Military leaders are questioning what the next generation of the global top secret network might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the fact that the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System \u2014 the network used to share and discuss top secret information \u2014 is one of the best information tools the military and intelligence community have, it is being used far beyond its original intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials speaking at the DoDIIS conference Aug. 13 articulated that the JWICS was originally just for analysis and intelligence production by the IC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, \u201cit\u2019s found its way into every element of our operations,\u201d Gen. John Hyten, commander of Strategic Command, said. \u201cIn my command it\u2019s a critical tool because it\u2019s the conduit for intel assessments and reports that come to every decision the command [makes] \u2026 A lot of our command-and-control functions go through JWICS.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told reporters during the conference that a lot of people don\u2019t realize the breadth of the JWICS and the importance of it, adding combatant commanders say it\u2019s their most reliable network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Hyten, a combatant commander, he said it allows him to look at different IC estimates of adversaries\u2019 capabilities and intentions and collaborate with the office of the secretary of defense, Joint Staff, combatant commands and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the primary system my battle staff uses in time of crisis,\u201d he said, noting that\u2019s not what it was originally built for and thus there has to be a secure and reliable system that can continue to do this in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ashley said it is absolutely critical for the JWICS to be secure and functioning, describing the challenge ahead is figuring out what the system needs to look like and do in the next 10 years given it has grown beyond its original intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a big move we\u2019re taking on and we\u2019re having that conversation with the combatant commanders to understand what is it that we initially provisioned to the IC and what do you need it to be able to do for you,\u201d he said. \u201cThen we\u2019ll talk about how do we provision that and who has that responsibility and what does that look like in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Military officials rely on the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System, but voiced it is being stretched beyond its initial capacity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":30604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":63,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,63,29,32,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3268],"class_list":["post-12584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-dodiis","category-home","category-newsletters","category-show-reporter"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"O4CGHB5M7FDS3IHNOTPLE5C6TE","arc_canonical_url":"\/show-reporter\/dodiis\/2018\/08\/15\/a-critical-top-secret-intel-network-needs-to-evolve\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n