Testing documentation ensures communication success during operations

U.S. and Croatia perform base network testStory by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Stacy Fowler, Combined Endeavor 2008 Public Affairs

LORA NAVAL BASE, SPLIT, Croatia (May 7, 2008) - Electronic communication among 10 countries is being monitored and evaluated through a series of communication tests here during Combined Endeavor 2008.

The data from these tests are collected by communication specialists called testers, whose main mission is to help each participant connect with one another through computer networks, voice and data communication.

Participating nations use CE 08 to plan, prepare and practice a full range of communications, equipment, policies and procedures prior to deploying for NATO missions and emerging real-world crises.

The basic premise of the evaluations are straightforward, according to U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Clay Craig, CE08 testing officer in charge at FOS Lora,

For example, if "Country A" wants to communicate with "Country B" via radio and network connections, but is not sure if it is possible with their communication equipment, CE 08 planners have said "we'll use this particular 'test string' to check it out."

U.S. Soldier briefs delegation chiefsA test string is the method of examination the countries here use to see if their equipment can "talk" to each other.  Most test strings look complicated; a simplified example would be: "U.S. radio 'X' test connection/communication with Croatia radio 'Y' and back."

U.S. and Macedonian teams here, as well as the Joint Interoperability Test Command from Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., check communication interoperability between U.S. military and NATO branches. The countries participating in CE08 have developed every experiment - be it radio, network or data - used during the exercise, and while trials have been slow to start, all 10 countries are making progress. 

"The first few days have been trying for us all, but we'll improve as the tests continue," said U.S. Army Master Sgt. Ronnie Ross, Jr., FOS Lora senior test lead.  "There are always unique challenges wherever you go, and we will work through them when they crop up."

The interoperability evaluation team at CE08 is responsible for conducting scheduled assessments and ensuring everything is absolutely without fault to get that "perfect" score. The equipment, programs, procedures and techniques used at each country's station must all match the information given to the testers.

"There's no 'Oh, trust me.' here," Ross said.  "We want to be able to read those equipment numbers ourselves to make sure everything matches.  If it doesn't, we stop the communication test."

According to Ross, the evaluation team is impartial to whether a country's result passes or fails, but if issues come up, everyone works together to figure out the problems and how the team can fix them.  Some issues are simple to find and fix, such as inverting a wire from one system to another, while others are more complicated such as using different names for the same system component.

"There might be something that we can fix on-site," Craig said. "If we can't fix it here with what we have, we have the capability to reach back for our subject matter experts to get things working."

One benefit that testers have already seen is that much of the equipment used by the different countries is actually the same. Many countries have purchased equipment from worldwide commercial vendors, which can help make connections between systems easier.

"If you look around you'll see a lot of brand-name products for laptops and communication equipment," Craig said.  "The only problem we might run into is making sure the people collaborate and communicate like they should."

Another benefit seen by both testers and testees is the good teamwork from every country.

"These tests help us work together as one team," said Macedonian Army Capt. Darko Nikolovski, one of the FOS Lora evaluation team members.  "The tests are going slowly, but we're working through any problems that come up together.  We are also learning about each other as people, so when you begin working with them in the future you won't judge them because they are from a different country."

Looking to the future is what these exercises are all about.

"We can't allow these countries to go into battle alongside the U.S. or each other without these tests," Ross said.  "This helps us ensure we can communicate with each other when it is time."

This exercise is the 14th of U.S. European Command-sponsored "in-spirit-of" Partnership for Peace exercises.  The deployment to Croatia checks the interoperability of U.S., NATO and Partnership for Peace nations.

- CE 08 -

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