SSC Charleston supports the warfighter - United States Navy · SSC Charleston supports the warfighter SSC Charleston. 2 The Chronicle Spring 2006 Spring 2006 The Chronicle 3 Captain’s

Spring 2006 1The Chronicle

SSC Charlestonsupports the warfighter

SSC Charlestonsupports the warfighter

Spring 2006 3The ChronicleThe Chronicle2 Spring 2006

Captain’s Call .................................... 4

From the Executive Director ............... 5

SPAWARCOM visits .................... 12

What’s the score? .......................... 13

NCPO wins award .......................... 16

Students, school officials invade ....... 28

Making math count ........................ 30

ISO 9001:2000 audit successful ...... 34

‘Yummies for Hummies’ donated ...... 36

Around the world ........................... 39

Meet the SPT ................................. 40

The final word ................................ 42

7 7 7 7 7 Scientists to SeaSixteen SPAWARriors experience life at sea.

10 10 10 10 10 Team returns from AfricaA team from SSC Charleston recently as-sisted with communications at CampLemonier.

20 20 20 20 20 Giving warfighters the edgeSSC Charleston modifying up armoredHumvees.

Commanding OfficerCaptain Red HooverExecutive Director .............. James Ward

SSC Charleston’s MissionTo provide knowledge superiority to joint

warfighters and peacekeepers through the de-velopment, acquisition and life cycle support ofeffective, integrated Command, Control, Com-munications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveil-lance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems.

P.O. Box 190022North Charleston, SC 29419-9022

Editor .................................. Susan PiedfortPhotographer ....................... Harold Senn

TheTheTheTheTheTheTheTheTheThe

ChronicleChronicle

InsideInside

On the coverRicky Wright, left, andRobert Rhett make finalchecks on C4ISR sys-tems installed on Up Ar-mored Humvees (UAH)at SSC Charleston.(Photo by Harold Senn)

Page 28

SSC Charleston employees are reminded daily that their workhelps save warfighter lives. See page 20.

(Photo by Harold Senn)

The Chronicle is a quarterly publicationdesigned for SPAWAR Systems Center,Charleston employees. Its purpose is to in-form, education, entertain and generate newideas. An official publication, The Chronicleis printed using appropriated funds in com-pliance with Navy publications and printingregulations. Contents of The Chronicle arenot necessarily the official views of, or en-dorsed by, the U.S. Government, the De-partment of Defense, the U.S. Navy orSPAWAR Systems Center, Charleston.

To view The Chronicle online, visitwww.sscc.spawar.navy.mil and click“About Us.”


From the desk of

James D. WardJames D. WardJames D. WardJames D. WardJames D. WardExecutive Director

Ongoing analysis of the AlignmentAssessment survey showed thatmany of you do not feel that you par-ticipate in FORCEnet. I believe theproblem is with the terminology,rather than the actual execution. Ourformer CNO Admiral Vern Clarkstated, “We are not going to developanything from this point on that is notready to be fully netted, fully con-nected.” Our current CNO AdmiralMichael Mullins extended that defi-nition when he added, “we need tobe joint to a fault.” Collectively, weare already doing more FORCEnetthan you might think. I believe I canhelp with the terminology by provid-ing clarity on the relationship betweenFORCEnet and our command visionof “Fully Netted in Four” years, whichwe will achieve in 2009.

FORCEnet is about connecting ourwarfighters with each other and withother agencies that can help themsolve their impending problems. Forexample, when the FBI came hereand said, “Remember when the caf-eteria bombing occurred in Iraq?What the Code 60 C2 Departmentdid by helping us connect in a moreeffective manner to the Defense De-partment improved our ability to col-laborate and find those bad guysquickly. If your folks hadn’t helpedus then we would not have been ableto offer real time expertise in findingthose bad guys.”

Is that FORCEnet? You bet it is.It’s connecting things differently thanwe have in the past to make a differ-ence in the global war on terror. Tocontinue such behavior, we need toreward it and are doing so by recog-nizing those folks who enable ourwarfighters to connect differently.

The theory of what I call “theFORCEnet equation” is the basis ofour vision of Fully Netted in Fouryears, how much FORCEnet can weaccomplish by 2009. Fully Netted inFour has two components: fully net-ted forces and fully netted resources.We contribute to fully netted forcesby enabling a net-connected, fully-interoperable combat force access toinformation wherever and wheneverthey need it to make superior combatdecisions. FORCEnet centers on thedecision-maker, not us as the decision-maker, but the warfighter as the deci-sion-maker. Have we enabled themin a different way?

With fully netted resources we arefocusing on how to give our nation’staxpayers the best national defense atthe lowest possible cost. You probablyhave heard me say FORCEnet @ SeaEnterprise rates, thus the execution ofFORCEnet here involves the effortsof the technical codes as well as theinteractions between them and thesupport codes. In both cases, thequestion is “What can I do to makemy customer, whether internal or ex-ternal, better integrated and more

interoperable and lower their cost ofdoing business?”

How well can we move to a “sea-enterprise” environment of leverag-ing and accessing resources versusowning them? Our Contracts Depart-ment and technical codes are makinga difference in this area. They arelooking at all of our current contractsto ensure that we are sharing con-tracting vehicles across departmentsso that we don’t leave contractingcapacity on the table or risk not beingable to respond to a customer becausewe don’t have contracting capacityin a particular department. This isFORCEnet — just on an internal ba-sis.

We need to connect thingsdifferently, internally andexternally, than we haveconnected them before.

To me this is the FORCEnet equa-tion theory: Fully Netted Forces plusFully Netted Resources. The practiceis where we really need to go. Howdo we apply the theory, or how do wepractice FORCEnet math? The bestway to do that is looking at real-lifesuccess stories of our people who

Harvesting radically simple,richly connected solutions

Continued on next page

It is amazing how much has hap-pened since my last article just a fewweeks ago. We now have a new boss,RADM Bachmann, who visited hererecently and was very impressed andproud of the great work you do forour nation. RADM Bachmann is go-ing to be a great leader for us as wecontinue down the path of alignment,both with headquarters and the PEOs.

We have also received more infor-mation concerning our BRACtimeline, and James and I have re-cently sent out an “all hands” explain-ing what our future timeline now lookslike. This includes postponing ourname change to “SSC Atlantic” to alater date than 2006. Even though themerger and stand up of a new com-mand, SSC Atlantic, will not occur untillater, I believe we still need to con-tinue our teaming and partnering withother commands.

We have been able to establishnew partnerships with Naval SurfaceWarfare Center, Port Hueneme Di-vision in the areas of ISEA and LeanSix Sigma. We recently began a part-nership with NAVSEA’s WarfareCenter Next Generation ISE(NGISE) working group. Part of thatpartnership includes looking for areasof improvement such as collaborationtools for engineering and sustainment,and other ways to share important con-cepts and practices that can help usbring the best solution to the

warfighter. We have established anISEA Next Team to address our wayahead. We also will be participatingin a Fleet Support Value StreamAnalysis with SSC San Diego, essen-tially an ISEA Lean Six Sigma event.Also in the area of LSS, Lt. Cmdr.Dean Barsaleau is leading aCASREP Response LSS event.

Our Master Black Belt SteveLarievere is also working with PortHueneme Division to set up a sharedLSS event with them in the next fewweeks.

... I am amazed at yourcapacity to accept change

while continuing toexecute and innovate. I

keep asking you to acceptmore responsibility, from

the global war onterrorism here at home toour efforts in Afghanistan

and Iraq, and you keeprising to the occasion.

The ISEA Next Team is also work-ing through the Integrated Class Main-tenance Program (ICMP) process,and developing our folks in the areaof Reliability Centered Maintenance.You can read more about these ac-

tivities in an article entitled “Enhanc-ing force readiness through in-serviceengineering” that appears on page 24of this edition of The Chronicle.

I have also been able to visit withthe Commander at Joint Systems In-tegration Command, and was able tosee first-hand the results of outstand-ing partnership between SSC Charles-ton and San Diego. This includes thefuture ability to enter one single WorkShaping & Acceptance (WSA) entryfor a combined team effort across ourcommands.

Over the next few months, we willbe taking more exciting initiatives todo our part in providing a “Fully Net-ted Force.” This includes the start ofmonthly Command Technical Re-views and our Chief Engineer lead-ing a “Capability-Based EngineeringConference” in the next couple ofweeks.

All these efforts are part of our vi-sion to be “Fully Netted in FourThree.”

As I prepare to depart on a trip tovisit our employees and customers inIraq, I am amazed at your capacity toaccept change while continuing toexecute and innovate. I keep askingyou to accept more responsibility, fromthe global war on terrorism here athome to our efforts in Afghanistanand Iraq, and you keep rising to theoccasion. Thanks so much for all thatyou do.

Our vision to be ‘Fully Netted in Four Three’


Standing on the dock surrounded by the night air andendless tons of metal in the forms of United States Navalships, it is easy to feel intimidated. Staring at the USSBataan, 844 feet long and displacing 40,500 tons fullyloaded, one word comes to mind. Awesome.

Awesome is defined as inspiring awe. It is a word thatis often times misused and in today’s society over used tothe point that more often than not, we have becomeimmune to the power it should invoke. That being said,awesome is the only word that seems worthy enough todescribe the majestic quality of the USS Bataan and hercrew.

Memorializing the heroic effort of allied forces in theBataan Peninsula during World War II and commemo-rating the 65-mile Bataan Death March, the USS BataanLanding Helicopter Deck(LHD 5) is the fifth ship inthe Wasp class of the Navymultipurpose amphibious as-sault ships known as“Gators.” The largest am-phibious ships in the world, theWasp class honors the line,dating as far back as theRevolutionary War, of nine fa-mous U.S. Navy warshipsbearing the name Wasp.

USS Bataan can embark,transport, deploy, command,and fully support all elementsof a Marine ExpeditionaryUnit (MEU) consisting of

2,000 Marines. It is designed to utilize landing craft air-cushion vehicles (LCACs) for assault and carry asquadron of Harrier II jets. USS Bataan has partici-pated in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation IraqiFreedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom II. More recently,the ship has taken on a more humanitarian role and wasan instrumental part in providing Hurricane Katrina vic-tims with much needed food, medicine and supplies.

Through the Scientist to Sea Program, a total of 16SPAWARiors traveled to Norfolk, VA, to board the USSBataan and join her crew for a four-day training expedi-tion. Embarking on USS Bataan from SSC Charlestonwere Bill Casassa, Andy Fulford, Vishal Patel, JessicaMalcolm, Niki Ewing, LaTrice Johnson, Xuong On, NikkiSmith, Chris Sutton, Arnold Cassell, Ryan Krcelic, Justin

Sellers, Josh Pelkey, John Rein,Chris Hernandez and JoeSnively.

The Scientists to Sea pro-gram gives engineers fromaround the Navy the chanceto see firsthand how shipboardwarfighters live and operate.The sea time gives the scien-tists insights to where SSCCharleston’s most importantcustomer lives and the chal-lenges they encounter. Theexperience helps theSPAWARriors to design bet-

16 SPAWARriors experience life underway

Scientists

to Sea

Continued on next pagePhoto courtesy USS Bataan

Scientists to Sea gather on the deck of USS Bataan.

U.S. Navy photo

have contributed to the FORCEnetand Fully Netted in Four concepts.

A great example of realizingFORCEnet was shared recently byShanda Johnson (Code 724). In FY04,the Network Systems Security (NSS)team was tasked by PMW-160 to findan Intrusion Detection System (IDS)to replace the current IDS securitysuite used throughout the IT21 FleetNetwork Operations Centers (NOCs)and Overseas Navy Enterprise Net-works (ONE Net). The NSS teamhad tested the upgraded replacementIDS and determined it did not meettheir current fielded requirements.

Through information sharing, theNSS team learned the Medical HealthSystems (MHS) Tri-Service Informa-tion Management Program Office(TIMPO) team had a similar taskingand had found an IDS that fit the re-quirements. The NSS team acquiredthe documentation and testing resultsfrom the TIMPO team. After furthercomparisons and testing, the TIMPOIDS was selected.

“We learned that through sharingof information and developing a rela-tionship of trust, the NSS team wasable to save the program office sig-nificant dollars that could be repro-grammed for other fleet require-ments,” Shanda said. As Shanda alsonoted, this was a “significant shift inthe way we were accustomed to do-ing business.” MHS spent the researchdollars and the Navy reaped the ben-efits. The selected IDSs are currentlybeing deployed throughout the IT21Fleet NOCs and legacy sites identi-fied by NETWARCOM and ONENet.

This is an example of somebodyconnecting better to bring somethingto bear that caused us to have morecapability at a reduced cost. This isan example of FORCEnet and FullyNetted in Four, giving a different situ-ational awareness across the bound-aries of what we are supposed to be

achieving for the warfighter. This iswhat we need to do. This is our rolein the future.

It is not about thinking outside ofthe box, it’s about “connecting outsideof the box.” The organization modelof the future should be patterned af-ter the internet. If you look at the at-tributes of the internet: adaptability,self-synchronizing, re-configurability,power-to-the-edge, speed-to-capabil-ity — they are the same character-istics you desire in an organization.

It is not about thinkingoutside of the box, it’s about“connecting outside of thebox.”

None of us can do this alone. Theutilization of CMMI and Lean SixSigma across the enterprise hasgreatly increased collaboration. Weneed to keep moving forward. I amcollecting examples of our executionof FORCEnet and documenting themin our warfighter contribution note-book and look forward to sharing thosewith Rear Admiral Bachmann. I chal-lenge each of you to document yourexamples and send them forward. AFORCEnet Contribution Award hasbeen developed to recognize those ofyou who are “connecting outside ofthe box” across the boundaries andservices and making Fully Netted inFour a reality.

We talk about power to the edge,where is that edge? I really want youto reach out there, because I honestlybelieve that there is nothing we cando better for this country than to helpthe Navy-Marine Corps team, theArmy, other federal agencies and allthe folks we are tasked by to becomemore interoperable and adopt a moreresource sharing environment. That’swhat Fully Netted in Four is. If weexpected our customers to do that, wehave to do it ourselves. That’s why

Fully Netted in Four is really theFORCEnet equation.

With help from your supervisors, Iam also redesigning individual perfor-mance metrics to focus more on col-laborative behaviors. Communities ofpractice will be formally recognizedbecause they are critical to our abilityto leverage expertise wherever it re-sides in our enterprise. Our Fully Net-ted in Four vision requires us to inno-vate, collaborate, and trust each other.These are not specifics our custom-ers pay for or things that folks areroutinely asked to do. But we are do-ing them now, and we need to shareour success stories. What I want youto do is volunteer where you see theopportunity to better integrate andprovide more interoperability withwhomever you are working and anassociated partner. Volunteer that!

In the future, how will warfightersoperating in a FORCEnet-enabledenvironment compose C4ISR ele-ments at their disposal to ensure su-perior decision-making? The keyword in this construct is composable.Our next challenge is determining howthese information-seeking compos-able capabilities can become a pow-erful weapon in the stability and sup-port operations in Afghanistan andIraq. We must find ways to make in-formation more available and acces-sible for better collaboration amongour warfighters, community leadersand citizens to fight insurgencies andprovide assistance during natural di-sasters. This means building the net-work that is not yet built.

I don’t want “Fully Netted in Four”years to become a bumper sticker ora fad. It is what we need to do for thewarfighter. Success is making a con-tribution—having a career of signifi-cance. And a career of significancewill happen when we take on moreof the behavior required to help ourpartners connect in ways they aren’teven thinking about yet.

Continued from page 3


downed aircraft drill, chaff firing and General Quarters.In the event of a real man overboard situation, with theweather conditions we were experiencing and the lowtemperature of the water, the rescue must take place inunder 12 minutes.

Fire drills are especially important because the greatestdanger on board a ship is fire. For this reason, no matterwhat your primary function is, everyone on board is alsoa firefighter. During the fire drills, we all took turnsoperating and maneuvering the large fire hoses as wellas learning the supporting role each team member playsin the event of a real fire. We also learned how to properlydress ourselves in complete fire fighting equipment. Thefirefighters on board can be fully equipped to battle ablaze in less than four minutes.

During the downed aircraft drill, the crew practicedrescuing a pilot in the event that a plane or helicoptercrashed on deck. The crew also test fired chaff -- bundlesof thin aluminum foil or metallized plastic film that areejected from a ship to confuse hostile radar, causing it toexplode away from the ship. During General Quarters,all hands report to their battle stations and prepare forwarfare.

A ship is considered a floating city. USS Bataan’s crewhas the supplies and facilities onboard to sustain them formonths at a time, including a convenience store; a gym;the Brig, where members of al Qaeda were onceincarcerated; and Supply, where they store supplies ofuniforms, repair materials and food.

The food on board the USS Bataan is excellent andprepared by an award winning crew. We were invited toa formal dinner with the CO, the XO and the other officers,and later treated to an ice cream social.

We were also able to meet and talk withknowledgeable crew members about ship departmentssuch as engineering; battle command; air traffic control;weapons control; the hangar bay, where aircraft andcargo are stored; the printing room, where all the ship’s

literature is produced; the bridge, where they navigateand steer the ship; and the well deck, where the LCACsare stored and launched. We also watched tests run onthe anchor equipment to ensure it was working properlyand then finally, the anchor drop.

On the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 2, the ship returnedto port. After a group photo to commemorate our greatadventure, military and civilian alike gathered togetheranxiously waiting to exit the ship.

I have to admit, it was a great relief to finally see landagain. Once on land, it took about two days for my bodyto adjust and completely relinquish the rocking motion ithad grown accustomed to after four days at sea. Althoughwe were utterly exhausted, we immediately contactedthe people who would be the first to hear the maritimetales we would be recounting for a lifetime. Coupled withthe sense of relief and exhaustion was a sense of gratitudeand appreciation.

Everyone on board a Navy ship has a job to do, andthere is always something that needs to be done. Thededication, pride and commitment with which the Bataancrew conducted their duties were apparent in all aspectsof ship life.

Because of the wonderful hospitality of the crew, wenot only witnessed life on board the USS Bataan, weparticipated in it. It was an honor and a privilege toexperience life on board a United States naval ship andthanks to the USS Bataan and her crew, we had justcompleted a once in a lifetime voyage.

- Niki Ewing, Code 70

U.S. Navy photo

Photo provided

From left, Nikki Smith, Jessica Malcolm and Niki Ewingtake a break on USS Bataan.

The sun sets on another day at sea on board USS Bataan.

A Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II launches from the flightdeck of USS Bataan during the recent training mission.

Photo provided

ter systems to better accommodate the end user.We arrived on Monday, Nov. 28, and met our point of

contact JO1 Sean Linvill. We would learn later that JOstands for journalist. Linvill, along with JO2 BrianAnderson would be responsible for us while onboard. Theywere in charge of everything from scheduling our toursand activities, to arranging our meetings with thecommanding officer (CO) and the executive officer (XO),to helping me battle seasickness. We got settled in andimmediately started exploring the ship. As we made ourway up to the flight deck, we met an armed Sailor makinghis rounds. There is always someone on guard and readyto defend the ship.

On Tuesday morning, we were awakened at 5 a.m.“Reveille, Reveille, all hands heave out and trice up, break-fast for the crew!” It was clear that everyone on boardwould get an early start making preparations to leave port.We were underway by about 8 a.m. and then toured theship, familiarizing ourselves with different areas such asthe wardroom, where we would eat our meals with theofficers. We also got a crash course in navigation, learn-ing our way around the ship top to bottom, port (left) tostarboard (right), and bow (front) to stern (rear), not tomention learning how to step over doorways, squeezethrough small openings in the walls and floors, and climband descend stairs that seemed the height of mountains.

From Wednesday through Friday, the ship’s air controlcrew, along with Marine Harrier and Super Stallion pilots,performed flight operations. Harriers are short take offand landing strike aircraft used to attack and destroy sur-face and air targets, as well as escort helicopters.

CH-53E Super Stallions are helicopters used to trans-port equipment, supplies and personnel. They are capableof internal and external transport of supplies and can op-erate both day and night under adverse weather condi-tions.

For two and a half days and into the night, they workedincessantly on perfecting take off and landing procedures.While lying in our “racks”(bunk beds), we could hear theplanes and helicopters taking off and landing overhead.Throughout the trip, daily announcements were made thatanyone going out onto the flight deck must be wearing theproper attire: a cranial (helmet), ear protection, gogglesand a float vest.

It was amazing to watch the Harriers come and go,feeling the engine’s intense heat on your face, smellingthe burning fuel and feeling the extreme force vibrate inyour chest, all with a panoramic view of the Atlantic Oceanas a backdrop. It was quite humbling to be enveloped bythe combined power of the ocean, the ship and the fighterplanes.

To watch the maneuvers during night operations was acompletely different experience. The nighttime atmo-sphere added an extra element of secrecy and mystery.We stood directly beneath the helicopter while it hoveredjust above our heads waiting for a bundle of supplies to beattached. They also practiced maneuvers under the coverof complete darkness, removing all sources of light andsimulating combat situations that allow aircraft to seem-ingly emerge from the dark abyss. Only the pilots and aircontrollers could see, performing the operations whilewearing night vision goggles.

While at sea, we experienced everything from the dailyroutine of ship life, to security briefings, to emergencysituations such as man overboard, fire drills, a simulated

U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer’s Mate Johnny Bivera

A Boatswain’s Mate directs an LCAC hovercraft from As-sault Craft Unit Four into the well deck of USS Bataan.



Photos provided

Aerial view of Camp Le Monier and the Djibouti Airport.

Working together, these two baseswould dramatically improve the ca-pability and support to U.S. and coa-lition warfighters in Southwest Asia.As Camp Le Monier transforms froman expeditionary camp to a joint base,responsibilities for base C4I supportwill likely transition from the MarineCorps to the Navy. In order to pre-pare for this eventuality, SSC Charles-ton was tasked in late December byNCTAMS LANT to conduct an as-sessment of the existing facilities andC4I infrastructure at Camp LeMonier.

The Enterprise Engineering andOperations Branch (Code 633) re-ceived this tasking through the Re-gional Shore Installation Manager(RSIM) and immediately set to workputting together a team to execute theassessment. Scott Rogers assembleda team of subject matter experts fromthroughout SSC Charleston. JohnJanulis from Code 57 and industrypartners Gordon Stevenson and DonFuller provided the necessary onsiteexperience and expertise to providea thorough assessment of the facili-ties and C4I infrastructure at CampLe Monier.

While the team was on the groundin Djibouti, subject matter experts inCharleston provided reach-back andsystem-specific expertise to the teamthroughout the assessment.

On Jan. 12, after approximately 34hours of travel through three coun-tries and across eight time zones, theteam touched down in the humid 90-degree “winter” of Djibouti. Uponarriving at Camp Le Monier, the teamlinked up with representatives fromthe NCTAMS LANT and immedi-ately set to work assessing the campinfrastructure and C4I systems. Overthe next eight days the SPAWAR teamconducted a comprehensive evalua-tion of more than 20 prioritized C4Isystems and facilities at Camp LeMonier, looking at a broad range ofoperational issues. The team’s focuswas on the systems identified by

NCTAMS LANT as concerns basedon the camp’s evolution from a expe-ditionary camp to a more permanentJoint Forward Operating Base.

Conducting a thorough evaluationof so many systems and facilitiesspread throughout the 80-acre campduring an eight-day period proved tobe a significant challenge for the smallassessment team on the ground.However, the local Marine hosts pro-vided the team with outstanding sup-port and coordination for access to thecamp’s various facilities and infra-structure. As a result, the small teamof experts was able to conduct a thor-ough evaluation of all of the systemsidentified by NCTAMS LANT.

Teaming and cross functional col-laboration were emphasized through-out the Djibouti effort. After leadingthe time-sensitive mission to Djiboutiin support of NCTAMS LANT, Code633 hosted a detailed after-action re-view with department heads and keytechnical staff from across codes 50,60 and 70. During this meeting theSSC Charleston team reviewed thekey findings from the assessment andidentified subject matter expertise foraddressing the anticipated follow-ontasking from NCTAMS LANT. Rec-ognizing the majority of follow-on ef-forts would fall within the communi-

cations department’s core competen-cies, Code 633 subsequently coordi-nated a “battle hand-off” with repre-sentatives from Code 50. It is esti-mated SSC Charlesotn will supportover $6 million in C4I improvementefforts at Camp Le Monier in fiscalyears 2006 and 2007 under Code 50’sleadership.

As a result of SSC Charleston’sswift response to NCTAMS LANT’semerging requirement, the assessmentand lessons learned from the efforthave been instrumental in helpingNCTAMS LANT make strategic de-cisions and establish funding for fu-ture C4I infrastructure improvementsto Camp Le Monier. Additionally, theresulting assessment report has beena critical source of information forwarfighters deploying to Djibouti andthe knowledge gained by the teamfrom SSC Charleston has been sharedwith multiple support activities trav-eling to the region.

Camp Le Monier serves as themost recent example of SSCCharleston’s continued pursuit to pro-vide world-class C4ISR support to thenation’s frontline warfighters in eventhe most remote and austere environ-ments.

- Scott Rogers, Code 634, andRyan Gunst, Code 633

While most of us were finishing upour holiday shopping and preparing fora long Christmas leave, a dedicatedteam from SSC Charleston was co-ordinating visas and receiving yellowfever and malaria immunizations atCharleston Naval Hospital in prepa-ration for their impending trip toDjibouti, Africa.

A combined team consisting of ex-perts in telephony, power and com-puter networks had received a shortnotice tasking to conduct an assess-ment of the command, control, com-puters, communications and intelli-gence (C4I) infrastructure at CampLeMonier on the eastern coast of theHorn of Africa.

Through close coordination with thecustomer, the team was able to quicklyand effectively execute this missionin time to provide a thorough assess-ment that allowed Navy sponsors at

Team surveys C4I systems in AfricaNaval Network Warfare Command(NETWARCOM) and Naval Com-puter and Telecommunications AreaMaster Station Atlantic (NCTAMSLANT) to make critical decisions inpreparation for the arrival of deploy-ing warfighters.

The country of Djibouti, which isslightly smaller than the state of Mas-sachusetts, is strategically located onthe western side of the Gulf of Adenjust south of the Red Sea. The SuezCanal joins these two bodies of wa-ter making the country ideally locatedfor monitoring maritime access intothe Gulf of Aden region. The Djiboutiport also provides an alternative re-fueling port to the Aden harbor inYemen which was the scene of theUSS Cole attack in 2000. Accordingto the CIA World Fact Book, “Djibouticurrently hosts the only United Statesmilitary base in sub-Saharan Africaand is a front-line state in the globalwar on terrorism.”

This front line base, Camp LeMonier, is located approximately 12miles south of Djibouti’s commercialsea port and approximately 50 milesnorth of Somalia. The French main-

tain a significant military presence inDjibouti and Camp Le Monier wasformerly a French Foreign Legionmilitary barracks that lacked upkeepand maintenance for several years.In February of 2001, the U.S. gov-ernment obtained access to Camp LeMonier and use of the adjoining air-port after negotiations with theDjiboutian government.

In May of 2003 Camp Le Monierbecame the expeditionary headquar-ters for Combined Joint Task Force –Horn of Africa (CJTC-HOA) whenCJTF-HOA personnel and equipmentaboard the flagship USS MountWhitney began moving ashore.Tasked with conducting anti-terrorismoperations, demining, infrastructureimprovements and drought relief op-erations throughout the Horn of Af-rica, CJTF-HOA is working to im-prove U.S. relations with African gov-ernments in the region. By introduc-ing a level of regional stability in theHorn of Africa, CJTF-HOA alsoshrinks the number of potential safehavens for terrorists and other “badactors” that could threaten securityand stability on the Horn of Africa.

Since arriving ashore, CJTF-HOAand the Marine units tasked with sup-porting the C4ISR mission require-ments of the CJTF-HOA haveevolved the camp C4I infrastructurefrom a self-contained, deployable,expeditionary capability to a forwardoperating base with a more perma-nent infrastructure. In the future,Camp Le Monier may expand evenfurther with the addition of 550 acresthat will extend the perimeter of thecamp to the Gulf of Aden. With theacquisition of this new area the campcould grow to create a joint base equalin size or larger than the facility atNaval Support Activity Bahrain.

SSC Charleston provides expertise to joint warfighters

Living and working with the warfighter at Camp Le Monier in Djibouti, inset.


Hey, What’s the Score?

Almost everyone is a fan of somesport and with that comes an obses-sion with numbers and keeping score.Even if you’re not a sports nut, num-bers are an everyday part of our life.How much funding is left in my joborders? How much more is the spon-sor supposed to be sending us?What’s my checkbook balance?What’s President Bush’s latest ap-proval rating? How many new homesare going into my subdivision? Howmany cars are clogging up the roads?More importantly, how many cars areclogging up the road I’m on right now?Face it; we’re hopelessly addicted tokeeping score.

Likewise, the business world hasalso been keeping score since thedawn of man. Traditionally, busi-nesses have looked at financial mea-sures; the bottom line. After all, that’swhat really matters, right? Well, yesand no.

Certainly finances and making aprofit are important, maybe the mostimportant thing for private industry.Even in government where the profitmotive doesn’t exist, agencies andcommands like SSC Charleston havea fiscal responsibility to our chain ofcommand and ultimately to the U.S.taxpayer.

But traditional financial measuresonly tell part of the story and that storyis of past history; of events that havealready occurred. Those measuresmight have been adequate for indus-trial age companies where their busi-ness environment changed relativelyslowly. Unfortunately for 21st centuryinformation age companies, includingSSC Charleston, our environmentchanges much more rapidly. Some-thing more than traditional financialmeasures are needed.

DoD is driving an entirely new wayof thinking and acting across the en-tire military enterprise. Today’s DoDrequires both skilled Warfighters andastute businesspeople. Under an ef-fort dubbed, “Transformation,” DoDis challenging old, ironclad, bureau-cratic behaviors. The central tenet oftransforming DoD is that all nationaland coalition forces must operate asa close-knit, unified team. To achieve

this effect, DoD is challenging howtechnology is used, how organizationsare shaped and how organizationsprocess information. Our vision atSSC Charleston is wrapped in just fourwords: “Fully Netted in Four.” Thisvision links to DoD’s efforts using twocomplementary coordinates. Theseserve as the “latitude” & “longitude”in charting the way ahead.

• “Fully Netted Force” meansevery action must enable aninteroperable, net-connected force -a force that accesses informationwhenever and wherever needed.(The Navy has referred to this sys-tem as “FORCEnet”.) If an effortdoesn’t help to fully net our coalitionforces, then we shouldn’t do it.

• “Fully Netted Resources” con-centrates on how to give the nation’staxpayers the best national defenseat the lowest possible price. It meansevery resource we expend should pro-mote net-Centric methods of organiz-ing. (The Navy refers to this systemas “Sea Enterprise”.) If an effortdoesn’t help to fully net key businessresources and result in cost-wisereadiness, then we shouldn’t do it.

• “In Four” means that we arechallenging ourselves to finish in lessthan four years – no later than 2008.

The Balanced Scorecard is the re-sult of a year-long research effort ledby Robert Kaplan and David Nortonin 1990-1991. They studied 12 com-panies on the leading edge of perfor-

one two three four five sixseven eight nine ten eleventwelve thirteen fourteen fif-teen sixteen seventeen eigh-teen nineteen twentytwenty-one twenty-twotwenty-three twenty-fourtwenty-five twenty-sixtwenty-seven twenty-eighttwenty-nine thirty thirty-onethirty-two thirty-three thirty-four thirty-five thirty-sixthirty-seven thirty-eightthirty-nine forty forty-oneforty-two forty-three forty-four forty-five forty-six forty-seven forty-eight forty-ninefifty fifty-one fifty-two fifty-three fifty-four fifty-five fifty-six fify-seven fifty-eight fifty-nine sixty sixty-one sixty-

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14,91314,91314,91314,91314,913Continued on next page

Vision & StrategyVision & Strategy

SPAWARCOM visits SSC CharlestonSSC Charleston welcomed Navy Rear Adm. Michael

C. Bachmann, commander of the Space and Naval War-fare Systems Command, March 21.

The admiral received several briefs and visited the in-tegration lab and CSRR lab. He also looked at the workbeing done to Up-Armored Humvees (UAH) and had aworking lunch with SSC Charleston’s New Profession-als.

After viewing several demonstrations in the IntegratedProduct Center (IPC), the admiral took part in the dedi-cation of the new Bldg. 3147 quarterdeck and an awardsceremony. The new quarterdeck honors Jim Lynch, aSPAWAR technician in the Joint Information SystemsFleet Support Branch (J632) who died Sept. 11, 2001, inthe terrorist attack on the Pentagon.

This was the admiral’s first official visit to SSC Charles-ton since taking the helm of SPAWAR during a Feb. 23ceremony at the command’s headquarters in San Diego,Calif. On Feb. 24, the Secretary of Defense announcedthat Bachmann had been nominated by the President forappointment to the rank of rear admiral (two star).

As SPAWAR Commander, Bachmann serves as theFORCEnet chief engineer and is responsible for develop-ing the architecture and standards for the Navy’s visionof network centric warfare for the 21st century. In addi-tion to developing the FORCEnet architecture, he is thechief engineer for the Navy’s C4I systems.

Above, from left, Lt. Cmdr. Dean Barsaleau, Rear Adm.Michael Bachmann, Capt. Red Hoover and Executive Di-

From left, James Ward; Charles Adams, communicationsdepartment head; Kevin McGee, command and control sys-tems department head; Bachmann and Pete Ward of Code616 discuss the work being done on Up-Armored Humvees.

Photos by Susan Piedfort

rector James Ward prepare to begin the SSC Charleston quar-terdeck dedication ceremony.


highlight some of the more significantinterrelationships. Our map chartshow we create value by connectingour strategic objectives in explicitcause-and-effect relationships witheach other. It uses five perspectives.These perspectives are interrelated inanswering:

• Stakeholder: “To satisfy ourstakeholders, what mission- criticalobjectives must we accomplish?”

• Customer: “To achieve thesemission-critical objectives, what cus-tomer needs must we serve?”

• Financial: “To satisfy our stake-holders, what financial objectives mustwe accomplish?”

• Internal: “To satisfy our custom-ers needs and our financial objectives,in which internal operations must weexcel?”

• Learning & Growth: “Toachieve our internal operations objec-tives, how must our organization learnand grow?”

As we begin exploring the strat-egy map, it is important to recognizethat the map depicts drivers and ef-fects relationships. We enter the mapat the bottom, the Learning &Growth Perspective. And we do sofor a very good reason. The intangibleassets within this Learning & GrowthPerspective establish the foundationto our strategy. These intangible as-sets are found in Human Capital tal-ents, Organizational Capital teams andInformation Capital tools. By properlylinking these talents, teams and toolswe drive over 75% of the total valuewe create for our naval, defense andfederal customers.

Moving up, we enter the InternalPerspective. This section focuses onthe internal activities that we mustexcel at in order to drive the customerand financial effects we desire. Ourpursuit of world-class excellence isthe linking pin in our mission -- focused,process -- focused and customer-fo-cused operations.

Continuing the journey up the map,we enter the map’s “effects” section.This upper section is powered bothby the internal operations and learn-ing and growth activities highlightedearlier. The Customer Perspectiveaddresses the customer service, mis-sion support and business partnershipactions that contribute to customersuccess.

The Financial Perspective ad-dresses our fiscal stewardship and ourbottom line accountability in meetingour cost savings targets.

The final stop on our journey is theStakeholder Perspective that servesas the gateway connection to assesshow well our command is trackingalong DoD’s transformation con-tinuum. Our naval, joint and federalstakeholders apply two vantage pointsin assessing our mission success. Onthe warfighting side, our stakeholdersassess our contribution in response to“Fully Netted Force” readiness. Onthe “Fully Netted Resources” side,they assess our success in meetingcost savings targets while delivering

readiness solutions. How will weknow when our vision of “Fully Net-ted in Four” is reached? The bestanswer will come from our custom-ers when our joint warfighters can ap-ply the right force to the right placeat the right time to produce the righteffect.

The final command level BalancedScorecard; complete with strategicobjectives, measures, targets and ini-tiatives, was approved by the SSCCharleston Business Board (formallyknown as the Board of Directors, akaBOD) in July 2005. Our performanceand progress is reviewed every monthat each Business Board meeting.

The Balanced Scorecard method-ology is also being implemented withinindividual departments. All four tech-nical departments are currently devel-oping their own scorecards that shouldbe complete within the comingmonths. A few of the larger divisionswill also develop scorecards as willseveral of the larger support units.This “cascading” effort will ensurestrategic alignment with thecommand’s objectives.

To learn more about the StrategyMap, visit Corpweb and click on theStrategic Planning link on the leftside then click on Strategy Guide 2005.Additionally, SSC Charleston has asecure website to display all the in-formation associated with theCommand’s Balanced Scorecard.Click on the Balanced Scorecard linkto read more about it.

Developing and implementing aBalanced Scorecard is not quick, easynor cheap; good things rarely are. Butthe rewards are great -- great forour command, great for the taxpayerbut ultimately, great for thewarfighters and peacekeepers.

The Balanced Scorecard – “Not ameasurement tool, it’s a strategytool.”

- Jim Gregory, Code OA5

Developing and

implementing a

Balanced Scorecard

is not quick, easy

nor cheap; good

things rarely are.

But the rewards are

great ... great for

our command, great

for the taxpayer but

ultimately, great for

the warfighters and

peacekeepers.

Developing and

implementing a

Balanced Scorecard

is not quick, easy

nor cheap; good

things rarely are.

But the rewards are

great ... great for

our command, great

for the taxpayer but

ultimately, great for

the warfighters and

peacekeepers.

mance measurement to see what theywere measuring. They hypothesizedthat financial measures alone wereinsufficient to drive performance andthat a more “balanced view” was re-quired. They found there were mea-sures that drove performance; namelycustomer, business process/internal,and learning and growth (skills andknowledge.) Managing these “driv-ers” would ultimately lead to finan-cial success. Over time, the conceptevolved into the Balanced Scorecardthat is a framework for strategyimplementation and strategy manage-ment.

Drs. Kaplan and Norton describethe innovation of the balancedscorecard as follows:

“The Balanced Scorecard retainstraditional financial measures. But fi-

nancial measures tell the story of pastevents, an adequate story for indus-trial age companies for which invest-ments in long-term capabilities andcustomer relationships were not criti-cal for success. These financial mea-sures are inadequate, however, forguiding and evaluating the journey thatinformation age companies mustmake to create future value throughinvestment in customers, suppliers,employees, processes, technology andinnovation.”

The measurement areas or per-spectives that make up the BalancedScorecard are: Financial, Customer,Internal, and Learning and Growth.The model for a government agencyadds a 5th perspective, called Stake-holder. Each one of the these per-spectives has four components thathelp drive success: Strategic Objec-

tives, Measures, Targets and Initia-tives.

Strategic Objective: Statement ofthe desired outcome

Measure: How success will bemeasured and tracked

Target: The desired level of per-formance

Initiative: Key action program re-quired to close performance gap

The Transformation Team (aka X-Team), led by Francis Allston, em-barked on a journey in the summer of2004. As with any journey, a map isnecessary. With “true north” definedas “Fully Netted in Four”, the X-Teamdeveloped the strategy map shownbelow.

The map shows the 18 strategicobjectives that shape our strategy.These high – level objectives are rep-resented as ovals. We use arrows to

Continued from previous page


Photo by Harold Senn

The award-winning Net Centric Programs Office team atSSC Charleston leads the industry in developing SOA func-tionality for the Department of Defense. Pictured are (frontrow, from left) Russell Reeves, Glenn Stafford, Steve Butler,Tawnya McCrackin, Charlene Bates, LaDonna Pate, JessicaTownsend, Leslie Sharp and David Gissentanna (second row,from left) Don Poole, Will Schroder, Brooke Berthelotte,Chuck Davis, Philip Butler, Tris Sherman and David Hatcher(third row, from left) Aleksandra Wiszynski, Art Lazarow,Keith Dillingham, Ron Lacroix, Jason Sessions, Bob Rozar,Don Cloud and Mark Perron (fourth row, from left) BarbaraWard, Jim Leonard, Dennis Warren, Chris Delchamp, Chris

the Test and Validation Lab will useits experience to help otherdevelopers of network centricwarfare release their tested, certifiedand accredited applications rapidlyinto the battlefield.

The 2006 NCW Award winners forBest Contributions to the

Thornley and Gene Cammer (back row, from left) MichelleJordan, Greg Monahan, Brad Smith, Trey Oats, DavidJohnson, Louis Viveiros, Randy Shirley and Gary Musil. NotPictured: Eric Andry, Chris Angelich, Rob Ashworth, FayeBradley, Don Campbell, Russell Coleman, Colin Thomas,Jared Dingus, Tom Glaab, Bill Guin, Janice Hembree, AprilKemp, Pat Klingemann, Andrew Mansfield, Tony Martellini,Carissa Miller, Sonja McKelvey, Paul Nesbit, ScottOppenlander, Mark Perron, Michael Ramirez, Brian Ratliff,David Sloan, Tony Stafford, Jennifer Underwood and DrewVarner.

Development of NCW Theory were:First Place: Product Manager, JointNetwork Node; Second Place: Test& Validation Laboratory, Net CentricPrograms Office, SSC Charleston;Third Place: Simon Reay Atkinson& James Moffatt, The AgileOrganization.

For more information on IDGA andthe annual NCW awards andconference, visit www.idga.org orwww.ncwawards.com.

-Leslie Sharp, Net CentricPrograms Office

The Test and Validation Lab of the Net CentricPrograms Office at SSC Charleston was honored recentlyby the Institute for Defense and GovernmentAdvancement (IDGA) with a 2006 Net Centric WarfareAward for outstanding contributions to the developmentof network centric warfare theory.

According to IDGA Executive Director Megan Knapp,“IDGA’s Network Centric Warfare (NCW) Awards wereestablished to honor, recognize and promote initiatives inthe U.S. Department of Defense, coalition governments,and defense industry that exemplify the principles ofnetwork centric warfare and support information agetransformation.” A panel of respected defense sectorleaders evaluated the nominees and determined thewinners.

Randall Shirley, director of the Net Centric ProgramsOffice, said, “As this award signifies, the Test and

Validation Lab exemplifies the best in current initiativesand sets new standards of excellence for incorporatingan innovative concept into future work for the Departmentof Defense.”

Following Donald Rumsfeld’s vision to “thinkdifferently and develop the kinds of forces and capabilitiesthat can adapt quickly to new challenges and tounexpected circumstances,” the Test and Validation Labhas proved it is possible to accelerate the development ofa Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) while consistentlytesting and evaluating the system’s performance andsecurity.

In 2003 the Test and Validation Lab was engaged totest and integrate the Core Services and Initiatives of theHorizontal Fusion Portfolio. Recognized for itsachievements and innovations for the Horizontal FusionPortfolio, the Test and Validation Lab has helped

Horizontal Fusion achieve the firstoperational SOA portal available towarfighters in Iraq. The HorizontalFusion Mars Portal, which wasdesigned to prove that a networkcentric operation can bring reliable,timely intelligence across the battlechain, became operational one yearahead of schedule.

The innovative methods developedby the Test and Validation Lab,located in the Integrated ProductsCenter in Bldg. 3147, have supporteddevelopment of network centricwarfare theory by enablingdevelopers to integrate computernetwork defensive principles tocreate robust and secure SOAfunctionality in a minimal amount oftime. As an SOA Center ofExcellence for Engineering Services,

Innovating Net Centric Warfare

Net Centric Program Office leaders (from left) David Johnson, Louis Viveiros andRandall Shirley receive the IDGA Net Centric Warfare Award from Susan Opp.

Photo provided

HonorsHonors


buses effectively broke the necessary line-of-sight linkbetween the wireless nodes, forcing the team to adjustthe placement of the backhaul node, located on a scaf-folding only a few feet from the podium where the presi-dent would be making his speech.

Understandably, access to this area was strictly con-trolled, making any adjustments all the more difficult.Although an adjustment brought the connection back up,the interference caused by the buses as well ships in thebay brought in for the speech created severe deteriora-tion in the signal reliability. Due to these problems, theWhite House Press Corps continued to use the standarddial-up service.

All seemed to be lost, until a service truck towing apatrol ship ripped out the temporary phone line carryingthe dial-up service to the building housing the press. Bythat point, the buses and ships had moved on, allowing thewireless signal to regain its full strength. With their timerunning out, the White House Press Corps were able toutilize the wireless broadband connection and they all suc-cessfully completed their tasks.

According to the NAS Coronado representatives, thewireless system was the first of its kind in the area. TheSPAWAR Charleston team is grateful to CNI for the op-

portunity to provide a solution to such an exciting task.They also thanked MilCom Systems and BelAir Networksfor their great support, as well as the NAS Coronadorepresentatives for all their help and coordination.

- Bradley Larson, Code 513

The team installs the wireless equipment on a scaffold.

The BelAir 200 at work, with the President in the background.Photos provided

Lead Engineer), to discuss the best plan of action to taketo complete the daunting task. After much debate, theteam decided to contract a temporary commercial internetlink through the local broadband provider that would beable to establish a wireless link across the Coronado Bayto provider’s network infrastructure in downtown SanDiego.

Once a path to the outside internet was established,the team could use the BelAir 200 wireless access/backhaul nodes to provide an open broadband connectionto the specified press areas. In a matter of a few hours,the system was completely built and successfully tested.

Late into the night, McCreight and Larson worked todraft connection instructions and a detailed map of thewireless signal footprints to provide the White House PressCorps the next morning. Everything seemed to be in placeto give a smooth and successful implementation. How-ever, the morning of the speech would prove to be a littlemore interesting.

The team arrived on the dock early Tuesday morning,with the presidential speech only a few hours away.Unannounced to anyone, two rows of huge buses used tobring in Navy personnel were parked directly betweenthe backhaul link and the main press access area. The

SSC Charleston team supports POTUS

Skipper McCreight has his phototaken “with” President GeorgeW. Bush (background).

Late in the afternoon on Friday, Aug. 26Roy Johnson from SSC Charleston received a call fromJeffrey Huskey, Chief Information Officer of Com-mander, Navy Installations (CNI), in need of a solution toa rather pressing issue.

The President of the United States was to give a speechat Naval Air Station Coronado on North Island in Califor-nia on Tuesday, Aug. 30, and the White House Press Corpsrequested a high-speed alternative to the standard dial-upservice they normally receive to report on such events.Within hours a team was assembled, consisting of Skip-per McCreight and Bradley Larson from SSC Charles-ton, as well two MilCom technicians and an engineer fromBelAir Networks.

The team gathered the necessary equipment through-out the following day and had the items express shippedto San Diego. The team members themselves arrived Sun-day, with little specific information as to the resourcesavailable on-site or even a detailed map of the physicallocation.

Needless to say, the next day was going to need afocused, group effort to have any chance of success. Theteam met with site representatives, Michael Blaksley (Re-gional IT Director) and Steve Parsons (Legacy Systems


Warfighter SupportWarfighter Support

In July of 2005, SSC Charleston received

an urgent tasking from the Marine Corps

to modify Up-Armored High Mobility Multi

Wheeled Vehicles (Humvees) (UAH) with

a variety of special C4I and weapons

equipment that will help save warfighters’

lives.Photo by Harold Senn

Christopher Collins installs componentson a Humvee.

E d g eE d g eE d g eE d g eE d g e

Giving warfighters the

The Combat C2 Systems Branchin the Tactical C2 Engineering Divi-sion of the Command and ControlSystems Department, teaming withEagan McAllister and Associates(EMA), Corporate Production, Titan,and the Information Warfare (IW)Exploitation Systems EngineeringDivison, took on the challenge. Ledby Industrial Engineer Peter Ward,Code 616 personnel had completed in-stallation of the C4ISR systems onmore than one third of the Humvees(M1114s) by early February.

SSC Charleston’s location near amajor transportation hub, and a

Continued on the next page

65,000-square-foot facility in which tohandle the high volume of vehicles,made it a logical choice for theproject. In addition, SPAWARriorshave extensive experience in the in-tegration and fielding of Marine mo-bile radio communications and tacti-cal data radio sets, sensors and thevarious SIGINT systems involved.

The SPAWAR team is currentlyproducing above the schedule require-ment. The vehicles are shipped toKuwait, where EMA personnel areon hand to perform visual checks be-fore turning them over to operationalMarines.


Michael Harkins tests components on a Humvee in the production facility.

The basic Humvees have additionalarmor on the sides, top and underneathto provide ballistic, artillery and mineblast protection to the warfighter. Be-cause of emerging technology in thearea of counter Improvised ExplosiveDevices (IED), the UAH modifica-tions allow for future upgrades. Theradio installs done at SSC Charlestonwill also facilitate future upgradeswithout vehicle modification, allowingupgrades to be fielded directly to Ma-rines.


Jeremiah Sattler uses a “Power Pusher” to move Humvees, below,cutting down vehicle emissions in the facility. At right, Michael Harkinstests a video display and keyboard.

PhotosbyHarold Senn

Joe Shorter performs a quality control check.

Installation quality is inspected daily by the UAH team. Above, Rich-ard Steward, left, and Steve Satterfield check inside a Humvee. Below,Robert Rhett checks connections of equipment installed.

Continued from page 21Though the project has presented acquisition and coor-

dination challenges, the goals of supporting the Marines’requirements, synchronizing integration with the vehiclesdelivery schedule, and providing the combat-ready vehiclesto the operating forces are being met successfully.

As the warfighters’ requirements have changed so hasthe number and complexity of vehicles being produced.The UAH team has proven their ability to produce ve-hicles at lightning speed, and this is evident by increasedworkload. The SSC Charleston team is continually speed-ing up the production process and improving integrationquality utilizing tools such as value stream mapping, co-site testing and control chart monitoring. Installation qual-ity is inspected daily and feedback is provided directly tothe integration lines. From loose hardware to a lot of non-conforming cables that could have significantly impactedthe performance of a key operational system, the UAHteam is taking action. Time studies are fed directly into anactivity-based simulation program that is used to forecastspace and manpower requirements.

The first group of modified vehicles were transportedand turned over to the Marines by the beginning of De-cember, and reports from the warfighters have been verypositive. If the SPAWAR team needs any more proof thattheir work is helping save lives, they can look at a bulletinboard which features a letter from a Marine in Iraq de-scribing a recent explosion near his UAH. In a photo theMarine holds the bomb fragment that would have takenhis life had it completely penetrated the windshield of hisHumvee. In the letter, the Marine major thanked the teamfor the work they are doing.


Some aspects of this function overlap the procurement,maintenance and supply management functions, whileothers are based squarely in research, development andacquisition for upgrades and modernizations. Historically,we have been unable to agree on where in the processacquisition ends and in-service support begins, and in anera of “evolutionary acquisition and spiral development,”making a distinction between these areas may becomeeven more difficult.

Distance Support & Learning. To strive for workloadreduction afloat by seeking greater efficiencies in supportprocesses only makes sense in an atmosphere of reducedshipboard manning, a shrinking shore infrastructure, andbudget reductions. Distance support is another way theNavy is sustaining the deployed fleet. Using state-of-the-art information technology, ships at sea are linked withexperts at technical centers ashore and receive real-timesupport to correct maintenance issues. The main advan-tage of distance support is the ability to provide continu-ous support while keeping the ship at sea and without thedelays faced when sending a technician to the ship orsubmarine.

One of the most obvious and critical areas that ourISEAs can influence is developing more effective andefficient methods for training our future tactical decision-makers through the use of distant learning. Over time,training practices have been in the process of shifting froman almost exclusive reliance on traditional lectures in shore-based classrooms to utilizing simulation-based and em-bedded training functionality built directly into operationalsystems on board ships and submarines. There are a va-riety of reasons for this shift, including the costs associ-ated with operating shore-based classroom facilities andthe need for flexible, realistic, just-in-time training andmission rehearsal for crews on ships and submarines thatare already underway.

Another key capability for embedded training systemsis automated performance measurement and diagnosis.This will ensure that we close the skills gap between newlyreporting crews and their shipmates departing for otherassignments. Without highly motivated and well-trainedSailors, our ships and submarines are lifeless and inani-mate platforms. Sailors clearly are the Navy’s most valu-able shipboard system, and our duty is to ensure that ev-ery ship and submarine we build and every system wedeliver is designed, acquired and supported with their per-formance, training, safety and survivability in mind.

Performance Based Logistics & Material Obso-lescence. The overwhelming preoccupation of today’sNavy leadership is all aspects of cost. They wish to seereductions in operating costs and in-service support. Theprimary objective of Performance Based Logistics (PBL)

support is to ensure warfighter readiness and reduce totalownership cost. Based on predetermined performanceand readiness goals, PBL is the preferred approach forimplementing product support that leads to higher levelsof weapon system readiness and the reduction of totalownership cost.

The major shift from the traditional approach to prod-uct support emphasizes “what” program managers buy,not who they buy it from. Instead of buying set levels ofspares, repair parts, tools and data, the new focus is onbuying a predetermined level of availability to meet thewarfighters’ objectives. PBL supports the strategic sourc-ing pillar of Sea Enterprise—seek best value sourcing forour inventory, infrastructure, maintenance and servicefunctions by increasing supplier responsibilities.

Essentially, PBL tackles material obsolescence, drivesreliability, adopts commercial best practices, buys responsetime, reduces lifecycle costs and establishes a best valuesupply chain. PBL helps with material obsolescence byidentifying diminishing manufacturing sources and mate-rial shortages (DMSMS). The loss, or impending loss, ofmanufacturers or suppliers of critical items and raw ma-terials has the potential to severely impact the system enditem in terms of schedule and lifecycle cost. These prob-lems can affect readiness and operating cost if left unre-solved by increasing repair times and the cost of resolv-ing the materiel shortage. We cannot fully eliminate therisk of DMSMS, but we can manage it so that we obtainthe readiness we need at a spending level we can afford.

ISEA Next: Virtual Presence. The time for a cul-ture of continuous readiness is now. Today’s “regional-ized” concept for ship and submarine maintenance doesnot fit well with the “virtual presence” that technologiesprovide the Navy. Given today’s tight budgets, it is notuncommon to sacrifice new systems to support the main-tenance of legacy systems and the existing infrastruc-ture. To reduce future system maintenance costs, new

Continued on page 31

“The challenges and opportunities

our ISEA Next team will be working

on is to identify the most promising

unexploited opportunities we can use

in future ISEA activities and

determining what needs to happen to

realize their potential.”

By Dr. Carol F. SmithChief Logistics Officer Code 09L

Enhancing Force Readiness. Our in-service engi-neering agents (ISEAs) are a real-time part of the Fleetresponse equation. For this reason, we must modernizethem in parallel with the ongoing Naval Force Transfor-mation initiative to ensure continuous force readiness. Theglobal environment and the nation’s defense strategy callfor a military with the ability to respond swiftly to a broadrange of global missions and homeland defense againstthreats. To meet these demands, ships and submarinesmust be deployable and surge ready when needed. Sup-port of a surge rotation force requires a different busi-ness model than we have been using. In order to achievethis kind of transformation, we will need to change theway we currently organize and manage our in-serviceengineering efforts.

Over the past few years, senior leadership took boldaction to transform its planning processes for maintenanceand modernization efforts. The Navy needs significantimprovements in “efficiency” in a maintenance and mod-ernization process that has proven to be very effective.It needs to get more work for every dollar spent, makingit clear that our ISEAs have to help deliver a more readyFleet at a lower cost. Our need for reinvestment dollarshas never been more heightened. The SEA POWER 21Sea Enterprise mandate is clear—the daily deliberatepursuit of increased effectiveness and efficiency.

The Navy’s ship maintenance (SHIPMAIN) initiativeis being used to improve the maintenance and moderniza-tion planning processes by gaining efficiencies from thepoint where the ship’s crew first identifies the work,through contract placement or assignment of an in-ser-vice activity for the performance of work. This is to en-sure that the right people fix the ship, at the right place,for the right price while identifying redundancies in main-tenance and modernization processes and eliminatingthem. Maintaining a “culture of readiness” means havingships and submarines ready to deploy anywhere, at anytime, and able to stay deployed indefinitely.

SHIPMAIN replaces the Fleet Modernization Program(FMP), collapses forty-plus alteration types into two cat-egories (fleet and program), streamlines and consolidates

a number of existing modernization practices, processes,meetings and supporting documents, and provides a single,hierarchical decision-making process for maintaining andmodernizing the Fleet. In addition, the new process al-lows sufficient time for the executing activity to integrateall the work that has been identified—including interme-diate maintenance activities and alteration installationmodernization work.

Since the very start, the goals and objectives ofSHIPMAIN have remained the same: one maintenanceand modernization process to be used at all locations; get-ting more work done for the same dollars spent, yet main-taining or improving material readiness; and achievingmore discipline in driving the metrics to the goals by insti-tutionalizing them as “the way we do business every day.”It is through initiatives such as SHIPMAIN that the Fleetremains a prepared and viable source of military power.

Cradle to Grave. The primary focus of our ISEAs isthe care of PEO PMW C4ISR systems that are currentlyfielded and will be fielded in the future. Additionally, theygive us a base of operations to directly support the EastCoast Fleet centers of concentration and are becomingincreasingly important in supporting organizations such asFleet Forces Command (FFC), Naval Network WarfareCommand (NETWAR), and Joint Forces Command(JFCOM) in the joint arena.

We have developed a very cooperative arrangementfor getting the right people in the right jobs independent oftheir location in our command, which allows us to interactwith the warfighters on a day-to-day basis. If they have aproblem with a system, we can literally walk down thestreet, investigate the issue and come up with a solutionrelatively quickly.

The question of who has responsibility for in-servicesupport is an issue that has long escaped any easy orlasting solution. In-service support is defined as “perform-ing lifecycle engineering, management and support func-tions for assigned systems and equipments delivered tooperational forces. The scope of work includes mainte-nance, systems engineering, technical support, configura-tion management, test and evaluation, and all aspects oflogistics support from completion of installation to dis-posal.”

Enhancing force readinessthrough in-service engineering


SSC Charleston Command Senior Chief ACCS(AW) KirbyJohnson congratulates Shane Kimble during a special assemblyheld at Hanahan Middle School in January. Kimble washonored for winning the command’s patriotic essay contest.Hanahan Middle School is SSC Charleston’s Partner inEducation. Kimble’s essay appears in its entirety below.

Kimble’s essay winsSSC Charleston contest

By Shane KimbleHanahan Middle School

If I were president, I would strive to do what’s bestfor the country and not necessarily what would benefitme the most. Three goals I would strive to accomplishwould be to help Iraq be an independent nation, fix theSocial Security system, and abolish the fuel crisis. Thoughthe bar is set high, I believe that if our nation pulls together,we will have success.

I take the war in Iraq very seriously. I understand thetremendous loss a soldier is to a family. With an uncle ofmine that flies Blackhawk helicopters (a.k.a. TheWidowmaker), I also understand the enormous risk fora soldier in the war. My reason to keep forces in Iraqstrong is that if we pull out now, that makes the deathsof those that have already died in the war meaningless. Ifwe don’t finish what we start, someone else will, and itmight not be so pretty! Think about it. If PresidentTruman had let MacArthur finish what he was doing inKorea, they wouldn’t be anywhere near as big a threat asthey are now. If we finish this war we will prevent historyfrom repeating itself.

Social Security worries me when I think of it. I wouldbe very surprised if there is any Social Security left foreven my parents, let alone my generation. The currentsystem has got to change. I would support the currentpresident’s vision of personalized accounts. I believe thatthis way people have more control over where their moneygoes, and they have a chance to invest and perhaps makea profit with it. I think our current legislators treat theAmerican people as unintelligent masses instead ofintelligent individuals that are capapble of making informed

decisions about their own money and future. I also wouldmake U.S. territories pay for Social Security and othertaxes instead of freeloading off of America’s hard workingcitizens. The U.S. is over $3 trillion in debt, and the SocialSecurity system isn’t helping. Something must be done,and Social Security is really just the beginning of a badlyneeded overhaul of our Internal Revenue code.

My third goal is perhaps the most difficult. I’m surethat everyone is aware that fossil fuels are not going tolast us forever, and even if they could, it would tear upthe atmosphere.

Every night, before I go to bed, I imagine what itwould be like when cars fly, buildings extend to space,people live on the moon, and maybe people could evenlive in a different solar system. It seems so far off butit’s probably only 50 to 100 years down the road! I alsothink about the atmosphere, and how disgusting it couldbe by then. Even though those thoughts amaze me, Ialways end up at one thought: what it would be like toinvent an atmosphere-safe, nitrogen-powered car thatpulls nitrogen right out the air.

It seems logical because the air is made up of about78 percent nitrogen. If I played the role of president Iwould definitely fund research such as this. You workhard for your money, which includes the money you payfor taxes, so I plan to benefit you with the money byeliminating the need for gas money and making a safeatmosphere for everyone.

If I were president I would do for my country all Icould, by helping other countries succeed that wereoverrun by bad dictators, proceed in saving SocialSecurity, making our country less dependent on fossilfuels, and over all, making it a safer, healthier and moresecure country to live in.

If I were president, I would...Photo by Harold Senn

What does SSC Charleston haveto offer today’s kids who like videogames and computers?

Sixteen Charleston CountySchool District career counselorsfound out during a January visit.They learned that for students whoexcel in math and science, SSCCharleston offers an excellentstarting salary, work on cutting-edgetechnology and a chance to helpwarfighters.

Starting with a command brief byCode 70 Department Head MichaelKutch, the counselors learned abouteach department at SSC Charleston.“We can find a need, find acustomer and find the answer forthem,” said Kutch, noting SSCCharleston’s growth of $400 milliona year for the last four to six years.

SSC Charleston ExecutiveDirector James Ward underscoredthe important role career counselorsplay. “You help young people find out what they want todo, where they want to make a contribution,” he said.

“Our job is keeping the warfighter out of harm’s way,giving them a tactical advantage, keeping them safer,”said Ward, adding that if counselors encourage childrento aim high, those kids could one day be part of the SSCCharleston team.

A brief from Karen Quick of the personnel officeoutlined the command’s efforts to recruit youngprofessionals to offset the loss of those at SSC Charlestonwho will retire in the next eight years. In addition to 216New Professionals brought on board, the command hasa co-op program that gives college students hands-onengineering experience and counts toward retirement ifthey choose a civil service career.

The importance of studying and good grades wasbrought home when Quick noted that last year newengineers hired with a grade point overage (GPA) of 3.0or higher started at approximately $53,000, while thosewith GPAs of 2.5 to 2.9 earned $44,000.

Local career counselors visit and learn

The sky’s the limit at SSC Charleston

Mike Shirley of Intelligence and Information WarfareSystems (Code 544) then treated the group to a videoshowing a fully netted future force, followed by a tour ofthe SATCOM lab. Later the group visited the Air TrafficControl Center, where Senior Chief Air TrafficControlman Kirby Johnson demonstrated the equipmentused to duplicate and solve problems encountered in thefield. They also learned SSC Charleston’s role in providingwind and weather information and its Antarctic mission.

A visit to Bldg. 3112 followed, where the counselorssaw Humvees and light armored vehicles being outfittedby Code 71, the Special Exploitations Branch. ChrisLittlejohn explained the work being done for the Armythat provides signals intelligence, allowing these vehiclesto be the eyes and ears of the convoy. Steve Lariverethen took the visitors through the Integration and TestArea (ITA), showing the lab areas where componentsare assembled into racks and tested.

- Susan PiedfortEditor, The Chronicle


Charleston County School District career counselors pose on the quarterdeck withtheir host Odette Foore and SSC Charleston Executive Officer CDR Patty A. Gill,far right.

PartnersPartners


In Bldg. 3143, students got a bird’s eye view from the ATC tower, top; checked out cold weather gearused in Antarctica, middle left; and got familiar with control room equipment, middle right. Afterlunch and receiving certificates, another group got one last photo before heading back to school,bottom.

Photos byHarold Senn

Students ‘invade’ SSC CharlestonMore than 185 local students, teachers, assistant principals and

guidance counselors visited SSC Charleston over a two-day period inFebruary.

One hundred twenty five students participated in Groundhog ShadowDay and more than 60 math and science oriented high school studentsparticipated in a technology seminar the next day. Visiting studentsalso included children of SSC Charleston employees and HanahanMiddle School Lunch Buddies.

Both days focused on math, science and technology in an effort topromote these disciplines among today’s youth. “We are pleased tosee President Bush talking about the need for scientists and engineersand visiting science and engineering high schools … it means suchdisciplines are important to our nation,” said Marsha Hassell, publicaffairs officer.

Students were greeted by Executive Officer Cmdr. Patty Gill. “Howmany of you know what you want to be when you grow up?” Gillasked the group. A lively discussion ensued about the XO’s road toNavy commander and change of career path from oceanography tophysics. Those attending Groundhog Shadow Day were also greetedby CWO James Whetzel, appearing as “The Groundhog.”

Students, teachers, guidance counselors and assistant principals touredan actual air-traffic control tower and an antenna complex, video-teleconferenced with a naval ship, participated in demonstrations andlectures and glimpsed emerging technologies. They were also shownhow the math and science principles they are learning in school areused to develop the Navy’s C4ISR systems. “We want to make scienceand math come alive for these kids,” said Hassell.

Students were split into groups and, after a photoop, below, some checked out an Up-ArmoredHumvee (UAH) being modified for warfighters,above.

PartnersPartnersPartners


systems need to be designed with the ability to be re-motely maintained. The increase in development costs topay for remote monitoring will be recovered during thelifecycle of the system. When these new generations ofsystems are back-fitted into the fleet, smart test boxeswill facilitate distance maintenance interactions.

Implementation of an integrated condition assessmentsystem and distant support will enable both shipboard andremote monitoring. With these technologies in place, therewill no longer be a need to physically visit a ship or sub-marine, or even be in the same location, to determine thehealth and readiness of our C4ISR systems. If needed,ISEA teams can exist in key locations to assist the crewin executing the recommended maintenance actions.

Our ISEA Next initiative will expand our current busi-ness model with clearly defined roles and responsibilitiesand support SHIPMAIN goals by making a conscien-tious effort to increase teaming and collaboration amongour ISEAs. By cataloging and documenting the linkagesto where best sustainment practices reside, our ISEAscan learn from others’ attempts and avoid costly and time-consuming duplication of effort. With the Navy-wide driveto “do more with less,” we will need to create more “out-put” for every unit of input to the maintenance and mod-ernization process. ISEA Next will allow us to remain aleader in supporting operations, maintenance, upgradesand modernization of C4ISR systems that are vital to thesuccess of future Fleet and Joint operations.

Traditional ISEA assignments will move toward a morecollaborative approach—experts, analysis and competen-cies from any of several organizations working togetheras a “virtual” ISEA. Together, these composableworkgroups will provide seamless Fleet support. Real-time data from embedded sensors and virtual modelingand simulation techniques will enable effective distancesupport. The total logistics footprint will be seen and opti-mized. Technical decision making and problem solving willmove from a system-specific approach to a total

warfighting capability view. Funding barriers and culturalparadigms will be identified and removed.

The challenges and opportunities our ISEA Next teamwill be working on is to identify the most promisingunexploited opportunities we can use in future ISEA ac-tivities and determining what needs to happen to realizetheir potential. The team is working to find islands of ex-cellence or other high-quality resources and new capa-bilities that can be leveraged across the enterprise.

We will have lots of opportunities to make mid-coursecorrections if we need to. The important thing is we allwant our in-service efforts to become more cost and pro-cess efficient. Let’s focus for the time being on our com-mon objective of providing an end-to-end service andlifecycle support, from installation concept to installed per-formance, test, trials, maintenance and modernization. Theutilization of Lean Six Sigma across our enterprise hasgreatly increased collaboration. Lean for in-service engi-neering operations is simply not the same thing as leanmanufacturing. To bring the power of lean, six sigma andsupply chain management to our in-service engineeringoperations our entire workforce must be aligned and fo-cused on enhancing responsiveness to warfighter needs.

Keep in mind that we are doing nothing short of revi-talizing our ISEAs and re-establishing your position in theFleet as the most respected, highest-quality in-servicesupport activity available. Doing so will make us the rightpeople, at the right places, working for the right price.Each of you has an opportunity to make a difference inour proud ISEA tradition. I hope you all share the ISEANext team’s enthusiasm and will help us shape our col-lective future.

There are a lot of things we need to do here, but thefirst thing is to ensure we do not knock the wheels off aneffective multi-stovepiped process on our way to com-mon processes and better efficiency, we still have a Fleetto support. Our end goal is amplifying our ISEAs’ contri-bution to readiness and designing an in-service engineer-ing business model that can be used across our entirecustomer base.


Enhancing force readiness through in-service engineering

Students work math problems in Mark Clark Hall at The Citadel.

Helping MakHelping MakHelping MakHelping MakHelping MakeeeeeMath CountMath CountMath CountMath CountMath Count

SSC Charleston volunteers evaluate students’ MATHCOUNTSsolutions.

The highest ranking team in the competition, from Buist Acad-emy, poses with local weatherman Rob Fowler, far right.

Nine SSC Charleston employees spent their Satur-day, Feb. 10, helping to promote mathematics achieve-ment in local schools. They helped judge the work oflocal seventh and eighth graders in the 2006 CharlestonChapter competition of MATHCOUNTS, held at TheCitadel.

A national math enrichment, coaching and competi-tion program, MATHCOUNTS promotes middle schoolmathematics success, thanks to education partnershipswith volunteers, educators, industry sponsors and stu-dents. The program challenges students’ math skills,develops self-confidence and rewards their achieve-ments.

Local schools select students to compete. Local win-ners proceed to state competitions. The top four win-ners and top coach then represent their state at thenational level. A team from Buist Academy for Ad-vanced Studies ranked highest in the Charleston com-petition.

SSC Charleston employees volunteering to score forthe event were Jeffery Stevenson (Code 625), LouisSheridan (523), Mimi Pham (531), and husband Antoine,Jason Pizarro (616), Richard Baker (741), MarileneBaker (522), Jozen Orbase (614), John Rein (741), Wil-liam Reed (543) and Bob Fusarini (Code 60 supportcontractor).

According to Marilene Baker, lead scorer for thecompetition, several of the SSC Charleston volunteershad competed in MATHCOUNTS themselves as chil-dren and saw this as an opportunity to give back to thecommunity for the opportunities they were given.

Photos provided The Chronicle has a worldwide dis-tribution and can also be viewed atwww.sscc.spawar.navy.mil.

Does your sponsor receive TheChronicle? Don’t miss out on valuablerecognition for yourself, SSC Charles-ton and our products and services!

Send names and addresses byemail to [email protected] U.S. mail to Attention:Chronicle Editor (J0A5SP), P.O.Box 190022, North Charleston, SC29419, and we’ll add your custom-ers and sponsors to our mailing list.

The Chronicle has a worldwide dis-tribution and can also be viewed atwww.sscc.spawar.navy.mil.

Does your sponsor receive TheChronicle? Don’t miss out on valuablerecognition for yourself, SSC Charles-ton and our products and services!

Send names and addresses byemail to [email protected] U.S. mail to Attention:Chronicle Editor (J0A5SP), P.O.Box 190022, North Charleston, SC29419, and we’ll add your custom-ers and sponsors to our mailing list.

Want to let the world know about your project?Want to let the world know about your project?


Ron Sheridan, SSC Charleston message center adminis-trator, brought a 22-year civil service career to a close in April.Friends and co-workers marked the occasion with a recentdrop-in in Bldg. 3147.

After retiring from active duty in 1981, Sheridan was hiredat the Charleston Naval Base communications center, serv-ing there until 1995. When he reported to NISE East in 1995,the comm center had four computers and two servers. Thereare currently 24 computers and two exchange servers, threeactive directories servers employed in the comm center.

The growth of SSC Charleston, expanding technology andnew military communication initiatives demanded greater skillsin the message center, and according to his award citation,Sheridan has been diligent in keeping the command at theforefront of communication readiness.

SSC Charleston bids fairwinds and following seasto Code 0A42’s Sheridan

Photo by Susan Piedfort

Ron Sheridan puts down his crying towel to pose withsupervisor Bertha N. Murray of Code 0A42.

Director, WorkforceOptimization

Gary Scott was recentlynamed to fill the newly createdposition of Director,Workforce Optimization. Inthis position, Scott is the singlepoint reporting to theexecutive director andcommanding officer on allissues regarding the SSC-Charleston workforce and will

be the designated champion for the WorkforceOptimization Team.

New Chronicle editorThis issue of The Chronicle is the first for new editor

Susan Piedfort. She comes to SSC Charleston fromNaval Weapons Station Charleston, where she servedas public affairs officer.

As a career federal employee, Piedfort has been inthe business of communicating for more years than

she cares to mention. (Morethan 25 years -- Ed.)

Piedfort looks forward tosharing many good storiesabout the SSC Charlestonteam and the command’saccomplishments.

“I hope to maintain the highstandards for The Chronicleset by Lynda Silvers andcontinued by TonyaLobbestael and DebHirschhorn,” she said.

Pitts, Wagonerpromoted

Virginia Pitts was recentlyselected command budgetofficer. She is filling thevacancy previously held bySharon Wagoner who wasselected Code 01 chiefoperations officer.


Susan Piedfort


Virginia Pitts


Gary Scott

TransitionsTransitions

Every year the SSC Charleston Le-gal Office reviews the financial dis-closures submitted by SSC Charles-ton employees who occupy positionsmeeting Office of Government Eth-ics (OGE) criteria for the submissionof the Confidential Financial Disclo-sure Report (OGE Form 450).

As a result of its review, the LegalOffice issues both caution and disquali-fication memoranda. Caution memo-randa are usually sent to employeeswho have stock or investments incompanies doing business with thegovernment. Disqualification memo-randa are typically issued to employ-ees who have a more substantial riskof conflict of interest with a companydoing business with SSC Charleston.

This article seeks to clarify theOGE concept of “disqualification.”However, before one can understandthe concept of disqualification, onemust first understand the federal con-cept concerning a conflict of interest.A conflict of interest exists when afederal employee holds a personal fi-nancial interest that may provide anopportunity for the employee to per-form his or her official duties in amanner that favors the personal finan-cial interest. From an ethics perspec-tive, a personal financial interest isunderstood as an unlawful competi-tor to the federal requirement for un-biased and objective performance ofone’s official duties.

Disqualification is an OGE toolused to eliminate a conflict of interestthat seeks to insure the unbiased per-formance of official duties while pre-serving as much of the employee’spersonal financial interest as is com-patible with such unbiased perfor-mance. Disqualification severs theconnection between the employee’s

personal financial interest and theperformance of official duties by re-moving the employee from any andall, direct or indirect, official capabil-ity to affect that personal financialinterest. For example, having one’sfirst level supervisor perform the du-ties or render the decisions that af-fect the contractor for whom theemployee’s spouse works is a disquali-fication that preserves the spouse’semployment while insuring the objec-tive and unbiased performance of of-ficial duties.

These ethical safeguardsare not only to help

employees avoid legalconsequences that are inplace to ensure that thepublic maintains trustand confidence in how

we conduct governmentbusiness.

Annually, the Legal Office sendsapproximately 70 disqualification let-ters to SSC Charleston employees.Additionally, employees who recog-nize a potential for conflict disqualifyor recuse themselves from certainmatters. These disqualifications aregenerally sent to employees who havea financial interest in companies whodo business with the Navy. Most of-ten, these conflicts arise from twosources: a spouse employed by a con-tractor or a pension plan with or fi-nancial investment in one of the con-tractors who support SSCN Charles-ton. These disqualification letters ad-

vise employees and their supervisorsof the potential conflict of interest cre-ated by a federal statute, 18 U.S.C.208. This particular statute is locatedin the criminal section of the UnitedStates Code and can be enforced bothadministratively as well as prosecutedby the Department of Justice.

It is important that employees andtheir supervisors recognize that “dis-qualification” means the employeeshould have nothing to do with theparticular contractor involved. It is notenough to merely abstain from sign-ing a document. From an enforcementperspective, sham disqualificationssuggest a knowing and willful effortto avoid actual disqualification, andthey evince a desire to deceive in or-der to favor one’s personal financialinterest. Deception is always wrong.An employee must truly recuse him-self or herself from government ac-tions that will, or even appear to, in-fluence or affect a contractor inwhom the employee or spouse has apersonal financial interest.

This means, of course, that youcannot direct your subordinates to usea conflicted-contractor or take anyaction that influences the company’swork with the Navy. In your govern-ment capacity you ought not evenmeet with representatives of a con-flicted-contractor, take their calls, orrecommend to sponsors that they usethis contractor.

These ethical safeguards are notonly to help employees avoid legalconsequences that are in place to en-sure that the public maintains trust andconfidence in how we conduct gov-ernment business. If you have anyquestions, please call the Legal office,Code J0C, at DSN 588-4029.

- James Yohn, Code 0C

Understanding conflict of interestSo you’ve been disqualified ...


ISO 9001:2000 registered organizations.The ISO 9001:2000 standard is the most widely known

and has been implemented by some 770,000 organiza-tions in 154 countries. Pete Van de Meulebroecke, DeputyDirector for CAEI, noted that ISO 9000 has become aninternational reference for quality management require-ments in business-to-business dealings, and it shows thatthe CAEI organization has a real commitment to quality.

Part of this commitment to quality can be seen by re-viewing the CAEI Production web portal at https://c4isr-engr.spawar.navy.mil. Under the day-to-day op-eration of Roy Lindsay, the CAEI Production Facility hasconsistently received acclaim for the automated moduleslocated on the portal during the initial and subsequentcontinuing assessment audits. CAEI has developed sev-eral automated procedures on the web portal such asCorrective Action Requests, Non-Conforming Productsand Documentation Control – all of which are requiredprocesses as dictated by the ISO 9001:2000 Standard.

The CAEI Production Web Portal is accessible to all em-ployees and customers, which makes adhering to the ISOStandard almost an effortless process.

In addition to a commitment to quality, other benefitsinclude greater responsibility and quality consciousnesswith all CAEI personnel; better use of time and resources;continuous process improvement; reduced waste andproduct failure; greater consistency and traceability ofproducts and services; verifying practice vs. process; andobjective third party validation

The aim of the ISO 9001:2000 standard is to add valueto all types of business operations by ensuring that thewe can consistently deliver products or services that meetcustomers’ quality requirements. The quality monitoringactivities mandated by the ISO standard ensure consistentcustomer satisfaction and provide a measurement ofcustomer satisfaction. The resulting data promotescontinuing improvement of the Quality ManagementSystem.

- Richard J. Tucker, Code 333


SSC Charleston Public Affairs Officer Marsha Hassell,above, far left, Tidewater C4ISR Department Chief of Op-erations Ron Lowder and Senior C4ISR Systems Engi-neer Tom Calogrides, above, far right, make a final checkof the SSC Charleston display at the Old Dominion Uni-versity Research Expo held in Norfolk, Va., April 5. Theexpo’s theme was “Global Challenges, Local Solutions,”and featured nearly 400 exhibits and demonstrations ofresearch projects and creative works in the areas of health

sciences, medicine, life sciences, engineering and physi-cal and computation sciences. The SSC Charleston dis-play also featured the theme “The Knowledge DiscoveryPathway to Knowledge Superiority,” based on the workof SPAWAR Reservist CDR John Ingersoll. Above,Ingersoll, right, discusses his concepts with an expo at-tendee. Visitors to the SSC Charleston display also gath-ered information on the command and took away a vari-ety of recruiting materials.


SSC Charleston innovation featured at expo

The SPAWAR C4ISR AcquisitionEngineering Integration (CAEI)department’s production and integra-tion effort, located in buildings 1603and 3112, successfully passed the re-quired ISO 9001:2000 Continuing As-sessment Audit Jan. 12. At the con-clusion of the audit, the BSI Inc., ThirdParty Registrar auditor commented inthe closing meeting and in the formalreport that the SPAWAR CAEI fa-cility quality management system isfully compliant with all requirementsof the ISO 9001 standard.

These continuing assessment au-dits, often described as surveillanceaudits, are performed every sixmonths and are essential in maintain-ing formal registration and to validatethe prime objectives of customer sat-isfaction and continuing processimprovements. The CAEI ProductionFacility obtained its initial ISO9001:2000 registration in September2004.

The ISO 9001:2000 standard rep-resents an internationally recognizedaccord on good management prac-tices. The continuing assessmentprocess, like our initial assessmentaudits in September 2004, is based onISO 9001:2000 requirements that in-volve an in-depth and introspectiveexamination of our business method-ology, products and processes. Inaddition to these periodic audits, Code09C must undergo a stringent re-as-sessment every three years, as do all

CAEI production facility completes

ISO 9001:2000Continuing Assessment Audit


SSC Charleston CAEI personnel recently passed an ISO 9001:2000 ContinuingAssessment Audit. Continued on next page

HonorsHonors


Travel outside of thecontinental United States(OCONUS) has become asecurity issue for all Americans.Those who take vacations outside the U.S. areincreasingly coming under the scrutiny of terrorists, whoconsider these vacationers “soft targets.” Official travelby government civilians or contractors is also underopportunistic surveillance by terrorists groups. Al Qaedahas vowed that it will identify and then target officialtravelers at every opportunity. Therefore, it is imperativethat those who travel in support of a SPAWAR projectbecome aware of the tactics used by terrorists in theidentification process.

Airport observation teams are increasing around theglobe. These terrorist teams work as observers and tails.If an official traveler is suspected, a tail may be assignedto that individual. The tail follows the traveler to a hotel,notes details about the traveler (is he alone, does he havea rental vehicle, etc.) and a decision is made as to whethera surveillance is warranted against the traveler.

There are many ways we can make this processharder for the terrorist. Below are some tips to employsafer OCONUS travel:

Clothing. Never wear clothing that screams “I aman American!” This would include sport team logos onhats and shirts or American company emblems on clothing.Avoid clothing that can be easily followed in a crowd,such as bright colors or unusual prints. The best clothingto wear while traveling is a pastel colored solid. Bottomline? Wear something that allows you to melt into a crowdas easily as possible!

Deplaning. Never depart the plane in the front of the

crowd. Stay about three fourthsof the way back and immediatelybegin your own covertsurveillance. You’re looking for

the “typical” Al Qaeda observer (a middle-eastern malefrom mid teens to late 40s). He is usually not carryinglarge luggage, may have a small handbag, and is appearingto read a newspaper or magazine (while watching theoncoming crowd). He stations himself in that pathwayfrom deplaning areas to luggage and rental areas. If yousee a person who fits the description, make your way tothe side of the crowd opposite him and “look like a tourist.”

Skedaddling. Never “hang around” an airport. Don’tshop in airport stores or eat in the restaurants. The ideais to depart the airport as soon as possible. This increasesyour chances of avoiding unwanted scrutiny by those whowould do you harm!

If you use SATO to reserve a vehicle at an OCONUSairport, always perform a basic bomb search on thevehicle. This should be done under the guise of “checkingfor dings and dents.” Key place on the vehicle includethe tailpipe, under the driver’s seat, and the headrest. Forcomplete information on vehicle bomb checks, contactthe Security Office and ask for a bomb search briefing.

Never use the safes in OCONUS hotels. They arenot safe! Always assume your hotel room is searchedwhen you leave for the day, and prepare for it. Neverleave project materials, including hardware and manuals,in the hotel room. Avoid taking valuables with you thatyou don’t want stolen out of your room. Never discussthe project in any detail in your room.

- Clint Veach, SSC Charleston Security Office

O V E R S E A S

TRAVELS A F E T Y

SSC Charleston collectsSSC Charleston employees

showed they care by donating“yummies” to be shipped to Marinewarfighters in Iraq with Humvees.

More than 800 pounds of donatedgoodies -- everything from Altoids toyoyos -- were organized and packedin zip-lock bags by SSC Charlestonvolunteers who worked long into thenight on several occasions. Each bagincluded a special note of thanks.

A March 30 quarterdeck cer-emony in Bldg. 3147 featured Medalof Honor winner Major Gen. (USMC,Ret.) James Livingston as the“yummies” were presented to localMarine representatives, Capt. AndreWilliams and Staff Sgt. BrandonRaccio of the Marine Corps ReserveTraining Center Charleston inspector/instructor staff.

“These vehicles will save Marinelives,” said Livingston. “Thank you foryour efforts to ensure our warfighterscome home and rejoin their families.”

Noting the volunteer ‘Yummies forthe Hummies’ effort, the general said,“Your outfit cares about what you aredoing, and the Marines who get thesewill know that. You are a very caringpeople here at SPAWAR SystemsCenter Charleston.”

Staff Sgt. Brandon Raccio, Jane Dingusof Code 09, Major Gen. (USMC, Ret.)James Livingston, SSC Charleston Ex-

ecutive Director James Ward, and Capt.Andre Williams pose with “Yummies”and a Humvee bound for Iraq.

Livingston addresses SSC Charleston employees assembledon the quarterdeck while local Marines Raccio and Williamslook on.

SSC Charleston vol-unteers, at right,gather to unpack,sort and repack morethan 800 pounds ofdonated items in thevolunteer “Yummiesfor Hummies” effort.




‘Yummies for Hummies’‘Yummies for Hummies’‘Yummies for Hummies’‘Yummies for Hummies’‘Yummies for Hummies’


On Dec. 3, 2005, a team from SSCCharleston departed for the freezingtemperatures of Stuttgart, Germany.

Led by the Command ReviewOffice, the team was composed ofsubject matter experts (SMEs) incontracting, legal, human resources,engineering, customer satisfaction,training, minor property, finance andaudit.

The Code 57 European staffprovided a warm welcome andgreatly assisted the team to carry outthe review.

The European operations supportsuch missions as Iraq and Afghanistaninternet cafes, European Commandsupport, fleet customers in Naples andState Department programs.

Despite the temperatures, the

Charleston staff accomplished itsmission and returned to base Dec. 10.The review, directed by thecommanding officer, provided avolume of information needed for the

SSC Charlestonteam reviewsEuropeanoperations


Charleston Review team, front row, Pam Bell, Glenda Algozzini and VirginiaPitts. Back row, LCDR Dean Barsaleau, Lisa Rosenbaum, Carlos Holt, Jim Yohnand Jim Bryan. Not pictured are Bruce Carter, Linda Ward and Michele Roberts.

SSC Atlantic construct and alsoprovided insights on how to improvesupport to remote sites.

-Carlos L. Holt, CommandReview Office (J0R)

Robert Hamilton of Code 572 inHeidelberg, Germany, was recentlynamed U.S. Army Europe CIO/G6Civilian of the Quarter for his lead-ing edge work in Knowledge Man-agement (KM).

Hamiltion serves as both KMengineer and primary developer forthe CIO/G6 web portal supportingHQ U.S. Army Europe G6.

Hamilton was “strongly commit-ted to the success the KnowledgeManagement Branch within Archi-tecture Division and has been ex-tremely proactive in the design of theknowledge management (KM) por-tal,” according to the award citation.

Hamilton named CIO/G6 Civilian of Quarterworked with ITSA, TFE, G3, 5th

Signal Command and other staffs/units to incorporate an improvedportal structure and methodology.Hamilton resolved several keyshortcomings with the SIPR KMPortal.

Army Brig. Gen. Dennis L. Via,Commanding General of HQ, 5thSignal Command, said, “Your ex-pertise and briefing techniques atUSAREUR CIO/G6-hosted KMworking group meetings, coupledwith your ability to work with and

train the technical points of contact,resulted in an increased awareness inKM portal issues and standards.”

Photo provided

Army Col. David De Vries, ADCS, G6, pre-sents a certificate of achievement toHamilton.

Around the World

He used his understanding of soft-ware to design unclassified and clas-sified KM portal “templates.” He

Four SSC Charleston officerscompleted their Engineering DutyOfficer (EDO) qualifications inDecember and January. Celebratingthis significant career milestone wereLt. Cmdr. Godfrey D. Weekes, Lt.Cmdr. Dean Barsaleau, Lt. Cmdr.(Sel) Elizabeth Touse and Lt. BernardJones.

EDOs comprise a highly educatedRestricted Line community trained toaddress complex technical issues andfill positions of responsibility andleadership within the Navy’sacquisition workforce. EDOcandidates are technically capableofficers who have the potential toperform successfully in demandingpositions in acquisition and fleetmaintenance.

The qualification process is arduousand requires completion of a technical

SPAWARriors mark careermilestone with EDO quals

SSC Charleston Commanding OfficerCapt. Red Hoover congratulates,above, Lt. Cmdr. Godfrey Weekes andbelow, Lt. Cmdr. Dean Barsaleau. Notpictured are Cmdr. (Sel) Elizabeth Touseand Lt. Lt. Bernard Jones.

Photos by Harold Senn

master’s degree at the NavalPostgraduate School in Monterey,CA, and Basic Course completion atthe EDO School in Port Hueneme,CA, consisting of fundamentalrequirements for AcquisitionWorkforce Certification under theCongressionally mandated DefenseAcquisition Workforce ImprovementAct (DAWIA).

This is followed by a nominal two-year period during which officersapply the basic tools they will need tobe successful. During this periodcandidates must write a technicalpaper and pass a three-hour oralboard examination. Successfulcompletion of the program gives themthe 1440 designator as a qualifiedEngineering Duty Officer.

PeoplePeople

Johnson receives first FORCEnet awardShanda Johnson of Code 724 was pre-

sented SSC Charleston’s first FORCEnetcontribution award March 20.

Johnson was lauded for teaming whichresulted in the Navy reaping the benefitsof Medical Health Systems (MHS) re-search on an Intrusion Detection System(IDS). This collaboration also saved theNavy office hundreds of thousands of dol-lars.

This sharing of information amongSSC Charleston codes, along with team-ing and innovation, are indicative of thetypes of relationships needed to fully netthe force, said Executive Director JamesWard.

SSC Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. Red Hoover and ExecutiveDirector James Ward present the first FORCEnet contribution award toJohnson.


Around the World


SSC Charleston SPT

The SPT team lead’s primary responsibility is tospearhead specific initiatives and activities establishedand implemented by the team. The SPT, which meets onthe second Thursday of each month, plans to piggybacksome existing programs, as well as reach out to lessfortunate schools in the area.

The SPT will leverage what others are doing. The teamenvisions collaborating across codes forming partnershipsthat tie-in with Civilian Personnel Support Office and Re-cruitment, as well as public affairs and its communityoutreach projects. The SPT will also support the initia-tives of the Workforce Development Team in its efforts

to shape and grow the right workforce.The Deputy EEO officer believes that diversity in the

workplace, while apparent, must be recognized and cel-ebrated. Diversity of ideas and people bring new solu-tions to an ever-changing work and world environment,while “sameness” leaves very little, if any, room forgrowth. SSC Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. RedHoover and Executive Director James Ward have per-sonally challenged the team and it is for this and reasonsstated above that every team member, and you, will playa vital role in helping to shape and grow our workplace.

-Angela WilliamsDeputy Equal Employment Opportunity Officer

SSC Charleston’s 2005 Combined Federal Campaign(CFC) coordinators were honored during a recentAwards and Recognition Program.

Beth Fiddie and Michelle Rehr-Matash of Code J0Cwere presented the Trident Area CFC “Spirit of theCFC” award.

Noting their hard work, good humor and ingenuity,SSC Charleston Chief of Staff Bob Kappler said thatFiddie and Rehr-Matash “kept CFC awareness alivethroughout the campaign, the result being thatSPAWARSYSCEN Charleston won the ‘Per CapitaAchievement Award’ for large activities.”

Fiddie, Rehr-Matash honored for ‘Spirit of CFC’


... and SSC Charleston employ-ees answer, getting information fromcollege and university representa-tives during the March 23 educa-tion fair in the Bldg. 3147 atrium.

Educational institutions’ represen-tatives gave details on course offer-ings, admission requirements, spe-cific college academic tracks and thecollege selection process.

Opportunity knocks ...The SSC Charleston Special Programs Team(SPT) was established inMay 2005, and it is readily

apparent that the team is on the fasttrack. The goals, objectives andguidelines for the team have beenestablished and approved, EEO spe-cial emphasis initiatives have beenplanned, and a focus and enthusiasmtoward a special awareness event inMay 2006 has become top priority.

The team operates under theauthority of the Special EmphasisProgram that promotes continueddiversity awareness and education.These types of programs areauthorized by Code of FederalRegulations part 1614.102(b)(4) andDoD Directive 1440.1 and sanctioned

by Presidential Executive Orders.The SPT is essentially theimplementation arm for specialemphasis program initiatives and willbe responsible for recommendingannual program initiatives.

Specifically, the SSC CharlestonSPT was formed to:

• Plan and implement SpecialEmphasis Program initiatives andactivities that educate and informregarding the workforce;

• Advise and assist the deputy EEOofficer in ensuring that equalemployment opportunity for all,particularly minorities, women andpeople with disabilities, includingdisabled veterans, are an integral partof the overall program;

• Promote and foster broader

acceptance and appreciation of allemployees;

• Expand and enhance theeffectiveness of outreach andeducation programs;

• Develop and propose new andinnovative ideas, programs andactivities to support SSC Charleston’soverall commitment to create a model21st century workplace.

• SPT sub-teams have beenassigned to focus on:

• Community Organizations/Outreach

• Special Projects• Communications• Special Awareness/Observances

MonthThe command deputy EEO officer,

Angela Williams, is the principal ad-visor to the SPT and Denise Simmonsis the SPT’s first team lead. Currentteam members include Ron Alley,Code 0A231; Tammy Ballard, Code09C; Kendra Boykin, Code 70; Su-san Butler, Code 70; SheriChamberlin, Code 50; Scott Crellin,Code 60; Isabell Dubose, Code 02;Adreina Fludd-Bennett, Code 02;Marsha Hassell, Code 0A6; JoanMcMillan, Code 0AD; Gloria Meyers,Code 02; Barbara Prioleau, Code 02;Matt Rutherford, Code 70; DeniseSimmons, Code 02; Joanne White,Code 02; Mark Held, Code 54; TerrySimpson, Code 63; Cathy Walton,Code 028CW and Evelyn White, Code0216EW.

Meet the Special Programs TeamHelping create a model 21st century workplace

Members of the SSC Charleston Special Programs team.Photo by Harold Senn

Continued on next page

Vision & StrategyVision & Strategy



No backseat drivers allowedPhoto by Captain Red Hoover

During a stopover in Christchurch, New Zealand, on theway to Antarctica, this unique VW beetle captured theattention of SSC Charleston Commanding Officer Capt.Red Hoover. While it is unclear if the vehicle has one,two or no engines, it’s sure to offer a driving experiencenot soon to be forgotten.

The office mates of the occupant of this cube inBuilding 3113, Code 723, have been hoping tocapitalize on the need for real estate in and aroundthe area, renting the cube out while their co-workeris on travel. As of press time, no takers.

Location, location, location

FOR RENT: Featured amenities include dailytrash removal and maid service, 24/7 perimetersecurity, voice mail, an open floor plan and quiet,friendly neighbors. Great for non-smoker. No pets.Diverse cultural influences, nearby parking andvending services make this property a “don’t miss.”

Your experiences are a powerful tool when youshare them with The Chronicle readership.Youraccomplishments toward delivering premier C4ISRproducts to the warfighter and delivering FORCEnetto the fleet are part of our command’s success story.You can help us keep all SSC Charleston employees,customers, contractors, sponsors and retirees currenton our command’s accomplishments.

If you have an article or story idea, submit it by e-mail to [email protected] or by mail to TheChronicle, SSC Charleston, P.O. Box 190022, NorthCharleston, SC 29419-9022. To discuss a story ideaor for assistance writing an article, call the editor at(843) 218-4973 or DSN 588-4973.

Articles of any length will be accepted. Typically,one magazine page equals two and a half pages oftyped, double-spaced text, or 600 to 700 words.

We reserve the right to edit articles -- a necessary

Got a good story? Tell it in The Chronicle!step in the production process -- in accordance withthe Associated Press Stylebook, Navy Style Guideand guidance from the Chief of Navy Information.Our goal is to enhance your style — not change it.

As a general rule, photos or illustrations should besent as separate files, rather than embedded in adocument. Unfortunately, Web-based or PowerPointgraphics usually lack the resolution required forpublication.

The Chronicle is published quarterly. Submissiondeadlines are announced on the SSC CharlestonIntranet CorpWeb, and in all hands e-mails. Thosewanting to contribute should note that articles will beaccepted at any time.

The Chronicle can also be viewed on the internetat http://sscc.spawar.navy.mil. Employees canbrowse the current and back issues on SSCCharleston’s CorpWeb under “e-Publications.”

Building 3147 emerges from the fog of an early January morning.(Photo by Harold Senn)

The Final WordThe Final Word

The Chronicle44 Spring 2006

At the Geographic South Pole during a recentAntartica visit are, from left, Philip Braswell, Code 66division head, SSC Charleston Commanding OfficerCapt. Red Hoover, and Mike Peebles, Code 66B.

From left, the CO, the helicopter pilot and hisassistant, Paul Drago and Mike Peebles walk to theedge of Mount Newall to enjoy an Antarctic vista.

Photo by Philip Braswell

Photo provided

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SSC Charleston supports the warfighter - United States Navy · SSC Charleston supports the warfighter SSC Charleston. 2 The Chronicle Spring 2006 Spring 2006 The Chronicle 3 Captain’s