950 ELSG intel system transitions analysts into net-centric era Published May 5, 2008 By Monica D. Morales 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs HANSCOM AFB, Mass. -- The era of analysts who navigated through the world of intelligence data equipped with sticky notes and spreadsheets is being shelved to make room for a new set of tools that make use of Web-based applications. That's what the 950th Electronic Systems Group's Air Force Distributed Common Ground System Block 10.2 aims to ensure after successfully completing its Factory Acceptance Test in concert with prime contractor Raytheon last month. Immediately thereafter, work began to field this upgraded capability to the first of five Air Force DCGS sites. The Air Force DCGS consists of global sites capable of receiving, processing, storing, correlating, exploiting and disseminating intelligence feeds from multiple sources. Despite reaching this success, AF DCGS Block 10.2 experienced its share of setbacks in the past. After two major test failures last summer, the government-contractor team embarked upon an ambitious redesign effort. "We knew that once we got through about the fourth Engineering Validation Test, our confidence level of having a system that worked would skyrocket," said Maj. Mike Lauden, AF DCGS Block 10.2 program manager. "We couldn't believe the turnaround - going from a system that a year ago might lock up to one that's screaming along, doing everything it's supposed to do." The fifth and final EVT had to prove the functionality of the whole system. When it did, Major Lauden said that it actually proved much more - that in a span of five months, the team was able to put the AF DCGS re-design on contract, conduct the re-design, cycle through five EVTs and then finally reach validation with the acceptance test. In this final test, the system passed with flying colors allowing the program to move forward with the arrival of the system at Beale AFB, Calif., on April 21. Block 10.2 differs from its legacy system predecessor in that it allows more data to be received, analyzed and shared, where previously stovepipes restricted information sharing and expandability. "Basically, this means that this is the first time we've had an AF DCGS capability demonstrated in a net-centric environment that we can now take out to the field," he said. AF DCGS Block 10.2 Lead Engineer Tom Butts said another key to reaching this milestone is the foundation for information sharing using net-centric service oriented architecture. "We will now share our information and services with our intelligence agency partners. This moves us closer to meeting the President's Executive Order 13388, which directs federal agencies to enhance their sharing of information on any suspicions of terrorism," he said. Mr. Butts said that being able to focus on net-centricity makes this the first step for AF DCGS to connect all the other military services and agencies. "This also lets other intelligence customers out there have the opportunity to connect to us through our web services and shared data sources," he said. Major Lauden likens the upgrade capability to accessing an online search engine and entering key words to filter through catalogs of information. A search using the words 'Baghdad airport' in combination with a specific date, for example, will recall and make available to users intelligence data relevant to that query. "We fondly refer to it as 'DCGS online,'" said Mr. Butts. "This also gives users the ability to nominate a specific collection of sensors to search for data." An automated process also allows users with the proper permission levels to access data through Web portals and a multitude of security services. Throughout the evaluation tests, feedback reflected that users were meeting success while designing their workflow. "More and more, as the users got involved, they started to feel like they had some ownership in the system and of the way things were being re-designed," Major Lauden said. The major said that the team would play with the new design, provide positive feedback for those aspects of the design that worked well, or suggest improvements in areas that may have been lacking. "The contractor team did an outstanding job of taking the users' suggestions and incorporating them into the design," he said. "The results of the team's efforts were evidenced by the myriad of positive comments from the user community during the Factory Acceptance Test." The first installation at Beale AFB signaled a move toward bringing these capabilities into the hands of the warfighter. "The work that has been done with DCGS has been huge," said Brig. Gen. Pete Hoene, former 350th Electronic Systems Wing commander. "We snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on this next-generation capability that will put us on the path to a net-centric capability for intelligence systems." In addition to the site in California, AF DCGS is located in four other locations around the world - Langley AFB, Va., Hickam AFB, Hawaii, Osan AB, Korea and Ramstein AB, Germany. The next site to receive the Block 10.2 upgrade will be Ramstein AB, Germany.