Army readies service for GIG-BE

The Army will spend $2.1 billion on the Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program so its installations can tie in to DISA's Global Information Grid-Bandwidth Expansion program, said the service's CIO, Lt. Gen. Steven Boutelle.

The Defense Information Systems Agency is footing the bill to drop a Synchronous Optical Network with throughput of 10 Gbps on the doorstep of the military services, but it's up to the individual services to make sure their networks plug in.

Boutelle said I3MP, part of the Digital Switched Systems Modernization Program, has already upgraded some Army bases and will be bringing the optical network to more sites next year.

To Boutelle, it is all a part of the Army's transformation to integrate information into a cohesive architecture. He spoke today at the Government Computer News 2004 Enterprise Architecture Conference in Washington. GCN is published by Post Newsweek Tech Media, which also publishes Washington Technology.

The Army's Enterprise Architecture is the road map the service is following to reach transformation, Boutelle said.

That architecture is embedded in the broader Defense Department enterprise architecture, which nests in the overarching federal enterprise architecture.

Boutelle also spoke about the upgraded technology?a tactical suite that includes wireless networks, voice over IP and satellite links?the 3rd Infantry Division will bring with them to Iraq in another month.

It will be a "totally restructured 3rd ID," Boutelle said. "This is an environment we never operated in before."

The Army expects to have rolled out the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical to four divisions by the end of next year and to all 10 by 2008.