Pacific Fleet:
Building a Network Beyond the Cutting Edge
Moving beyond technology's cutting edge, the U.S. Pacific Fleet is building the largest local area network (LAN) on the planet, according to Rick Kooker, Director of Information Systems for the Pacific Fleet.
Still under construction, the network will link Sailors and Marines throughout the 102-million square miles of the command's coverage area. This Information Technology vehicle will allow the Fleet to improve the capability to train, maintain and supply the most advanced Navy in the world.
Phase one of the enormous project is complete. The Oahu Base Area Network (OBAN) is the first LAN of this magnitude in the world. Over 200 miles of fiber optic cable connect the seven Pacific Fleet commands in the Pearl Harbor area. Only fiber can provide the bandwidth necessary to maintain the speed required for so many users.
OBAN is only the beginning of what will eventually become the massive Pacific Fleet LAN. Another segment is under construction in San Diego, following the same model as OBAN. Two other regions in the planning stages, the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Far East, will complete the network.
The Pacific Fleet LAN is unique because when complete it will be one large LAN, not separate networks bridged together. It will virtually link a Naval force covering roughly half the surface area of the earth.
"It's like a three dimensional screen or a mesh that provides many different routes to all of the points," said Kooker. "We're putting knowledge management and information management in the hands of the individuals rather than the managers. Information is power, but that power is enhanced when it is shared."
When the project is complete, all Navy forces throughout the Pacific can take advantage of interactive networking. The speed will virtually be the same whether a user interacts with another in the same office or across the Pacific.
The second phase of OBAN will add peripheral commands on the island including the 450 users at Kaneohe Bay, the largest component of the second group. Phase two is ahead of schedule and should be complete in the next fiscal year.
"The effects of OBAN are far reaching," said Kooker. "This is the first place in the United States Navy that is completely wired. These 4,000 users comprise the largest and most modern operational asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) LAN on the planet."
ATM technology combines video, voice and data onto one network. A user will eventually be able to carry on a two-way, audio-visual conversation with another user anywhere on the vast LAN. This option is not yet available network-wide, but testing is underway for 30 selected OBAN users.
While the test group may appear small, seven years ago its size would have eclipsed the entire user base of the only operational LAN in the Pacific Fleet. In 1992, copper wire connected 20 users on the Makalapa Compound on Oahu. There were only 40 personal computers in use by command staff, with six technicians providing Information Technology support. With increasing support from the last three Commander-in-Chiefs, the number of users has grown to 4,000 with a support staff of 120.
"The largest single challenge that we face now is data integration," stated Kooker. "We have the IT infrastructure in place, but can we make use of it? It's a real struggle. The second largest challenge is figuring out how to manage all this technology."
These challenges fall to the Regional Information Technology Service Center (RITSC) - the support organization for OBAN. The center manages the network, providing 24-hour support for personal computing services. It also provides the engineering expertise for the design and implementation of future enhancements, upgrades and expansion of the OBAN infrastructure.
Giving users access to more than 300 separate databases consumed by the new network has remained the most difficult challenge for Kooker and his staff since the conception of OBAN. RITSC is the front line of that attack.
A great deal of activity in the Navy today centers around Smart Card technology. The Smart Card is similar to a credit card except that it has a computer chip inserted into the plastic. A magnetic strip on the back of the card makes it "smart" - it holds personal security information similar to that of a credit card.
"The Smart Card becomes the entree into the databases," Kooker commented. "The depth of your entry into those databases or a particular field within a database will be based on your Smart Card information."
The Director of the Department of the Navy Smart Card Office, Tony Cieri, is keeping a close eye on the evolution of the Pacific Fleet's OBAN. With the Smart Card, OBAN will develop into an efficient tool for conducting official Navy business for Sailors and their family members.
"Just think of a single card that's going to touch every part of everything you do every day, from signing onto the network to entering the building," said Cieri. "For a simple thing like changing your address in your service record, you must now submit a form that, depending on the workload, could take several months to clear. Now think of a network with your Smart Card as the authentication key enabling you to make that change momentarily and from your home computer. Now accountability is vested in the person not in the system. That is cultural change."
Part of the change facing the Navy is the establishment of new rules for the digital age.
"The Smart Card is just an enabling tool," said Cieri. "It's nothing in and of itself. It allows us to start asking ourselves why we do what we do and starts the cultural change to make us do it in the digital world."
What does OBAN and RITSC mean to the typical Sailor?
The capabilities offered to the Sailor on Naval Station Hawaii are identical to those on the Pacific Fleet Commander in Chief's workstation. While he may have a few more services available for tactical or special needs, the basic services, hardware and processing speed will be the same.
Sailors who do not have computers on their desks or access to computers on their ship will still have the opportunity to use the system.
"We envision the idea of kiosk type sites all over the base," stated Kooker. "Just swipe the Smart Card and the computer automatically logs you in with your profile. What used to be Disney World products are now within our grasp."
As with office computers, basic services will be available to all Sailors and Marines from these kiosks. They will have access to the barber shop schedule and be able to book appointments or schedule medical and dental appointments for family members. Eventually, all base services and schedules from movie theaters to Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department special events will be made available on the system.
Sailors will have access to change certain information in their service record - for more critical data, they will make an online change request. Someone on the other end, with the correct authentication key, will then have approval authority over the request.
Each Sailor will be assigned a universal mailbox allowing them to receive e- mail or facsimiles. With ATM technology, even voicemail will be accessible online at the desktop level or in one of the kiosks.
Video streaming will allow anyone to view the latest general military training on any PC. As it is viewed, it will be monitored and an electronic entry will be made into the Sailor's record.
There is still much speculation about the endless applications for the OBAN. Ultimately, its success will be measured by how efficient its end users' tasks are performed. Initially, however, the true gauge may simply be the speed with which the end user embraces its potential. While the technology may advance at breakneck speed, the dilemma facing the Pacific Fleet will be the pace of cultural change needed to apply it.
According to Tony Cieri, that change is just around the corner.
"What will be entering the service soon is a new generation," remarked Cieri. "It will be a generation that grew up in the Windows NT age, and they are expecting the digital world because they grew up in it. I look respectfully to Admiral Clemens and his staff for helping the Navy recognize what was coming in the new millennium."
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