Multiforce Protection In a Portal

Signal, Oct 2004 by Lilie, Cheryl

Web-based network provides situational awareness across military installations.

A cross-service network that shares sensitive but unclassified information among U.S. Defense Department installations is moving nationwide. The Web-portal technology allows users to document and immediately disseminate information regarding potential threats to personnel, facilities and resources to meet antiterrorism and force protection needs.

Work began shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to establish an integrated force protection information-sharing system that would provide common situational awareness around military facilities for all the services. Concept development and design for Protect America, the precursor to the system, now dubbed the Joint Protection Enterprise Network (JPEN), began in February 2003 (SIGNAL, June 2003, page 35). By the end of April, the pilot program was operational in the national capital region, and shortly thereafter the project was renamed Vision. With some additional guidance from Defense Department staff and secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the program was focused on Defense Department installations for a proof-of-concept approach. In July 2003, the project took its current name, JPEN.

Program management responsibilities, originally under the Joint Staff, transferred to U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), Colorado Springs, Colorado, in December 2003. NORTHCOM plans, programs and directs JPEN funding; coordinates requirements for software enhancements; and prioritizes JPEN deployment with staff elements. In addition, the command provides operational guidance to the JPEN program manager in the command and control program office, U.S. Navy Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence and Space, and the JPEN engineering element at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Systems Center, both in San Diego.

"NORTHCOM assumes responsibility for the force protection mission within its area of responsibility as of October 1, 2004. so it makes perfect sense that NORTHCOM maintains program management of JPEN," says Maj. Gen. Dale W. Meyerrose, USAF, director of command and control systems, North American Aerospace Defense Command; director of architectures and integration, NORTHCOM; and chief information officer for both commands.

Although JPEN has changed hands and names several times since its inception, the way the program works essentially has remained the same. Users can document and share suspected criminal and suspicious activity information formatted as threat and local observation notice (TALON) reports. These reports consist of nonvalidated domestic threat information that may or may not be related to an actual threat against a facility. TALON reports include nonspecific threats, suspected surveillance activity, elicitation attempts, tests of security, unusual repetitive activity, bomb threats and any other suspicious, potential terrorist-related activity directed against Defense Department assets. JPEN also records information about other force protection incidents, including vehicles denied entry to installations-or vehicle turnaroundsand "be on the lookout" (BOLO) reports of suspicious 'vehicles or individuals.

Each incident or TALON report is documented in JPEN as an "event." An event report contains all the information related to an incident, such as a vehicle turnaround, including individual and vehicle descriptions. Once the information is entered into the system, it is available immediately to all users. If the same individual tries to gain access to another military base, for instance, JPEN will notify the appropriate users of the previous attempt. "It may or may not be terrorist related," the general says, "but proof of repetitive activity is definitely more concerning than an individual making a wrong turn."

Information on events entered in JPEN is available to all designated users at a Defense Department installation, agency or facility from any nonsecure Internet protocol router network through Internet Explorer version 5.5 or higher. This capability not only expands the potential user base but also minimizes or eliminates the need for users to obtain additional hardware or software to access the system. Using existing information technology infrastructure at each installation makes JPEN easily scalable, accessible and-because there are no access fees-affordable.

Although all users can read reports on force protection incidents and search the database, only certain users can update an installation's force protection condition or event status. The network allows for different levels of access based on mission requirements. security also is maintained by 128-bit secure socket layer encryption, firewalls, intrusion detection devices, Internet protocol filtering and audit trails.

JPEN is limited to storing and sharing unclassified data because it documents only raw force protection reports and conditions, such as information gathered by gate guards at military installations. Some data may be law enforcement sensitive if it supports an ongoing investigation, and this information would be limited to access by law enforcement professionals. Overall, JPEN operates at the unclassified level, and its data is considered for official use only.