Demonstration to Showcase Life-saving Information-sharing Technologies

American Forces Press Service

June 3, 2009 - Wildfires in California, hurricanes battering the East Coast and insurgents attacking a U.S. convoy are among simulated real-time events that will put life-saving information-sharing technologies on center stage during the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration scheduled June 15-25. New and emerging technologies are positioned for testing as military members, emergency first responders and coalition partners determine which technologies could solve their near-term information-sharing and communications problems, officials said.

The annual event, directed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, evaluates cutting-edge information technology that focuses on criteria defined by combatant commanders and government agencies, organizers said. Technologies are approved for participation because they address a new information-sharing capability or might improve an existing capability, officials explained.

U.S. Joint Forces Command is the host combatant command for the event, and its Joint Systems Integration Center in Suffolk, Va., is among the sites for demonstration events. Other sites include the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Dahlgren Division at Naval Support Facility Dahlgren, Va., and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific at San Diego State University in California.

"Coalition participation is the cornerstone of U.S. CWID 2009 and the entire CWID enterprise," said Army Lt. Gen. Carroll F. Pollett, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, which manages the demonstration's daily operations.

U.S. Joint Forces Command is the primary site, and command officials will work with coalition partners running their own interoperability trials and assessments, targeting information technologies that can be moved into operational use within 18 months of the execution period, officials said.

At Dahlgren's execution site, the battle lab will host various simulated military combat operations centers. Visitors to the demonstration will see a cross-section of real-world warfighters collaborating in real time on military activities and national emergency scenarios, officials said.

On the West Coast, the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific will team with the San Diego Office of Disaster Preparedness and San Diego State University to find potential solutions to local emergency response capability gaps, officials said.

U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colo., also will collaborate with the Pacific center. Northcom is the demonstration's primary homeland security and homeland defense site.

The air operations center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., will set the stage for interactive support technology development and interoperability during the demonstration. Hanscom provides warfighting commanders with battlefield situational awareness and information on the global information grid, officials said.

Registration information is accessible on the CWID Web site.

(From a Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration Joint Management Office news release.)