Army will broaden access to satellite communications.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

Before the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division heads back to Iraq, its units are expected to receive upgraded satellite communications and new vehicles outfitted with the command-and-control computers and radios.

The $50 million effort is only one piece of a broader plan to expand the availability of satellite communications systems throughout the Army, officials said. Specifically, the chief of staff said he wants satellite technology to become widely available to battalion-level units, which traditionally have not had access to non-line-of-sight communications systems. Usually, those only were found at the divisions and brigades.

The notion that lower echelons need better capabilities to receive and send information underpins the latest Army attempt to restructure into smaller, more agile units. Rather than deploy "division-centric" forces, Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker wants to build the service around "modular" brigades. Under this new organization, each brigade's battalion commanders will have more responsibility and authority to make tactical decisions.

Pushing satellite communications to the battalion level is a new concept in the Army. "That's never been done before," said Col. LaWarren Patterson, a division chief at the office of the Army chief information officer. "Traditionally, satellite communications were mostly found at the division level, and in some instances at the brigade level."

Patterson's office is seeking funds to accelerate purchases and deliveries to the field of commercial satellite terminals.

"That's going in be a big investment," he told National Defense. "Over the next four to five years, every battalion will get satellite communications capabilities."

The 3rd ID's network will be a Ku-band commercial system. The goal is to allow each brigade to execute "battle command on the move," meaning that commanders will be able to move away from their stationary command posts, usually built in tents, to track and redirect their forces. With a Ku-band network, "battalion commanders can see the same operating picture and get the same data that now is only at the division and brigade levels," Patterson said.

Ku-band commercial satellite communications, however, are not always viewed as the ideal solution, according to some military officials. Connections may not be available in remote, unpopulated parts of the world, because commercial suppliers steer their satellites to more densely urbanized areas. Nevertheless...