BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 15, 2004 — The communications section of the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq is taking the first steps to ensure that the new Iraqi Ministry of Defense has a secure voice and data communications network at its bases in Iraq.

The nearly $20 million project, which began with the formal awarding of a contract in April of this year, will essentially “wire” the Iraqi Security Forces from the top leadership down to base commanders and personnel.

U.S. Army Maj. Sim Ripley, communications project officer for the Multinational Security Transition Command - Iraq, says that for Iraqi units out at the bases, the construction of satellite dishes and cell phone and microwave towers at each site will improve their ability to communicate during day to day operations.

“The Ministry of Defense private network is going to greatly enhance the communications and the interoperability between the Ministry of Defense and the Joint Headquarters and all of the various Iraqi Armed Forces bases spread throughout Iraq,” Ripley said. “From Umm Qasr in the south to Tall Afar in the north, this will provide voice and data connectivity, not only between each other, but back to the [Ministry of Defense] as well.”

Previous to this, going forward in Iraq - where no comprehensive cell phone coverage is available - meant relying on satellite based telephone services, which according to Ripley offer fairly poor quality and sometimes problematic connections. The new network puts cell phone towers in strategic positions at bases and other areas to ensure that while a person is near a primary site that they will have communications with the Ministry of Defense and also with other bases. And, as more towers are added more coverage will be added as well.

Ripley says nearly a dozen sites have been slated for construction including Kirkush, Umm Qasr, An Numaniyah, Baghdad International Airport, Basrah and more. Work is already underway at some of these with two sites currently operational.

“There is the main site here at the [Ministry of Defense], where everything else comes in for connectivity,” said Ripley. “There is one remote site at Taji - the military training base just north of Baghdad - and within the next couple weeks we will be establishing a site at the Kirkush Military Training Base, and at the port of Umm Qasr down in the south for the Iraqi Coastal Defense Force.

“After that the construction timeline of systems is about one per week,” Ripley said.

“And we’ll establish them as fast as we can get the equipment in theater, get it convoyed down to the respective locations, and get them on the air,” he added.

In addition to the phone service Ripley says the ability to establish a data network will also come online with the new system. At the moment many Iraqi bases and even the Ministry of Defense use networks designed for commercial use. This network will change that.

“First they will not have to rely on an internet service provider, which is functional, but also a huge security concern,” said Ripley. “Yahoo! or Hotmail is not a secure form of e-mail and you never know who could be looking over your shoulder.

“By making a private network we can control who has access to the internet and what happens on the system to greatly secure to what they have right now today,” Ripley said.

The system is already being tested in Taji and at the Ministry of Defense where the first two sites are up and running. Taji Military Base Commander Maj. Dennis P. Gallagher, is the beneficiary of one of the first operational sites.

“With this network,” Gallagher said, “the Iraqis and [Ministry of Defense] shall be able to communicate from their office or the field coordinating operational movements, logistics, and daily, non-tactical operations.

“It does not rely on ground laid wires or the hardware infrastructure of the country to meet its needs,” he said. “Whether a unit is in garrison or in the field, he has the same phone, data storage capabilities and e-mail address.”

The remaining sites will be fully operational within about six months.

“For the voice component of it we should be complete with installation by late November early December,” Ripley said. “The data installation will take a little bit longer in the sense that from the point of origin on a site the network has to be built up to all the various buildings at that site.

“I believe we should be done completely with installation by February,” Ripley said.

The final stage in completing the system is to turn it over to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. Ripley says that ultimately this system belongs to them to do with what they want. But there has to be a period of training and guidance along the way.

“The system is going to be maintained by contractors,” Ripley said. “The contractor also hires subcontractors and we encourage them to use local nationals whenever possible.

“In the future the system will belong to the [Ministry of Defense],” Ripley said. “So we will also need to train MOD personnel to operate the system for themselves. We are focusing right now on getting the system operational but we acknowledge that in the future we’re going to have to train the Iraqi [Ministry of Defense] on how to run the system, maintain it, make corrections and fix problems.

“But the end state is that this will be a Ministry of Defense private network,” Ripley said. “We will no longer be here and they will continue to use it to facilitate their communications.”