Experiment identifies timely solutions to warfighter Published March 21, 2008 By Capt. Larry van der Oord Global Cyberspace Integration Center Public Affairs LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) -- Thanks to a strong effort from the Global Cyberspace Integration Center here, 11 Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment initiatives have been delivered to the warfighter during the past 12 months, and five more are projected to be fielded within the next four months. As the lead agency for JEFX, the GCIC conducts the quarterly experiment with participation from sister services, coalition nations, combatant commands and government agencies to assess initiatives aimed at fulfilling identified gaps in warfighting capability. "Our team pushes to begin transition planning as soon as an initiative has been selected for experimentation," said Lt. Col. Jonathan Fitton, GCIC Transition Management Branch chief. "We aim to provide capability to the first operational unit within 18 months of approval and funding following a successful experiment." Several of these JEFX initiatives positively impacting the warfighter include the ISR Analysis Tool, or IAT, the Global Situational Awareness Tool, and Project Suter V. IAT is installed at an air base in Southwest Asia and provides a web-based application for the analysis and administration of Post Mission Summaries data for the Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination cell. GSAT provides a suite of medical intelligence, mission planning and decision support tools that enable mission planners to quickly analyze and develop effective countermeasures for health threats/risks and environmental hazards and to assess and plan for medical support to operations at austere locations. Project Suter V became the first initiative delivered to specifically meet the mission requirements of the new Air Force Cyber Command. It provides a joint view of the tactical information battlespace to synchronize kinetic, non-kinetic and ISR operations against mobile, networked adversary systems. Transitioning these initiatives from experimentation to fielding is no easy process, Colonel Fitton said. Time, funding and aging resources all present significant challenges during development. The GCIC Transition Management Branch closely monitors each transition effort in order to keep leadership informed of changes in progress and fielding projections. "We provide guidance to initiative sponsors, providers and managers on what to plan for as well as feedback that helps facilitate coordination with the required offices," he said. The unique experimentation environment JEFX provides is resulting in new capability transitioning to the warfighter in a faster, more responsive fashion than the traditional acquisition process supports. Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) Click here to view the comments/letters page