Telecommunications systems engineering course: designed for the FA 24, telecommunications systems engineering officer, TSEC is a rigorous curriculm

Army Communicator, Spring, 2006 by Frank Ranero

With the support from Headquarters Department of the Army and as part of the Officer Professional Management System XXI program, the U.S. Army Signal Center established a separate, specialized officer functional area. This FA provides the Army with a core of professional network engineers to support the nation's full spectrum dominance strategy.

The Signal Center created FA 24, Telecommunications Systems Engineering Officer, and executed a comprehensive process of analysis and design effort to determine the most effective methods available to educate and train these officers. The result of that process is a rigorous curriculum that provides lecture sessions, research projects, and practical applications of math and science in engineering and designing telecommunications network solutions.

The FA 24 Telecommunications Systems Engineering Course is a functional area qualification program that awards Area of Concentration 24A and along with the CGSOC satisfies the Army's Intermediate Level Education requirement for field grade FA 24 officers.

Originally, the course targeted all Career Field 24 officers (at eight-to-10 years of service) with a hard science or technical undergraduate degree. The curriculum is taught at Fort Gordon, Ga., and consists of a 10-week Information Systems Operations Leveler course followed by a 20-week TSEC that is delivered at the graduate education level.

The TSEC was constructed with assistance from faculty members of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology accredited masters degree programs in Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (University of Pittsburgh, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Colorado). The Defense Information Systems Agency, the Information Systems Engineering Command, and the Fort Gordon Battle Command, Battle Laboratory all contributed to the development of the joint portions of our instruction.

The skills and knowledge required of this functional area came from merging two former Signal Area of Concentration 25 specialties -25D, CE Engineering, and 25E, Telecommunications and Networking. The 442nd Signal Battalion, in partnership with Information Systems Engineering Command, Battle Command Battle Lab--Gordon, and Defense Information Systems Agency, recruited professors from Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Military College, and the University of Pittsburgh, funded and developed the course curriculum and instruction.

Lab equipment and lab facilities (routers, Channel Service Unit/ Data Service Units, Asynchronous Transfer Mode switches, Private Branch Exchange, and communications security equipment) were provided by the BCBL (G) and through a contract with the General Dynamics Corporation. Simulations software and hardware were provided by ISEC, in cooperation with OPNET Technologies, Inc. for the first course iterations (2000-2001). DISA provided the Network Warfare Simulations tool which we incorporated into the curriculum in 2004.

Army officers assigned to the 442nd Signal Battalion with contractors augmented by contracted associate professors (PhDs) from various universities provide course instruction Lectures are conducted in the morning, with afternoons reserved for research, lab work, and hands-on practical exercises. Figure 1 depicts the course map for the TSEC.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

The TSEC includes the following modules:

Module A, Math for Networking, provides a detailed review of mathematic fundamentals relevant to the study of telecommunications, electronics, and data communications.

Module B, C Programming, is an overview of the C Programming language, while focusing on object oriented design and structured layout of programs.

Module C, Telecommunication Systems, provides an overview of public and private telecommunications systems, fundamentals of traffic engineering, switching, transmission, and signaling.

Module D, Data Communications, is a study of the knowledge and skills required for engineering and managing high-speed data communications networks. Students gain an in depth knowledge of layers 1-3 of the OSI model and a working and familiarity with layers 4-7.

Module E, Switching, is an analysis of switching concepts relevant to the study of telecommunications, electronics, and data communications. The focus is on commercial switching technologies but includes information on Army and Joint standards for implementation and application.

Module F, Information Assurance, provides an in-depth look at the tenants of network security, focusing on confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and availability of data.

Module G, Network Operations and Management, is an introduction to the principles, practices, and technologies for managing networks, systems, applications, and services. Spectrum management software is also introduced to students in a lab environment.

Module H, Network Design, provides a structured approach to network design concepts and a systematic, top-down process to design telecommunications networks in the commercial, DISN, and DII realms.