NCTAMS LANT Completes Critical Power Upgrade

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS120225-06
2/25/2012

By Timothy Severn, Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic (NCTAMS LANT) completed mission critical power upgrades to its facility, Feb. 23, following an evolution that has been deemed the largest communication systems shutdown in the command's 62-year history.

The upgrades were required to replace an antiquated electrical infrastructure with a modernized robust power distribution system that better supports the current capabilities of the facility while allowing for future expansion.

According to Capt. Danelle Barrett, NCTAMS LANT commanding officer, advancements in technology enable the command to provide services around the world. Geography is no longer a limitation to service, but power is.

"Getting the power infrastructure upgraded was critical to successful execution of our mission," she said. "These upgrades ensure that this key node in our national cyber grid will be able to expand and provide reliable communications services to operational forces worldwide for years to come."

The equipment upgrade required a total shutdown of communications services provided by the NCTAMS LANT headquarters and re-provisioning those services and circuits across the enterprise for thousands of operational users.

"Teamwork was the driver for this successful event. From operational communications planners, to power subject matter experts, to security and safety personnel, everyone's contributions had to be closely coordinated and efforts carefully synchronized to ensure success. This included our critical partners at NCTAMS PAC, NCTS Naples, DISA, SPAWAR and other commands who provided tremendous support," Barrett said. "Through this alignment of our communications resources across the Fleet Cyber Command domain and across DoD, the whole team was able to maintained seamless communications to support operations."

NCTAMS LANT Operations Officer, Cmdr. Joseph Herzig, said that countless hours were spent planning the myriad strategic and tactical levels of communications failover support, issuing advisements through a web of contractor and government-sponsored programs of record, and building a coalition of joint force concurrence in the months preceding the planned outage.

"The power equipment upgrade and the requirement to totally shutdown all communications services provided by NCTAMS LANT served as a great opportunity to showcase the Navy's ability to dynamically flex and utilize the Global Information Grid," he said. "The communications infrastructure provides us the robust ability necessary to deliver services to the warfighter supporting the operational commander in theater on a truly global scale."

"These monumental accomplishments would not have been successful if it weren't for the personnel and teamwork across all disciplines involved in the planning and execution of this upgrade," he added.

NCTAMS LANT provides secure, classified and unclassified, voice, messaging, video, data, telecommunications to surface, subsurface, air and ground forces in support of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) for real-world operations and exercises and to U.S. Naval, Joint and Coalition operating forces worldwide.