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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
FY97 Annual Report

JOINT COMPUTER-AIDED ACQUISITION AND LOGISTICS SUPPORT
(JCALS) SYSTEM

	Army Lead Joint ACAT IAM Program Total program cost (TY$) $450M Life cycle cost (TY$) $2,100M Full-rate production (IOC) 3QFY98 Prime Contractor Computer Sciences Corporation, Inc.

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The Joint Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support (JCALS) system is a multi-Service, geographically distributed client/server system designed to process all data and information required to manage, control, and produce each Service's technical manuals (TMs) at designated TM processing sites.

Inter-service or wide area network (WAN) connectivity is provided by the Defense Information System Network (DISN). Local area network (LAN) connectivity among workstation servers, workstations, peripherals, collocated legacy systems, and to the WAN via Internet Protocol (IP) routers is provided by the Fiber-optic Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) Ethernet. Each functional user site has one or more JCALS client/server nodes based on the site's processing requirements and organizational dispersion. All JCALS data are stored in the Integrated Weapon System Data Base (IWSDB) - a logically centralized, physically distributed relational data base administered using Oracle. Data management and access is provided by the Global Data Management System (GDMS). The System Operational and Support Capability (SOSC) provides overall JCALS system management, with functional user administration personnel performing system administration at each site.

JCALS contributes to Joint Vision 2010 concept of focused logistics by providing accurate and up-to-date maintenance guidance for all DoD technical equipment and weapons.

Developing a paperless technical and logistics information system for weapon systems was initiated in 1986 with the Army Computer Aided Logistics Support (CALS) program. Due to the crippling experiences from excess paper processes encountered during M-1 tank development, the Army decided to automate the process. In 1991, the CALS program expanded to all of the Services and was renamed the Joint CALS (JCALS) program.

The JCALS program is developing the infrastructure to support weapon systems logistically throughout their life cycle. The first application will be the TM system to manage, acquire, improve, publish, stock, and distribute each Service's technical manuals.

JCALS will specify, acquire, implement, and field a joint service CALS architecture and its interfaces to supporting system. The JCALS system will satisfy the Services' and DLA's need for integrated digital technical information. The JCALS program manager is following an incremental fielding strategy.

The first JCALS increment approached Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) in 1996 on two separate occasions. The Test and Experimentation Command (TEXCOM) sponsored an OTRR in April, followed by another in June. During each OTRR, it was clear that problems discovered during developmental testing would preclude a successful operational test. Later in 1996, JCALS went through a Limited User Test (LUT), in compliance with the DOT&E approved TEMP. The results indicated immature operational effectiveness and suitability.

Since January 1997, JCALS has been undergoing robust software development testing (SDT), in-plant software qualification testing (SQT), site acceptance testing (SAT), and functional operational support (FUNOPS) at 13 sites. Software increments 1 and 2 OT will be conducted in 2QFY98.

Recent developmental testing has been showing steady improvement in JCALS' state of maturity, stability, integration, and readiness for operational testing. However, risk still exists as the system integrates into the Service depots and forces a change in culture. Since this is an incremental program, some functionality has been deferred to the final increment - 2QFY99. To provide a temporary transition between finished and still developing increments, procedures are required to be developed to enable the work flow process to be completed. This impacts on training, to some extent, on the normal business process, and acceptance of the system by the users. This increases the risk to a successful operational test.

Following the failed LUT, DOTE encouraged the JCALS program office to adopt the notion of a functional operational (FUNOP) period. After formal system training, users at each test site are provided between 45 and 60 days of FUNOPS designed to allow users to practice on the system. During this period of time, the user can use the system in normal day to day operations. It allows them to learn the system, the new procedures, and how this system integrates with their business process. FUNOP has been beneficial, especially to Army users.

Robust developmental testing in CY97 is allowing JCALS to approach IOT&E in a much better position than the previous two attempts in 1996.