DOD plans new Hawaiian HQ
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HONOLULU—The Pacific Command is planning to build a state-of-the-art command and control headquarters at Camp Smith in Hawaii that command officials said will serve as a model for other Defense Department C2 centers in the 21st century. The command will break ground on the new headquarters in 2000 and move into the complex in 2003, said Army Brig. Gen. James Bryan, the command's director for command, control, communications and computer systems.
HONOLULUThe Pacific Command is planning to build a state-of-the-art command and
control headquarters at Camp Smith in Hawaii that command officials said will serve as a
model for other Defense Department C2 centers in the 21st century.
The command will break ground on the new headquarters in 2000 and move into the complex
in 2003, said Army Brig. Gen. James Bryan, the commands director for command,
control, communications and computer systems.
DOD built the commands current building as a hospital during World War II, but
the staff has outgrown the more than 50-year-old facility, which is starting to show its
age, Bryan said.
A critical part of the new structure is a planned command, control, communications,
computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability. The Pacific Command
will spend $25 million through 2002 on a C4ISR center to serve users from California to
the shores of India and Africa.
When youre building a major unified command headquarters like we are,
thats not very much money, Bryan said. But its sufficient.
The command will install asynchronous transfer mode infrastructure that supports voice,
video and data in the new six-floor building. The ATM network will allow transmission of
information at all security levels via the Non-Classified IP Router Network and the Secret
IP Router Network. Conference rooms and operation centers will have videoconferencing, LAN
access, cable and closed circuit TV, and collaborative tools.
I believe that the addition of video and visuals to the staff officers will be
the most revolutionary advancement in staff processing that weve had since
e-mail, Bryan said.
The multimedia environment will require a database of information that is accessible to
all staff levels within the command, Bryan said. Sharing knowledge is the key, he said.
The ability to research vast amounts of information and get good answers fast to
tough questions will be the business process of collaborative planning, Bryan said.
I believe that introducing a knowledge-based, archived, Web browser environment will
help us to get to this very important next stage.
A Defense Information Systems Agency team is consulting with the command on the
ultimate design of the command center.
In the interim, the Pacific command is in the process of creating a Theater C4ISR
Coordination Center (TCCC) to provide around-the-clock bandwidth management for all
command networks. TCCC will ensure that command networks are reliable, secure and
sustainable, Bryan said.
Whats missing at the commander level is a broad oversight of the commands
networks, Bryan said. TCCC will begin initial operation next month to fill that void, he
said.
I have a need to know what the health of our networks is, Bryan said.
Right now, people know what that health is, but I have to go out and collect that
information. We dont have a central reporting facility to which all our networks
report.