMPO miles, there also is less vehicle fatigue.

* File transfers reduce the number of critical documents distributed in hardcopy to batteries, decreasing the wear and tear on the battalion's field photocopier. This produces a secondary savings in terms of printing and copier costs.

* Message traffic passed in this manner offers other enhancements to battery resource management. By using either an advanced FA tactical data system's (AFATDS') printer or a standard office printer, a BC quickly can edit and print a detailed WARNO for the battery. This use of laptop computers and printer/scanner/copier devices abolishes the need for hand-written orders and carbon copies.