Written by / Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has been at the forefront of providing consistent forward GEOINT support to the warfighter through its network of deployed GEOINT Support Teams (GSTs). NGA is following on this success by establishing a bilateral exchange agreement with the Ministry of Defense, Republic of Iraq, and assisting the Multinational Security and Transition Command Iraq (MNSTC-I), which is charged with developing the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces.
NGA’s Office of International Affairs and Policy (OIP) is supporting the standup of Iraq’s Imagery and Mapping Directorate (IMD), within the Directorate General of Intelligence and Security (DGIS), through establishment of a basic exchange and cooperation agreement (BECA). The BECA will facilitate the exchange of geospatial data and provide the necessary foundation for IMD to support Iraqi military forces with GEOINT and decrease Iraq’s reliance on U.S. forces.
In 2006, NGA Director Vice Admiral Robert B. Murrett took the initial steps to assist MNSTC-I during his first visit to Iraq. He has since deployed a permanent GST to Baghdad to support MNSTC-I’s Intelligence Transition Team and its effort to stand up Iraq’s military intelligence, including IMD. In addition to deploying the GST, Murrett signed a statement of intent in January 2008 with the director general of DGIS to form a close working relationship between NGA and DGIS.
In order to coordinate this emerging international relationship, OIP established a fulltime international officer to coordinate the efforts of an NGA Iraq Country Team that includes representation from all NGA organizations with core roles in the Iraqi partnership. In March 2008, members of the Iraq Country Team traveled to Baghdad to evaluate IMD facilities, personnel and capabilities and to identify areas where NGA could work with the IMD. The team determined several areas for mutual efforts that will produce quality GEOINT for Iraqi military forces and support joint counterterrorism operations in a coalition environment.
The partnership will include geographic information system training and IMD access to NGA standard products and commercially available imagery. When signed, the BECA will be the first of its kind with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, establishing a permanent exchange relationship of controlled unclassified information and providing for the necessary training and geospatial data for Iraqi self-reliance.
Establishing a GEOINT exchange relationship with any foreign partner has inherent risks that challenge the status quo and must be balanced with the real benefits of supporting an allied partner in a joint combat environment. To guide these deliberations, the NGA Iraq Country Team evaluates risks against the numerous national intelligence objectives outlined by the director of national intelligence, the Department of Defense and the U.S. Central Command. The team has developed a risk mitigation plan to limit the risk of any unauthorized disclosure and protect NGA resources.
NGA coordinated its BECA effort throughout the intelligence community. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and the Department of State have concurred on this effort. NGA is awaiting formal approval from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy before initiating bilateral discussions with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.
The proposed BECA will enable NGA to provide the necessary data and training and facilitate IMD capacity building in accordance with CENTCOM strategic plans and MNSTC-I mission objectives.
The benefits of fostering a relationship with IMD can be seen today. After the resurgence of violence, which began in Al Basrah in April 2008, IMD came into its own and helped Iraqi Security Forces with time-dominant GEOINT support. Working under demanding time constraints, IMD produced numerous Arabic-annotated photomaps that proved critical in the planning and successful execution of several high-profile operations involving elements of the Iraqi Counterterrorism Center, the Iraqi Army, local and national police and coalition forces.
In late August, IMD was asked by the Ministry of the Interior’s National Information and Investigation Agency to provide a number of products to support border security efforts—the first instance of DGIS support to the ministry.
The BECA will decrease the Iraqi Security Forces’ dependence on U.S. GEOINT support and enable Iraqi self-reliance.
As U.S. forces draw down and Iraqi forces assume increasing control over security in the country, NGA will continue to support the MNSTC-I mission, fostering greater self-sufficiency for DGIS and IMD through the continued exchange of unclassified geospatial data and greater GEOINT training for IMD personnel.
This article was written by Carlos Montenegro, a staff officer in the Office of International Affairs and Policy who is working as the focal point for NGA international engagement policy with the government of Iraq. It appeared originally in the March/April 2009 issue of NGA’s Pathfinder magazine.
Empire Demonstration Plans ISR Challenges
U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) is completing preparations for Empire Challenge ‘09 (EC 09), an annual joint and coalition ISR interoperability demonstration of GEOINT, sensing and other technologies.
Empire Challenge started in 2004 under the direction of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to ensure different systems could share information and utility. This is the first year USJFCOM will lead the month-long demonstration, which is also sponsored by the under secretary of defense for intelligence.
The demonstration will run from July 6–31 and will be hosted by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif. It will include distributed locations in USJFCOM’s Joint Intelligence Lab in Suffolk, Va., the Combined Air Operations Center- Experimental at Langley Air Force Base, Hampton, Va., and the service Distributed Common Ground/Surface System (DCGS) sites around the country.
Coalition sites in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency in the Netherlands also will participate. EC 09 is organized based on a series of joint capability threads, including irregular warfare and counter-improvised explosive devices, multidomain awareness, joint ISR management and ISR-strike integration, according to Air Force Colonel George Krakie, USJFCOM military lead for EC 09.
EC 09 stakeholders and participants include the Joint Staff, combat support agencies, services, coalition partners, academia and industry. They form a combined task force to conduct live operations augmented by virtual and constructive capabilities and provide individual capabilities to support the task force.
EC 09 objectives and activities evaluate the effectiveness of proposed ISR solutions to warfighter requirements identified by combatant commanders, services and coalition partners. Ultimately the goal of EC 09 is to move mission-critical ISR data to the joint and coalition warfighter at the tactical edge.
The demonstration also provides a venue to test technical interoperability among the DCGS family of systems. It uses a common set of services and data standards, the DCGS Integrated Backbone, which allows ISR data to be discoverable and retrievable regardless of data location. The Distributed Development and Test Enterprise, an experimentation network built exclusively for DCGS, tests service DCGS interoperability.
Starting in June, networks for the demonstration will be turned on, and the initial deployment of personnel will begin.
“It really is a great venue for different people to do different things,” Krakie said. “We don’t do anything that doesn’t link directly back to what the warfighter has identified as a problem. It’s a great event, and we’re looking forward to executing it.” ♦
