The BBC World Service is reporting at this hour that three allied
soldiers have been killed from friendly fire as they and U.S. troops
converged on a location holding Taliban leaders and al Qaeda.
Apparently, the web site didn't prevent this disaster.

Kelly

Web site helps U.S. commanders in Afghanistan

Centralized database allows for easier communication

May 30, 2002 Posted: 9:12 AM EDT (1312 GMT)

Web site helps U.S. commanders in Afghanistan

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) -- The war in Afghanistan is going online.

A drab tent under the Afghan sun hides a high-tech war room that soon
will become the nerve center of the campaign: Inside, banks of tables are
lined with soldiers bent over laptops. They look up at computer maps of
Afghanistan projected on large screens illuminating the dim interior.

All are logged onto the Tactical Web Page, a secret, secure Web site
being used in combat for the first time, through which American
commanders at Bagram air base and in the United States can direct the
fight in Afghanistan.

The system collects all information and communication in one place.
Commanders confer in chat rooms and pass on orders; messages scroll
across the screen, alerting developments from the field; maps show
friendly and enemy positions.

The tent -- actually a honeycomb of tents linked by narrow passages -- is
the headquarters from which Lt. Gen. Dan K. McNeill will work when he
takes command of Bagram air base, north of Kabul, as soon as Friday.

"The rule here is that you can reach any critical information within two
clicks of the mouse," Maj. Keith Hauk, the knowledge management officer,
said Wednesday.

With wary looks, soldiers at work in the tent closed their laptops as
journalists passed by on a tour of the facility. A copy of the Web site,
stripped of sensitive information, was projected onto one of the main
tent's large screens.

The command staff is confident that the Web site is secure from hackers,
shielded behind intrusion detectors and firewalls on its own local area
network.

"There have been a few instances when unidentified computers have tried
to get in, in which case we throw up additional firewalls," Lt. Col.
Bryan Dyer said.

McNeill takes over the coalition campaign in Afghanistan at a time when
the hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters has grown more complicated.
Many fighters are thought to have fled to Pakistan; those still here are
believed to be operating in small groups. U.S. and other troops have been
scouring eastern Afghanistan near the border for infiltrators.

'A map with a bullet in it is still a map'

"These are great tools," McNeill said, surrounded by the computer
wizardry. "But it serves one purpose, to reduce the complexity" of
fighting the war.

"The sharp point of the spear are the soldiers, sailors, airmen and
marines who ... are taking the fight to those who would wage a terrorist
war throughout the world," he said.

McNeill's station in the war room, with his laptop, is in the center of
the first table in front of the projection screens. Behind it are five
rows of tables rising up like a stadium where "watch groups" monitor the
action.

Commanders in the field send information up through the Web site, and
orders flow back down to them. Generals at Central Command in Tampa,
Florida -- which runs the U.S. military in the Middle East and Central
Asia -- can also log on.

With all sides logged on, "the boss can point out items on the map with
his subordinate commanders to draw up plans without everyone having to be
in one place," Dyer said.

The maps on the Web site and the tent screens can show vectors tracking
all flights through the region; icons point out U.S. and allies troops,
as well as enemy positions.

The network replaces the old system of paper maps and radio
communications -- though these are on hand in case of breakdown.

"A computer with a bullet in it is just a paperweight," Hauk said. "A map
with a bullet in it is still a map."


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