BEHIND THE LINES

Signal, Aug 2006 by Ackerman, Robert K

This year's August SIGNAL Magazine focuses on two weighty subjects that easily could fill an entire issue. The annual theme of information security remains a hot topic that is not likely to cool in the foreseeable future. But, the dominant subject in this issue is its special report on Army technologies. SIGNAL takes a look at how the U.S. Army is bringing new capabilities to its warfighters while planning networkcentric technologies that will change the way the service fights.

And where better to begin than with the perspective of the leadership responsible for mapping the Army's technology march to the future? This month's cover story is built around a SIGNAL interview with Lt. Gen. Steven W. Boutelle, USA, the Army's chief information officer/G-6. Gen. Boutelle has appeared in SIGNAL'S pages on many occasions, and on page 16 he continues his tradition of providing SIGNAL's readers with his insight on current challenges and future directions.

Other Army leaders are playing active roles in the network-centric technology thrust. Brig. Gen. Carroll F. Pollett, USA. commanding general of the U.S. Army's Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM)/9th Army Signal Command, is pursuing a campaign plan that encompasses technology support elements such as training and doctrine. He tells Senior Editor Maryann Lawlor on page 23 that the command is taking a holistic approach to future capabilities-based operations.

These future capabilities may include long-dreamt-of advances that could reach the warfighter sooner than expected. News Editor Rita Boland describes on page 29 how the Army's Land Warrior program has moved into the Stryker vehicle and is empowering soldiers even when they are dismounted.

Soldiers who don't go into combat via a Stryker may have a different-yet strangely familiar-mechanical assistant to carry their gear. Business Editor Henry S. Kenyon sniffed out a story on the Army's BigDog program, which is building four-legged robots to carry equipment and supplies into combat. His report on page 35 relates that these sensor-equipped mechanical canines would be able to run and scramble across rough terrain to loyally serve their human masters.

Not all good ideas originate in the United States, of course, and the Army is not relying exclusively on domestic sources for its technology solutions. Contributing writer Adam Baddeley describes on page 39 how Europe is serving as a font of innovation for U.S. communications and electronics requirements through the U.S. Army's International Technology Center-Atlantic.

On the security front, keeping information secure is the responsibility of the National Security Agency, or NSA. Its new information assurance director, Richard C. Schaeffer Jr., offers many perspectives on the challenges the NSA faces as well as the solutions it seeks. The article based on his interview with SIGNAL Magazine, the first he has given since taking office, begins on page 51.

But safeguarding information is only part of the task. Safeguarding access to information always has been a concern of network managers, and some officials now see a greater urgency in that approach. Experts at the National Defense University's Information Resources Management College have built a curriculum around securing an organization's supervisory control and data acquisition, or SCADA. An article on page 57 alerts SIGNAL readers that these vulnerable systems could be the key to bringing down critical elements of a base's or city's vital infrastructure.

One of the reasons many SCADA systems are vulnerable is that they rely on wireless links. Wireless connectivity continues to increase, and security remains an issue with each new wireless protocol introduced into the infosphere. Kenyon describes on page 63 how a new document issued by the U.S. Defense Department addresses security for 802.11 and 802.11i wireless devices and systems.

Think the Grand Challenge wasn't grand enough? The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has a grander challenge in mind for autonomous vehicles. Lawlor reports on page 69 that the agency is planning the Urban Challenge, which will test how unmanned vehicles negotiate their way through traffic. No word yet on whether the Capital Beltway will be the test track.