Tactical Advance Center - Lite passes first test, receives 'Go' at station

Photo By Sgt. Scott Wolfe | Brig. Gen. William Grimsley, a deputy commanding general, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, discusses some of the steps involved in the process of putting the Tactical Advance Center - Lite together with Lt. Col. Kem Fleming, operation section officer in charge, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B. The TAC-Lite is a portable command center that gives the division commander the ability to move freely across the battle space without losing the command and control capabilities provided by a fully manned command information center.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

10.31.2008

Story by Staff Sgt. Scott Wolfe 

Multi-National Division Baghdad

Tactical Advance Center - Lite passes first test, receives 'Go' at station

By Staff Sgt. Scott Wolfe
Multi-National Division - Baghdad

BAGHDAD – Brig. Gen. William Grimsley, a native of Charleston, S.C., who serves as a deputy commanding general, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, spoke at the division's weekly battle update assessment from the Tactical Advance Center – Lite, setup on Joint Security Station Nasir Wa Salam on Oct. 31, 2008.

The TAC-Lite is a portable command information center roughly the size of two connex units that enables the division commander to have all the capabilities of the division Command Information Center at hand wherever the battle may take him.

Capt. James Hoffman, commander of the Extension Detachment, Company C, Division Special Troops Battalion, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B, oversaw the initial setup and operations of the TAC-Lite during its validation the day before its final test in the Battle Update Assessment. The rain did not stop his people as they met the guidelines required of them.

For the TAC-Lite and setup crew to receive a "GO," it had to be operational and fully mission capable within a window of eight to 12 hours from the time of survey.

In that time frame, the infrastructure for all the division sections and shops would be in place. A member of the operations section, for instance, would be able to just plug their laptop into the system network at the portable CIC and they could have tactical control of the battlefield at their fingertips.

In keeping with the football theme of the division, Hoffman and the rest of his set-up detail are calling the system the "Division Road Show" after the NFL program of the same name.

"This allows the CG to go anywhere in the division's battle space and have the CIC with him," said Hoffman. "Due to boundary shifts and mission shifts, the senior mission commander wanted to deploy a TAC with the minimum number of people but the same capabilities anywhere in his area of operations."

Spc. Eric Stout, a native of San Francisco, said that the communications systems connect in pre-fabricated modules through a control unit that can run the radios, networks and secret networks on a single laptop.

The TAC-Lite is a custom system made to specifications and capabilities decided on by the division higher staff and there is no other set-up like it. In July, the team met with the contractor that had created the system and trained with them for a month and a half before moving to division headquarters and spending another 45 days figuring out what specific set-up was needed. Two weeks at Forward Operating Base Constitution to iron out any kinks in the system and then came the test during the BUA.

On the morning of the BUA, Grimsley, called in on the radio from the TAC-Lite on JSS Nasir Wa Salam. Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond, commanding general of the 4th Inf. Div., MND-B, responded that he could hear Grimsley "clear as a bell."

TAC-Lite, you are a "Go" at this station.

• Date Taken: 10.31.2008
• Date Posted: 10.31.2008 22:36
• Story ID: 25792
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ