Agility in decision-making for cyberspace operations

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) declared cyberspace as an operational domain in 2011. The DoD subsequently formed US Cyber Command and the Cyber Mission Force to conduct operations to achieve national and military objectives in and through cyberspace. Since that time, the DoD has implemented and evolved through multiple command and control (C2) structures for cyberspace operations, derived from traditional military C2 doctrine, to achieve unity of effort across both the global cyberspace domain and with military operations in the physical domains (land, sea, air, and space). The DoD continues to struggle to adapt its C2 methods from the physical domains to the cyber domain. Applying traditional military C2 constructs to the cyberspace domain leads to several problems due to the uniqueness of cyberspace from the other domains. Cyberspace presents a very different operational environment than the physical domains, where time and space are compressed. In this paper, we describe the factors that make cyberspace different from the other operational domains and the challenges those differences impose on existing C2 constructs. We propose a campaign of experimentation, consisting of a series cyberspace C2 experiments, to address these challenges by conducting research into the taxonomy of C2 nodes, decisions, information, and relationships, which can be used to simulate and refine DoD cyberspace operations C2 constructs.

In 2011, the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DOD) named cyberspace a new operational domain. The U.S. Cyber Command and the Military Services are working to make the cyberspace environment a suitable place for achieving national objectives and enabling military command and control (C2). To effectively conduct cyberspace operations, DOD requires data and analysis of the Mission, Network, and Adversary. However, the DOD’s current data processing and analysis capabilities do not meet mission needs within critical operational timelines. This paper presents a summary of the data processing and analytics necessary to effectively conduct cyberspace operations.

ABSTRACTThis case study details the options evaluated and path chosen by a United States (US) Department of Defense (DoD) software development organization to re‐engineer four existing products with common features into a single product‐line resulting in product sponsors taking advantage of cost savings, developers shortening implementation and testing timeframes, and users obtaining product features faster while sharing a common experience across product variants. Although the software‐intensive products were originally a product line operating from a common code repository, they diverged due to different product sponsors having differing priorities and schedule commitments. The mission scope of each variant differs leading to a commonality range of approximately 20% to 70% based on the quantity of common features. The re‐engineering options evaluated included merging common code and maintaining it in a single repository; re‐using software code while keeping it in separate repositories for each product variant; and pursuing a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) to create common modules for insertion, updating, and replacement within any product variant without disrupting the rest of that product. With product sponsor support, the DoD project decided to pursue a hybrid approach of immediate code re‐use complemented with an agile approach to MOSA implementation. This solution allowed the project to re‐engineer the four existing product variants while still meeting sponsor, DoD, and end‐user operational needs.

The United States (US) Department of Defense (DoD) has been tasked by the DoD chief information officer (DoD CIO) to transition its networks from Internet protocol (IP) version 4 (IPv4) to IP version 6 (IPv6) by fiscal year 2008 (FY08). This will be a daunting task and presents significant challenges to DoD network architects, engineers and operators. One of the most difficult challenges will be to ensure that sensitive DoD information is not compromised by the introduction of IPv6. Currently, DoD information assurance (IA) professionals are studying this problem and architecting solutions to mitigate these risks. In this paper, we present a notional security architecture for DoD networks transitioning to IPv6

This is the final report of the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Suitability study by Sandia National Laboratories and the Scitor Team (Scitor Corporation and Landrey & Company). SMRs are being considered by the U.S. government as a clean energy option that can meet the economic, environmental and energy security goals of the country. This report was sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) under the SMR Licensing Technical Support program, of which one of the goals is to advance the commercial viability of domestic SMR designs. The study reflects the intent of the memorandum of understanding between the DOE and the Department of Defense (DoD) to enhance national energy security and demonstrate leadership in transitioning the United States (US) to a low carbon economy. This report assesses the suitability of using US-developed light water SMR technology to provide energy for Schriever Air Force Base, CO and Clear Air Force Station, AK, and for broader SMR applications to meet DoD and Federal energy needs. This report also outlines deployment scenarios to optimize the use of an SMR's capacity to meet aggregated DoD and Federal energy needs within selected regions of the US. Finally, the report includes recommendations for follow-on actions by DoD and DOE to further the development of US SMR technology and effectively address viable solutions for national energy security and clean energy goals.

Protecting the 1% of the population that protects the rest is a top priority for the United States (US) Department of Defense (DoD) and political leaders alike. With the country at war for almost two decades, the USA is now seeing the impact those wars have had on veterans. After this epidemic came to light, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and DoD implemented many suicide prevention programs and interventions. One of the changes is implementing mandatory training focused on identifying suicide risk factors for active duty veterans to better identify when their fellow veterans may need help. Additionally, in the past 5 years the DoD has attempted to decrease the stigma associated with receiving mental health treatment by emboldening leaders to be open about their own troubles while encouraging the people they lead to seek help. However, the stigma of receiving or seeking mental health is still a major issue in the military, especially in the Special Forces community where 49 operators have killed themselves in the last few years. Another point is increasing treatment availability and possible interventions offered through the VA. An increased focus on the VA within the past 5 years has been due to a lack of service provision and hardships associated with seeking mental health treatment. New social programs such as Rubicon, Wounded Warrior, and other veteran services and their effect on suicide and overall mental health of veterans should be considered. Lastly, studies have shown culture plays a large role in suicide risk. The military culture is one that uniquely traverses ethnicity, language, and country. Tailoring suicide prevention with military culture in mind and identifying risks could help decrease veteran suicide.

The United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DoD) must anticipate and balance military, civil, and commercial interests in spectrum. Increasing demands are being placed on spectrum access, both domestic and abroad, as a result of current demands for global mobility, electromagnetic spectrum requirements of both outdated and future defense systems, and loss of military access to certain frequency bands due to spectrum legislation. Based on these conditions, the DoD should identify shared spectrum access opportunities and explore dynamic spectrum access technologies to help meet the growing spectrum needs of the military. This paper discusses a few cases of current and future shared spectrum access environments. The case studies highlight the circumstances for spectrum sharing and utilization of military and commercial frequency bands that can provide additional spectrum access and availability for DoD needs.

: This work examines the relationship of the Joint Task Force Commander and the United States Ambassador during contingency operations conducted by the United States. The work examines the impacts of this relationship on operations conducted for regime change and how it influenced conflict termination in the 20th century. The work examines two historic case studies: Operation Just Cause and Operation Uphold Democracy. Moreover, the work examines communication and integration between the strategic policy makers, the Department of State and the Department of Defense and how they are linked to the Joint Task Force to answer the primary research question. The Operation in Haiti is an example of international institutions working to achieve clear termination criteria, which are necessary to ensure successful war termination or conflict resolution. Though vastly different in scope, duration, and international support Operations Just Cause and Uphold Democracy highlight the best and worst examples of United States military intervention. The drastically different cases highlight the differences in the types of conflict termination and the stark differences in the relationship of the Joint Task Force Commander and the in country ambassador. Numerous aspects about collaborative planning and integration of the Department of State and Department of Defense could improve, but the focus of the conclusions and recommendations will be on Department of Defense led initiatives.

ABSTRACTThe United States (US) White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) promulgated the National Weather Strategy (White House Office of Science and Technology 2015) and Action Plan (Whitehouse.gov 2016 and 2016a) in April 2014 (final strategy released in Oct 2015) calling for a “whole of community” engagement for continental wide power loss for a year or more due to extreme space weather. The likelihood of such was calculated at 6‐12% likelihood in any decade. In May 2014, the US Department of Defense's Defense Threat Reduction Agency similarly called on the small business innovation community to develop electromagnetic pulse (EMP) protected micro grids (US Small Business Innovation Research Program 2015) for critical applications both on and off military bases due to the increased likelihood of long term or permanent loss of civilian power grids. Lloyds of London (2013) warned of an 18 month long black out to the corridor between Washington, US‐DC and New York City, US‐NY due to extreme space weather and alerted the business community of the possible withdrawal of insurance support for those events. In 2016, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Regional Resiliency Assessment Program for Ashburn, VA (Argonne National Laboratory 2016), and the Internet industry based there. Its key findings included the potential impact of EMP on the Internet and cyber infrastructure and encouraged industry members to hold their own seminars and exercises to examine these threats. This provides an interesting backdrop to the problem of a simultaneous loss of both power and communication grids from EMP.On the other hand, either or both power and communications grids can be assaulted by cyber attacks which, can include physical or electromagnetic attacks. For example, the recent cyber attack on the Ukrainian power grid included physical attacks. The Metcalfe substation was a physical attack on both the transformers and the communications lines of the substation.For reasons such as these, it is prudent for government and industry to revisit their continuity plans, and best practices that take a broad cross sector analysis of possible catastrophic failure modes into account. Some of the most urgent needs may be relatively straightforward. Others will require systems of systems modeling efforts to align corporate values with the business processes and technical development under their control.

ObjectiveThis panel will focus on the experiences from the Department of Defense (DoD) and Virginia Department of Health (VDH) data sharing project using the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) ESSENCE and will discuss lessons learned, challenges, and recommendations within the following areas: 1) data sharing authority, 2) coordination and implementation of data sharing with a focus on personnel, training, and managing access and 3) communication between local, state, and federal agencies.IntroductionThe DoD and VDH both maintain local ESSENCE installations to monitor the health status of their military and civilian populations, respectively, and submit syndromic surveillance data to the NSSP ESSENCE to foster data sharing and collaborative initiatives among public health entities. Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs), housed on DoD installations, provide healthcare to all service members and their beneficiaries stationed in the area. Service members and their beneficiaries represent a substantial portion of the local community and interact with the civilian population throughout daily activities. Sharing syndromic surveillance data between DoD and public health jurisdictions can provide public health situational awareness among both civilian and military populations to support disease surveillance. DoD and VDH engaged in a pilot project to develop processes and procedures for data sharing, data access, and communication with the aim they can serve as best practices for other jurisdictions seeking to share syndromic surveillance data with DoD.DescriptionThe pilot project began in June 2018 with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) NSSP team providing technical support. NSSP ESSENCE users from the VDH state and local health departments across nine Virginia city/counties participated in the project. VDH shared syndromic surveillance data from 34 healthcare facilities (17 urgent cares, 3 emergency care centers, and 14 hospitals) with DoD, which shared syndromic surveillance data from 18 MTFs (16 clinics and 2 hospitals) in Virginia. To standardize the analysis of syndromic surveillance data and use of NSSP ESSENCE across project participants, myESSENCE tabs were created and shared by between VDH and DoD. The goal was to facilitate and enhance communication between local public health departments and their DoD counterparts through the sharing of syndromic surveillance data.How the Moderator Intends to Engage the Audience in Discussions on the TopicThe moderator will solicit feedback from the audience regarding their data sharing experiences with other entities or agencies, data sharing practices, and ideas for use cases when sharing syndromic surveillance data with DoD.

Operations in cyberspace are enabled by a digitized battlefield. The ability to control operations in cyberspace has become a central goal for defence forces. As a result, terms like cyber power, cyberspace operations and cyber deterrence have begun to emerge in military literature in an effort to describe and highlight the importance of related activities. Future military personnel, in all branches, will encounter the raised complexity of joint military operations with cyber as the key enabler. The constant change and complexity raises the demands for the structure and content of education and training. This interdisciplinary contribution discusses the need for a better understanding of the relationships between cyberspace and the physical domain, the cognitive challenges this represents, and proposes a theoretical framework - the Hybrid Space - allowing for the application of psychological concepts in assessment, training and action.

We present a novel technique to send GPS coordinates to other mobiles through short message service (SMS) based on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Two algorithms, Kalman filter and velocity renovation, which can be used in conjunction with GPS are used as a basis for location tracking. This technique can be used to help people, using their mobile with or without GPS, to find the location of a friend using Google maps. The first coordinates are generated from a GPS assisted mobile on Google map, this location is then sent through SMS to another person. The latter can then see the exact location of the sender on his map with an accuracy of 0.57 m (Table 1). The advantages of this technology is by using existing equipments and free services like Google maps and GPS, we can construct a very reliable location tracking system. The basis of this program is GPS. GPS is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the United States (US) Department of Defense (DoD). GPS was originally intended for military applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use. GPS can show you your exact position on the Earth in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to use GPS. The improved location tracking algorithm which uses the Kalman filter with the velocity renovation process is implemented. The velocity renovation process consists of a velocity estimator and direction finder. By this process, the proposed algorithm can use accurately estimated velocity in the location estimation.

NASA hypersonic flight demonstrators—overview, status, and future plans

Austerity might not have reduced the net spend of the state, but it has certainly transformed it into something more centralised, coercive, and managerial. The austerity literature often explains this as the governance implications of a neoliberal drive to cut spending. In contrast, I argue it reflects a distinct managerial lineage of austerity. To make this argument, I theorise austerity through a history of budgetary planning. This was an approach to budgeting that emerged in the United States (US) Department of Defense (DoD) in the 1960s. It was motivated less by a concern that spending was too high and more by a feeling it was too diffuse across welfare beneficiaries, subsidised corporations, and delegated agencies. Budgetary planning addressed this by remaking budgets from democratic spaces of negotiation into centralised instruments of decision-making focused on pursuing ‘effective’ policy. The austerity literature has overlooked budgetary planning because it focuses on changes to tax revenue structures, macroeconomic dynamics, and cost control. Instead, I address microeconomic tools of public expenditure management. Historicising budgetary planning in this way invites us to theorise austerity not only in terms of how much government spends, but also who gets to decide what it buys.

International infectious disease surveillance has been conducted by the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DoD) for many years and has been consolidated within the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, Division of Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (AFHSC-GEIS) since 1998. This includes activities that monitor the presence of antimicrobial resistance among pathogens. AFHSC-GEIS partners work within DoD military treatment facilities and collaborate with host-nation civilian and military clinics, hospitals and university systems. The goals of these activities are to foster military force health protection and medical diplomacy. Surveillance activities include both community-acquired and health care-associated infections and have promoted the development of surveillance networks, centers of excellence and referral laboratories. Information technology applications have been utilized increasingly to aid in DoD-wide global surveillance for diseases significant to force health protection and global public health. This section documents the accomplishments and activities of the network through AFHSC-GEIS partners in 2009.