Sterling's Army pact supports intell

The Army Intelligence and Security Command (Inscom) last week awarded Sterling Software Inc. a $42 million contract for professional and technical services in support of the Intelligence Master Plan, a project that defines future information systems requirements and an investment strategy for Army intelligence.

Under the contract, Sterling will analyze and document organizational and systems changes within the Army intelligence community, including changes to systems architectures, concepts and methods of sharing and managing information.

"We're working with the Army to establish a vector to the future for Army intelligence," said Paul Menoher, vice president for business development with Sterling's Federal Systems Group. Sterling will help to define the "most practical and affordable solutions to the deltas that exist in Army intelligence," Menoher said.

"I couldn't have picked a better time [for this contract], given the criticality of today's [intelligence] requirements," said Col. Sally Murphy, program director for the Army Intelligence Master Plan (AIMP). The changes in threats to worldwide stability as well as changes taking place within the Army are having significant repercussions on what is required of the service's intelligence community, Murphy said.

There are 48 analysts on the Sterling contractor team, which includes Electronic Warfare Associates Inc. (EWA), Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc., ManTech International Corp. and JBL&Y Inc. Representatives from the contractor team are located at Inscom, the Army Intelligence Center and School at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., and at Army Headquarters in the offices of the deputy chiefs of staff for intelligence and operations.

According to Tom Weinstein, senior vice president of EWA's Intelligence Systems Division and the former Army deputy chief of staff for intelligence when the AIMP was created 1986, EWA will "provide functional expertise in signals intelligence, measurement and signature intelligence, electronic warfare and information operations." The company's work in these areas will help with strategic direction and review of Army intelligence operations, he said.

The Army designed the AIMP to "look at different mixes [of forces, equipment and architectures] and measure their costs against their effectiveness on the battlefield," Weinstein said.

Richard Allenbaugh, director of the AIMP at Sterling and the former senior intelligence officer for the Army's 18th Airborne Corps, said Sterling also will address managing information flow and methods of communicating critical intelligence information to military commanders— one of the major challenges facing the intelligence community.

"Access to information is not always the issue," Allenbaugh said. "The Army's investment strategy is based on information dominance that allows for mental agility." Mental agility gives commanders the capability to out-maneuver and make decisions faster than the enemy "to the point where you're always on the offense," Allenbaugh said. "This puts great demands on [digital] presentation of information."

Sterling's efforts under the contract also support the Army's Intel XXI study, an initiative undertaken to address the baseline requirements of Army intelligence in the 21st century. The Intel XXI study will focus on assessments of emerging risks associated with technological trends, particularly those pertaining to information operations. The study also will devise new ways to leverage the assets of the national intelligence community on behalf of the warfighter.

Intel XXI is composed of 19 panels of experts in intelligence disciplines, including technology. The Sterling team is supporting all 19 panels, said Menoher, who also is a member of the Intel XXI Senior Advisory Group.