U.S. Army - Goes into Battle with Interoperability Solution WAVE
Goes into Battle with Interoperability Solution WAVE
In March 2003, the United States Army's 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division — the Raider Brigade — was the first to cross into Iraq, where it was responsible for capturing Baghdad International Airport. After a second deployment to Iraq early in 2005, the Brigade returned home to Fort Stewart, Georgia, in January 2006.
For the brigade, the return home signaled the beginning of recovery and re-set operations, and the start of intensive training for their next deployment. In August 2006, the Army's National Training Center (NTC) provided oversight for the Brigade's intensive mission-readiness exercise (MRX) held at Fort Stewart. For more than two decades, the NTC has been credited with providing a valuable system for evaluating combat readiness and realistic training for U.S. Army soldiers.
The Challenge
For the United States Army, secure, reliable communications and the ability to manage and connect disparate audio devices across the network at all levels of operation are an absolute necessity. When a unit is on the battlefield, robust, real-time communication links are more than just a tactical tool-they are a lifeline. For this reason, when a unit is being trained for deployment, simulating real-world communications is an important element of the exercise. At the same time, however, it is also imperative that all communications can be carefully tracked and monitored, so that any training issues can be addressed.
In the course of an MRX, the National Training Center follows stringent requirements for monitoring all aspects of a unit's activities-including communications-so to prepare for the exercise at Fort Stewart, the Brigade's personnel worked to fulfill the NTC's requirements. Part of that effort was the selection of a communications solution that could ensure reliable, real-time communications over distances of up to 25 miles across flat, heavily forested, and damp terrain. The technology would also need to provide robust management capabilities to allow for the monitoring and recording of communications from up to 30 distinct networks at any given time, from any geographic location.
In addition, the communications solution needed to be fast and easy to deploy; the Fort Stewart team had only 30 days to move from concept to reality.
The Solution
Because the terrain used for training emulated actual combat environments, communication via traditional FM was not a viable option. According to an officer of the 3rd Infantry Division, the Army would only consider communications solutions that had been previously tested and proven effective in the field. "We knew we needed to capitalize on our existing technology to maximize our resources. After discussions with officers in the theater, it became clear that there were only a few solutions that could meet all of our strict criteria, and when we combined those criteria with tight delivery timelines, WAVE was the obvious choice."
Once the decision was finalized, the Twisted Pair Solutions team moved quickly, and the WAVE solution was delivered to Fort Stewart in just two weeks. Twisted Pair Solutions and GTSI engineers worked with the Army's NTC and 3rd Infantry Division staff to ensure a quick, effective field installation. In spite of a number of engineering changes made on the fly, the WAVE solution was up and running in just two days. "This was literally an 'in-stride' installation, with our unit in the field just as the WAVE solution was deployed," an officer said. "In spite of the short timeframe, however, WAVE gave us the flexibility to enhance our capabilities during installation, including connecting to the NTC's CCTV system to enable the monitoring of radio interactions over the television."
During the three-week MRX, WAVE extended the reach of the brigade's radios to enable communications with remote locations or between units while delivering command and control capabilities. Importantly for those in the field, the technology proved easy to learn and operate.
At the same time, WAVE enabled the NTC to monitor all units in real time and from any location to pinpoint training issues and provide participants with valuable feedback. In addition, a recording repository ensured that communications from the field could be stored, correlated with other data, and analyzed at length at any time during and after the exercise. WAVE also enabled the NTC's and the Brigade's existing equipment (radios, telephones, and laptops) to communicate effortlessly, ensuring that information traveled smoothly between all levels of operation.
Commanders were impressed with the outcome. "With WAVE, our efficiency increased exponentially because we could use existing radio technologies, or phones, or laptops, and an IP network that was already in place to ensure communications. Our capabilities with WAVE are enormous; we could literally deploy the technology over a range of 100 miles or 1,000 miles-whatever the mission required," he said. "In days past, if I wanted to listen to a radio network, I had to have a radio. I also had to be within range of the radios I wanted to monitor or communicate with. If I wasn't within range, I had to put up FM retransmission stations. The process was cumbersome and costly in terms of people and equipment. To do what we've done with WAVE during this exercise would have required hundreds of radios and the people to operate them. On a battlefield, that could have been extremely dangerous."
The Feedback
The Army and the National Training Center deemed the MRX at Fort Stewart a success and appreciated the capabilities and reliability that WAVE delivered. "In this deployment, WAVE delivered exactly what we asked," an officer concluded. "The technology works. It's viable; it improves our capabilities and reduces our risk. The challenge is to take the technology and leverage it to deliver greater benefit to the Army."
About Twisted Pair Solutions
Twisted Pair Solutions, Inc. headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA with offices in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Australia, designs and builds enterprise software solutions that enable interoperable group communications. Our WAVE software manages real-time, secure, group communications over the IP network, linking in people and devices. The application suite serves an unlimited variety of devices including radios, personal computers, cell phones, and IP phones and allows previously incompatible systems to work together seamlessly. In addition, WAVE's management server capabilities enable robust device and user management over the IP backbone.