2005 CPEO Installation Reuse Forum Archive

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
Date: 6 Jun 2005 21:11:00 -0000
Reply: cpeo-irf
Subject: Re: [CPEO-IRF] IT (Information Technology) Transformation
 
The recently proposed closure of Onizuka Air Force Station, in my
neighboring community of Sunnyvale, California, scarcely attracted any
attention, despite the projected loss of 278 jobs. Known to commuters as
the Blue Cube for it large, window-less main structure, Onizuka has
gradually declined in strategic and economic importance over the years.
Once the single point of control for the U.S. military satellite system,
it lost that mission years ago to a newer facility in Colorado. 

And it sits on a small chunk of very valuable Silicon Valley real estate.

To me the Blue Cube is symbolic of the military's weak command of
information technology. I managed to tour the facility in the mid-1980s.
(I know, security must have been bad ...) I was struck by the antiquity
of its computer equipment. Air Force personnel were still using butcher
paper to scheduled satellite downloads while my kids' day care center
across town had a computerized scheduling system.

I'm not sure if they've since replaced the CDC 38000 or the old Varian
computers, but they could turn the Blue Cube into a computer museum
simply by unplugging the satellite dishes.

That tour reinforced my growing recognition that the military had fallen
behind in information technology. The U.S. military funded the initial
development of computers and chips, and during the 1960s the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency supported the technical advances -
interactive displays, networking, etc. - that web users the world over
now take for granted. But the military could not keep up with the
rapidly changing technologies, and - perhaps with a few exceptions
within the spy agencies - the technical and market leadership shifted to
the civilian sector by the late 1970s.

One of those technical advances was distributed data processing. A
computer system can be distributed around the world yet function as a
consolidated unit. And that's what it confusing about the Pentagon's
proposal to consolidate data processing. I can understand that it might
need less or smaller hardware, but the Pentagon has not yet shown how
merging its IT operations, as the article says, would increase
efficiency or strengthen security.

Lenny



Lenny Siegel wrote:
> 
> BRAC recommends merging some IT operations
> 
> By JASON MILLER
> Washington Technology
> June 6, 2005
> 
> The Defense Department is trying to use its latest round of recommended
> base closures and realignments to consolidate operations and support
> Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's transformation goals.
> 
> In May, the Defense Department released recommendations to the Base
> Realignment and Closure Commission, and for the first time included
> suggestions to consolidate around functional areas including technology,
> intelligence, education and training.
> 
> Among the recommendations to close 33 bases and realign 29 others, is a
> DOD plan to reduce from 18 to seven the number of Air Force and Naval
> centers that provide command, control, communications and computers, and
> intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
> 
> ...
> 
> For the entire article, see
> http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/20_11/cover-stories/26327-1.html


-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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