[FedCom] DoD merges spectrum management offices

[Mark Cobbeldick [KB4CVN]]

<http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060421-014740-9842r>



DoD merges spectrum management offices

WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) -- The Pentagon said Friday it
is merging two of its radio frequency spectrum management
offices into a single entity under the Defense Information
Systems Agency. 

As the military comes to rely more and more on networked
information and communications systems, the limited
availability of bandwidth is becoming a major problem.
Radio frequencies are a finite resource, and exploding
capabilities in the commercial sector are forcing the
military to compete with private bidders for bandwidth. 

Having the use of sufficient bandwidth is critical: the
Army in particular is depending on superior information and
intelligence sharing to protect its forces in its Future
Combat System, a family of vehicles that has traded the
traditional heavy armor plating of tanks for speed and
maneuverability. The best protection for these vehicles and
the soldiers inside, is an uninterrupted stream of quality
intelligence over wireless devices that presents a clear
view of the battlefield and the enemy's position so they
can avoid getting hit. 

"Ensuring timely and trusted information is available where
it is needed, when it is needed, and to those who need it
most is at the heart of the capability needed to conduct
network-centric operations," the Pentagon said in a press
statement issued Friday. 

"The Defense Spectrum Organization will significantly
advance the department's efforts to make spectrum
management information available to the war-fighter
anywhere, anytime," said Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Networks and Information Integration and Pentagon Chief
Information Officer John Grimes said in the announcement. 

Grimes is merging the Defense Spectrum Office and the Joint
Spectrum Center. 

The U.S. government has spent more than $80 billion on
spectrum-dependent equipment. The equipment ranges from
GPS, wireless phones and walkie-talkies to radars,
satellite relay systems and radio telemetry devices.




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