DOD to use NCES

The military will start using Net-Centric Enterprise Services (NCES) in October, which will allow warfighters and intelligence analysts to share information more quickly and easily.

Begun in 2002, NCES creates a communications infrastructure that will let troops and analysts access military and intelligence networks by customizing searches for information and combining intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data to clearly identify enemy forces. Also in October, Defense Information Systems Agency officials plan to make the Global Information Grid-Bandwidth Expansion program operational at 10 sites, which will move imagery at laser speeds.

"NCES is a powerful transformational construct that will revolutionize the way we conduct warfighting and business operations throughout the department," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege, director of DISA, in a statement released yesterday. "It will bring advanced speed, precision and efficiency through integrated joint net-centric operations,"

DISA officials will work with Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., and Joint Forces Command at Norfolk, Va., to provide what the military calls shared situational awareness and global strike. This will extend and expand current operational capabilities, Raduege said.