Netherlands

Work continues on multi-national Common Operating Picture at CE 08

U.S. Marines relay tracks on C2 systemsby U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Brian Hill, Combined Endeavor 2008 Public Affairs

The idea to have a single digital display of relevant operational information shared by many nations and organizations in real time is becoming closer to reality this year at Combined Endeavor.

Traditionally, when coalition partners wanted to share their operating pictures with each other, doing so required installing a separate system requiring additional training and having yet another screen to monitor in the operations center.

Through the ever-increasing capabilities provided by the Multilateral Interoperability Programme, timely and accurate information on the positions of friendly and enemy troops, and the positions and status of important infrastructure such as bridges and roads can be made available to commanders, said Tony Mansfield, command, control, communications and computers system engineer at the Marine Corps Tactical System Support Activity at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.

"The aim is to achieve international interoperability of command and control information systems at all levels from corps to the lowest appropriate level, in order to support multinational, combined and joint operations and the advancement of digitisation in the international arena," he said.

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Netherlands and Denmark in opening ceremony

BAUMHOLDER, Germany (May 1, 2008) - Military personnel from the Netherlands and Denmark participate in the Combined Endeavor 2008 opening ceremony.  More than 35 participating nations use CE 08 to plan, prepare and practice using a full range of communications equipment, policies and procedures prior to deploying for NATO missions and emerging, real world crisis situations such as the evacuation of Lebanon and response to natural disasters.  (U.S. EUCOM photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Michele A. Desrochers) (RELEASED)

Converged Coalition Network

Macedonian chairman facilitates security in multi-national testing environment

By U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Denise Johnson, Combined Endeavor Public AffairsMacedonia and Switzerland discuss network defense

LAGER AULENBACH, Germany — Maintaining a secure network server for 42 nations in an interoperability-testing environment can be a daunting task, but one Macedonian and his Network Defense Cell (NDC) team at the U.S. European Command-sponsored exercise, Combined Endeavor, are prepared for that task.

“It is crucial that an entire network is secure,” said Macedonian Army Capt. Goran Trajkovski, CE 07 NDC chairman. Trajkovski is from the G6 general staff telecommunications planning, information technology and information assurance branch in Skopje, Macedonia.

The multi-national delegations set up a military compound both here at Lager Aulenbach, in Baumholder, and at a forward operating site (FOS). The FOS for CE 07 is located at the Air Institute in Yerevan, Armenia. The delegations here are teamed up into four regional areas according to functionality or technology, not by geography. For example, if a group wants to test interoperability of circuit-switched equipment with another nation or group of nations, they are generally going to be in the same region. Each country within a region is interconnected by way of a Local Area Network (LAN), or common infrastructure.

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Portugal realizes vision through Combined Endeavor interaction

By U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Denise JohnsonCombined Endeavor Public AffairsE-1 module

LAGER AULENBACH, Germany — The Portugese Army has gone from envisioning a modern internet protocol system to a fully-functioning voice and data application by capitalizing on three years of Combined Endeavor participation.

"Four years ago, as we progressed on our journey toward a modern communications system, we addressed the possibilities of advancement in the Combined Endeavor arena," said Portugese Army Sgt. 1st Class Mario Cesar Arede, information technology specialist from the Portugese Army Communications Project Team at the Military Center of Electronics, Lisbon, Portugal.

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