The Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) initiative will establish one digital, secure network across the naval shore establishment and tie it to our forces at sea. It will link about 360,000 desktops across naval shore-based activities in the United States and some overseas. By virtue of one seamless and secure intranet, we will be able to share voice, video, and data services. It will be connected to our ships and squadrons by tying into the at-sea network provided for by Information Technology for the 21st Century (IT-21). The NMCI initiative is in the process of linking some 100,000 desktops. Network operations centers have been established in Norfolk, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor that respond to help requests and precisely monitor network security.
"Communications dominate war," wrote Alfred Thayer Mahan in 1900 in The Problem of Asia. "They are the most important single element in strategy." That principle has not changed. What has changed is communications. Today, the digital network is the primary means for moving information rapidly within dispersed organizations.
The value of NMCI already has been seen at the tactical and operational levels. The IT-21 network has enabled a free flow of information between ships and squadrons and transformed their operations. In the time formerly required to process a message, multiple e-mails now are sent, cutting planning time for a variety of at-sea evolutions. Moreover, this network is now a warfighting tool, as demonstrated by its use by all of our battle groups during Operation Enduring Freedom.
A bigger, more reliable, and more secure network is needed. "We as a global navy require a global network—one that seamlessly links forces at sea with support bases and technologies ashore," stated Admiral Robert Natter, Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Our forward forces have a growing need to reach back, which is a key aspect of network-centric operations. To a limited degree, our forward forces can do that now. One submarine, after launching two dozen Tomahawk missiles in the first volley of the Afghanistan campaign, was able to reach back to shore facilities and get on-line repair help to assist in restoring service to a couple of remaining faulty missiles. While operating in Afghanistan, Marines in Task Force 58 were able to reach back to the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity for warfighting support. While operating in waters near Afghanistan, our naval battle groups were able to reach back into and use the full resources of our intelligence community to plan and execute air strikes.
However, we can't quickly reach back everywhere. The shore establishment is a mixture of incompatibility, consisting of almost 1,000 diverse networks operated by many separate bases and stations. Some cannot even e-mail each other. How did it happen? Like other large organizations, automation was done at subordinate levels. Many big corporations had the same problem, but they merged their multiple networks into one. That is what is taking place with the Navy Marine Corps Intranet.
To implement NMCI, we need to fix these incompatibilities. To some degree, they are the result of hardware differences. NMCI is bringing everyone to the same technology levels. The bigger problem is the different software applications. Most Fortune 500 companies' intranets have a few hundred applications. In the Department of the Navy we had 100,000. As of this writing, that has been cut to fewer than 30,000, and many more reductions are in progress. Steps are being taken to ensure this incompatibility does not happen again. Task Force Web, Navy Application and Data Task Force, and Navy functional area managers are evaluating applications for the value they add and balancing that against technical concerns. They will determine what can and cannot go on the intranet.
The New Order
While the focus is on implementation, the Navy Marine Corps Intranet portends a new order. It means creating a world-class network like those at FedEx, IBM, and JPMorgan. As with these and other corporations, NMCI is being built and run by industry's information technology experts. And, like industry, this contract has performance standards. How often have you heard, "The network is down"? The Navy Marine Corps Intranet must be up 99+% of the time or the contractor gets penalized.
NMCI represents big change in how we keep up with advances in information technology. In the past this has frustrated everyone from average users to senior officers. By the time a contract was awarded for hardware or software, the technology had moved on; the acquisition process simply could not keep up. As part of NMCI, industry is responsible for network upgrades. It will refresh hardware every three years and provide software that is never more than one revision from state-of-the shelf.
The biggest change will come in how we operate, not only forward but at home. The Navy Marine Corps Intranet will tie together digitally the supporting shore establishment and will be connected to our forces at sea and those deployed in the field, enabling a naval-wide network.
This naval-wide network will help keep our forces forward. Today, many ships are operating away from supporting bases longer than expected. The USS Enterprise (CVN-65) battle group ships and submarines, for example, were headed home after a scheduled deployment when they turned around on 11 September 2001 for subsequent operations in Afghanistan. We are forward-stationing several submarines in Guam, away from the larger supporting structures in Hawaii. It is likely this will become more prevalent as we carry out and rely on the forward-operational concepts laid out in "Sea Power 21"—Sea Strike, Sea Basing, and Sea Shield. In some cases, this naval-wide network could "virtually" bring bases and commands to forward-operating areas. If an onboard system fails, our ships could reach back quickly to systems commands and even manufacturers for diagnostic help, parts availability, delivery coordination, and on-line repair assistance.
Such a network could help to resupply our forces more efficiently, particularly as we spread expeditionary strike groups more widely around the world. It is well-known that when a light bulb is sold at Wal-Mart, the checkout scanner sends a signal to the manufacturer, which ships another. A naval-wide network could allow us to resupply our forward forces in a similar manner, making the supporting establishment an integral part of a warfighting task force. For example, if forward forces detected suspected chemical or biological agents, they could reach back to an appropriate agency for verification and updated procedures. The force becomes the whole network, not just the local unit.
This close ship-to-shore relationship will be needed especially for the operational concept Sea Shield. In this capacity, naval forces will serve as the homeland's first line of defense. Using the naval-wide network, ships could reach back through the shore establishment to civilian agencies for information on suspect vessels and aircraft. The FBI or other civilian agencies readily could push information to forward forces. And this network, via the shore establishment, could facilitate interagency collaboration when needed.
Such a network will help us do more for our personnel. At companies such as Boeing, workers access digitized manuals on a network. Similarly, a naval-wide network could allow our personnel to reach back for digitized manuals that always would be available and up to date, and could link them with on-line training and education. Such a network will enable our personnel to have greater involvement in career decisions.
Preparing for the Next Battleground—Cyberspace
An adversary has to find just one gateway that allows entry into a network and he can exploit the network and any others connected. With close to 1,000 gateways, the Navy has had its share of intruders—more than 16,000 in 2001. Some traveled our networks; our shore networks are our vulnerable strategic rear. Hackers are becoming more organized and acquiring better technology. Reportedly, al Qaeda and potential adversary nations have sought cyber attack capabilities, which likely will surpass those of the average hacker. Little wonder the Quadrennial Defense Review made "assuring information systems in the face of attack" a transformational goal of defense.
Ensuring the security of naval information systems has been a major goal of the Navy Marine Corps Intranet initiative. It is reducing vulnerabilities by consolidating close to a thousand networks within the Department of the Navy and thereby eliminating gateways that could allow intrusions. It is moving servers to network operations centers, where they will be more protected.
At the same time, this initiative is improving defenses. Many individual networks had poor network security and some had none at all. NMCI security is much more advanced. Network operations centers govern traffic between the network and the Internet and quickly can isolate a network if problems arise. Further monitoring is conducted at each part of the process, even down to the workstation. If needed, engineers at operations centers can "look down" into a desktop to see what is wrong.
The big challenge is determining whether this network security is effective. Reportedly, most simulated attacks on defense networks conducted by the National Security Agency have gone undetected. Of greater concern is the fact that many real intrusions have been detected only after the fact, if at all. To test security, the Navy Marine Corps Intranet is relying on several self-test teams. These red and green teams are independent from NMCI contractors, and their purpose is to find weaknesses in the system. They review network designs for vulnerabilities and conduct simulated attacks. The contractor has a monetary incentive to stop them. Maintaining a secure posture is an integral part of the contract. To date, this security has proven effective against cyber attacks and has stopped nearly 4,000 viruses at the NMCI door.
This initiative has been effective in responding to another kind of threat-physical attacks. In the attack on 11 September 2001, the Navy lost nearly 70% of its office space and much of its communications in the Pentagon. Because the Navy Marine Corps Intranet contract was in place, the NMCI team was able to reconstitute its information technology platforms in relocated spaces by 19 September, about half the estimated recovery time.
Our times are characterized by digital networks that seamlessly span organizations. The need for a defense-wide intranet has been stated by the Defense Science Board. The Navy Marine Corps Intranet is such a network. It means letting go of the past and working for the new, and it means something else, too. It's our chance to continue on a path that keeps us great.
Admiral Munns is Director, Navy Marine Corps, Intranet, reporting to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisition). He has served as Commander, Submarine Force Sixth Fleet; Commander Submarines, Allied Naval Forces South; and Pacific Fleet Chief Information Officer and Chief Financial Officer.