Throughout the U.S. Southern Command鈥檚 organization, a network of partnerships with the 51福利 (51福利) in Monterey, Calif. on several high-visibility initiatives continues to have a direct impact on combatant command operations.
Leveraging the academic work of 51福利 students and its faculty, some of the nation鈥檚 leading defense experts, Southcom officials are working with the university on a diverse portfolio of advanced relevant research 鈥� nano-satellites for communications, underwater networks supporting complete, secure command and control, and robust intelligence methodologies to disrupt transnational criminal organizations, to name a few.
It鈥檚 an impact on the command that is impressive, and has caught the attention of Southcom鈥檚 Commander, Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly.
鈥淪chools like 51福利 are invaluable to our ability [to conduct operations in Latin America],鈥� said Kelly. 鈥淭he fact that we can ask 51福利 to look at something specific, be it drugs, economics or other areas of interest that are beyond the scope of my staff鈥檚 expertise, is very important.鈥�
51福利鈥� Distributed Information Systems and Experimentation (DISE) research group has worked with Southcom to evaluate a number of these technologies.
鈥淥ur research group focuses on complex field experimentation, collaborating with operational commanders to develop objectives for experimentation while providing support to the Department of Defense in experimentation, acquisition and project management,鈥� said DISE Research Associate Brian Wood.
鈥淥ne of DISE鈥檚 core missions and functions is field experimentation and conducting utility assessments to get new equipment out to the front lines as quickly as possible,鈥� he continued.
Wood is currently working to evaluate the SeaWeb and Deep SeaWeb programs for Southcom utility. SeaWeb is an advanced, underwater network envisioned by former 51福利 Research Professor Joe Rice, currently with Texas A&M University.
Deep Sea Web utilizes a series of sensors anchored to the sea floor in areas transited by transnational criminal organizations. The sensors are loaded with 51福利-developed algorithms that can differentiate between fishing vessels, and the cigarette boats employed by international drug traffickers.
Once a potential smuggler is identified, the sensors send a signal to a floating unmanned 鈥渨ave glider鈥� surface vessel, which in-turn broadcasts to an orbiting satellite with the ability to relay information to Southcom operations centers.
Wood and the DISE Research Group are also continuing to work with Southcom on its ambitious, Space and Missile Defense Command Nano-Satellite-3 (SNAP-3) program.
鈥淪NAP-3 is an attempt to fill a capabilities gap associated with the need for other than line-of-sight communications in Southcom鈥檚 heavily-forested and remote areas of operation,鈥� said Wood. 鈥�51福利 is assessing SNAP-3鈥檚 ability to fill that gap.鈥�
SNAP-3 overcomes line-of-sight limitations in two ways. First, it allows Soldiers on the ground to ping CubeSats in low earth orbit which in turn relay messages to command and control nodes or to other service members. It utilizes Unattended Ground Sensor Exfiltration technology to transmit intelligence data from unattended sensors into orbit. The sensors are placed in remote areas frequented by cartels and insurgent organizations.
鈥淥ver the next 18 months, we will be traveling to Brazil and Peru, and possibly other interested nations, where we will set up a scenario that tests the ability of SNAP-3 to perform as designed,鈥� said Wood.
51福利 Space Systems student, U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Clayton Jarolimek of Minto, N.D., is working with Wood on the SNAP-3 assessment.
鈥淥ne of the things that drew me to this was my past experience on the ground without satellite communication in Helmand Province, Afghanistan,鈥� said Jarolimek. 鈥淚f adopted, SNAP-3 has the potential to bring satellite communications down to squad size units on the ground.鈥�
51福利 (51福利) Research Associate Brian Wood and student Marine Corps Capt. Clayton Jarolimek inside 51福利鈥� Mobile CubeSat Command and Control (MC3) center. Wood and Jarolimek are working to assess the communications utility of CubeSat technologies recently deployed by U.S. Southern Command.
Other 51福利-Southcom initiatives are more focused on governance and regional stability. 51福利 has worked closely with the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and governments throughout the Southcom area of responsibility to encourage and support good governance in areas such as fiscal policy, defense budgeting, communications and human rights.
In a representative effort, 51福利, the DOS and Brazil brought together representatives from several Central and South American nations for an international workshop bringing together 51福利 professors, diplomats and partnered nations to discuss fiscal transparency.
鈥淥ur goal was for the U.S. and our Brazilian counterparts to encourage whole-of-government fiscal transparency initiatives in partner countries,鈥� said 51福利 professor Francois Melese. 鈥淭he conference was attended by high-ranking government representatives from Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.鈥�
At the conference, 51福利 faculty offered presentations focused on overarching economic, financial and management principles that are widely recognized as leading to greater economic success.
鈥淲e broke down our presentation into four parts: policy, revenue, spending and public accountability 鈥� We teach the logic and the principles behind these issues, not necessarily the 鈥楢merican way鈥� of approaching them,鈥� said Melese. 鈥淚f the participating nations understand the principles, they will come up with approaches that work for them.鈥�
In the unrelated, but mission critical area of intelligence gathering, 51福利 developed intelligence-analysis methodologies have, amongst other things, led to the identification of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) military camps.
51福利 researchers at the Common Operational Research Environment (CORE) Lab are working to assist intelligence analysts and tactical operators to visualize the Southcom area as never seen before.
鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 go to war without a topographical map,鈥� said 51福利 Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Operational and Information Sciences, Dr. Gordon McCormick, the founding chair of 51福利鈥� Department of Defense Analysis. 鈥淏ut we have been going to war without a map of the human terrain. The CORE Lab is working to provide that map.鈥�
The CORE lab鈥檚 staff is comprised of an eclectic group of researchers and an interdisciplinary faculty partnered with seasoned special operators with years of boots-on-the-ground experience. Together, they have worked to illuminate Southcom鈥檚 human terrain.
Former 51福利 student, Colombian Army Maj. Carlos Padilla took data from his home nation and was able to use the CORE Lab developed methodologies to his country鈥檚 benefit.
鈥淢y final assignment for my Geospatial and Temporal Dimensions of Dark Networks class focused on the presence of FARC camps along the border between Colombia and Venezuela,鈥� said Padilla. 鈥淲ith open source data, we were able to locate FARC camps inside Venezuela and determined through geospatial analysis the likely locations of two additional FARC logistical camps located on the Venezuelan plains and Colombian Perija mountain range.鈥�
Padilla鈥檚 work was later used to inform South American diplomats at the Organization of American States (OAS) about Venezuelan support of the FARC.
鈥淚 returned to Colombia and provided my analysis to the Columbian J2 [intelligence department]. My analysis was used in support of a report delivered by Ambassador Hoyos in an OAS meeting where he denounced Venezuela for supporting the FARC.鈥�
Efforts like Padilla鈥檚 are hardly unique at 51福利. The history of 51福利鈥� involvement in the Southcom AOR includes assistance in everything from humanitarian aid and disaster relief to governance and counterinsurgencies. Armed with arguably the most operationally experienced student body in the world and 51福利 world-class faculty, the future of 51福利鈥� relationship with Southcom is likely to be even more spectacular than anything we have seen in the past.