DICE DoD's Interoperability Communications Exercise: if you aren't prepared—you're rolling the dice

CHIPS, July-Sept, 2008 by Sharon Anderson

Since 1988, the Defense Department's Interoperability Communications Exercise has been the only DoD exercise whose primary purpose is to certify systems for joint interoperability.

This year, the Joint Task Force Civil Support (JTF-CS) hosted the civil response portion of DICE at its base of operations at Fort Monroe, Va., March 24-28. Briefly stated, the JTF-CS goal is to reduce the civil responders' risk of operational failure.

But mobilizing and coordinating the vast resources of federal, local and state governments, as well as the DoD, private industry and nongovernmental agencies, in responding to domestic catastrophes, are far from simple. At the same time, enormous improvements have been made at all levels in disaster response, according to exercise participants.

"We have come a long way. The notion that some might have that we have not learned the lessons of 9/11 or Katrina, or even lessons of Hurricane Dean this past year, or the California wildfires, are just not well-founded in fact," said retired Coast Guard Vice Adm. Roger T. Rufe, who is now director of the Operations Directorate in the Department of Homeland Security.

"We are generations better than we were in Katrina. We are safer today ... The nation needs to understand that."

Referring to the communications failures during Hurricane Katrina relief operations, FEMA's assistant administrator for Disaster Operations, Mr. Glenn Cannon agreed, "We have the ability now to communicate with people and places, which never existed prior to Katrina."

JTF-CS

The JTF-CS is a standing joint task force composed of active, Reserve and Guard members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, as well as civilian personnel, and is commanded by federalized Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Daniel E. "Chip" Long Jr.

Established in October 1999, JTF-CS is a subordinate unit of U.S. Northern Command, a unified combatant command formed in October 2002 to plan, organize and execute both homeland defense and civil support missions. When directed by the president or the Secretary of Defense, NORTHCOM provides defense support of civil authorities, including consequence management operations.

JTF-CS staff emphasized the critical role of civil support in domestic incidents in terms of speed and unity of effort between all the responders to provide a synchronized response.

Experts in their specialty areas, staff members anticipate, plan and integrate NORTHCOM chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) consequence management operations. The team trains according to the maxim, "Not if ... but when," because their efforts are always part of a larger, in-parallel response with other government and nongovernmental agencies.

DICEVILLE

In Hampton, the JTF-CS worked alongside operators and subject matter experts from DHS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, NORTHCOM, and various local, state and federal interagency partners, including the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Hampton, the American Red Cross, Customs and Border Protection, 35th Signal Brigade, Civil Air Patrol, Federal Aviation Administration, the National Guards of Virginia and West Virginia, and others.

The exercise tested communications capabilities such as radio to cell phone at the first responder level, information sharing at the operational level and long-haul satellite communications, and reach-back testing at the strategic level.

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To demonstrate these capabilities, NORTHCOM and JTF-CS sponsored a media tour of "DICEVILLE," a series of vehicles, trailers and tents which housed some of the communications tools tested.

Some of the senior representatives from the participating agencies also took the tour March 27.

In addition to Rufe and Cannon, other representatives included Commander North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and USNORTHCOM Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr.; then Director, Command and Control Systems NORAD-USNORTHCOM J6 Navy Rear Adm. Kendall L. Card, who is now commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3; Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command Lt. Gen. Joseph F. Weber; Maj. Gen. Long; and director for Communications Systems, JTF-CS, USNORTHCOM, Air Force Lt. Col. Theodore P. Henrich.

"All the people that are out there on the DICE field are working together, sharing ideas, they are networking, they are getting to know each other, they are passing out business cards. The next time we need to go out to react to a crisis, they are going to know each other, know what each other's capabilities are, and we will be better off," Henrich said.

Participants commended the DICE structure because it provides an environment for communicators to practice "inter-talk-ability."

The network tested at DICE 08 comprised communications systems currently in use (or about to be fielded) and was established and manned by the actual owners and operators of the equipment. System developers and industry partners were also on hand to resolve interoperability issues that could degrade performance.