Global Information Grid

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Schematic view of the Global Information Grid. The GIG includes any DoD system, equipment, software, or service that transmits, stores, or processes DoD information, and any other associated services necessary to achieve information superiority. Gig ov1.jpg
Schematic view of the Global Information Grid. The GIG includes any DoD system, equipment, software, or service that transmits, stores, or processes DoD information, and any other associated services necessary to achieve information superiority.

The Global Information Grid (GIG) is a network of information transmission and processing maintained by the United States Department of Defense. More descriptively, it is a worldwide network of information transmission, of associated processes, and of personnel serving to collect, process, safeguard, transmit, and manage this information. [1] It is an all-encompassing communications project of the United States Department of Defense.[ citation needed ] The GIG makes this immediately available to military personnel, to those responsible for military politics, and for support personnel.[ citation needed ] It includes all infrastructure, bought or loaned, of communications, electronics, informatics (including software and databases), and security.[ citation needed ] It is the most visible manifestation of network-centric warfare.[ citation needed ] It is the combination of technology and human activity that enables warfighters to access information on demand. [2]

Contents

It is defined as a "globally interconnected, end-to-end set of information capabilities for collecting, processing, storing, disseminating, and managing information on demand to warfighters, policy makers, and support personnel". [3]

The GIG includes owned and leased communications and computing systems and services, software (including applications), data, security services, other associated services, and National Security Systems. Non-GIG Information Technology (IT) includes stand-alone, self-contained, or embedded IT that is not, and will not be, connected to the enterprise network. [4]

This new definition removes references to the National Security Systems as defined in section 5142 of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996. Further, this new definition removes the references to the GIG providing capabilities from all operating locations (bases, posts, camps, stations, facilities, mobile platforms, and deployed sites). And lastly, this definition removes the part of the definition that discusses the interfaces to coalition, allied, and non-Department of Defense users and systems. [5]

The DoD's use of the term "GIG" is undergoing changes as the Department deals with new concepts such as Cyberspace Operations, GIG 2.0 (A Joint Staff J6 Initiative), and the Department of Defense Information Enterprise (DIE). [4]

The GIG is managed by a construct known as NetOps. NetOps is defined as the operational framework consisting of three essential tasks, Situational Awareness (SA), and Command & Control (C2) that the Commander (CDR) of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), in coordination with DoD and Global NetOps Community, employs to operate and defend the GIG to ensure information superiority. [6]

In the past

The specifications for the GIG were published by the DoD on 22 September 1999, and the assistant secretary of defense officially mandated it on 19 September 2002 to carry out the project.[ citation needed ] Although in 2008, the ambitious objectives of the program had not been realized, informatic communications between soldiers and commanders on the battlefield had been successfully realized, the most well-known examples having occurred during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[ citation needed ]

The GIG underwent a severe cyberattack in 2008, in the form of a computer virus which spread through military computer networks. [1] As a result, the US Strategic Command banned all forms of removable media, including thumb drives, DVDs, and floppy disks. [1] At the time, the GIG contained about 17 million military computers, and it was scanned millions of times daily. [1]

Defense Information Enterprise

The Department of Defense Information Enterprise is defined as the DoD information resources, assets, and processes required to achieve an information advantage and share information across the Department of Defense and with mission partners.[ citation needed ]

It includes: [4]

Vision

The Network-Centric Warfare (NCW) doctrine represents a fundamental shift in military culture, away from compartmentalized war machines and toward interconnected units operating cohesively.[ citation needed ] The tenets of Network Centric Warfare are:

At the enterprise level, forging new paths with whom components of the military communicate will ease logistics burdens, improve communication and combat effectiveness of the war fighter, decrease instances of confusion-related fratricide, accelerate the trend in minimizing collateral damage, and hasten the flow of business. For the warfighter, situational awareness would be improved tremendously by linking what he sees with what an overhead satellite sees.[ citation needed ]

The fog of war would be lifted by seamless communication between unit members, off site detection devices, and commanders operating behind the line. Improved coordination may also assist in delivering appropriate firepower or other tangible assets to first responders during domestic attacks and natural disasters worldwide. [7]

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".

Network-centric warfare, also called network-centric operations or net-centric warfare, is a military doctrine or theory of war that aims to translate an information advantage, enabled partly by information technology, into a competitive advantage through the computer networking of dispersed forces. It was pioneered by the United States Department of Defense in the 1990s.

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">U.S. critical infrastructure protection</span>

In the U.S., critical infrastructure protection (CIP) is a concept that relates to the preparedness and response to serious incidents that involve the critical infrastructure of a region or the nation. The American Presidential directive PDD-63 of May 1998 set up a national program of "Critical Infrastructure Protection". In 2014 the NIST Cybersecurity Framework was published after further presidential directives.

The Global Information Grid Bandwidth Expansion (GIG-BE) Program was a major United States Department of Defense (DOD) net-centric transformational initiative executed by DISA. Part of the Global Information Grid project, GIG-BE created a ubiquitous "bandwidth-available" environment to improve national security intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, information assurance, as well as command and control. Through GIG-BE, DISA leveraged DOD's existing end-to-end information transport capabilities, significantly expanding capacity and reliability to select Joint Staff-approved locations worldwide. GIG-BE achieved Full Operational Capability (FOC) on December 20, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">653d Electronic Systems Wing</span> Military unit

The 653d Electronic Systems Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force located at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security</span>

The under secretary of defense for intelligence and security or USD(I&S) is a high-ranking civilian position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that acts as the principal civilian advisor and deputy to the secretary of defense (SecDef) and deputy secretary of defense (DepSecDef) on matters relating to military intelligence and security. The under secretary is appointed as a civilian by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve at the pleasure of the president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Command and control</span> Military exercise of authority by a commanding officer over assigned forces

Command and control is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... [that] employs human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or enterprise, according to a 2015 definition by military scientists Marius Vassiliou, David S. Alberts, and Jonathan R. Agre. The term often refers to a military system.

The Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) program was a United States Department of Defense (DOD) program sponsored by the U.S. Air Force for a secure, high-capacity global communications network serving the Department of Defense, NASA and the United States Intelligence Community (IC). It was intended as an enabler of net-centric warfare that would facilitate defense and intelligence professionals making rapid decisions based on integrated, comprehensive information. In 2003, the estimated project costs for the period up to 2015 were estimated to US$ 12 billion (inflation adjusted US$ 19.1 billion in 2022). In October 2008, the DoD announced that it was postponing making a decision on choosing a contractor to build the system until 2010. In April 2009 Secretary of Defence Robert M. Gates asked that the project be canceled in its entirety.

David Stephen Alberts is a former American Director of Research for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration (NII).

LandWarNet (LWN) is the United States Army’s contribution to the Global Information Grid (GIG) that consists of all globally interconnected, end-to-end set of Army information capabilities, associated processes, and personnel for collecting, processing, storing, disseminating, and managing information on demand supporting warfighters, policy makers, and support personnel. It includes all Army and leveraged Department of Defense (DOD)/Joint communications and computing systems and services, software, data security services, and other associated services. LandWarNet exists to enable the warfighter through Mission Command, previously described as Battle Command. Other U.S. service equivalent efforts to LandWarNet include the Navy's "FORCEnet" and the Air Force's "C2 Constellation."

<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.

The Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS) is a service-oriented computer application that supports Information Assurance (IA) program management and automates the Risk Management Framework (RMF) process.

Cyberwarfare is the use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization, especially the deliberate attacking of information systems for strategic or military purposes. As a major developed economy, the United States is highly dependent on the Internet and therefore greatly exposed to cyber attacks. At the same time, the United States has substantial capabilities in both defense and power projection thanks to comparatively advanced technology and a large military budget. Cyber warfare presents a growing threat to physical systems and infrastructures that are linked to the internet. Malicious hacking from domestic or foreign enemies remains a constant threat to the United States. In response to these growing threats, the United States has developed significant cyber capabilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command</span> Cyber warfare command of the U.S. Marine Corps

The U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command is a functional formation of the United States Marine Corps to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattack. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command is the Marine Corps component to U.S. Cyber Command. It comprises a command element, the Marine Corps Cyber Operations Group, and the Marine Corps Cyber Warfare Group, a total of approximately 800 personnel. MARFORCYBER was established on January 21, 2010 under the command of LtGen George J. Flynn,. As of 7 July 2021, MajGen Ryan P. Heritage is in command.

Geographic information systems (GIS) play a constantly evolving role in geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) and United States national security. These technologies allow a user to efficiently manage, analyze, and produce geospatial data, to combine GEOINT with other forms of intelligence collection, and to perform highly developed analysis and visual production of geospatial data. Therefore, GIS produces up-to-date and more reliable GEOINT to reduce uncertainty for a decisionmaker. Since GIS programs are Web-enabled, a user can constantly work with a decision maker to solve their GEOINT and national security related problems from anywhere in the world. There are many types of GIS software used in GEOINT and national security, such as Google Earth, ERDAS IMAGINE, GeoNetwork opensource, and Esri ArcGIS.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Pentagon Hit by Unprecedented Cyber Attack". Fox News . 20 Nov 2008. Archived from the original on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 12 Apr 2021.
  2. ↑ "Defense Information Services Agency". Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 12 Apr 2021.
  3. ↑ "Global Information Grid - Glossary | CSRC" . Retrieved 12 Apr 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "DoDD 8000.01, Management of the Department of Defense Information Enterprise, dated February 10, 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-11. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  5. ↑ Global Information Grid (GIG) Overarching Policy, dated September 19, 2002 Archived May 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Joint Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for Global Information Grid (GIG) NetOps Version 3, dated August 4, 2006
  7. 1 2 "Network-Centric Warfare: Its Origin and Future, By Vice Admiral Arthur K. Cebrowski, U.S. Navy, and John J. Garstka, Proceedings, January 1998". Dodccrp.org. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
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