In the past, teams were responsible for gleaning, consolidating, and presenting operationally relevant information.
With advancements in technology, everyone can be a common operational picture operator. Today, many units and
senior leaders have Twitter™ and Facebook® accounts to
tell the story of their organization. However, there is still
signifcant room for growth in leveraging these tools directly
in support of response coordination. It can be done, but will
require time, policy changes, and departures from past processes. With organizations like NORTHCOM and USACE
setting the pace, the use of smartphone technology is slowly
becoming the norm.
The other side of information-sharing technologies is the
concern for information security. Digital threats are real
and cannot be ignored. Information assurance processes and
digital rules of engagement continue to adjust to the everchanging digital environment. Balancing the requirements
for security against operational necessity is a constant
effort. Speeding the process to fnd balance must occur at
every level. Failure to share information with others or to
use information from others, is no longer an option. Keeping select datasets for use by authorized users is mandatory,
but it can be done without restricting everything. Access to
information may require end users to have numerous user
names and passwords or other methods of control. Users of
information should always be vigilant in how they access,
use, create, and disseminate data, but that should not stop
them from sharing.
The success of interagency-shared situational awareness depends on preparation before the next major disaster. Forces responding to disasters within the Homeland
must adapt to the tools and processes of the organizations
they support. Although they are different from those traditionally employed by military units, information-sharing
resources are readily available for use by those supporting
domestic operations.
We must prepare, or prepare to fail. We will not fail;
therefore, we prepare.
Endnotes:
1
Federal Interagency Geospatial Concept of Operations, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, June 2011,
, accessed on 2 April 2013.
2
The 9/11 Commission Report Executive Summary,
, accessed on 2 April 2013.
3
Ibid.
Lieutenant Colonel Foster served 22 years in the U.S.
Army and 4 years in the U.S. Army Reserves. In his fnal
assignment before retirement, he was the geospatial information offcer (provisional) for U.S. Army North. He holds an
associate's degree in liberal arts, a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, and a master's degree in military studies.
20 Engineer
("Challenges," continued from page 17)
such a laborious process to become profcient at operating
these assets.
While thorough coordination between internal components is critical in any S-2 section, it is especially important in a multifunctional engineer battalion. Because of the
support relationships that the battalion has with numerous OE owners, short-notice taskings appear far more frequently than in other units. As enemy targets on the battlefeld appear and disappear, so do time-sensitive missions.
Thorough intelligence analysis and product development
are required for the intelligence preparation of the battlefeld. The S-2 section must be integrally linked with the battalion operations and construction management sections.
Construction project activities constantly shift as priorities
change because of evolving requirements in multiple OEs.
Standard meetings are not enough to meet the requirements; it is necessary to conduct constant dialogue with
these sections and to maintain a presence on countless distribution lists to stay informed of changes. This allows the
S-2 section to manage its own internal production to ensure
that commanders have timely and accurate intelligence to
use in planning and executing their missions.
A vast amount of information is learned during a deployment, sometimes at a high cost. It is essential that these
lessons, products, architectures, systems, and processes continue during the handover from one unit to the next. The outgoing unit must have a systematic knowledge management
system in place to ensure that incoming personnel can pick
up the mission in stride. Knowledge management is an ongoing process that requires fnesse, deliberate organization,
and constant supervision. Armed with tools such as Palantir®, Microsoft SharePoint®, and a shared network computer
drive, the S-2 section must store this information in a way
that is easy to locate, access, and understand. Naming conventions, proper classifcations, and standing operating procedures are needed to create this organizational framework.
However, knowledge management is not the job of one
person. The entire team must understand its importance
and execution to ensure that the next unit can maintain the
processes that work and to preserve institutional knowledge. Another recommendation is to ensure that information is stored (or at least a copy is maintained) on networks
accessible to follow-on units before deployment. While most
business in Afghanistan is conducted on the Combined
Enterprise Regional Information Exchange (CENTRIX) system, most engineer units do not have access to CENTRIX
in garrison. It is crucial to ensure that products, situational
reports, and formats are transferred to networks that these
units can access, ensuring that they understand the situational environment before they deploy.
Captain Diebold is the intelligence offcer for the 20th
Engineer Battalion. He holds a bachelor's degree from Western Illinois University and is a graduate of the Intelligence
Captains Career Course.
May–August 2013