Cookie-cutter security hinders soldiers on the edge, Army vice chief of staff says
Chiarelli ponders why Army technology can't keep up with iPhone
Fort Lauderdale—Army Vice Chief of Staff GEN Peter Chiarelli had a captive audience of several thousand signaleers on Thursday at the LandWarNet 2009 conference, and he took the opportunity to get some things off his chest related to the way that CIO/G6 and the National Security Agency manage networks and information technology.
Why is it, he asked, that his BlackBerry device denies him access every six months until he changes his passcode? If it is so important to do that, then why not reset it every month, or every day? And why can’t he use the camera on his BlackBerry to take photos of soldiers when he is traveling? Because of security reasons, the BlackBerry camera is physically disabled to prevent him from doing so. No problem taking a picture with his iPhone, though.
Those questions were symptoms of a larger set of issues, he said.
“My intent isn’t to ruffle feathers or point fingers,” he said during a live video teleconference from the Pentagon. “I realize the signal community doesn’t often get a lot of credit. When things don’t work right we blame the IT guy or gal in the room. (But these types of things) have a chilling effect when we let them permeate everything we do.”
He accused communicators of “becoming more adverse to change” and building a “cookie-cutter approach to security environments.” The result is that soldiers most in need of the information that the network can provide are hindered in getting the actionable intelligence necessary to perform missions and think on the fly based on commander’s intent.
“One of the most significant lessons learned is that most game-changing decisions are made by individual soldiers on the ground,” he said. “The soldiers at the edge are also the source of most intelligence gathered, and that information has to be made accessible to many more people, including individual soldiers operating at the unit level.”
Chiarelli was also irked by a couple other aspects of the way communications and the networks are run. They include requiring Type 1 security for even the most inconsequential data, and the lack of applications like those developed for the Apple iPhone for Army approved hand-held devices.
“The requirement for encryption requires more-expensive power-eating radios, and doesn’t make sense for fleeting information that has no value five minutes later,” he said. It means loading down soldiers with heavier equipment and batteries, he added. “Access to that information can mean the difference between living and dying. It is the soldier on the ground who suffers.”
In his presentation, Chiarelli expressed his admiration for the capabilities of the iPhone as an example of what technology could look like for the Army. “As of July, there were 65,000 apps available to download. Why can’t the Army develop a similar capability that would let the soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan download an app to view a video feed from a Predator flying over the battlefield?
“If we want to stay relevant we can’t allow ourselves to be constrained by outdated policies. I share these concerns with you because we are at a crucial point. If we are to succeed we must all work together to find solutions to these challenges. The communications and knowledge-management communities can have an important role to play on our Army team.
“Be, as you have in the past, part of the solution.”