Pacific Strike
During the exercise Warfighter 2000-Pacific Strike, the island nation of Surran invaded its neighboring island, Pacifica. I Corps was part of the U.S. force to respond to the attack. At a senior leader's training symposium in June 2000, I Corps commander LTG James Hill presented possible battle scenarios. Other U.S. military services were also represented with I Corps as the JTF command.
The 142d Signal Brigade (Alabama Army National Guard), headquartered in Decatur, Ala., is the command responsible for providing communications to I Corps, Fort Lewis, Wash. "Team Signal," as they call themselves, had the challenge of providing both real-life and battlefield-scenario communications at the same time.
Battlefield commanders were able to command and control the battlefield by using a variety of integrated voice and data communications systems. They were able to see electronic tactical images of the battlefield with the recently fielded Phoenix system. They had immediate access to encrypted electronic mail on the Defense Message System. Also, they were able to hold videoteleconferences on a secure tactical network. (Most VTCs are held over commercial high-speed lines.) All this was in addition to the normal secure and non-secure voice and data abilities of 142d Signal Brigade's mobile-subscriber equipment.
To support the real-life mission and the several thousand soldiers actually employed in the exercise, all communication systems had to be in place and easily accessible by the different command forces involved. The systems had to be installed, operational and maintained. Also, help-desk personnel provided troubleshooting and on-the-spot training where needed. The real-world communication exercise required many and increasingly complex coordination planning conferences and exercises. The resulting system was the most complex, but robust, system ever fielded in support of I Corps, providing hundreds of thousands of transactions.
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