Director Operational Test and Evaluation Joint Battle Command - Platform JBC-P Multi-Service Operational Test and Evaluation Report January 2015 This report on the Joint Battle Command - Platform JBC-P fulfills the provisions of Title 10 United States Code Section 2399 It assesses the adequacy of testing and the operational effectiveness operational suitability and survivability of the JBC-P 2 J e Director Joint Battle Command - Platform JBC-P Joint Version 5 JV5 Block 2 Display and Keyboard left and Commander using JBC-P right Executive Summary This report assesses the test adequacy operational effectiveness operational suitability and survivability of the Joint Battle Command-Platform JBC-P The Multi-Service Operational Test and Evaluation MOT E results are intended to provide input to an Anny materiel release decision and a Marine Corps fielding decision for JBC-P Sotlware Build 6 0 During the test DOT E assessed new capabilities and verification of correction of deficiencies from the JBC-P Software Build 5 0 Initial Operational Test and Evaluation which was conducted during the Army's Network lntegration Evaluation NIE 13 2 in May 2013 The Army Test and Evaluation Command conducted the JBC-P MOT E from April 23 through May 17 2014 at Fort Bliss Texas and White Sands Missile Range WSMR New Mexico The JBC-P MOT E was conducted as part of the Army's NIE 14 2 and included a Pilot Test April 28 through May 2 and a Record Test May 6 -I 7 The test location was a dispersed desert environment with limited urban terrain The Army and Marine Corps' testing of JBC-P was adequate and was conducted in accordance with a DOT E-approved test plan The Army also included JBC-P Software Build 6 0 modified with fixes as a baseline system in NIE 15 l October 15 to November 2 2014 and collected Soldier surveys and observations on the system's performance The JBC-P MOT E test units consisted 0 f the Anny s 2nd Brigade 1SI Armored Division 2 1 AD configured as a heavy brigade combat team with brigade headquarters and six battalions and the Marine Corps' 2-8 111 Infantry Battalion under operational control of the 211 AD The brigade was equipped with JBC-P and predecessor systems including Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below Joint Capabilities Release FBCB2 JCR and FBCB2 Version 6 5 The units conducted operationally realistic scenarios to include offensive defensive and stability missions with JBC-P employed at-the-halt and on-the-move Operational Effectiveness The Joint Battle Command - Platform JBC-P Software Build 6 0 is not operationally effective It did not demonstrate the ability to support Anny and Marine Corps leaders Soldiers and Marines with the critical capabilities of Command and Control C2 messages and Survivability Entity Data messages when operating from Tactical Operational Centers TOCs and on-the-move in tactical vehicles Several JBC-P software deficiencies reduced the units' ability to conduct missions and reduced Soldiers' and Marines' confidence in JBC-P situational awareness and enemy survivability alerts While Software Build 6 0 delivered several enhanced capabilities it introduced deficiencies that significantly detracted from mission capabilities and led to an assessment that the JBC-P was not effective This is a reduction in capability from the November 2013 JBC-P Software Build 5 0 Initial Operational Test and Evaluation IOT E which assessed the system as effective Deficiencies included o Phantom Mayday messages which provided false alerts of Soldiers or units requiring immediate assistance during Network Integration Evaluation NIE 14 2 With over 900 occurrences during test this is a new JBC-P deficiency that was not experienced during the JBC-P Software Build 5 0 JOT E Despite two software patches to fix this problem Soldiers continued to experience phantom Mayday messages during NIEl5 l o Ghost icons which presented false locations for blue forces During Focus Groups Soldiers reported that ghost icons and phantom Mayday messages reduced their confidence in the information provided by JBC-P o JBC-P was not effective in transmitting and receiving C2 messages It did not meet user requirements for message completion rate within the required speed of service Additionally JBC-P continued to demonstrate deficiencies during the MOT E that were observed during the 2013 JBC-P Software Build 5 0 IOT E and tbat continue to degrade user confidence in the situational awareness infonnation provided by JBC-P These included o Racing situational awareness icons that portrayed speeds up to 200 kilometers per hour kph during NIE 14 2 including icons for both stationary units and tactic al ground forces which normally should not exceed 70 kph After the program attempted to fix this problem Soldiers experienced icons lagging in accurate position by 30 minutes to one hour during NLE 15 J o Communications security device KGV-72 problems that caused failures o Map problems that included incorrect placement of grid lines offset up to 1 500 meters and a zoom function that slowed JBC-P processing at time locking up the software JBC-P Logistics JBC- P Log an integral component of the JBC-P Software Build 6 0 did not support the Army brigade's logistics mission Soldiers experienced a low success rate in interrogating radio frequency identification RFID tags JBC-P Log allowed operators to create duplicate RFID tags that portrayed the same cargo in different locations across the brigade JBC-P served as the brigade's tool for on-the-move mission command yet this was primarily accomplished through the use of chat Using JBC-P units were able to maneuver forces to key positions while out of enemy contact control the battle while in contact and rejoin forces upon completion of combat operations JBC-P supported the commander's ability to command yet due to noted deficiencies commanders experienced decreased confidence and support from JBC-P Software Build 6 0 compared to previous versions of JBC-P software The Marine Corps participation in the MOT E demonstrated effective interoperability between the Marine Corps battalion to Army brigade and from the Marine Corps battalion to Army battalion command echelons Operational Suitability The Joint Battle Command - Platform JBC-P is not operationally suitable JBC-P is not reliable for most versions of hardware hosting JBC-P Software Build 6 0 JBC-P meets the user's Mean Time To Repair MTTR maintainability requirement During the MOT E 11 DOT E evaluated the reliability availability and maintainability of major JBC-P system configurations employed by Army and Marine Corps units o Joint Version 5 JV5 Block J Computer System Block II Computer System o o Military Family of Computing Systems MFoCS - MFoCS-Basic MFoCS-B - MFoCS-lntermediate MFOCS- Tactical Operations Center TOC Kit - Dell XFR TOC MFoCS-B TOC o JBC-P Logistics JPC-P Log Military Rugged Tablet - Plus MRT MRT Control Station MRT CS TOC JBC-P experienced inconsistent reliability across the spectrum of the major JBC-P system configurations Some configurations performed well but most did not meet the Mean Time Between Essential Function Failure MTBEFF requirement of 290 hours Fifty-eight percent of JBC-P Essential Function Failures were lue to software With the exception of the JBC-P Log MRT all mobile JBC-P systems met the user's 80 percent operational availability requirement While the Marine Corps XFR TOC system met the requirement the Army's use of the XFR in a TOC did not meet the operational availability requirement JBC-P met the 30-minute Mean Time to Repair MTTR requirement for all variants of the system Soldiers and Marines were able to maintain the system because most failures were software-related and the crew could correct them by rehooting the system without maintenance support The reboot process requires three steps power down power up and log in The average time for a JBC-P reboot to include system spontaneous rebooting during MOT E was eight minutes JBC-P training prepared Soldiers and Marines to install and operate their mobile and TOC systems The Anny should consider improving the training to o Provide sufficient time for unit collective training o Increase hands-on instruction o Increase troubleshooting instruction for maintainers o Provide leaders with infonnation tailored to their command or staff position o Provide technical manuals to Soldiers and Marines 111 The JBC-P Log training provided to Soldiers by the Anny was not effective Even with retraining at the beginning of record test the training provided did not prepare them to operate or maintain JBC-P Log The Army has not developed a standard operating procedure SOP for employing JBC-P within units and integrating JBC-P with other Army mission command applications and databases Signal Soldiers across the unit were challenged with the complexity of mission command applications and communications and the unit was not manned to accomplish this task In the case of a logistics company the unit was not provided a signal Soldier and was forced to train an alternate Soldier to perform the required communications tasks This solution diverted a Soldier from their primary duties to support JBC-P and other mission command applications Survivability JBC-P is not survivable The classified annex to this report details those deficiencies Recommendations The Anny and Marine Corps should consider the following actions to improve Joint Battle Command-Platform JBC-P Software Build 6 0 o Improve Effectiveness The Anny should improve JBC-P support to unit mission accomplishment and demonstrate the improvements in a future operational test - Fix position location identification icon deficiencies to include false location lagging and racing icons - Correct unit command and control alerting i e eliminate phantom Mayday messages - Improve shared survivability infonnation to enable better retrieval and or caching of relevant Entity Data Message map icons - Fix map deficiencies to include zoom and grid line accuracy problems - Improve the performance of the communications security device KGV-72 Improve noted JBC-P Log deficiencies o Improve Reliability The Am1y should improve JBC-P's reliability and demonstrate improved reliability in an operational test prior to full materiel release and subsequent fielding of the JBC-P Software Build 6 0 Identify and fix failure modes for the MRT and inconsistent reliability performance for the MFoCS configurations o Improve Training The Army should improve JBC-P New Equipment Training Provide JBC-P collective training that validates both individual and unit proficiency Expand collective training to include JBC-P Log IV Expand the leaders' course to provide more JBC-P information tailored to the individual command staff position to allow the full use of its mission command capabilities Expand the operators' course to include more hands-on training and provide more detail on trouble shooting beyond doing a system reboot Include training on all JBC-P components e g KGV-72 encryption device to enable Soldiers to install operate and maintain the system o Create a Digital Standard Operating Procedure SOP The Anny and Marine Corps should create a digital SOP to integrate the numerous mission command systems with their services This document should standardize mission command operations for both tactical operational centers and on-the-move systems o Increase Signal Soldier Manning The Army should evaluate manning of Signal Soldiers e g Military Occupational Specialty 25U across the brigade to support JBC-P and other networked systems The Anny should conduct a holistic assessment of mission command systems with accompanying communications systems and staff their units for mission success o Improve Survivability The Anny should address the deficiencies and recommendations noted in the classified annex of this report d Director v This page intentionally left blank vi Contents System Overview 1 Test Adequacy 11 Effectiveness l 5 Suitability 29 Recommendations 39 Classified Annex Survivability Separate Cover Vil This page intentionally Ie blank Section One System Overview Mission Description The Joint Battle Command - Platform JBC-P is a networked mission command information system that enables Army and Marine Corps' units to share near real-time friendly enemy and battlefield situational awareness operational maps and graphics and command and control C2 messages The Army and Marine Corps intend JBC-P to provide joint platformlevel interoperability for operations centers ground vehicles aviation assets and dismounted Soldier Marine platforms operating in land littoral-dominated joint battle space JBC-P expands upon the previously released Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below FBCB2 and FBCB2-Joint Capability Release FBCB2-JCR systems and is designed to provide o Blue friendly situational awareness o Red enemy situational awareness o Network integration o Sustainment The Anny and Marine Corps intend the JBC-P Battle Command Product Line to provide the following critical battlefield capabilities to vehicle platfonns and dismounted Soldiers Marines o Improved Combat Identification at the point of engagement to reduce fratricide o Improved on-the-move situational awareness through a rapidly updated common picture of the battlefield o Enhanced Mission Command or C2 capability over extended tactical and operational distances o More accurate position locations of friendly units combined with network wide dissemination of reported enemy neutral entities unknown entities and terrain information Commanders use JBC-P's situational awareness to maneuver forces to positions of battlefield advantage based upon knowledge of friendly and enemy forces Commanders and Soldiers Marines should experience improved support of maneuver units through enhanced situational awareness and messaging which provides numerous benefits including greater survivability more effective link-up of medical and vehicle recovery assets and eflicient resupply Commanders and staff use JBC-P to conduct mission command through the exchange of orders and graphics via horizontal and vertical communications between combat vehicles and the Tactical Operations Centers TOCs Tbe Ar my uses JBC-P Logistics JBC-P Log to support unit mission logistics from select Army JBC-P Software Build 6 0 systems JBC-P Log enables the transfer of blue force and threat data between maneuver maneuver support and sustainment systems Soldiers using JBC-P Log can identify track and re-route cargo vehicles as required to support the commander' s mission execution Incremental Development The Army established JBC-P as an incremental development program with a series of software builds that increase in capability to complete the I 04 threshold requirements contained within the approved JBC-P Capabilities Development Document CDD On March 15 2013 the Joint Requirements Oversight Committee approved the JBC-P CDD used in lieu of a Capabilities Production Document To define its increment build strategy the Army G3 5 7 published a memorandum in May 2013 outlining the JBC-P CD D requirements to be satisfied by JBC-P Software Build 5 0 and follow-on versions In May 2013 the Army conducted a JBC-P Software Build 5 0 Initial Operational Test and Evaluation IOT E in accordance with a DOT E-approved test plan The IOT E was conducted in conjunction with the Army's Network Integration Evaluation NIE 13 2 in May 2013 DOT E published an IOT E report on JBC-P on November 22 2013 which assessed JBC-P as operationally effective in supporting Army commanders and Soldiers with situational awareness command and control C2 messages and chat when operating from Tactical Operational Centers TOCs and on-the-move in tactical vehicles The report found that JBC-P was operationally effective in supporting the unit's mission success and mission utility during all 24 missions conducted during the IOT E The report noted that poor reliability due to frequent outages and software problems hampered ope rational effectiveness The assessment found that JBC-P was not operationally suitable due to substantive reliability issues The report also found that JBC-P was not survivable as it had significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities that would place a unit's ability to succeed in combat at risk Following operational test the Army developed JBC-P Software Build 5 1 which addressed deficiencies noted during the IOT E and was intended to satisfy the CDD's four Key Performance Parameters KPPs and over 60 percent of the threshold requirements Based upon successful program regression testing the Army approved a fielding decision for JBC-P Software Build 5 1 in November 2013 The Anny updated the JBC-P incremental build memo in March 2014 to define capabilities to be delivered in Software Build 6 0 for assessment during the May 2014 JBC-P Multi-Service Operational Test and Evaluation MOT E which was conducted in conjunction with NIE 14 2 The Army intends for Software Build 6 0 to satisfy the JBC-P CDD's KPPs and 90 percent of threshold requirements The Marine Corps published a memorandum that concurred with the Army's definition of required capabilities within JBC-P Software Build 6 0 The new capabilities provided by JBC-P Sotlware Build 6 0 include o JBC-P Log with Radio Frequency Identification RFID tag interrogation anc1 reporting and message exchange with the Battle Command Sustainment Support System BCS3 The JBC-P Log provides logistics information to the Transportation Coordinator's Automated Information for Movement System II TC-AIMS II and the Global Combat Support System GCSS to enhance Army total asset visibility 2 o Area Structures Capabilities Organizations People and Events ASCOPE reports and collec tions to include search-along-route function o Transfer of digital pictures from dismounted Soldiers using Nett Warrior o Sharing of Global Positioning System GPS information within the combat vehicle or tactical operations center o Hybrid Capability- the ability of the JBC-P system to employ both celestial and terrestrial networks for exchanging mission command infonnation System Description and Capabilities JBC-P Software Build 6 0 provides the following functional capabilities as tested during the Network Integration Evaluation 14 2 JBC-P MOT E o Graphical User Interface GUI -The GUI provides JBC-P's output display and user input tools to include keyboard and touch screen capabilities Figure 1-1 The GUI is an enhancement of the fielded FBCB2-JCR and includes improved map functions graphics images and the ability to display ASCOPE data The GUI allows Soldiers and Marines to add overlays and icons to enhance the situational awareness and use chat capability and messaging to support mission command FIPR Flash Immediate Priority Routine precedence description Figure 1-1 JBC-P Graphical User Interface map display o Chat - Tactical chat and chat room capability provides enhanced collaboration for commanders Chat allows leaders to conduct planning assist in orders development execute missions and decrease overall mission coordination time 3 Figure 1-2 JBC-P Graphical User Interface with inset chat window o Network Services Gateway NSG - The NSG is an additional capability introduced with the JBC-P software to fill beyond-line-of-sight communications shortfalls within the battlefield environment The NSG uses an internet protocol IP interface within a standard JBC-P computer to connect to the lower tactical internet The transfer of C2 and situational awareness messages can be accomplished using standard militaryapproved IP-based waveforms e g the Soldier Radio Waveform or Highband Networking Waveform to connect JBC-P to dismounted Soldiers or adjacent vehicles by terrestrial radio o Tactical Ground Reporting TIGR - TIGR stores maintains and synchronizes ASCOPE data between the TOC and tactical vehicles o Map Engine - JBC-P's map engine provides an improvement upon the fielded FBCB2-JCR for the display of tactical maps and images o Information Exchange - JBC-P provides blue force situational awareness updates via automatic operator independent maps graphics and overlays to tactical vehicles and TOCs This includes all units equipped with JBC-P FBCB2-JCR FBCB2 and Nett Warrior-equipped dismounted Soldiers connected to the JBC-P network JBC-P provides tools for users to add shared graphics and overlays for known enemy locations o Hvbrid Network Capability - The hybrid network capability provides alternate and redundant means of communications on an intelligent basis between terrestrial and celestial transport layers By monitoring the quality of its satellite network the JBCp Hybrid Network Capability is designed to automatically select the best means of communications celestial or terrestrial which increases network robustness during mission operations o JBC-P Log Capability- JBC-P Log provides RFID tag interrogation reporting and message exchange JBC-P Log reports RFID data exchanges to the JBC-P Network 4 Operations Center where it is shared with other Army logistics systems via the Movements Tracking System-Enhanced Software MTS-ES This exchange allows logisticians to track the worldwide location of cargoes and equipment in near-real time The Army and Marine Corps host JBC-P Software Build 6 0 on several different computer systems with supporting hardware During MOT E Soldiers and Marines employed the computer systems and hardware described in the paragraphs below Note the first six paragraphs describe host computers while the remaining items and software support JBC-P operations Mounted Refresh Computer MRC The Marine Corps MRC Figure 1-3 supports both vehicle-mounted left side of figure and TOC kit right side of figure operations The mounted systems are fielded in both terrestrial and celestial configurations MRC 10o MRC OU -or- Ke 't aerd KUI Figure 1-3 Marine Corps Mounted Refresh Computer Joint Tactical Common Operational Picture COP Workstation JTCW The JTCW Figure 1-4 is a windows-based suite of applications designed to provide Marine Corps battalion and above echelons with command and control functions improved situational awareness and enhanced operational and tactical decision-making The JTCW serves as tbe COP interface between the JBC-P and Marine Corps workstations at battalion and above 5 Figure 1-4 Dell XFR computers hosting the JTCW suite of applications in a Marine Corps command post Joint Version 5 VS Block 1 and JVS Block 2 Computers The JV5 Block 1 and JV5 Block 2 Figures 1-5 and 1-6 are JBC-P host computer systems with display units The JV5 Block 2 is an upgrade of the JV5 Block I that provides a faster computer processing unit increased Random Access Memory RAM and hard disk storage and improved graphics Figure 1-5 JBC-P JVS Block 2 display and keyboard Figure 1-6 Commander using a JBC-P JVS Block 2 on a Multi-Domain Atlas display Mounted Family of Computing Systems MFoCS -Basic and Intermediate The MFoCS Figure 1-7 is the Army's computer hardware upgrade for the JV5 Block J and JV5 Block 2 computers MFoCS includes advanced computing technologies with improved processing capability to include high-definition graphics higher-capacity hard drives and additional memory The MFoCS consists of three configurations - MFoCS Basic TOC systems MFoCS Basic and Intermediate vehicle-mounted systems and MFoCS Advanced user or mission dictates this higher capability These three systems consist of common line replaceable units and are compatible with existing JV5 installation kits keyboards and displays MFoCS ' modularity of design enables Soldiers to configure their systems for specific 6 applications i e JBC-P JBC-P Log TIGR Command Post of the Future Distributed Common Ground System - Army Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System based upon mission needs Basic Intermediate KO Keyboard Unit PU Processor Jnit DU Display Unit Figure 1-7 Mounted Family of Computing Systems used in JBC-P Tactical Operations Center TOC Kit - Dell XFR Computer TOC Kits Figure 1-8 provide JBC-P mission command and situational awareness to commanders within command posts A TOC kit consists of a Dell XFR laptop hosting JBC-P software a Defense Advance GPS Receiver DAGR a Blue Force Tracker 2 BFT2 satellite transceiver and a KGV-72 encryption device see following paragraphs for descriptions The Marine Corps TOC kit is identical to the Army version Figure 1-8 JBC-P TOC Kit Military Rugged Tablet - Plus MRT The MRT Figure 1-9 is a ruggedized computer tablet that supports the functions of JBC-P Log within an Army TOC The MRT provides computer processing capabilities in a compact form and uses a 10 4 display 7 o It Figure 1-9 Military Rugged Tablet Plus Blue Force Tracker BFT 2 Transceiver JBC-P uses an L-band satellite 950-2150 Megahertz MHz transceiver see Figure 1-10 to support a shared 80 to 90 kilobits per second kbps data uplink and downlink within its supporting satellite footprint BFT2 's increased throughput over the earlier BFT I allows J BC-P to receive more frequent updates and provide more accurate situational awareness for Soldiers and Marines The Army plans to field a BFT2 transceiver with each vehicle and fixed location JBC-P The Marine Corps intends to field a mix of BFT2 and terrestrial radios to support JBC-P o Figure 1-10 Blue Force Tracker Satellite Transceiver KGV-72 Type I Programmable In-Line Encryption Device The KGV-72 Figure 1-11 provides communications data encryption and ensures that BFT2 transmissions are certified to support Secret transmissions for JBC-P FBCB2-JCR and FBCB2 8 Figure l-11 Left KGV- 72 Type 1 Programmable In-Une Encryption Device and Right a KGV-72 with lock above front left located above f'ront left of a platoon leader Defense Advanced Global Positioning System GPS Receiver DAGR The DAGR Figure l-12 is a handheld GPS receiver that serves as a component of the JBC-P vehicle and TOC systems lt is a military-grade dual-frequency receiver and maintains the security hardware necessary to decode military band encrypted P Y -code GPS signals Figure 1-12 Company Commander using the JBC-P with DAGR 9 BFT2 with RFID Interrogator The BFT2 transceiver coupled with an RFID interrogator Figure 1-13 allows JBC-P Log to use wireless transfer of data to enable automatic identification and tracking of RFID tags attached to objects and cargoes Figure 1-13 BFT transceiver with the RFID interrogator in the top left corner Network Operations Center NOC The JBC-P Network Operations Center NOC Figure l-1 4 provides the central routing capability for the JBC-P system The NOC provides the network interface between celestial satellite and terrestrial radio based platforms in the FBCB2-JCR and JBC-P networks The NOC receives transmitted information and re-broadcasts it to worldwide recipient systems in combat vehicles and command posts The JBC-P system cannot function without the central routing provided by the NOC Figure 1-14 JBC-P Network Operations Center 10 Section Two Test Adequacy Operational Testing The Multi-Service Operational Test and Evaluation MOT E of the Joint Battle Command - Platform JBC-P Software Build 6 0 was adequate to assess JBC-P operational effectiveness suitability and survivability The Anny Test and Evaluation Command ATEC conducted the operational test in accordance with a DOT E-approved test plan to support the following proposed JBC-P Software Build 6 0 decisions o 1QFYI5 Army materiel release decision o 2QFY 15 Marine Corps fielding decision The Army approved a fielding decision for JBC-P Software Build 5 1 in November 2013 based upon a May 2013 JBC-P Initial Operational Test and Evaluation IOT E and subsequent program regression testing ATEC conducted the JBC-P MOT E from April 28 through May 17 2014 as part of the Army's Network Integration Evaluation NIE 14 2 at Fort Bliss Texas At NIE 15 1 October 15 through November 2 2014 ATEC conducted surveys and interviews to assess software fixes of deficiencies noted during MOT E The JBC-P system with Software Build 6 0 is projected for fielding as part of the Army's Capability Set 15 JBC-P is an Acquisition Category II program with DOT E oversight The MOT E included the JBC-P and Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below FBCB2 Joint Capability Release JCR Network Operations Centers NOCs at Aberdeen Proving Ground Maryland This evaluation is based upon the JBC-P MOT E supplemented by prior developmental testing that occurred during the JBC-P Risk Reduction Event 14 Government Developmental Test and Regression Test The developmental and operational test dates and the events that led up to the MOT E appear in Table 2-1 Table 2 1 Test Schedule Date Activity New Equipment Training February 3 - March 28 2014 Step 4 Operational Information Assurance Cyber Security Vulnerability Evaluation March 10-April 4 3014 Pilot Test April 28 - May 2 2014 Record Test May 6-17 2014 Regression Testing of Fixes and Survey Interviews with Soldiers October 15-Novermber 2 2014 The MOT E provided adequate data to assess the effectiveness of the JBC-P The Anny installed instrumentation to collect data on sent and received situational awareness and command l1 and control C2 messages and installed military data collectors in vehicles and facilities There were a total of 282 JBC-P systems in the NIE Of these there were 63 JBC-P systems 56 Army and 7 Marine Corps operating in combat vehicles and TOCs that were instrumented to capture situational awareness messages C2 messages and survivahility messages The test unit 2 11d Brigade 1st Armored Division 2-1 AD at Fort Bliss White Sands Missile Range is a heavy brigade combat team that provided a brigade headquarters and six battalions to perform missions under operationally realistic conditions The brigade employed a mix of JBC-P FBCB2 JCR and FBCB2 Version 6 5 systems to provide the unit's situational awareness chat and C2 messaging Within this combined network the brigade deployed 56 instrumented JBC-P systems in the Brigade Headquarters the 4th Battalion 17th Infantry 4-17 IN the 1st Squadron 1st Cavalry Regiment 1-1 CAV and the 4 1h Brigade Support Battalion 47 BSB The NOC at Aberdeen Proving Ground Maryland is a fixed facility that provides worldwide support and interoperability of JBC-P FBCB2 JCR and FBCB2 Version 6 5 networks under operational training and testing environments For MOT E a test training NOC operating alongside the real-world NOC maintained two instrumented systems The Marine Corps unit 2-8 1h Infantry Battalion 2-8 Marines was attached to the Army brigade and employed seven instrumented JBC-P systems The 2-8111 employed three instrumented infantry company combat vehicles equipped with terrestrial-capable JBC-P systems and four instrumented weapons company celestial-capable JBC-P systems The MOT E Army and Marine Corps test units conducted operationally realistic scenarios to include offensive defensive and stability missions employed at-the-halt and on-the-move The Army and Marine Corps embedded military data collectors in 79 combat vehicles 2 NOCs 3 Tactical Operations Centers TOCs and 2 Military Rugged Tablet Control Stations to capture reliability data and document these in Test Incident Reports Following test completion ATEC recognized from the duty logs that data collectors had not provided all test incidents for the reliability evaluation ATEC reassessed the data logs compared to instrumented data to create a complete reliability assessment The MOT E instmmented and collected data on six TOCs 3 De XFRs and 3 Mounted Family of Computing Systems-Basic and the JBC-P JCR test NOCs Due to the low density of these systems data collection yielded insufficient operating hours for a meaningful reliability assessment The MOT E was adequate to address the joint interoperability between the Army and Marines in an integrated scenario with an Army brigade and elements of a Marine Corps Regiment engaged in joint operational scenarios The MOT E collected manual data to include a blue ribbon panel for mission effectiveness assessment mission interviews video-recorded focus groups test participant structured interviews test team observations and subject matter expert comments Test Scenario The JBC-P Operational Mode Summary Mission Profile OMS MP focuses on a single Wartime Mission Profile 72- hour Major Combat Operations MCO for selected combat 12 platfonns within or in direct support of the Heavy Brigade Combat Team HBCT The MCO represents the most strenuous profile for Unified LancJ Operations during which combat operations are conducted by all HBCT echelons The MOT E stressed Army and Marine Corps JBC-P systems within the brigade during a 12-day operational test which included realistic missions and scenarios The 1-1 CA V was the primary unit under test operating as a cavalry unit performing screen and reconnaissance missions and conducting limited attacks The 4-1 7 TN employed JBC-P systems and conducted appropriate missions Between these two units the MOT E collected sufficient data to assess mission performance The test units executed decisive action operations that included offensive defensive and stability missions employed at-the-halt and on-the-move The 2-8 Marines were under the operational control of the 2-1 Brigade and conducted appropriate missions The 47 BSB conducted operational missions to assess JBC-P Log capabilities The Brigade Modernization Command served as the division headquarters and issued warning orders fragmentary orders and operations orders to transition the test through scenario phases ATEC designed each phase in accordance with the requirements of the 72-hour OMS MP Unit Task Reorganization UTR is a core JBC-P function and is planned by the brigade commander or S-3 and executed by the S-6 The Brigade executed 14 UTRs at the platoon company battalion and regiment echelons including cross-Service UTRs i e Army to Army and Anny to Marine Corps and vice versa o 2-8 Marines into and back out of the 2-1 AD o F Company 2-8 Marines into and back out of 1-6 IN o C Troop 1- l CA V into and back out of 4-17 IN o D Company 1-6 IN and 1-1 CAY into and back out of 2-8 Marines 111 ormation Assurance Prior to and during the MOT E the Army Research Laboratory Survivability Lethality Analysis Directorate ARL SLAD conducted Information Assurance assessments on JBC-P that included o Step 4- Operational Information Assurance Vulnerability Evaluation o Step 5 - Protect Detect React and Restore Evaluation These tests were performed in accordance with the DOT E memorandum Procedures for Operational Test and Evaluation oflnformation Assurance in Acquisition Programs dated January 21 2009 and includecJ clarifications and improvements published in November 2010 and February 2013 Electronic Warfare During the MOT E electronic warfare testing consisted of open-air jamming and direction finding operations The Threat Systems Management Office provided and operated the jamming direction finding and GPS-imitating equipment to support the multiple 72-hour scenarios in an electronic warfare environment All threats portrayed were in accordance with 13 the accredited threat for JBC-P Electronic warfare was focused on Marine Corps units since the Army units received an electronic warfare assessment during the NIE 13 2 JBC-P IOT E System Support Field Service Representatives FSRs participated in the MOT E as sustainment-level maintenance FSR support of the operation and maintenance during the JBC-P MOT E was in accordance with the maintenance support concept for a heavy brigade combat team The Army program office provided two FSRs for the JBC-P MOT E one to service the battalions and one at brigade Net Ready Key Performance Parameter The Army and Marine Corps tested JBC-P Software Build 6 0 to assess the Net Ready Key Performance Parameter The JBC-P MOT E assessed JBC-P for backward compatibility with FBCB2 versions 6 5 and JCR as well as interoperability with the Marine Corps Joint Interoperability Certification JIC and Army Interoperability Certification AIC are required to ensure the system meets approved tecbnical standards and information exchange requirements and does not introduce vulnerabilities or reduce service when connected to active networks The Joint Interoperability Test Command assessed JBC-P Software Build 6 0 for JIC during the JBC-P MOT E The Army completed the JBC-P Software Build 6 0 AIC during 3 4QFY14 to meet the requirements of the Net Ready Key Performance Parameter The AIC will also assess compliance of the JBC-P software message set to Military Standard 6017A which is the Department of Defense standard for Variable Message Format VMF messages 14 Section Three Effectiveness The Joint Battle Command- Platfonn JBC-P Software Build 6 0 is not operationally effoctive It did not demonstrate the ability to support Anny and Marine Corps leaders Soldiers and Marines with the user's requirements for Command and Control C2 messages and Survivability Entity Data messages when operating from Tactical Operational Centers TOCs and on-the-move in tactical vehicles Several JBC-P software deficiencies reduced the units' ability to conduct missions and reduced Soldiers' and Marines' confidence in JBC-P situational awareness and enemy survivability alerts While Software Build 6 0 delivered several enhanced capabilities it introduced deficiencies that significantly detracted from mission capabilities and led to an assessment that the JBC-P was not effective This is a reduction in capability from the November 2013 JBC-P Software Build 5 0 Initial Operational Test and Evaluation IOT E which assessed the system as effective These deficiencies included o Phantom Mayday messages which provided false alerts of Soldiers or units requiring immediate assistance during Network Integration Evaluation NIE 14 2 With over 900 occurrences during the JBC-P Software Build 6 0 Multi-Service Operational Test and Evaluation MOT E this is a new JBC-P deficiency that was not experienced during the JBC-P IOT E Despite two software patches to fix this problem Soldiers continued to experience phantom Mayday messages during the subsequent NIE 15 1 o Ghost icons which presented false locations for blue forces During Focus Groups Soldiers reported that ghost icons and phantom Mayday messages reduced their confidence in the information provided by JBC-P o JBC-P was not effective in transmitting and receiving C2 messages It did not meet user requirements for message completion rate within the required speed of service Additionally JBC-P continued to demonstrate deficiencies during MOT E that were observed during the 2013 JBC-P IOT E and that continue to degrade user confidence in the situational awareness information provided by JBC-P These included o Racing situational awareness icons that portrayed speeds up to 200 kilometers per hour kph during the JBC-P MOT E including icons for both stationary units and tactical ground forces which normally should not exceed 70 kph After the program attempted to fix this problem Soldiers experienced icons lagging in accurate position location by 30 minutes to one hour during NIE 15 1 o Communications security device KGV-72 problems that caused failures o Map problems that included incorrect placement of grid lines offset up to 1 500 meters and a zoom function that slowed JBC-P processing at time Jocking up the software JBC-P Logistics JBC-P Log an integral component of the JBC-P Software Build 6 0 did not support the Army brigade's logistics mission Soldiers experienced a low success rate in 15 interrogating radio frequency identification RFID tags and JBC-P Log allowed operators to create duplicate RFID tags that portrayed the same cargo in different locations across the brigade JBC-P Log software is not mature and the identified problems distracted from the unit's logistics mission JBC-P served as the brigade's tool for on-the-move mission command yet this was primarily accomplished through the use of chat a legacy capability Using JBC-P units were able to maneuver forces to key positions while out of enemy contact control the battle while in contact and rejoin forces upon completion of combat operations JBC-P supported the commander's ability to command yet due to noted deficiencies commanders experienced decreased confidence and support from JBC-P Software Build 6 0 compared to previous versions of JBC-P software JBC-P met technical requirements for the timely transfer of position location information Nonetheless the MOT E highlighted serious deficiencies in situational awareness which included racing icons inaccurate position location and phantom Mayday messages that caused Soldiers to lose confidence in the system The unit's lack of confidence in JBC-P situational awareness forced Soldiers to confirm blue force locations through the use of alternate communications such as chat and combat net radio As stated JBC-P was not effective in transmitting and receiving C2 messages It did not meet user requirements for message completion rate within the required speed of service The JBC-P chat capability supported commanders in the planning and execution of missions Chat provided leaders the ability to execute mission command across all levels within the brigade Although improved since the JBC-P IOT E poor reliability due to frequent outages and software problems continued to hamper operational effectiveness The Marine Corps participated as an attached unit in the MOT E and JBC-P demonstrated the capability to operate in the joint operational environment as described in the user's requirement Key Performance Parameter Shared Blue Situational Awareness JBC-P exceeded the user's technical requirements primarily timeliness of message transmission for the display of friendly force situational awareness for leaders and Soldiers Marines on-the-move and at-the-halt Although JBC-P met the user's requirements Soldiers and Marines experienced decreased confidence in the provided situational awareness due to racing icons inaccurate position location and phantom Mayday messages which generated false icons thus although timely situational awareness was inaccurate Table 3-1 shows the friendly or blue force visibility Visibility rates show the percentage of situational awareness information received within a time and distance set by the user's requirement Units using IBC-P experienced situational awareness of blue friendly forces through the use of an improved interface and higher resolution maps For test purposes vehicle-borne JBC-P systems are defined as movers and TOC kits are stationary As the number of samples for each case was large 15 thousand to 2 7 million the stated success rate is statistically significant and a confidence region is not appropriate 16 Table 3-1 JBC-P Blue Force Visibility Rates Cases JBC-P to JBC-P Requirement to be Seen within xx Seconds Immediate 5 km Required 75% Extended 5-10 km Required 65% Beyond 10 km No User Requirement IOT E MOT E IOT E MOT E IOT E MOT E NIE 13 2 NIE 14 2 Build 6 0 NIE 13 2 NIE 14 2 NIE 13 2 NIE 14 2 Build 5 0 Build 5 0 Build 6 0 Build 5 0 Build 6 0 Mover to Mover 8 91 7% 87 2% 88 4% 81 6% 87 5% 64 6% Mover to Stationary 8 90 2% 77 7% 90 1% 81 9% 86 3% 68 6% Stationary to Mover 1 200 93 9% 85 4% 94 3% 89 2% 93 9% 83 3% Stationary to Stationary 1 200 91 3% 90 3% 97 7% 94 7% 92 3% 95 1% Note 80% confidence bounds for all percentages in table are within - 0 4% of the point estimate due to the large sample sizes of instrumented data 1SK - 2 7M samples The JBC-P continued to provide blue force situationa awareness across the network at completion rates above the user's requirements but at rates lower than demonstrated at the JBCp Software Build 5 0 TOT E The lower rates seen during MOT E compared to IOT E may be the result of an increased number of unclassified systems sbaring situational awareness messages The exchange of messages between classified and unclassified systems requires transfer between JBC-P and JCR Network Operations Centers NOCs which delays message completion Test instrumentation does not allow discrimination between the classified and unclassified messages Commanders and Soldiers Marines noted JBC-P problems with racing icons moving at high speeds across the area of operations and ghost icons displayed in a location that did not match their actual position location At times JBC-P's display of situational awareness icons was inaccurate or moving at high rates of speed and detracted from the unit' s ability to accomplish its mission Moving icons included stationary TOCs some moving at speeds up to 200 kilometers per hour For most of the ghost icons operators could physically see adjacent platfonns and recognize the icon on the map was in the wrong place as it would be well outside viewing range as depicted Additional ghost icons were identified when communicating with units and noting a discrepancy in their location When encountering these problems Soldiers and Marines lost confidence in JBC-P and had to contact the unit by chat or radio communications to detennine its actual location To illustrate racing icons Table 3-2 shows the distribution of situational awareness messages by sender type and state of movement Each situational awareness message reports position location with speed There were 5 737 of 246 873 messages 2 3 percent that reported TOCs moving at speeds greater than 0 kilometers per hour with speeds ranging from 0 to 200 kph This is not possible because when a TOC displaces the JBC-P system is turned off and 17 stowed as cargo for movement Figures 3-1 and 3-2 provide a breakdown of movement speeds for JBC-P vehicles and stationary TOCs While tactical vehicle speeds should not exceed 70 KPH under normal operations JBC-P provided over 3 200 situational awareness messages that reported vehicles moving at speeds ranging from greater than 70 to 200 KPH Figure 3w I While JBC-P TOC kits do not produce situational awareness messages on the move JBC-P provided over 5 700 situational awareness messages that reported TOCs moving at speeds ranging between 0 and 200 KPH Figure 3-2 JBC-P Software Build 5 0 experienced this deficiency during the IBC-P IOT E During the subsequent NIE 15 1 IBC-P continued to experience this problem Table 3-2 State of Situational Awareness Senders by Movement Type Types Number OKPH O KPH Vehicles 2 978 994 92 3% 2 534 577 85 1% 444 417 14 9% TOCs 246 873 7 7% 241 136 97 7% 5 737 2 3% Tot al 3 225 867 2 775 713 450 154 3 500 500 000 - r - - - - o 3 000 400 000 2 500 o 300 000 2 000 a E J z 1 500 o 200 000 1 000 100 000 Speed Figure 3-1 Vehicle Situational Awareness messages with speeds great er than zero 18 135 6 000 130 o 5 000 125 o 120 4 000 z Cl 0 E j z o o o o 115 o 110 3 000 o 105 o 100 2 000 95 Of 5 ' SoefO kl I 1 000 Figure 3-2 TOC Situational Awareness messages with speeds greater than zero JBC-P displayed joint position location information The Marine Corp unit displayed Army platform locations and vice versa The 2-8 Marines use of JBC-P enabled situational awareness of Army units within their area of operations prior to receiving the information from higher headquarters During NIE 15 1 JBC-P displayed situational awareness icons that were lagging by 30 minutes to one hour Soldiers noted this problem during road marches and unit movements Du ring the last three days ofNTE 15 1 the program office installed a software patch to one maneuver company to adjust the central processing unit utilization This effort reduced the lag time of situational awareness icons to 2-3 minutes but introduced an additional delay of images and graphics Soldiers did not have confidence in the situational awareness provided by JBC-P and confirmed locations by other communications means such as JBC-P chat and combat net radio Command and Control C2 Messaging Commanders and Soldiers Marines using JBC-P were able to send and receive C2 messages in support of combat operations Nonetheless during MOT E JBC-P demonstrated message completion rates below the user's requirement for Reports and Survivability messages comparable to the IOT E Table 3-3 and Figure 3-4 show the demonstrated message completion rates of C2 messages with speed of service compared to the user' s requirement and demonstrated perfonnance from IOT E JBC-P did not meet the user's requirement for sending and receiving Survivability Reports and Planning C2 messages The assessment of Fires C2 19 message data is not conclusive due to a small sample size Although JBC-P did not meet its requirement units did not experience reduced mission effectiveness due to the availability of alternate communications means redundancy of JBC-P systems and the network's resending of messages Table 3-3 JBC-P Message Completion Rates within Speed of Service Observed Message Categories Message Completion Rate MCR w in Speed of Service SOS Requirement MOT E MCR w in sos Unique Sample Messages Overall MCR MCRw in SOS 80% Confidence Bound 81 8% 961 83 3% 81 9% 80 1% - 83 4% 930 82 9% 81 9% 31 96 8% 93 6% 7 100% 100% 8 698 93 7% Free Text 4 914 93 8% 87 4% Situation Report 2 136 96 5% 94 1% Overlay 966 88 6% 82 4% Other 682 90 1% 85 0% 167 88 0% 88 0% 84 1% - 91 1% 95% 15 seconds Survivability IOT E Mayday MEDEVAC Fires 90% 15 seconds 90% 30 seconds Reports Planning 90% 900 seconds _ __ 86 0% 88 3% 87 8% - 88 7% JBC-P software supports four types of C2 messages Survivability Fires Rc_ports and Planning During the MOT E commanders and Soldiers Marines used Survivability Reports and Planning messages with Reports messages used most otlen As shown in Table 3-3 above the most common Reports message was the Free Text message 56 percent of messages followed by Situation Report 25 percent of messages The Survivability messages were predominately Mayday messages which presented a significant problem during the MOT E due to false messages see discussion below Commanders and Soldiers Marines used Planning messages to transmit operations and fragmentary orders Commanders and Soldiers Marines preferred to use chat for many of tbe functions intended for C2 messages Cbat is the primary tool for conducting on-the-move C2 within the brigade This does not represent a reduction in C2 effectiveness but represents Soldiers Marines using JBC-P in an innovative manner not envisioned during the creation of the user requirement 20 1 00 MC R w in SoS vs Tvru e - Subtvoe 0 95 - o Requirement o 0 90 0 er - 080 - '- o 0 75 - 0 70 - 0 65 - E o 0 85 c i - 0 o Requirement ' o IOT Build 5 0 o o IOT Build 5 0 15 sec 0 60 SJ Cl II s M Q II 6 0 i I ' 15 sec _ M u 0 w UJ 'V ' 0 II 6 ' i II I a 6 ' t 0 Q Q tD er E co en 30 sec 8 M C 6 Q I4 u N 0 c C II II cc co II 6 z t i 6 0 Cl 11 er - G 0 c 0 j 5 900 sec _ o u 6OI c cc Q a 2 u Surviva bilitf Fires Reports Planning Type Subtype Figure 3-3 JBC-P Message Completion Rates within Speed of Service f'or Various Message Types and Sub-Types JBC-P has a major deficiency with phantom Mayday messages Soldiers and Marines send a Mayday message when the tactical situation demands immediate assistance for a unit under duress All of the 930 Mayday messages seen during MOT E were false messages generated from multiple systems both moving and stationary without the operator's knowledge or initiation Soldiers in focus groups and interviews stated that the y did not use this function i e initiate Maydays during missions meaning that all of the Mayday messages observed during the MOT E were phantom messages Soldiers and Marines receiving phantom Mayday messages lost confidence in JBC-P Since they did not know if the Mayday messages were real Soldiers Marines had to contact the originator of each message to determine authenticity Phantom Mayday messages increased the operator's workload to verify status and cluttered the display with false icons up to 50 at a time which obstructed the view of valid information and required user effort to clear the screen This is a new problem in JBC-P Software Build 6 0 as no Mayday messages were transmitted or observed during the TOT E During NIE 15 1 Soldiers continued to experience phantom Mayday messages despite two software patches to fix the problem The program office installed the first software patch to reduce the frequency of the self-generated Mayday messages and the second to require a twostep process for the Mayday hot button to prevent the operator hitting the button in e rror 21 Soldiers reported they did not send intentional Mayday messages during NIE 15 1 yet the problem of phantom Mayday messages continued The Army should fix this deficiency and verify the correction in an operational test prior to fielding JBC-P Software Build 6 0 Shared Survivability Entity Data Messages JBC-P Software Build 6 0 demonstrated poor message completion rates within speeds of service well below the user requirement for Shared Survivability data of battlefield hazards A subset of C2 messages e g Alert Warning Bridge Obstacle Enemy Location Hazard Area and Supply Location generate Shared Survivability data tenned Entity Data Messages EDMs and broadcast tbese to other platforms within a geographic radius known as the danger zone Danger zones vary in radial distance from 5 to 40 kilometers This is based upon the threat contained within the survivability message e g artillery has a 40-kilometer danger zone while an improvised explosive device IED has a l 0-kilometer danger zone The user requirement defines the transfer of Shared Survivability data to 75 percent of the systems within the danger zone must occur in less than 15 seconds During the JBC-P IOT E Software Build 5 0 met the Shared Survivability EDM data requirement JBC-P Build 6 0 modified the dissemination of Shared Survivability EDM data to include both NOC dissemination as with Build 5 0 and the transfer of messages across the JBC-Ps' Network Services Gateway NSG using both terrestrial and satellite transmissions The Army changed the dissemination of messages to gain access to a wider group of recipients in a shorter time period Table 3-4 displays the distribution of message completion rates for Shared Survivability EDM data sent during the MOT E assessed by visibility within the danger zone and speed of service with associated transmission path 22 Table 3-4 Distribution of Survivability EDM Visibility within Danger Zones Total EDM w in DZs MCR SOS data EDM Transmission Path Visible w in DZ - Requirement 75% w ithin 15 seconds MOT E NIE 14 2 Build 6 0 IOT E NIE 13 2 Build 5 0 MOT E NIE 14 2 Build 6 0 IOT E NIE 13 2 Build 5 0 MCR MCR w in 15 seconds Original JBC-P Transmission 1 018 482 84% 42 7% 40 9% JBC-P NSG Re-Dissemination _ 3 844 -- - 84 1% 71 5% Sub-Tot al 1 018 4 326 84% 79 5% 68 1% NOC Re-Dissemination 84 652 6 540 99% 74 5% 46 1% Total 85 670 10 866 99% 76 5% 54 9% MGR - Message Completion Rate SOS - Speed of Service EDM - Entity Data Message 'Message count methodology in IOT E NIE 13 2 was different from MOT E NIE 14 2 JBC-P Software Build 6 0 demonstrated poor perfonnance of the Shared Survivability EDM capability providing a 40 9 percent completion rate from sender to receiver within required time and danger zone distance compared to a user requirement of75 percent The NSG re-disseminations provided a better message completion rate within an additional J5 seconds demonstrating a rate of 71 5 percent but even with an additional 15 seconds this rate still does not meet the basic user requirement of 75 percent ofEDMs being displayed within 15 seconds The combined rate for the original transmission and the NSG re-dissemination was 68 1 percent In order to meet a 75 percent completion rate JBC-P required 12 to 15 minutes to deliver Shared Survivability EDM data within its prescribed danger zone well beyond the 15second requirement The user intends that Shared Survivability EDM data are shared quickly and efficiently within the prescribed danger zone Receiving an EDM within 12 to 15 minutes might be acceptable for a damaged bridge across a 40-kilometer danger zone but would not be acceptable for an IED within 5 kilometers in a danger zone The Shared Survivability EDM data problem should be fixed prior to fielding Tbe types of Survivability EDMs are displayed in Figure 3-5 The data show that leaders and Soldiers Marines generated 77 percent of their ED Ms with Maneuver Platforms Ground Vehicle Mortars Survivability messages 23 Survivability EDM Types 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 9 4% 10 0 Maneuver Spot Report Artillery Other-MEDEVAC Other Platfo rms Figure 3-4 Types of Survivability Entity Data Messages Used During MOT E JBC-P's management of EDMs is not effective The number of EDMs displayed on the JBC-P confused Soldiers Danger zone distances are based on the effective range of the indicated threats and over time resulted in so many warnings that Soldiers tuned them out Another problem with the icons and their alerts was the duration of the icons The common Spot Report EDM used to send intelligence or event status had a default time frame to disappear after 12 hours All other EDM icons such as IED generated from an IED or Bridge Report remained current until deleted Without techniques and procedures to maintain the JBC-P EDM information the displays became cluttered with icons which Soldiers ignored as not current The Army and Marines should improve their procedures to maintain the threat situational awareness provided by Shared Survivability messages and EDMs A unit digital standard operating procedure for management of enemy situational awareness information combined with appropriate training would enhance the effectiveness of JBC-P's red enemy situational awareness Force Effectiveness JBC-P demonstrated limited utility in contributing to the unit' s force effectiveness during missions of the JBC-P MOT E Following the completion of the MOT E DOT E and the Army Test and Evaluation Command employed a panel of military subject matter experts to assess JBC-P's force effectiveness during nine MOT E miss ions As shown in Figures 3-6 and 3-7 the DOT E and panel assessed each mission against the following force effectiveness components o Mission Success Mission success is an assessment of the unit' s ability to complete their mission while preserving combat power for future operations Mission success was scored on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 as failure to 5 as fully successful o Mission Utility Mission Utility is an assessment of JBC-P's contributions to the unit accomplishing its task Mission utility was scored on a 4-point scale ranging from I as not used to 4 as effective utility 24 Fully Successful Successful tl O c 'O a Marginal Success Marginal Failure Failure 0 4 1 6 8 10 Number of Missions Scores ranged from 1 Failure to 5 Fully Successful The panel scored each of the 9 missions Figure 3-5 Blue Ribbon Panel Voting - Mission Success Effective Utility l Limited Utility c 'O a No Utility Not Used 0 1 4 6 8 10 Number of Missions Scores ranged from 1 Not Used to 4 Effective Utility The panel scored each of the 9 missions Figure 3-6 Blue Ribbon Panel Voting - Mission Success Units using JBC-P accomplished their mission three Marine missions and six Army missions when employing JBC-P during MOT E missions o Mission Success Soldiers Marines and leaders accomplished their nine missions which were assessed by the Blue Ribbon Panel with no more than 10 percent 25 casualties or loss of equipment Mission success ranked as a 4 0 on a 5-point scale in 9 of 9 missions o Mission Utility Primarily using chat which is a legacy capability JBC-P provided situational awareness to Soldiers and Marines and improved the unit' s ability to accomplish its mission with limited utility in 8of9 missions 89 percent JBC-P provided no utility to the unit's mission in l of 9 missions l l percent On average JBC-P mission utility ranked as a 2 89 on a 4-point scale The following summary observations highlight JBC-P contribution to mission accomplishment o IBC-P provided timely situational awareness information primarily through chat to support combat operations o Soldiers Marines and leaders across the brigade and regiment used chat to enhance force effectiveness Military experts on the force effectiveness panel assessed that the use of JBC-P improved situational awareness and reduced occurrences of fratricide o JBC-P chat served as the primary command and control backup to combat net radio voice communications across all brigade and regiment echelons o Leaders used JBC-P for planning routes and tracking unit movement especially in conditions of low visibility o JBC-P allowed the marking ofIEDs and other obstacles which allowed follow-on forces to avoid these hazards o Management of JBC-P's enemy force situational awareness to include removal of stale red icons and more frequent updates of enemy forces needs improvement through development of tactics techniques and procedures training and system improvement Unit Task Reorganization The test unit successfuJJy conducted Unit Task Reorganizations Uills with JBC-P UTR with the JBC-P is exercised by the brigade commander or S-3 and executed by the S-6 When executed the UTR function reconfigures the JBC-P network to support information transfer to realigned units which enabled the brigade to be reorganized for combat Operators re ported that the UTR task was simple and intuitive In the MOT E there were 14 separate UTR actions that occurred during the record test Of the 14 distinct UTRs the unit changes or task reorganizations occurred at the platoon company battalion and regiment echelons These included intra- and inter-Service i e Anny to Anny and Army to Marine Corps and vice versa UTRs The key UTRs were o 2-8 Marines into and back out of the 2-1 AD o F Company 2-8 Marines into and back out of l-6 INF 26 o C Troop 1-1 CAV into and back out of 4-17 INF o D Company 1-6 INF and A Troop 1-1 CAB into and back out of 2-8 Marines The unit was successful with all UTRs executed using JBC-P As part of the UTR process Self-Descriptive Situational Awareness SDSA information providing position location infonnation and organizational strncture is posted to the Data Dissemination Seivice for use by other users Upon completing the UTR the involved units are supposed to have visibility of their unit changes During the MOT E the as of times within the SOSA were not accurate and were not consistent for about l 0 percent of the UTR records which provided misinformation to units and incorrect updates to the brigade's Data Dissemination Seivice This error did not affect the UTR or reduce the JBC-P functionality and had negligible impact on the unit Hybrid Capability The JBC-P Software Build 6 0 system provided a successful hybrid capability via NSG software loaded on each system The capability allows the system to simultaneously send C2 Situational Awareness Visibility Survivability and Chat messages via satellite and terrestrial radios In the case of a Blue Force Tracker 2 BFT2 sateUite failure the platform will become a client of another local platform which is configured as a gateway on the terrestrial network JBC-P demonstrated this capability with 40 Army and Marine hybrid systems sending out 686 157 messages simultaneously via satellite BFT2 and the terrestrial network Note however that although dual-transmission occurred message completion rates were often below requirements and information transmitted was inaccurate Digital Maps and COMSEC Failures The digital maps used by JBC-P Software Build 6 0 during the NIE 14 2 MOT E and NIE 15 l are not current Soldiers zooming in or out of maps experienced slow processing and at times the software locked up which required up to I 0 minutes to reboot the system Soldiers reported that when they zoom in 011 a map the display is a checkerboard mixture of imagery and maps Map grid lines are not accurate and at times were displayed offset between 800 to 1 500 meters The program office reported that auto grid lines work fine but the user selectable grid lines should not be used The Army needs to fix JBC-P map software problems and not rely upon training i e only use auto grid lines as a solution The JBC-P system communica6ons security COMSEC device KGV-72 continued to drop COMSEC encryption key fills during NIE 15 1 When this happens the Soldier's JBC-P is not operational until he receives assistance from the unit's communications maintenance specialist or contractor field service representatives The delay awaiting qualified personnel to rekey the KGV-72 detracted from unit mission accomplishment Training provided to Soldiers on the KGV-72 was not effoctive JBC-P Log As an integral component of JBC-P Software Build 6 0 JBC-P Log did not support the Army brigade's logistics mission The Anny intends JBC-P Log to interrogate RFID tags 27 transfer the information into Army logistics systems and allow Soldiers to track cargoes in a dynamic manner Per operator consensus Soldiers reported a 30 - 40 percent success rate in interrogating RFID tags for data entry into the logistics tracking system Once interrogated and entered into the system JBC-P Log allowed operators to input duplicate tags without removing the tag from its cargo mission This deficiency caused duplicate cargoes in brigade transport vehicles and the brigade lost visibility of its cargo assets because of JBC-P Log Operators did not have the training or experience to correct the problem Brigade field service representatives attempted to fix this problem by reimaging computer hard drives from 42 JBC-P Log systems during the weekend prior to record test At the start of record test 39 of 42 JBC-P Log systems were available to conduct missions JBC-P Log was not returned to full mission capability until the second day of record test Even with refresher training and reimaged hard drives the unit continued to experience the JBC-P Log problems discussed above The JBC-P Log system did not support the unit's logistics mission and the Army does not have effective tactics techniques or procedures for the employment of JBC-P Log JBC-P Log supplies infonnation to the larger Anny logistics system to provide updates to the In-Transit Visibility ITV servers Figure 3-7 shows the portion of the operational environment that was instrumented for the JBC-P Log systems during NIE 14 2 Once the Soldier was able to interrogate the RFID tag JBC-P was ab1e to transfer the data to the JBC-P NOC for transfer through the Movements Tracking System-Enhanced Software to the ITV servers The 10 instrumented JBC-P Log platforms and 2 control stations sent a total of 1 388 RFID Tag Reports Queries and Searches across 94 unique tags to the JBC-P NOC The JBC-P NOC received 98 1 percent of these messages JBC-P Log maintains a satisfactory link to the NOC Future testing should assess transfer ofinformation to the destination ITV servers Focus Grou eed ac -lit o JBC-P Log CS BFT2 Realistic Operational Environment Figure 3-7 JBC-P Log Operational Environment During NIE 15 l JBC-P Log operators experienced problems communicating with the command elements of the brigade The JBC-P Log is an unclassified system designed to support logistics operations while JBC-P supports mission command in a classified network JBC-P Log does not allow sustainment units logistics and personnel to participate in JBC-P chat sessions to discuss ongoing classified brigade operations There are not enough JBC-P classified systems within sustainment units to satisfy the units' need for coordination with the brigade's combat formations 28 Section Four Suitability The Joint Battle Command - Platform JBC-P is not operationally suitable JBC-P is not reliable for most versions of hardware hosting JBC-P Software Build 6 0 During the MultiService Operational Test and Evaluation MOT E which occurred during Network Integration Evaluation NIB 14 2 DOT E evaluated the reliability availability and maintainability of major JBC-P system configurations employed by Army and Marine Corps units o Joint Version 5 JV 5 Block I Computer System Block II Computer System o o o Military Family of Computing Systems MFoCS - MFoCS-Basic MFoCS-B - MFoCS-lntermediate MFOCS-1 Tactical Operations Center TOC Kit - Dell XFR TOC - MFoCS-B TOC JBC-P Logistics JPC-P Log - Military Rugged Tablet - Plus MRT - MRT Control Station MRT CS TOC IBC-P experienced inconsistent reliability across tbe spectrum of tbe major IBC-P system configurations Some configurations performed well but most did not meet the Mean Time Between Essential Function Failure MTBEFF requirement of290 hours Fifty-eight percent of JBC-P Essential Function Failures were due to software With the exception of tbe JBC-P Log MRT all mobile JBC-P systems met the user's 80 percent operational availability requirement While the Marine Corps XFR TOC system met the requirement the Army's use of the XFR in a TOC did not meet the operational availability requirement JBC-P met the 30-minute Mean Time To Repair MTTR maintainability requirement for all variants of the system Soldiers and Marines were able to maintain the system because most failures were software-related and the crew could correct tbem by rebooting the system without maintenance support The reboot process requires three steps power down power up and log in The average time for a JBC-P reboot to include system spontaneous rebooting during MOT E was eight minutes JBC-P training prepared Soldiers and Marines to install and operate their mobile and TOC systems The Anny should consider improving the training to o Provide sufficient time for unit collective trai11ing 29 o Increase hands-on instruction o Increase troubleshooting instruction for maintainers o Provide leaders with information tailored to their command or staff position o Provide technical manuals to Soldiers and Marines The JBC-P Log training provided to Soldiers by the Anny was not effective Even with retraining at the beginning of record test training did not prepare them to operate or maintain JBC-P Log Reliability JBC-P is not reliable Table 4-1 shows the MTBEFF experienced during MOT E for the six vehicle-mounted configurations and two TOC K it configurations On June 4 2013 the Army approved lowering the JBC-P MTBEFF requirement from 470 hours to 290 hours The Marine Corps concurred with this lowered threshold requirement The Operational Availability requirement remained unchanged at 0 90 Table 4 1 Demonstrated MTBEFF in the MOT E Operating Hours #of Systems Essential Function Failures MTBEFF Point Estimate hours MTBEFF 80% Confidence Bounds hours 2 Slded Lower MTBEFF Requirement hours Army Systems JV5 Block 1 405 10 1 405 361-1 336 469 290 JV5 Block 2 1 441 12 0 290 2 865 20 0 ----- 895 MFoCS-B ----- 1780 290 MFoCS-1 2 695 20 12 225 152-344 170 290 MFoCS-B TOC 506 3 3 169 76-459 92 None XFR TOC 380 2 1 380 98-3 607 127 None MAT 449 10 5 90 48-185 57 None MAT-CS 224 2 1 224 58-2 126 75 None 173 290 Not Demonstrated None Marine Corps Systems JV5 Block 1 954 7 3 318 XFR TOC 156 1 0 --- --- Undefined 143-866 Cannot divide by 0 Since all vehicle-mounted and TOC JBC-P variants must support Soldiers Marines within the same mission all system variants are assessed against the user's requirement of 290 hours MTBEFF Both of the JV5 configurations Block I and Block 2 met or exceeded the requirement The Army's data for the MFoCS-B mounted configuration yielded a very high 30 reliability estimate 80 percent lower confidence bound 1 780 hours but the MFoCS-B performance was not consistent with the same hardware in the TOC configuration that demonstrated an MTBEFF of 92 hours 80 percent lower confidence bound The MFoCS-1 mounted configuration experienced poor reliability with an 80 percent lower confidence bound of 170 hours The remaining five JBC-P configurations did not meet the user's reliability requirement Table 4-2 Demonstrated Mission Reliability and Platoon Reliability Operating Hours # of Systems Mission Reliability Point Estimate Mission Reliability 80% Lower Confidence Bound Probability of Platoon 3 4 Completing a Mission Army Systems JV5 Block 1 1 405 10 0 99 0 86 1 00 JV5 Block 2 1 441 12 ---- 0 92 1 00 MFoCS-B 2 865 20 0 96 0 96 MFoCS-1 2 695 20 0 81 0 74 0 99 MFoCS-BTOC 506 3 0 65 0 46 XFATOC 380 2 0 83 0 57 MAT 449 10 0 45 0 28 MAT-CS 224 2 0 73 0 38 N A N A N A N A Marine Corps Systems JV5 Block 1 954 7 0 80 0 66 0 95 XFATOC 156 1 ---- ---- N A Undefined Cannot divide by 0 The majority of JBC-P variants did not achieve with confidence the required Mission Reliability of 80 percent probability of completing a 72-hour mission without an Essential Function Failure at the 80 percent lower confidence bound Table 4-2 The table presents both the mission reliability of a single system and the reliability of three out of four vehicles in a platoon completing a mission as described in the user's requirement The MFoCS-B mounted Mission Reliability demonstrated reliability well above the MFoCS-B in the TOCs and the MFoCS-l in mounted configuration These results present inconsistent and statistically different results for the MFoCS hardware configurations The Army should conduct further investigation into the reduced mission reliability of the MFoCS-B operated within TOCs compared to the MFoCS-B operated within vehicles The Marine Corps XFR TOC system did not accumulate sufficient operating hours to produce a statistically valid estimate Because the TOCs MFoCSB TOC and XFR TOC and the JBC-P Log MRT and MRT-CS systems do not operate in a comhat platoon configuration the user's three out of four vehicles mission reliability standard does not apply 31 The majority of JBC-P failures in MOT E were due to software The following descriptions provide failure categories and frequency of repeated failures during the JBC-P Software Build 6 0 MOT E Table 4-3 provides a further breakdown of these major failure modes o System Stall 11 Failures JBC-P stopped responding to operator input The system would return to operator control or require a system reboot The system exhibited symptoms of the software and hardware being overtasked o Cryptographic Recognition 9 Failures The JBC-P lost use of its component Programmable In-Line Encryption Device KGV-72 When loss of the associated cryptographic key occurred unit maintainers had to zero erase the KGV-72 key reload the current key and reboot the JBC-P system Since the operator did not have the key the Unit Maintainer Military Occupational Specialty 25U Signal Support Specialist performed this action o Defense Advanced Global Positioning System GPS Receiver DAGR Problems 5 Failures JBC-P lost contact with the OPS information provided by its component DAGR 32 Table 4-3 Breakdown of Repeated Failure Modes during the JBC-P MOT E General Failure Mode Description Number of Failures Failure new in MOT E Comments System Stall Spontaneous Reboot 7 No A symptom of multiple failures that could not be isolated from test data Issue sometimes caused by the system self-rebooting when internal diagnostics indicated poor system health The average reboot time is 8 minutes The system returned with the log-on screen however any unsaved data or products are lost Frozen Display 1 No Display does not respond to operator inputs Operator must reboot system to recover Spontaneous Shutdown 1 No JBC P spontaneously turns itself off Crew must restart system All open and unsaved files or products are lost Hard Disk Corrupt 1 No Replace hard disk Cryptographic Recognition Amber-Green 2 No When KGV-72 status LED shows amber green JBC P has lost synchronization with its component KGV-72 The operator had to zero the KGV-72 crypto keys reload crypto keys and reboot the system KGV-72 Red 2 No When KGV-72 status LED shows red cryptologic functions are suspended This may be caused by any number ot internal or external events that the cryptologic device interprets as a hazard to secure data This results in loss ot all communications The crew could in most cases recover with a reboot of the system KGV-72 AmberGreen 2 No Synchronization between JBC-P hardware and KGV-72 is lost The operator had to zero the KGV-72 crypto keys reload crypto keys and reboot the system KGV-72 Down 2 No A catch-all for failures that render the KGV-72 inoperable but are not represented above JBC-P provides no user support if the KGV-72 is down KGV-72 Flashing Green 1 No When the KGV-72 status LED shows flashing green this indicates a specific KGV-72 failure mode that requires a crypto key refill Defense Advanced GPS Receiver DAGR Problems GPS Down 4 No DAGR lost GPS connection Typically resolved with a DAGR reboot JBC-P cannot provide user location until this problem is resolved GPS Cable Failure 1 No Replace cable MRT RFID Inoperable 1 Yes Reboot System Tablet Failure 1 Yes Replace Tablet Messaging Issues Message Failure 5 No Reboot System Overlay Failure 1 No Self-correcting Graphics Issue 1 Yes System freezes when zooming between different scale maps Rebooting system resolves the problem Attachment Failure 1 No Unknown Failure Mode 33 A review of the brigade Trouble Ticket Log Table 4-4 revealed the following system failures and the number of failures that required Field Service Representative FSR Support Although the emphasis for the MOT E is Record Test the table also provides the quantity of trouble tickets reported within the brigade during the Pilot Test Table 4-4 NIE 14 2 Trouble Tickets Summary Test Phase Types of Repair 2-1 Brigade 2-8 Marines 4-17 Infantry 1-1 Cavalry 47 Brigade Support Battalion Total FSR Support Required 2 3 2 7 5 2 10 1 17 17 1 5 10 5 10 13 30 15 Software Pilot Hardware Record 4 Software 3 1 Hardware 1 2 4 Key Deficiencies requiring FSR support KGV-72 - Rekeying Replaced Reconfigure JBC-P Hard drives Cables - repair replace Transceiver - replace change to correct data group or network TIGR- connectivity with JBC-P and operations Figure 4-1 shows the distribution of the failures by category As assessed by the JBC-P DOT E and MOT E Reliability Availability Maintainability Scoring Conforence 58 percent of JBC-P failures were due to software and 23 percent of failures were due to hardware Failure Modes by Category All Failures SW CFE HW GFE 47% 3% HW - Hardware SW - Software CFE - Contractor-Furnished Equipment GFE - Government-Furnished Equipment SPT EQUIP - Support Equipment CREW - Crew Operation Figure 4-1 Failure Modes by Category during the JBC-P MOT E 34 Availability Table 4-5 shows the Operational Availability Ao derived from the recorded operating hours and associated downtime hours during the MOT E All mobile platforms met the 80 percent operational availability requirement except the JBC-P Log MRT The Army's use of the XFR in a TOC 0 684 did not meet the 80 percent operational availability requirement These results are not consistent with the Marine Corps' use of the XFR in their TOC which exceeded 1 00 the requirement Table 4-5 Operational Availability Ao Estimates for Hardware Configurations Ao from Record Test Requirement 0 80 Configuration Operating Hours Down Time hours Ao Anny Systems JVS Block 1 Mobile 1 405 0 0 4 1 000 JV5 Block 2 Mobile 1 441 2 0 0 1 000 MFoCS-B Mobile 2 864 9 287 2 0 909 MFoCS-1 Mobile 2 694 9 463 9 0 853 MFoCS-B TOC 505 9 4 8 0 991 XFR TOG 380 3 176 0 0 684 MRT Mobile 448 7 358 8 0 556 MRT CS TOG 224 0 41 0 0 845 Marine Corps Systems JVS Block 1 Mobile 953 5 100 3 0 905 XFR TOC 156 0 0 0 1 000 Maintainability JBC-P is maintainable and met its 0 50-hour Mean Time To Repair MTTR user requirement demonstrating an MTTR of 0 43 hours 26 minutes Table 4-6 The majority of maintenance events were related to software failures and the unit could correct most of these through user or organic maintenance Soldiers with Military Occupational Specialty 25U signal support specialist accomplished most organizational maintenance 35 Table 4-6 Mean Time To Repair MTTR for all JBC-P Platforms NIE 14 2 MOT E MTIR Requirement S 0 50 hrs Maintenance Time hrs Number of Events MTTR Crew 6 00 34 0 18 Organization 4 10 9 0 46 Unit Crew Organization 10 25 36 0 28 FSA 5 17 6 0 86 15 42 36 0 43 Level of Maintenance TOTAL FSRs were necessary for 6 of the 36 maintenance actions 17 percent listed in Table 4-6 Seventeen percent is high for FSR support but it is consistent with previous testing with the exception of the JBC-P IOT Eat NIE 13 2 At the JOT E JBC-P experienced a high number of KGV-72 failures that were resolved by unit maintenance actions which suppressed the FSR support percentages The high percentage ofFSR support during MOT E is consistent with Soldier Marine comments that they need more maintenance training to reduce reliance on FSRs Training The Army did not provide sufficient collective training unit-level hands-on training for Soldiers and Marines to gain proficiency on the JBC-P system Soldiers and Marines received New Equipment Training NET but following NET and JBC-P installation units did not have sufficient time to conduct collective training which is necessary to reinforce JBC-P individual skills and integrate the system into brigade mission command operations The absence of collective training reduced the units' ability to employ the full capabilities of the IBC-P system Leaders estimated that they would need at least a month of collective training for the unit to become proficient with JBC-P operating within brigade operations The JBC-P MOT E highlighted the following observations o Additional MOS 25U Soldiers are needed at the unit level to support the numerous communications and mission command systems being fielded within the Army o Individual training provided the knowledge and skills to enable new users to operate and maintain JBC-P o Due to the novice level of training the NET operators' course did not provide substantial benefit for experienced Soldiers with previous knowledge of Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below FBCB2 Joint Capability Release JCR or JBC-P gained from participation in previous NIEs or experience from previous units o Soldiers requested that the NET operator's course include troubleshooting and handson training and that maintainers receive more in-depth technical maintenance training in the maintainers' course o Soldiers and Marines requested a leaders' NET that would focus on the capabilities provided by JBC-P This course would train the use of JBC-P by job position with 36 focus on Platoon Leader Platoon Sergeant Company Commander TOC Staff Officer and other key staff positions o The Army should provide the 2-1 Brigade and all fielded units with a Digital Standard Operating Procedure SOP to define the complex setup of the JBC-P with in the brigade's complex mission command network This SOP should include the tactics techniques and procedures for employing JBC-P o The unit received a limited number of technical manuals for operators Units were supposed to receive technical manuals but many reported that they did not have them Operators had the NET compact discs CD but in the field there was no place to use a CD The JBC-P system maintained digital technical manuals on its hard drive but if the system failed this resource is not available o JBC-P Log training provided to Soldiers was not effective Operators required retraining by FSRs at the beginning of Record Test The training provided did not prepare the Soldiers to operate or maintain JBC-P Log at the individual or unit level Interoperability The JBC-P Software Build 6 0 MOT E demonstrated joint interoperability of JBC-P between the Anny and Marines Soldiers and Marines executed JBC-P functions to include C2 messaging Situational Awareness Survivability and Chat across Anny and Marine units The Anny and Marines demonstrated JBC-P's ability to reconfigure units through Unit Task Reorganizations UTRs across and within services There were a total of 282 JBC-P systems and many earlier versions of FBCB2 i e FBCB2 Version 6 5 and JCR participating in the MOT E to support the Army and Marine units JBC- P demonstrated both interoperability and backwards compatibility The Army instrumented both Anny and Marine JBC-P and FBCB2 systems to collect data Data collectors embedded within the units collected manual data and observations on both systems Logistics Supportability The Anny demonstrated the JBC-P logistics supportability plan in a logistics demonstration event concurrent with the JBC-P MOT E Brigade Soldiers performed a total of 350 maintenance tasks during the logistics demonstration and validated 8 technical manuals The Marines conducted their own organic logistics and maintenance support within the battalion employing the support of their four MOS 2800 Data Communications Maintenance Specialists and the brigade FSR assigned to their battalion The Life Cycle Support Plan LCSP outlines operator-level basic preventive maintenance checks and services and basic troubleshooting in accordance with the operator technical manual The LCS P details the field-level organization's signal support specialist MOS 25U maintenance tasks consisting of troubleshooting hardware soflware and the network The signal support specialist tasks include removing and replacing line replaceable units hard drive and faulty KGV-72 devices All maintenance actions above the field level 37 signal support specialist are performed by a contractor FSR controlled by the Brigade Support Battalion The Anny executed the LCSP during the JBC-P MOT E Operators vehicle and TOCs and unit maintainers were able to troubleshoot JBC-P system faults and return the system to operation 83 percent of the time with the FSRs being called in for 17 percent of system failures The Soldier and Marine maintainers and operators stated that it was easy to conduct preventive maintenance checks and services Maintainers and operators were hindered in repairing JBC-P due to lack of spares such as cables batteries and fuses Unit maintainers completed the NET Field Level Maintainers Course and rated the course as effective in providing the Soldiers and Marines with sufficient knowledge to complete their maintenance tasks The operators noted that the operator's NET should contain more troubleshooting and maintenance at their level At the operator level maintenance consists of rebooting the system The logistics company in the Brigade Support Battalion is not authorized a signal support specialist as allocated to maneuver companies which hampers the maintenance of the JBC-P Log systems within the unit To support their JBC-P Log systems the logistics company cross-trained a unit fi tel handler to perform the signal support specialist job This provided support for JBC-P Log but removed the Soldier from performing his assigned mission within the unit 38 Section Five Recommendations The Anny and Marine Corps sbould consider the foJJowing actions to imprnve Joint Battle Command-Platfonn JBC-P Software Build 6 0 o Improve Effectiveness The Anny should improve JBC-P support to unit mission accomplishment Fix position location identification icon deficiencies to include false location lagging and racing icons Correct unit command and control alerting i e eliminate phantom Mayday messages Improve shared survivability information to enable better retrieval and or caching of relevant Entity Data Message map icons Fix map deficiencies to in clude zoom and grid line accuracy problems o - Improve the performance of the communications security device KGV-72 - Improve noted JBC-P Log deficiencies - Demonstrate improvements in a future operational test Improve Reliability The Anny should improve JBC-P's reliability Identify and fix failure modes for the MRT and inconsistent reliability performance for the MFoCS configurations - o Demonstrate improved reliability in an operational test prior to fulJ materiel release and subsequent fieldin g of the JBC-P Software Build 6 0 Improve Training The Army should improve JBC-P New Equipment Training Provide JBC-P collective training that validates both individual and unit proficiency Expand collective training to include JBC-P Log Expand the leader's course to provide more JBC-P information tailored to the individual command staff position to allow the full use of its mission command capabilities - Expand the operatoros course to include more hands-on training and provide more detail on trouble shooting beyond doing a system reboot Include training on all JBC-P components e g KGV-72 encryption device to enable Soldiers to install operate and maintain the system o Create a Digital Standard Operating Procedure SOP The Army and Marine Corps should create a digital SOP to integrate the numerous mission command systems with their services This document should standardize mission command operations for both tactical operational centers and on-the-move systems 39 o Increase Signal Soldier Manning The Army should evaluate manning of Signal Soldiers e g Military Occupational Specialty 25U across the brigade to support JBC-P and other networked systems The Army should conduct a holistic assessment of mission command systems with accompanying communications systems and staff their units for mission success o Improve Survivability The Army should address the deficiencies and recommendations noted in the classified annex of this report 40 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu