Forwarded by: William Knowles <wkat_private> http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/0827/web-dod-08-28-01.asp By Christopher J. Dorobek Aug. 28, 2001 The top priority of the Defense Departments new chief information officer is pushing forward with network-centric warfare using information systems to bridge the gap between the "sensors" and the "shooters." John Stenbit, the new assistant secretary of Defense for command, control, communications and intelligence and the departments CIO, said this approach will enable any serviceman with a gun to determine the 10 best targets rather than having to wait for somebody else to tell him. It will mean that "anybody can get any information at any time," Stenbit said in a meeting with reporters Aug. 24. He took over the CIO post Aug. 7. "That doesnt mean hes supposed to shoot," Stenbit said. "There has to be procedural controls.... But I do believe that its very important that we decentralize decision-making." The services must work together, he said, and DOD is increasingly depending on long-range weapons that put fewer U.S. soldiers at risk. But that also creates a gap, he said. "Were separating the shooter from the sensor, and we have to solve that problem. When that happens, you need information to exchange and be coordinated a lot," he said. Traditionally, such coordination has taken time. But those efforts have to be done essentially in real time today, he said. "We need a different form of information exchange." Another top priority is changing the information that is available, he said. "Weve gotten very used to certain classes of information, and I think there are some that are going to be more useful in the future" than they have been in the past, he said. Finally, Stenbit said he is going to focus on the reliability of information systems. "Once we start depending upon them, wed better make sure theyre there," he said. Overall, he said that information technology can help free up money from the non-fighting arm of the military, thereby making more money available for force structure and modernization. *==============================================================* "Communications without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ================================================================ C4I.org - Computer Security, & Intelligence - http://www.c4i.org *==============================================================* - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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