Collaboration Means Sharing Information
ation are critical elements of effective maritime domain awareness. They contribute to security in regions close to the United States as well as overseas where U.S. interests, citizens, and friends might be at risk from an array of threats and challenges. Indeed, they are central to the Chief of Naval Operations’ U.S. Navy Vision for Confronting Irregular Challenges and the Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower.Mindful of this need, the office of the Department of Defense Executive Agent for Maritime Domain Awareness (EAMDA) is now integrating a suite of capabilities that support non-classified information sharing to build and expand partnership capacities and Theater Security Cooperation, the CNO-defined mission that helps nations improve their own security situations. This effort also directly supports the requirements identified and documented by the U.S. Defense Components in the 2009 Assessment of Annual Maritime Domain Awareness Plans.
From Concept to Enhancements
In September 2006, the Italian Navy introduced the concept of a virtual regional maritime domain awareness traffic center (VRMTC) to increase the sharing of information about vessel positions and movements throughout the Mediterranean. The U.S. Southern Command has built on that experience and is expanding the model to engage navies and coast guards in its area of responsibility. This effort is called the Virtual Regional Maritime Domain Awareness Traffic Center-Americas.
The EAMDA capabilities have particular importance for Southern Command initiatives and other regional domain awareness resources. Moreover, the set can extend to all regional combatant commanders.
The focus of this effort is to define an integration architecture that can be used for non-classified data sharing, and to standardize a VRMTC suite by leveraging assets already owned or developed by the U.S. government. As a first step in the process, the EAMDA identified minimum functional capabilities required for a VRMTC:
• Collaboration, file sharing, and chat
• Collecting information from other systems and sensors—for example, the Automatic Identification System and airborne and surface radars and cameras
• Fusion and analysis, including data correlation and rules-based alerting
• Dissemination of information, including Web services and geospatial information for displaying locally developed maritime pictures.
The tools that provide these capabilities must be loosely connected so they can be removed or upgraded without affecting the entire suite, while allowing expanded or new resources to be added as mission requirements change.
The Electronics of Sharing Information
The EAMDA defined a specific architecture to support the non-classified information-sharing needs of regional combatant commanders. The result is an integration platform that is flexible and scalable, and that can work with new and legacy systems or sensors. The VRMTC design (illustrated here) is based on providing services through the Smart Integration Manager Ontologically Networked (SIMON) platform. SRI International developed this for the Naval Air Systems Command in 2009-10.
SIMON allows for the flexible system integration of capabilities that may be in development, are already operational, or are governmental or commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) items. In 2010, it was operational at McDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, as the system and sensor integration platform for the facility’s waterside security system.
With similar data-sharing models and standards deployed regionally, a global capability is available by linking the regions without using additional systems. Common data models and data definitions have been developed using the National Information Exchange Model-Maritime (NIEM-M). The Office of Management and Budget publication Agency Information Sharing Functional Specification (4 March 2010) requires all U.S. agencies to evaluate the NIEM as the basis for developing reference information-exchange package descriptions.
Applications for Using the Architecture
Several U.S. government tools are available to support the initial functional capabilities required in implementing an effective SIMON-based VRMTC. They include:
• All Partners Access Network, a Web tool that combines the benefits of unstructured (wikis, blogs, forums) and structured collaborations (file sharing, e-mail, chat, calendar) with the personalization of social networking. It was the technology of choice for the Transnational Information Sharing Cooperative Joint Capability Technology Demonstration.
• Maritime Safety and Security Information System, a multilateral data-sharing link used to improve maritime awareness of the Unites States and its allies and partners through the sharing of Automatic Identification System data via an Internet-based system. The data are mostly the positions of vessels.
• Computer Assisted Maritime Threat Evaluation System Lite, a COTS tool developed with the support of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe. It combines data from disparate sources using a single intuitive analytical system. As of May 2010, the Navy owned 22 user licenses. The EAMDA is working to modify and expand the license agreement to support DOD-wide VRMTC initiatives.
• User-Defined Operational Picture, a locally developed geospatial display tool, generally based on Google Earth.
Moving to the Next Stage
In March 2010, senior EADMA managers briefed the SIMON/VRMTC architecture to program managers of the Southern Command’s Virtual Regional Maritime Domain Awareness Traffic Center-Americas and its Regional Domain Awareness Team. Both were enthusiastic, and the EAMDA is following up with technical exchanges. The EAMDA group also briefed the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy-Western Hemisphere, and has received support to continue apace.
In summer 2010, the SIMON/VRMTC model was reviewed as the test platform for Southern Command’s Virtual Integrated Domain Awareness project and as an integration platform for U.S. Pacific Command’s All Partners Access Network program. Southern Command and Joint Interagency Task Force-South are also looking at this as a supporting element to, or possible replacement for, legacy international information-sharing platforms.
Finally, in accordance with Resource Management Decision 700, the Defense Information Systems Agency will implement a non-classified information-sharing capability within the Defense Enterprise Computing Center. To ensure alignment of efforts, the EAMDA is working with Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration Cheryl J. Roby to assess applicability of the SIMON/VRMTC integration architecture.
The EAMDA’s synchronization efforts in this area will continue and increase, always recognizing the need to provide the most effective resources at costs the nation can afford. For the long term, the plan is to implement a VRMTC suite at each combatant-command headquarters, which will allow partner nations to collaborate via a Web-based platform. This will also permit combatant commanders to display VRMTC information on their own user-defined operational pictures.
Overall, it will go far to achieve the overarching U.S. maritime-domain-awareness requirements articulated by the U.S. Navy Vision for Confronting Irregular Challenges and Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower, as well as National Security Presidential Directive 41. This directive defined MDA as the “effective understanding of anything associated with the global maritime domain that could impact the security, safety, economy, or environment of the United States.” It also underscored the need for “enhanced capability to identify threats to the Maritime Domain as early and as distant from our shores as possible by integrating intelligence, surveillance, observation, and navigation systems into a common operating picture accessible throughout the U.S. Government.”
Teaming with Brazil: Navy Medicine and Soft Power
In November 2008, we became the first U.S. Navy physicians to embark on board a Brazilian Navy riverine hospital ship’s regular humanitarian mission in tributaries of the Amazon River. Invited as observers following successful integration of two Brazilian Navy physicians on board the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) during Operation Continuing Promise, we served as medical advisers and benefitted from an extremely well-executed six-week Brazilian mission. The deployment, facilitated by U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Military Liaison Office, Brazil, was an inexpensive exercise of medical diplomacy for soft power. It was a successful example of embedding a small U.S. team into host-country efforts.
Inside Brazil with the Brazilian Navy
Brazilian Navy, 9th Naval District, based in Manaus, provides security throughout the Amazon. It has patrol boats with small Marine detachments, and three riverine hospital ships deliver care to the populations along the rivers. Some villages are well connected to state health programs, but Amerindian or migrant populations have little interaction with the state.
In our U.S. team, Coakley is an emergency-medicine physician with operational and combat research experience, and Brett-Major is an infectious-diseases sub-specialist and prior surface warfare officer. We embarked on board the Navio de Assistência Hospitalar Carlos Chagas, second ship of the Oswaldo Cruz class commissioned in the 1980s. This 500-ton vessel draws less than two feet, is flat-bottomed with two propellers, and is powered by twin diesel engines.
Her 25-member complement includes a medical, dental, and laboratory officer. When on healthcare missions, the ship may have an additional three medical and two dental officers, two pilots with four to five helicopter squadron personnel, and a small Mosquito helicopter.
On-board spaces include a procedure room, laboratory, pharmacy, two dental procedure rooms, an office with exam table, and unused surgical and radiography spaces. Three Brazilian Navy medics and one Marine medic were on board. The riverine vessels are O-4 commands with two small boats similar to Boston whalers.
The Carlos Chagas departed Manaus just inland of the Meeting of the Waters, where the Rios Negro and Solimões merge in swirling pockets of brown and black. The ship traveled nearly 600 nautical miles to the head of the Rio Madeira near the Bolivian border, a challenging route due to rocks and shifting sands.
Wealth varied in the communities. Brazilian medical officers noted that some of these villages were poorer than any others they had previously encountered. And yet there was significant commercial-shipping traffic and dredging for gold, from Manaus to Porto Velho.
Our Hosts
The Brazilian medical officers were bright, recent medical-school graduates. All had volunteered for one or more years of service and were temporarily commissioned in the Brazilian Navy. Those assigned to ambulatory-care centers were supervised by permanent-grade Navy medical officers. They augmented hospital ships for healthcare missions and served as general medical officers on board patrol boats.
Volunteers receive no formal training during their indoctrination to prepare for tours in the practice of operational medicine, or caring for people in a far-forward setting. Posting in Manaus is considered arduous duty, and many sailors looked forward to returning to Rio de Janeiro.
English is a common second language in the wardroom. The aviators had particularly strong English skills and soon told us about their experiences with U.S. and British counterparts on exchange programs.
The line officers on board the Carlos Chagas, most of whom were serving two-year orders, as well as those in the 9th District leadership, were visibly invested in and moved by the humanitarian aspect of their river duties. They carried out security exercises during other tours, but clearly they universally preferred and praised medical and dental outreach to the small villages.
Collaborative Efforts Welcomed
We were not credentialed in Brazil, so we began the engagement as observers, quietly watching the young Brazilian physicians’ efforts. While they were very well educated, there was a noticeable gap in professional experience. This did not hinder our relations. In fact, the host medical officers actively sought our consultation and greatly encouraged our participation.
By day two, they were involving us in nearly every case. Equally important, we regularly consulted each other, which helped to sustain the collegial atmosphere. It was a rewarding teaching experience, a collaboration that afforded the recent Brazilian medical-school graduates a more sophisticated delivery of care.
Most diagnoses were of diseases that are common worldwide or rooted in poverty. People came for wellness visits, pregnancy, hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthritis, low back pain and overuse injuries, headache, upper respiratory infections, diarrhea, dermatologic conditions, and coronary artery and peripheral vascular diseases.
The mission took place at the beginning of the wet season, with low rates of malaria. We saw Leishmaniasis, Hansen’s Disease, Cushing’s Syndrome, Sheehan’s Syndrome, Acute Coronary Syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy, and Osteomyelitis with Dry Gangrene. There were opportunities for public-health surveillance and intervention, such as village-wide outbreaks of scabies, VZV (chickenpox), and blister-beetle burns.
We observed clusters of unidentified fever, and wells and latrines that had been placed improperly. The 9th District command was aware of the potential for more robust public-health efforts and military-civilian partnerships during missions such as this one. It is a potential area for growth.
Mutual Understanding through Healthcare Delivery
The Brazilian medical officers often saw patients in village schools, in open air, or under ceremonial huts. They provided group education and child de-worming, among many other services. Small boats or aircraft delivered them ashore. Sometimes these insertions took place hours ahead of the ship’s planned movement and where radio contact was lost.
Care also was provided when the ship was at anchor, and dental care often had to move aboard after initially educating villagers in dental hygiene and screening them for operative needs.
Brazilian Navy physicians led the encounters, while we provided advice and consultation. This model was the most useful, given that the Brazilians were the credentialed physicians, it was a Brazilian mission, and we had limited ability in Portuguese or familiarity with the indigenous people. Even the Brazilian medical officers found communication with the patients and interpretation of responses challenging at times. In some Amerindian villages little Portuguese was spoken, and even when it was, dialects often varied.
Our U.S. team had the right mix: Commander Coakley on several occasions mentored medical officers in the use of ultrasound to assess abdominal trauma, status of pregnancy, and gallbladder problems. He also counseled in minor procedures and how to use the combat-casualty gear he had brought with him for the ship. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Commander Brett-Major helped to identify village outbreaks and provided assistance in diagnosing and managing tropical and other complicated medical cases.
The Brazilians preferred small village sites that would otherwise have been overlooked. Some patients had never seen a physician, while others remembered only the Brazilian Navy caring for them. Moving from the small boats to these villages was challenging. We had to climb more than 50 feet up steep river embankments, on shaky ladders or earthen steps. The helicopters were useful for scouting locations and insertions, but in the thick forest, medical evacuations were cumbersome.
Locals understood that U.S. military personnel were involved in their care. And we brought to our Brazilian counterparts our professional expertise daily, along with specialized medical support that was not customarily available in the 9th District.
Intangibles Deliver Tangible Results
Durable relationships can grow from unexpected investments. This mission took place over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. To recognize this and help us celebrate, the 9th District’s chief of staff personally flew three turkeys to the ship during a brief stay as one of our embarked pilots. We spent the day in the galley stuffing and cooking the birds in a Brazilian style. Most of the wardroom gave up their liberty to return to the ship and join in a Thanksgiving Day dinner.
In the mid-1990s, Lieutenant Commander Brett-Major had served with a Brazilian exchange officer who later trained several of the Brazilian officers on board the Carlos Chagas. A Brazilian Navy avionics chief embarked from the country’s HU-3 squadron was fluent in English after several training-related assignments in Florida. These previous U.S.-Brazil interactions assisted in rapid rapport building between our U.S. team and our hosts. And this mission aided in strengthening inter-navy bonds as well as relations between the United States and Brazil—well beyond Navy medical aspects.
The Long View
TV Globo, a national outlet, covered the return of the mission, broadcasting interviews with us on Brazil’s leading evening news. After our team debrief, U.S. Southern Command’s Mass Communications Specialist First Class Michael Wimbish wrote an event release that remains widely available on-line through multiple outlets.
We provided expertise for a highly visible mission that was important to our partner nation. Embedded medical advisers avoid the dilemma of how to follow patients after transient direct care. This system allows the host to develop and fill a skill gap. It leaves a strong impression even when most of the resources belong to the host. But the Americans who are sent for such missions must have the skills and situational awareness to be useful, successful, and safe.
Boorujy’s Rules
During my first command tour, I developed rules as a tool to use for mentoring my department heads. I have modified them many times since then, but their focal point remains the surface-ship department head. Other leaders will also surely find this succinct list useful.
1. I am a warrior.
2. People are my job. “Men mean more than guns in the rating of a ship,” as John Paul Jones allegedly said.
3. Develop character: Show integrity, honor, patriotism.
4. Figure out what the captain wants. Do it. Keep him or her informed.
5. Be smart. Keep learning. Don’t be defensive.
6. Be where the action is. Be in the details.
7. Never make excuses.
8. Plan. Keep it simple. Go heavy early.
9. Communicate clearly. Make lists.
10. Delegate and follow up. (But some things you must do yourself.)
11. Never assume.
12. Never waste the time of my Sailors. Be efficient. Get the job done right the first time.
13. Smile occasionally.
14. No stress is bad, a little stress good, a lot of stress bad.
15. There is power in brevity.
The first three rules are general, foundational to the rest. The others are more practical.
I am a warrior: Many comparisons have been made between the Navy and large civilian business organizations. While these are of value, there are significant differences between a warship and a business. Because our concerns are much more serious than earning dollars, these differences are important. Do not lose sight of this fact.
A warship’s product is combat readiness: winning in battle. This is why we can ask, even demand that our Sailors perform tasks that civilians would not, and that they do so under circumstances or conditions that would not be possible in non-military organizations.
People are my job: Your job is not about steel, machinery, guns, hardware, or software. It is about people. They are the lifeblood of a ship, which makes it a great success (or failure). Therefore, as an officer you must be focused on your Sailors. As an individual you can only accomplish a little. As a leader of a team of Sailors, you can accomplish great things. Do not focus inward. Focus outward at your Sailors. That is where a ship gets its real power. Make every one of them a little bit better, and it will add up to greater success. You care for the ship and its equipment through your Sailors.
Develop character: Show integrity, honor, patriotism: Sailors will know your character. If it is not what it should be, all will know. Put what is good for your country and your ship first. Maintain your integrity.
Figure out what the captain wants. Do it. Keep him or her informed: This simple, yet valuable lesson was taught to me many years ago, by then-Lieutenant Commander Tom McCaffrey (now a retired captain). It was the best mentoring session I ever had.
Naval officers are not self-employed. They are paid to work for their chain of command, which effectively stops with the captain on a U.S. Navy ship. Focus on what the captain wants. Listen. Ask. Watch. It will be easy to know what is important to him or her.
Certain things are important to all captains: accurate navigation and mission accomplishment. But there will be specific things, too. You must know what the captain wants you to concentrate on. Then do it. Then ensure he or she knows you are doing it, and report back.
Poke your head in the captain’s cabin to tell the captain you are doing what the captain wants done. Report in. This will make the captain feel at ease with you, and he or she will be able to concentrate on something else.
Be smart, keep learning, don’t be defensive: Your goal is to be the expert. Learn as much as you can about your ship and your Sailors. Be an expert in as many aspects as you can master. Watch for indications of the effectiveness of your decisions. Learn what works and what does not. Take criticism well. Act on it.
Be where the action is. Be in the details: Infantry officers are taught to lead from the front. The equivalent on board a ship is to be where the action is. If there is a broken piece of equipment, be there and supervise your people as they fix it. Observe your equipment when it is disassembled for repair. If your department is testing a recently repaired piece of gear, be there. If you are doing an unusual or infrequent evolution, be there. Get into the details. Knowing these will help you to increase the efficiency of your Sailors.
Never make excuses: “No excuse, sir” is a required response of plebes at the U.S. Naval Academy. It works well for Fleet officers, too. The premise is that all problems are avoidable, and you need to learn to avoid them. Rather than make excuses, understand what went wrong and ensure it doesn’t happen again. When you need to give an explanation, tell your boss what went wrong and how you will fix it. Learn from mistakes and don’t repeat them.
Plan. Keep it simple. Go heavy early: Officers must be planners. Your Sailors will do what you direct them to do. Plan ahead. Make your plans simple. Such plans are easier to execute and are usually more successful. Plan early and start work toward your goals early to avoid last minute “flaps.” If you plan and go heavy early, you can avoid the long extra hours that many need to make up for their poor planning.
Communicate clearly. Make lists: Once you develop a plan, share it! A simple list is the best way to promulgate a plan or any set of instructions. Make a list. Then gather your Sailors together and provide them with it so they see what you need them to do. They will not and cannot support you if they are not aware of what you want from them. Walk around the ship. Talk to your Sailors at all levels. Discuss the plan with them. Find out if they understand, and correct as needed.
Delegate and follow up (but some things you must do yourself): Once I heard it said that a leader should “delegate and disappear.” This is wrong. You delegate and follow up. Follow up to ensure your orders are properly carried out. Walk around and inspect. Ask for reports. Make certain that your Sailors know what they are to do, and that they carry it out with the proper quality. Follow up!
Some things, however, you must do yourself. Figure out what those are and be sure not to delegate them.
Never assume: Nothing good comes from assuming. Don’t do it.
Never waste the time of my Sailors. Be efficient. Get the job done right the first time: Be certain that your Sailors’ efforts are directed toward a focused goal. Don’t waste their time by not giving them clear guidance. Make sure your Sailors take the extra time to do a job properly the first time. You will save time in the long run, preserve morale, and have a more combat-ready ship.
Smile occasionally: Running a ship is serious business, but it helps to smile occasionally. Your Sailors will appreciate it.
No stress is bad, a little stress good, a lot of stress bad: Low stress breeds inattention and laziness, but a great deal of it erodes efficiency and breeds mistakes. Make sure your Sailors work under a little stress. Create a sense of urgency.
There is power in brevity: Keep your plans, orders, meetings, and training sessions short enough to keep Sailors’ attention. The briefer they are, the greater the probability that what is said will be remembered.