Army upgrades mission command center infrastructure at 28th Infantry Division HQ

FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- The Army has modernized the mission command center infrastructure at the 28th Infantry Division (ID) headquarters of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. The eighth mission command center modernization project to be completed, the 28th ID headquarters is making the evolutionary leap to the next-generation command center.

Mission command from home station is a new capability the Army is deploying to the force, delivering a more powerful and reliable capability than those of any opposing force to date. This significant technical overhaul improves the headquarters command and control of its Soldiers' missions through a simple and intuitive, single mission command suite that commanders and Soldiers can access from home station, en route, or from a command post.

The division headquarters hosts an operations center for command and administrative operations. This modernization project replaced the aging, worn-out equipment in the operations center with the state-of-the-art network software and hardware to support the mission command capabilities that underpin the Army's lethality, enabling a culture of decentralized execution on the battlefield.

The shared understanding achieved by the mission command capabilities is critical to outmaneuvering sophisticated adversaries. Mission success depends on coordinated communications to ensure the right level of combat power is at the right place, at the right time.

With the mission command capabilities available at home station, the robust infrastructure of this next-generation command center empowers Army leaders to share information with commanders en route to an objective to maintain situational awareness during movement.

The Army's Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program (I3MP) served as the program management office for this project. I3MP is the primary Army program for modernizing outside plant infrastructure and gigabit ethernet data networks at Army installations within the continental United States. Home Station Mission Command Center (HSMCC) modernization is a recent addition to the program's well-managed portfolio.

Product Officer Toni Freeland manages the HSMCC programs. On this project, Freeland was assisted by project managers Sarah Mullins, Mark Block and Karl Brenstuhl, who managed the day-to-day activities of the project.

Freeland, who led the Army’s eighth HSMCC installation to date, said, "the Army is changing how it fields and sustains mission command systems. Employing the Army's new acquisition construct of 'adapt and buy,' this project simplifies mission command network software and hardware versions across the Army to one standard baseline."

Block also explained that the new infrastructure includes bigger data pipes and a flatter, centralized network for improved cybersecurity. “Bandwidth within a command center is a precious resource,” he said. “The mission command center infrastructure provides the high-capacity throughput to enable the transmission of voice, video and data with minimum delay.”

Maj. Cory Angell, spokesperson for the 28th ID, said, "the HSMCC installation has improved operations at the 28th ID by enabling commanders to execute mission command from home station - a significant technological leap forward for the unit."

The U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command (USAISEC), Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) and Net-Centric Enterprise Solutions (NES) associates partnered with I3MP on this project.

Amanda Mayer, TYAD project manager said "this HSMCC mission went well due to the strong working relationship developed between I3MP, TYAD, and ISEC."