Information Symmetry
By AMY L. WITTMAN, Editor in Chief
SEAPOWER
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES
Volume 53, Number 2, February 2010
Maritime do- main awareness (MDA) can only
be achieved through
the timely exchange
of accurate information. The U.S. sea
services have been
working together on
building architecture
to do just that.
The Navy Maritime Domain Awareness Concept
approved in 2007 noted that
“acquiring and sharing maritime
information with a broad array of
partners reduces vulnerability to
attack and improves cooperation
toward maritime security and safety.
Also in that vein,
Assistant Editor John
“Information-sharing relation-
ships with partner agencies and
nations are vital to attaining the
level of MDA that naval command-
ers require for effective decision-
making at each level of command:
Strategic, Operational and Tactical.”
In this month’s Interview, Bruce
B. Stubbs, the Department of De-
fense’s executive agent for MDA,
says his biggest challenge is foster-
ing an understanding of MDA from
a “whole-of-government” approach.
“It takes a while for the ideas of
joint communication to really take
root,” Stubbs says.
These relationships are key to our
overall ability to collect, analyze,
package and disseminate actionable
information to those in need, whether it be for operational commanders,
commercial shippers, relief agencies
or harbor patrols.
The importance of how information is collected and used to
achieve MDA and, as a result, more
effective layers of security is explored in several articles in this
issue of Seapower.
Special Correspondent Tom With-
ington discusses the importance of
international organizations’ use of
satellite communications and mes-
saging systems in alerting merchant
vessels to potential danger in “Anti-
Piracy Tools.”
And Special Correspondent Daisy
R. Khalifa, in her report “Security
Pass,” explains how the Transporta-
tion Worker Identification Credential
program fits into the overall scheme
of MDA. With 1.4 million people car-
rying credentials giving them access
to secure port facilities and vessels, “a
fully vetted work force that you’re
comfortable with that is out there
every day, so you have the whole set
of eyes and ears out there, adding
that layer of security,” according to
Coast Guard Cmdr. David W. Murk,
chief of cargo and facilities at the Port
and Facility Activities office.
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