Army HQ changes affect IT buys

The recent reorganization of Army headquarters will affect network management and how the service acquires command, control, communications and computer (C4) equipment and all other information technology goods, according to the army's chief information officer.

Lt. Gen. Peter Cuviello said all C4 and IT acquisitions now will be made by the assistant secretary for acquisitions, logistics and technology, not the Army Materiel Command. However, the CIO Advisory Board must still approve the funding for those initiatives, said Cuviello, speaking Nov. 19 at an Armed Forces Communciations and Electronics Association luncheon in Pentagon City, Va.

Cuviello, Army CIO, also said that all network management and operations will be handled by Network Command, which means that the CIO's office is responsible for all of the Army's networks.

"It was already being done by Army Signal Command. We're just changing who they report to," Cuviello said. "We're not changing it too much, but now they report directly to headquarters instead of the [major Army commands]."

Cuviello also said the consolidation of IT systems operated by individual installations in the Military District of Washington, which extends from New York to Virginia, is on schedule. The consolidation began in August and should be completed by February.

Consolidation of the Army's enterprise "infostructure" is scheduled to begin in October 2002.