Navy CIO praises NMCI

The Navy's chief information officer said this week the Navy Marine Corps Intranet showed its durability during the MyDoom computer virus earlier this year and the San Diego forest fires last year.

Only 20 of 120,000 computer workstations were hit by MyDoom in January, and network administrators strengthened the network's defenses within three hours of the outbreak. NMCI also worked around-the-clock during the San Diego forest fires in September 2003, said Dave Wennergren, the Navy's chief information officer, speaking at a Sept. 9 luncheon briefing of the Northern Virginia chapter of AFCEA International.

"NMCI is more than just a network," he said.

NMCI's critics said the system's performance does not match its $8.8 billion price tag and lead contractor EDS cannot finish the job on time or on budget. But more than half of the Navy's and Marine Corps' employees use the network, with more than 187,000 seats residing on it.

The program will also get a new leader this month. Rear Adm. James Godwin III will become the new NMCI director, succeeding Rear Adm. Charles Munns. Munns was recommended in June by Navy Secretary Gordon England for vice admiral and commander of submarine force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet and commander of Submarine Allied Command, Atlantic, in Norfolk, Va.