From: Damaged Justice <frogfarm@yakko.cs.wmich.edu>
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 07:02:20 +0800
To: cypherpunks@Algebra.COM
Subject: 0728dod.html
Message-ID: <199707292309.TAA24696@yakko.cs.wmich.edu>
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                               July 29, 1997
                                      
                Internet Technology Invades Dept. Of Defense
                         (07/228/97; 4:00 p.m. EDT)
                By Saroja Girishankar, [7]CommunicationsWeek
                                      
    When it comes to embracing Web technologies, no organization in the
    world has mobilized its forces as extensively as the U.S. Department
                                of Defense.
                                      
    In what could become a textbook example for other nations and major
      businesses, the DOD's deployment of Web servers and browsers is
   expected to encompass 2 million users across an assortment of military
   and civilian agencies, making it the world's largest single community
    of Web users. To date, 1.5 million Web browsers have been installed
            across DOD's classified and nonclassified intranets.
                                      
   Already, Web servers at 16 major server sites, applications across 530
    military command sites and an additional 37 component command sites
   provide a secure environment for tens of thousands of high-level Army,
     Navy and Air Force personnel, plus the joint chiefs of staff. They
    will use it to plan military exercises, perform logistics for troop
      movement, ready medical services and other operations related to
                                  combat.
                                      
   The ultimate goal is to provide all military personnel in need with a
    single, multimedia view of military command, control, communications
    and intelligence information, regardless of where they are located,
    according to Frank Perry, technical director for the engineering and
      interoperability directorate and the joint interoperability and
                         engineering organization.
                                      
       Perry said Web technologies, from basic E-mail, newsgroups and
    Internet chat rooms to more advanced Java programs, are making that
                                 possible.
                                      
                           Extending DOD's Reach
                                      
    "The Web browser and applications have made a profound difference in
    getting more and more things to more and more people in the DOD, and
      basically have given us a broader, faster and simpler reach for
     various applications in a truly network-centric way," Perry said.
                                      
   One area where this plays out is managing the movement and deployment
                         of U.S. troops in Bosnia.
                                      
   According to Lt. General Albert Edmonds, who last month retired after
     a three-year stint as director of the Defense Information Systems
      Agency (DISA), and who oversaw the Web implementations, critical
     information related to the deployments were downloaded and easily
     replicated across secure Web servers that could be accessed by all
                             parties involved.
                                      
     Regardless of the different desktops and laptops, personnel could
    download and access information, and the distributed format reduced
    bandwidth congestion as well. Before the Web rollout, most databases
     were on mainframes and could be accessed only by a small group of
                                  people.
                                      
      The DOD, along with other government agencies, has for some time
   relied on commercial products and technologies for faster development
       and lower costs. DISA, which is responsible for operating four
     networks -- the Defense Information Systems Network (DISN), Global
   Command and Control System (GCCS), Global Combat Support System (GCCS)
        and the Defense Messaging System (DMS) -- under the umbrella
   organization called the Defense Information Infrastructure -- has been
       moving its antiquated mainframe-based networks to distributed
         [8]TCP/IP[LINK] networks and other emerging technologies.
                                      
      According to Perry, all GCCS users are being moved to Windows NT
   desktops outfitted with browsers from both Netscape Communications and
     Microsoft. This enables them to exchange E-mail and participate in
    newsgroups and Internet relay chat for planning military exercises.
                                      
   For GCCS and GCSS users who have real-time needs of even more reliable
    and secure access, existing Unix clients will be retained. Users who
   have traditionally been using Unix-client software are being gradually
   moved to thin clients that use browsers with Java applets. Over time,
            all GCSS users will also be given similar software.
                                      
   Lastly, both GCCS and GCSS are moving to Java-based applications with
     authentication and cryptographical capabilities required for high
     security. Perry said Microsoft's [9]ActiveX[LINK] has not been an
   option because it allows executable content to move around distributed
     environments in a mobile mode and raises security questions. Java
    Virtual Machine and its sandbox construction offer better assurance,
                                  he said.
                                      
    Perry said GCCS and GCSS operate over a high-security TCP/IP router
    network called the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network that has
   500 core routers as well as hundreds of routers at regional and local
    networks linked to a WAN using a [10]T3[LINK] line. A nonclassified
    network, called the Nonclassified Internet Protocol Router Network,
       which is made up of [11]ATM[LINK] switches and TCP/IP routers,
    provides the basic infrastructure for all of DOD. Although only data
    traffic now goes over ATM, plans are for future transmission of all
               voice, data and video over that cell network.
                                      
                      DMS Affected By Web Technologies
                                      
   The adoption of Web technologies is affecting plans for the DMS. Perry
      and Tom Clark, the DMS program manager, said they will adopt the
     emerging Internet Message Access Protocol 4 -- the Internet E-mail
     standard that promises to let disparate E-mail clients and servers
    talk to each other. DMS, which is expected to have 250,000 users by
      year's end and 2 million during the next few years, is an X.400
          electronic messaging backbone under construction at DOD.
                                      
   DISA said the GCCS, which replaced the older mainframe-based Worldwide
      Military Command and Control System, was completed in 21 months
    instead of the typical five years previously required. In addition,
   the agency said it expects savings of $260 million in the systems and
       operational costs of its networks during the next five years.
                                      
   "Using and adapting the commercial Web technologies permits [the DOD]
    not to spend 20 years building military-unique systems from scratch
    and it requires less training of our users," said Emmett Paige Jr.,
      president and COO at OAO, a Greenbelt, Md., systems integrator.
                                      
      Paige was the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Command, Control,
      Communications and Intelligence) until he retired last month. He
    headed the DOD's adoption of a common operating environment and the
                  move to TCP/IP and Web technologies. end
                                      
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