Transforming C2 for the Warfighter
Written by PAM SMITH AND KRISTEN MORRIS
NET-ENABLED COMMAND CAPABILITY WILL
BE PRINCIPAL COMMAND AND CONTROL CAPABILITY
ACCESSIBLE IN A NETCENTRIC ENVIRONMENT.
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), in concert with the joint community, will revolutionize Department of Defense command and control with the Net-Enabled Command Capability (NECC).
Formerly known as the Joint Command and Control (JC2) Capability, NECC will become DoD’s principal command and control capability accessible in a netcentric environment. It will be founded on a single, net-centric, services-based C2 architecture and will provide the decision support infrastructure that will enable the warfighter to access, display and understand the information necessary to make efficient, timely and effective decisions.
NECC will leverage the existing Global Command and Control System family of systems as the launch point for the future capability while delivering continuous C2 enhancements to the warfighter. Military personnel will be able to rapidly adapt to changing mission needs by defining and tailoring their information environment and drawing on capabilities that enable the efficient, timely and effective command of forces and control of engagements.
JC2 Capability was renamed NECC by the assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration (ASD(NII)) to prevent confusion between Joint Command and Control (JC2) as a DoD functional concept and the DISA-led JC2 Capability acquisition program. The term Net-Enabled Command Capability better defines the materiel solution being developed to support both joint and global command and control requirements, as it will provide the net-centric capability solution set for DoD command and control extending across the national, strategic, operational and tactical warfighting levels.
NECC will replace the current C2 stovepiped capabilities. Today’s C2 capabilities that support the warfighter are aligned with functions, resulting in separate stovepipes. This limits flexibility needed across the C2 environment, and places the burden on the warfighter to pull and gather the disparate information required to perform C2 functions. The warfighter is forced to serve as the C2 information integrator.
NECC will create C2 capabilities that provide access to information from a multitude of sources. This will allow the merging of all types of information to develop pictures, ideas and understandings the warfighter has never had before. NECC will also provide a dynamic C2-capabilities construct where the user can define the functions or C2 capabilities needed and clearly define the mission threads. By changing the focus from stovepiped capabilities to data, the warfighter gains an extremely dynamic and integrated information environment.
DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
NECC is not a traditional program for IT system development. It will be a framework or environment that allows C2 developers to rapidly produce capabilities with hundreds of parallel development efforts. NECC will draw from the C2 community to evolve current and provide new C2 capabilities into a fully integrated, interoperable, collaborative joint solution. NECC is looking to the combatant commands, services and agencies to bring their “best of breed” C2 solutions.
In addition, NECC will partner with other net-centric initiatives within DoD to utilize their enterprise services. It will leverage these existing and evolving C2 capabilities and centers of excellence with its commitment to the “ABC” philosophy: “adopt-before-buy, buy-before-create.” The key to ABC is the adaptation of commercial best practices, architectures and standards for NECC.
NECC will rapidly provide capability by fielding small, well-bounded and militaryuseful capabilities through the Federated Development and Certification Environment (FDCE). FDCE is a federated environment that will allow the development and testing of products from an operational perspective. Developers and operators will test, experiment and prototype potential solutions, focusing on the rapid release of better capabilities while improving them over time. This iterative process will allow the development of matured capabilities that have achieved test and certification milestones proving their operational suitability and effectiveness, interoperability and security for warfighter usage.
As NECC is a pre-major automated information system designated effort, ASD(NII), the milestone decision authority for NECC, released the NECC acquisition decision memorandum (ADM) for Milestone A on March 7. The ADM formally authorizes NECC to enter the technology development phase and renamed the effort Net-Enabled Command Capability. During the technology development phase, NECC will assess the viability of technologies while simultaneously refining user requirements.
In an effort to make NECC a truly joint program, DISA has established the Program Executive Office for Command and Control Capabilities (PEO C2 Capabilities), with representation from all the services as well as Joint Forces Command, as the functional representative. To date, the PEO C2 Capabilities has gained personnel from several services. In addition to the PEO, each service has established a Component Program Management Office (CPMO) collocated with the PEO C2 Capabilities at DISA.
The PEO C2 Capabilities provides executive lifecycle management for programs, projects and initiatives that support the planning and execution of joint military and coalition operations. These include the Global Command and Control System- Joint, Global Combat Support System (Combatant Command/Joint Task Force), Collaborative Force Analysis Sustainment and Transportation, Multinational Information Sharing and NECC.
The PEO C2 Capabilities will also oversee the evolution of these efforts to deliver a truly integrated, joint, net-centric C2 capability for the warfighter through the horizontal integration of C2 operational requirements, architectures and technologies. The PEO C2 Capabilities will facilitate the strategic application of DoD’s net-centric and C2 strategies across C2 programs.
The collaboration of the PEO C2 Capabilities, the CPMOs and the joint community of interest is key to the success of NECC. Together they will enable the transformation of C2 for the warfighter.
The PEO C2 Capabilities is slated to host a C2 track at the DISA Customer Partnership Conference in Las Vegas, May 1–4. During this track, NECC will make several presentations that will provide extensive information on the program’s status in areas of the TD phase, architectural approach, FDCE, evaluation capability modules, integration and tech piloting, and the joint combat capability developer. The C2 track will also feature presentations by the other C2 programs, projects and initiatives. More information about the DISA Customer Partnership Conference is available at www.disa.mil/conference/index.html. ♦
