Gluing things together: the Defense Security Cooperation Agency brings partners into the Command, Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.

As U.S. forces continue to transform and implement technology-based solutions to meet the threats and challenges of the 21st Century, the security cooperation community must ask the question: "Is the pace of our transformation too fast for our allies and friendly nations to handle?"

The glue cementing the network-centric transformation of U.S. fighting forces are the Command, Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) architectures and systems integrated into most modern weapon systems. This covers everything from man-portable radios to multi-million dollar fighter aircraft. For the combatant commanders, bringing foreign partners into the C4ISR world is a crucial component of interoperability. In 2004, to support the combatant commanders' needs, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) created a C4ISR shop to reevaluate the U.S. response to foreign customer requests for C4ISR solutions.

"We want to be the voice of our foreign partners in the C4ISR area," said Lieutenant General Jeffery Kohler, director, DSCA. According to Lieutenant General Kohler, the C4ISR shop's primary focus is on integration. He said the shop stays abreast of how the Joint Staff, the military departments, and other organizations are evaluating foreign partner requirements.

"We have to ensure that when we develop U.S. systems, that we take coalition partners into consideration," Lieutenant General Kohler said, "and that we do not build systems that are so U.S.- centric that it would cost a fortune to find ways to integrate. Our objective is to work on those issues ahead of time."

The shop's initial assessment showed that the old paradigm was based on stove piping by service, system or platform. There was not a lot of focus on working with allies to develop architectures to allow intra-operability of their forces or inter-operability with U.S. forces. With buy-in from combatant commands and other interagency players, DSCA developed and launched a Three Phase Approach (TPA) to respond to C4ISR requests. The phases are listed below:

* Inter-operability baseline assessment;

* Implementation and baseline planning; and

* Implementation of the integrated solution.

"So how do we help friendly nations tie into these systems? We do an internal assessment first, asking where you are today, what you need, and what your goals and objectives are. Then, we take that information and develop an implementation plan. If we then choose to go to phase three, we implement the plan and put it in a contract," Lieutenant General Kohler said.

The new approach analyzes C4ISR requirements in logical steps with coordination from all U.S. interagency stakeholders and the customer to ensure a total package solution.

Several countries have signed Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOAs) for their C4ISR requirements using the new approach and DSCA continues to brief customer nations interested in learning more about the process. For more information about DSCA C4ISR efforts contact Gregg Bergersen, at [phone].