In an era where the touch of a button spans the globe, 90's catchphrases like Surfing the Net and Riding through Cyberspace are commonplace.
Approximately 2,000 miles southwest of Singapore lies a logistic hotbed in the form of a 35-mile-long coral atoll. The island, named Diego Garcia, is home to the only U.S. military base in the area.
When an installation team from NCTS Pensacola made the Internet available on Diego Garcia in October 1994, technology met secluded patriotism, making a resounding impact. Finally, Diego Garcia was part of the mainstream.
"The Internet is unique to us because we are so isolated," said the NCTS Automated Data Processing (ADP) Officer LT Judy Bolduc. "People no longer have to stay up until ten or eleven at night to get in touch with their higher claimancies. All they have to do is send e-mail during the day and the next morning, if the user on the other end uses their e-mail, they'll have an answer." This is a notable convenience, considering DSN calls on Diego Garcia are frequently preempted.
But the Internet has been more than just a convenience for Diego Garcia. DPC(SW) Dave Beauvais, the island's Internet system manager, contends that, "Preconceptions usually fall well short of reality for people who have never used it. After they get an account and use it in their job, they wonder how they got along without it before."
Among the first to realize the potential of the Internet on the island was John Champney, the site manager of the Ground Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance System (GEODSS). GEODSS is one of three facilities worldwide that track satellites for the North American Aerospace Command (NORAD). Champney uses the system to maintain communication with his Project Headquarters (PHQ) in Colorado Springs, Colo. Recently, he began using the Internet to send a monthly report of satellite and weather data to the PHQ. Champney said in addition to being able to communicate more quickly, the Internet has enabled him to communicate more effectively. "When you have someone on the phone and you want an answer, you may get one, but it may not really be the best one," he said. "With the Internet, it's there in writing, so it gives people a chance to work with the information before they answer it."
Diego Garcia's Meteorological Oceanographic Command (METOC) Detachment has used the system to send weekly weather reports to the worldwide weather network. The process, which used to take several weeks, is now instantaneous.
The Internet has also provided the island's Airlift Mobility Command (AMC) with a means to obtain and update real time information on AMC flights worldwide. This is done by using TELNET to access a node in Yokota, Japan which connects to the Global Decision Making Support System (GDSS). The Internet has actually made it easier for Diego Garcia' s residents to leave the island, not to mention providing a more timely way to gauge when air cargo (including mail) will arrive.
Though the Marine Corps Security Force (MSCF) Company, which is responsible for the defense of U.S. facilities on Diego Garcia, may be the command on the island least associated with things digital, Maj. Erik Doyle, the company's commanding officer, is one of the island's heaviest Internet users. He was first exposed to the Internet as the Marine officer instructor at Ohio State University's NROTC unit where he used it to communicate with other instructors around the country.
He used this analogy to describe the Internet, "It's like having a set of keys on a ring and not really knowing what they all go to. Using the Internet, one has access to an almost unlimited amount of information; the trick is finding the correct door and then finding the key."
Doyle said he uses the Internet not so much to circumvent the DSN system when trying to communicate with the MSCF battalion headquarters in Norfolk, VA, but rather, in concert with it. "I'll send e-mail to an advisor in Virginia and end the message with a note that I will call that day to discuss the matters," he explained. 'As I know these individuals check their e-mail every morning, I'm guaranteed they will be up on the subject when I make my call. This makes more efficient use of telephone conversations and also gives the other party the ability to have hard copies of the information in front of them during the phone call."
Doyle has run into problems when trying to communicate with other Marine Corps offices. "Almost all Marines have access to e-mail using Banyan Vines, and though I have been fairly successful sending messages to Marines, almost no one has been able to reply using e-mail," he said. "Back to the key analogy; I know I have the key on my ring (actually they have it) but we can't figure out the correct door to use the correct key to solve this problem."
Another way the Internet is used on Diego Garcia has less impact on the island's overall military mission but creates a pronounced effect on the morale of the people stationed there. It helps the Naval Media Center Broadcasting Detachment (NMCB) Diego Garcia produce radio and television programming for the island. We subscribe to the Navy Wire Service, which helps our news department gather timely information of wide Navy interest," said JO1 Bill Sargent, station manager of NMCB. "We also subscribe to what is called the TM Morning Service, which provides stories, horoscopes and things of that nature to help spice up the radio shows."
As the system manager, DPC(SW) Dave Beauvais is responsible for ensuring that all of Diego Garcia's users are sufficiently indoctrinated to the Internet. Beauvais, a former instructor at the Navy Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center (NMITC) in Dam Neck VA, said his teaching experience has been an asset to the job. "There are some people who are already computer literate, but have never used the Internet before, so their transition is fairly easy," he said. "You also have the people who have been on the Internet before coming to this island, so just give them an account and let it run. Then you have the people who get very uncomfortable around computers; they've never really used computers. They don't want to use the Internet, but their chain of command is using it and they're forced to. And you have others who have an account just by proxy of their job, and they don't use it at all."
Though he conceded, some people still steadfastly refuse to acknowledge a need for an Internet account, Beauvais, who has been actively educating the system's users with weekly compilations of Internet tips via e-mail, has noticed a substantial increase in the system's use during the past few months.
As the NCTS ADP leading chief petty officer, Beauvais has personally reaped the benefits of the Internet. He has used it to keep abreast of the latest computer software and hardware products and defects in order to choose wisely for the island's needs. "It takes up to six months to receive hardware and software, so what we receive had better be what we need," he said. Now we can get the latest versions of most software and upgrade packages instantly, instead of waiting for snail mail. For example, we downloaded the IBM Antivirus April upgrade after finding some viruses here. Who knows what just a couple extra weeks of waiting for the upgrade would have done to the affected systems."
Currently, there are only eighty Internet accounts on Diego Garcia that filter through a bank of eight 9600 bps modems located at the island's Receiver Site. However, a plan is in the works to connect the system to the U.S. Navy Support Facility's fiber optic LAN. This will allow more users on the system, eliminate the need for most dial-in accounts and allow information to be transmitted faster. LT Bolduc expects this to happen within three to four months.
Now detached and disconnected only apply geographically to Diego Garcia.
About the Author: JO2 John Hackley