New Training Opportunities for Joint STARS CGS Operators (96H)

A new software upgrade designed to allow Common Ground Station (CGS) and Joint Service Workstation (JSWS) systems to network with other systems over the Secure Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNET) is providing valuable training opportunities for Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) CGS Operators. Based on lessons learned from Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF), a contract firm developed the software upgrade known as "Enhanced Multi-Common Ground Station."

After successfully testing the software, the members of the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) Development, training, and Test Detachment (DTTD) in Melbourne, Florida, quickly realized the training applications of the newly developed networking capability. With the capability to network CGS and JSWS systems, any CGS and JSWS on the network can receive moving target indicator (MTI), synthetic aperture radar (SAR), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and other data from any other CGS and JSWS system on the network. In other words, a CGS receiving data from a live Joint STARS flight in Iraq can share the data in near-real time with any number of CGS or JSWS systems simultaneously over the SIPRNET. This capability will revolutionize CGS and JSWS training as well as operations.

Currently, the DTTD supports training events every week, providing recorded data and live feeds to users in the field. Many of the customers to date have been Reserve Component (RC) units mobilized for OIF or Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) duty. Many of these RC units do not have adequate equipment at their home stations, lack adequate training when mobilized, or both. Many of the 96H (Common Ground Station Operator) soldiers in these units would never see a live data feed prior to deployment if not for the capability of sending data through the network to their CGS and/or JSWS at their home stations or mobilization training sites.

In addition to providing support to 96H training in the field, the DTTD also provides a ten-day live-environment training (LET) opportunity at the Joint STARS Joint Test Facility (JTF) in Melbourne, Florida. The LET focuses on CGS and JSWS configuration, operation, maintenance, and repair. System configuration topics cover the most current software installs and Service Pack loading. Operations training consists of a combination of live and simulated datalinks to Joint STARS (Surveillance and Control Datalink [SCDL] and satellite communications [SATCOM]), Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS) nodes of TRAP (Tactical Related Applications Program) Data Dissemination System (TDDS), Tactical Information Broadcast Service (TIBS), and Tactical Reconnaissance Intelligence Exchange System (TRIXS) using the Joint Tactical Terminal (JTT) or Commanders Tactical Terminal (CTT) radios. Classified local area network (LAN) connectivity and data distribution via Multi-CGS and Enhanced Multi-CGS modes are reinforced through operations and training.

In the day and age of Army Transformation and stability operations and support operations in the field, units face a challenge in providing realistic and relevant training opportunities for their 96H soldiers. The advent of Enhanced Multi-CGS now provides the vehicle for turning those training challenges into great training opportunities. For more information on the LET, contact your local readiness training (REDTRAIN) manager and ask about LET 1235. For more information concerning network training opportunities, contact Staff Sergeant William Strouse via E-mail at William. strouse@js-jtf.af.mil and by telephone at (321) 726-7078 or Sergeant First Class Kevin Rinehart at kevin.rinehart@jsjtf.af.mil and (321)726-7097.

[Author Affiliation]

by Major Patrick L. Daniel

[Author Affiliation]

Major Patrick Daniel is currently the Commander of the Joint STARS Development, Training, and Test Detachment (DTTD) at Melbourne, Florida. Before his assignment in Melbourne, he served in OIF as Deputy G2 for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and a former member of the U. S. Army Intelligence Center faculty. He holds undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degrees in Speech Communication and Psychology from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. Readers may contact the author via Email atpatrick-daniel@us.army.mil and telephonically at (321) 726-7203.