Global Command and Control System

Last updated

Global Command and Control System (GCCS) is the United States' armed forces DoD joint command and control (C2) system used to provide accurate, complete, and timely information for the operational chain of command for U.S. armed forces. "GCCS" is most often used to refer to the computer system, but actually consists of hardware, software, common procedures, appropriation, and numerous applications and interfaces that make up an "operational architecture" that provides worldwide connectivity with all levels of command. GCCS incorporates systems that provide situational awareness, support for intelligence, force planning, readiness assessment, and deployment applications that battlefield commanders require to effectively plan and execute joint military operations.

Contents

History

Operations Specialists monitor (GCCS) in the Combat Direction Center (CDC) aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). US Navy 041016-N-1513W-052 Operations Specialist^rsquo,s monitor Global Command Control Systems (GCCS) in the Combat Direction Center (CDC).jpg
Operations Specialists monitor (GCCS) in the Combat Direction Center (CDC) aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74).

GCCS evolved from earlier predecessors such as TBMCS (Theater Battle Management Core Systems), Joint Operations Tactical System (JOTS), and Joint Maritime Command Information System (JMCIS). It fulfilled requirements for technological, procedural and security improvements to the aging Worldwide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) plus its TEMPEST requirement of Cold War defenses from wiretapping and electromagnetic signal interception that include physical (special wire and cabinet shielding, double locks) and operational (special access passes and passwords) measures. On August 30, 1996, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) officially decommissioned WWMCCS and the Joint Staff declared the Global Command and Control System (GCCS) as the joint command and control system of record. [1]

Applications, Functionality

GCCS systems comprise various data processing and web services which are used by many applications supporting combat operations, troop/force movements (JOPES), intelligence analysis and production, targeting, ground weapons and radar analysis, and terrain and weather analysis. Some next-generation applications designed for GCCS may support collaboration using chat systems, newsgroups, and email. (See JOPES, Mob/ODEE, etc.)

GCCS supports six mission areas (operations, mobilization, deployment, employment, sustainment, and intelligence) through eight functional areas: threat identification and assessment, strategy planning aids, course of action development, execution planning, implementation, monitoring, risk analysis, and a common tactical picture.

Connectivity

GCCS may use NIPRNet, SIPRNet, JWICS, or other IP based networks for connectivity. In some installations, GCCS aggregates over 94 different sources of data. [2]

Components/Variants

The Navy's life cycle development of what is currently referred to as the Global Command and Control System, was and continues to be evolutionary in nature and will probably never result in a permanent system. From the early 1980s when SPAWARs PD-40 VADM Jerry O. Tuttle's Joint Operations Tactical System was the premier system, through the tenure of VADM John Gauss's Joint Maritime Command Information System (JMCIS), the final product would be realized as the Global Command and Control System (GCCS), introduced conceptually by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defense Information Systems Agency</span> US Department of Defense combat support agency

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), known as the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) until 1991, is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency composed of military, federal civilians, and contractors. DISA provides information technology (IT) and communications support to the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, the military services, the combatant commands, and any individual or system contributing to the defense of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Strategic Command</span> Unified combatant command based in Nebraska

The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterrence, global strike, and operating the Defense Department's Global Information Grid. It also provides a host of capabilities to support the other combatant commands, including integrated missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR). This command exists to give "national leadership a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly".

The Army Battle Command System (ABCS) is a digital Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) system for the US Army. It includes a mix of fixed/semi-fixed and mobile networks. It is also designed for interoperability with US and Coalition C4I systems.

The Defense Information System Network (DISN) has been the United States Department of Defense's enterprise telecommunications network for providing data, video, and voice services for 40 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NetOps</span>

NetOps is defined as the operational framework consisting of three essential tasks, Situational Awareness (SA), and Command & Control (C2) that the Commander (CDR) of US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), in coordination with DoD and Global NetOps Community, employs to operate, manage and defend the Global Information Grid (GIG) to ensure information superiority for the United States.

Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations (JTF-GNO) was a subordinate command of United States Strategic Command whose mission was to: direct the operation and defense of the Global Information Grid (GIG) across strategic, operational, and tactical boundaries in support of the US Department of Defense's full spectrum of war fighting, intelligence, and business operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Military Command Center</span> Main war rooms for the President and Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon

The National Military Command Center (NMCC) is a Pentagon command and communications center for the National Command Authority. Maintained by the Department of the Air Force as the "DoD Executive Agent" for NMCC logistical, budgetary, facility, and systems support; the NMCC operators are in the Joint Staff's J-3 (Operations) Directorate. "The NMCC is responsible for generating Emergency Action Messages (EAMs) to missile launch control centers, nuclear submarines, recon aircraft, and battlefield commanders".

The Defense Data Network (DDN) was a computer networking effort of the United States Department of Defense from 1983 through 1995. It was based on ARPANET technology.

The Worldwide Military Command and Control System, or WWMCCS, was a military command and control system implemented for command and control of the United States Department of Defense. It was created in the days following the Cuban Missile Crisis. WWMCCS was a complex of systems that encompassed the elements of warning, communications, data collection and processing, executive decision-making tools and supporting facilities. It was decommissioned in 1996 and replaced by the Global Command and Control System.

Battlespace or battle-space is a term used to signify a military strategy which integrates multiple armed forces for the military theatre of operations, including air, information, land, sea, cyber and outer space to achieve military goals. It includes the environment, timeframe and other factors, and conditions that must be understood to successfully apply combat power, protect the force, or complete the mission. This includes enemy and friendly armed forces, infrastructure, weather, terrain, and the electromagnetic spectrum within the operational areas and areas of interest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Broadcast Service</span> U.S. defense communications project

The Global Broadcast Service (GBS) is a broadcast service rapidly transferring information, which may be classified, for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and its deployed and garrisoned units worldwide. Information may include video and digital data. GBS has become a critical piece of the DoD's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance architecture. An advancement in satellite communications, GBS fills two key military communications requirements:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Hight</span>

Elizabeth Ann Hight is a retired United States Navy rear admiral who served as the vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). She assumed this post in December 2007. In 2008, she was nominated for appointment to the grade of vice admiral and assignment as director, Defense Information Systems Agency; commander, Joint Task Force – Global Network Operations; and deputy commander, U.S. Strategic Command Global Network Operations and Defense, Arlington, Virginia. Her nomination was rejected by the Senate due to a perceived conflict of interest with her husband, retired Air Force Brigadier General Gary Salisbury, who is vice president of business development and sales for Northrop Grumman Corp.'s mission systems sector, defense mission systems division. She retired from the Navy in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PM WIN-T</span> Military unit

PM WIN-T is a component of Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications-Tactical in the United States Army. PM WIN-T has been absorbed into PM Tactical Networks as Product Manager for Mission Networks.

Fleet Command is responsible for the command, operations, readiness, training and force generation of all ships, submarines, aircraft squadrons, diving teams, and shore establishments of the Royal Australian Navy. Fleet Command is headquartered at HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney, and is led by the Commander Australian Fleet (COMAUSFLT), also referred to as Fleet Commander Australia (FCAUST), which is a rear admiral (two-star) appointment.

Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike was a component of the United States Strategic Command. It was headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The Commander, JFCC SGS was dual hatted as the Commander, Eighth Air Force and Commander, JFCC SGS. On 19 July 2006, JFCC SGS was reorganized into two separate JFCCs: Joint Functional Component Command for Global Strike and Integration and Joint Functional Component Command for Space.

The Joint Theater Level Simulation (JTLS) is used to simulate joint, combined, and coalition civil-military operations at the operational level. Used for civil/military simulations and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) scenarios, JTLS is an interactive, computer-assisted simulation that models multi-sided air, ground, and naval resources with logistical Special Operation Forces (SOF) and intelligence support. The primary purpose of JTLS is to create a realistic environment in which agency staff can operate as they would within a real-world or operational situation. A training audience conducts a scenario or event to practice their ability to coordinate various staff functions.

The Joint Information Environment (JIE) is a single, joint, secure, reliable and agile command, control, communications and computing enterprise information environment to which the Department of Defense (DoD) is transitioning in a first-phase implementation that spans fiscal years 2013 and 2014.

Joint Assistant for Development and Execution (JADE) is a U.S. military system used for planning the deployment of military forces in crisis situations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joint Communications Support Element</span> United States military unit

The Joint Communications Support Element (Airborne) (JCSE) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) standing joint force headquarters expeditionary communications provider that can provide rapid deployable, en route, early entry, and scalable command, control, communications, and computer (C4) support to the unified combatant commands, special operations commands, and other agencies as directed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On order, the JCSE can provide additional C4 services within 72 hours to support larger combined joint task force headquarters across the full spectrum of operations. JCSE is part of the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command (JECC), a subordinate command of the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM).

References

  1. "GCCS" . Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  2. "Netcentric In a Snap" . Retrieved 2008-07-06.