26 juin 2020 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité

Pandemic doesn’t slow cyber training for the Army

While much of the national security community has had to rethink or delay operations and business practices because of the global pandemic, the Army's cyber school has been able to carry on business as usual due to prior investments in online tools and virtual training environments.

“Our virtual training environment had existed prior to COVID and that was really what our students logged into and that's where our training ranges are and where we do a lot of coding and where we ... conduct our courses,” Col. Paul Craft, the Fort Gordon-based school's commandant told Fifth Domain in an interview. “Because we had that environment, we were already prepared, we were already postured.”

This environment is called the Virtual Training Area or VTA. It is a conglomeration of open-source technologies that Army users can login from around the world on the open internet, not the closed DoD network, to access course prep materials, courses, tests or even to note curriculum changes.

Now, all the officer courses are conducted remotely in the unclassified environment. With the empty classroom space this creates, the enlisted student body can now meet in person and still follow Centers for Disease Control mandated social distancing standards.

For some of the classified material, officers still need to come into classes, also adhering to social distancing mandates and wear masks.

“We did not change. For us, it just occurred over a weekend where our students backed out and said ‘I'm going to log in [from home]' ... continue to train like we were logging into that virtual training environment and we're still going to conduct the classes,” Craft said. “We set up for a success that we didn't know we needed to have.”

This change is especially important as the cyber school expanded to teach “operations in the information environment,” which incorporates how cyber operations, electronic warfare and information operations interact. Within the last two years, the Army merged the electronic warfare and cyber branches together.

While much of the rest of the world has been forced to either halt operations or drastically change practices, many within the military cyber community have been able to lean on technical advancements to continue training.

In addition to the Army Cyber School, U.S. Cyber Command is conducting its annual major training event in June almost entirely remote relying on a virtual training platform for the first time called the Persistent Cyber Training Environment.

Craft explained that when PCTE comes fully online for all of the Defense Department, the plan is to migrate operations from the VTA to PCTE to conduct their training.

Migrating to an almost entirely remote environment on the officer side has also allowed the school to open up more seats to more trainees since they aren't limited to physical space. It's also reduced travel costs for those who need training, Craft said. For example, personnel can take courses from their home stations without having to travel all the way to Fort Gordon.

Moreover, senior leaders are able to audit courses or even conduct guest speaking sessions right from their desks without having to travel to the cyber school.

https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/army/2020/06/25/pandemic-doesnt-slow-cyber-training-for-the-army/

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14 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

FAcT to Deliver Relevant, Flexible and Effective Aircrew Training Solution
Marcello Sukhdeo An interview with Colonel Pete Saunders, Director of Air Simulation and Training, Royal Canadian Air Force In February 2016, the Future Aircrew Training program was granted a broader scope to include current Air Combat Systems Officers (ACSO) and Airborne Electronic Sensor Operators, otherwise known as AES Ops. As a result, the “Future Pilot Training Project” was renamed Future Aircrew Training, or FAcT. Pilots, ACSOs and AES Ops share core skills and knowledge for which a common training system may be employed. The design of the new training system will seek to incorporate the latest and best concepts and technologies for aircrew training available from industry and in use by other militaries around the world. Through the FAcT program, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will ensure that the three aircrew occupations move on to their Operational Training Units with sufficient immersion in live flying and simulation to provide them with appropriate skill sets in their respective fields. Recently, Vanguard had the opportunity to interview Colonel Pete Saunders Director of Air Simulation and Training with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) about the FAcT program. Col Saunders enrolled in the Canadian Forces in March 1990. Since that time, he has enjoyed operational postings flying and instructing on his beloved Sea King Helicopters at 443 (MH) Sqn in Pat Bay, British Columbia; 423 (MH) Sqn, and 12 Wing Operations in Shearwater, Nova Scotia; culminating in Command of 406 (M) OTS. He has served onboard HMCS Annapolis, HMCS Iroquois, HMCS Fredericton and HMCS Toronto and has deployed throughout the Middle East. Col Saunders, we know that there is a shortage of pilots in Canada. 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Additionally, fundamental to FAcT is the intent to incorporate training from the operational training units where it makes sense to do so. This will likewise increase both simulated and live-fly training leading to Wings-standard. A comparison between the ratio of the current NFTC/CFTS programs and the FAcT program is not yet possible because the proposed training solutions from the Qualified Suppliers will differ in their approach to live flying and simulation. The FAcT program will ensure that Pilots, ACSOs and AES Ops move on to their Operational Training Units with sufficient immersion in live flying and simulation to provide them with appropriate skill sets in their respective fields. The importance of a solid foundation in the air environment for ab-initio military aircrew is imperative to ensure that our future Aircraft Captains, Mission Commanders and AES Op leads are appropriately equipped with the right practical skills for operational service. To learn more about the FAcT program and the next steps, visit https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/app-acq/amd-dp/air/snac-nfps/ffpn-fact-eng.html. https://vanguardcanada.com/2019/11/11/fact-to-deliver-relevant-flexible-and-effective-aircrew-training-solution/
12 décembre 2019 | International, C4ISR

Lockheed Martin nabs $22.4M to develop combined-arms squad prototype
ByChristen McCurdy Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin on Wednesday received a $22.4 million to develop prototypes for a combined arms squad for the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense has announced. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency began investing in combined-arms squads -- military units consisting of both human and robot fighters -- in 2016. In 2017 Lockheed received $12.9 million for prototypes for equipment for combined-arms squads, and on Monday CACI Inc. was awarded $9.9 million to develop combined-arms squad prototypes. $11.3 million from Fiscal 2019 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funds were obligated at the time of the award. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas. The estimated completion date is Jan. 31, 2021. Lockheed was the sole bidder for the contract, for which applications were submitted through the Internet. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/12/11/Lockheed-Martin-nabs-224M-to-develop-combined-arms-squad-prototype
26 octobre 2018 | International, C4ISR

Defense Digital Service, Army Cyber Command expand partnership with workspace ‘Tatooine’
by Samantha Ehlinger The Defense Digital Service and Army Cyber Command's growing partnership is getting its own workspace in downtown Augusta, Georgia, DDS announced Thursday. Dubbed Tatooine, the new workspace located at the state-owned Georgia Cyber Center is the expansion of the Jyn Erso pilot project launched last year to join DDS staff and Cyber Command soldiers to solve hard problems. The new space officially opened Thursday with a day-long hackathon “for cyber soldiers and the local tech community,” according to a press release. “Tatooine will be a beacon for technical talent across the military — a place to write code and solve problems of impact,” DDS Director Chris Lynch said in an announcement. “Through this partnership, we are setting our best technical warfighters against our toughest problems with support and training from our DDS software engineers and experts. Together, men and women in uniform and tech nerds are finding new ways to rapidly solve high-impact challenges.” The Army is gradually relocating its Cyber Command headquarters to nearby Fort Gordon. The state's CIO Calvin Rhodes said this week that the center will play host to the unclassified training sessions for personnel who are waiting for their security clearances to be completed, a process that can often take at least six months, sister publication StateScoop reported. The National Security Agency, which has an outpost at Fort Gordon, will also have a presence at the Georgia Cyber Center. Officials said the $100 million development is the single-largest investment by a state in a cybersecurity facility. Tatooine will join Army officers and soldiers with DDS technologists to tackle hard problems in unclassified “startup-like spaces” using private sector tools and methodologies, according to the Pentagon. “For instance, project teams are using concepts of continuous software iteration and user-centered design, which are common in the tech sector, but not in the military,” the department said. Tatooine is a way for DDS and Army Cyber Command to create more pilot teams without having to relocate Cyber Command personnel to Washington D.C. Other planned uses for Tatooine include supporting initiatives like the Hack the Army bug bounty program. Army's Cyber Command and Cyber Center of Excellence are providing the technical soldiers to staff teams and Professional Military Education credit for time spent in the program, according to the announcement. Senior Army officers from the center and the Army Cyber Institute will oversee day-to-day operations in the workspace and report to DDS. “To help the Army resolve its toughest talent management and technical challenges, DDS and U.S. Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) have partnered to bring technically-gifted soldiers together with private sector civilian talent to rapidly develop immediate-need cyber capabilities,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, head of the command, said in a statement. “This innovative partnership will solve tough problems and serve as a powerful retention and recruitment tool.” Through the Jyn Erso program, project teams have already tackled a few projects, such as a program to develop, produce and deploy a capability to combat commercial drones. “The team developed a low-cost software system that is flexible enough to adapt to newly identified targets and easy for operators to use and transport in austere conditions,” the announcement said. DDS and the Cyber Center of Excellence also launched a training pilot earlier this year as part of Jyn Erso to streamline cyber training courses. In its first iteration, DDS cut down the training time for a subset of Army soldiers from six months to just 12 weeks. We know what you're wondering, and yes, the names of the workspace and the pilot are Star Wars references. DDS, since its inception, has referred to itself as the Rebel Alliance ( a shoutout to the good guys in Star Wars), even naming the Pentagon's landmark $10 billion commercial cloud contract the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI. https://www.fedscoop.com/defense-digital-service-army-cyber-command-expand-partnership-workspace-tatooine/

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