Guard tapped for infowar duties

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=142127

By PAMELA HESS
Wednesday, 6 December 2000 18:39 (ET)

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The Pentagon formally tapped the National
Guard and reserves to shore up the Defense Department's information
warfare apparatus Wednesday, calling for 182 reserve officers and
enlisted staff with information technology backgrounds to form five
support teams.

The teams -- known as "joint reserve information operations and
information assurance organizations" -- will be on the Pentagon's
front line of information warfare.

The Defense Department has had a difficult time keeping highly trained
IT specialists when far more lucrative offers abound in the private
sector. However, many of those skills are resident in the reserve
component, where part-time soldiers work full time in information
technology.

"Members of the Reserve and National Guard are often way ahead by the
very nature of their civilian employment, trained in their workplaces
to exploit technology," said Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy DeLeon.

Because computer work lends itself to telecommuting, the reserve
support groups will not necessarily be physically located near the
organizations they support. Computer networks will allow them to carry
out their duties at "remote" locations.

The teams could take on myriad operations, including enemy computer
network attacks, defense of U.S. computer networks, psychological
operations, electronic warfare, military deception, operational
security, intelligence support, vulnerability assessment, incident
response and Web site reviews, according to a Pentagon source.

DeLeon approved a plan to establish five teams, beginning in 2001. The
teams would encompass up to 600 people by 2007, and would directly
support the National Security Agency, the Information Operations
Technical Center, both at Ft. Meade, Md; the Defense Information
Security Agency and the Joint Task Force for Computer Network Defense,
in Arlington, Va.; and the Joint Information Operations Center at
Kelly Air Force Base, Texas.



*==============================================================*
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without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
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