Coast Guard accepts new Rescue 21 communications system in Northern California

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Coast Guard accepts new Rescue 21 communications system in Northern California
from Coast Guard News by cgnews

MCKINLEYVILLE, Calif. – The U.S. Coast Guard formally accepted and introduced its new Rescue 21 advanced communications system at Group Humboldt Bay this morning.

This new capability, which will eventually be introduced nationwide, increases the ability of Coast Guard men and women to execute all of their missions, especially their search and rescue mission, with greater agility and efficiency. Today’s ceremony included speeches from senior, local, and national Coast Guard officials.

“By delivering readiness to our people, we enable them to deliver enhanced service to our customers. The people of Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino counties and all other mariners that use these waters,” said Capt. Christopher Martino, commanding officer of Coast Guard Group Humboldt Bay. “The Rescue 21 system does just that. It delivers readiness to our people and it delivers enhanced service to the mariners of the Northern California Coast.”

Rescue 21 is an advanced command, control and communications system that was created to better locate mariners in distress and save lives and property at sea and on navigable rivers. As the marine version of 9-1-1, it facilitates better communication and interoperability in emergency situations. With its advanced direction finding capabilities and increased range, Rescue 21 helps the Coast Guard better “hear the call” and quickly respond to boaters in distress, as well as to identify hoax distress calls made from land that can unnecessarily divert Coast Guard assets and manpower. Today’s acceptance formally brings those capabilities to Group Humboldt Bay and increases total U.S. coastline currently covered by Rescue 21 to more than 34,000 miles.

“It is important for the Lost Coast mariners to know that Rescue 21 works seamlessly with their current marine VHF radios. Commercial and recreational boaters do not need to update any of their current gear to experience the benefits of the new system. That being said, all mariners with digital selective calling capable transceivers are encouraged to connect those units with their GPS systems so that the Coast Guard will be able to digitally receive position data from them in the event of an emergency,” said Ens. Andrew Jarolimek, communications center supervisor for Group Humboldt Bay.

A letter from California Senator Barbara Boxer sums up the capabilities of the new system: “By enabling more effective communication between the U.S. Coast Guard and local, state and national emergency responders, Rescue 21 improves the ability of the U.S. Coast Guard to protect property and lives at sea.”

Find out more about the Rescue 21 project at www.uscg.mil/acquisition.

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In mid-January, the second National Security Cutter (NSC), Waesche, was granted Authority to Operate (ATO) its Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence and Surveillance (C4ISR) systems. ATO enables the newest NSC to share communications and data with other local and federal law enforcement agencies, U.S. Coast Guard ships, air and shore stations, and the Department of Defense (DoD), including the U.S. Navy. As the Coast Guard’s Director of Acquisition Programs and Program Executive Officer Rear Adm. John H. Korn stated after Waesche’s Acceptance Trials, “In nearly all aspects, Waesche is far ahead of where Bertholf was at the same point in time.” Waesche’s ATO authorization was accomplished in just over two months after preliminary acceptance, whereas the first National Security Cutter, the CGC Bertholf, took a year to obtain ATO certification.

Before Waesche could use its fully integrated command, control and communications systems, it had to complete a standardized process based on federal and DoD policies. This process includes robust visual and instrumented inspections to address information security, operational security, personnel security and physical security. “The protection of national security information is paramount to the operational success of the Coast Guard,” said Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Thompson, the Acquisition Directorate’s C4ISR Information Assurance Manager. “This ATO was made possible through the improved synergy between industry, the Coast Guard’s Acquisition Directorate (CG-9), the Coast Guard’s C4IT Technical Authority (CG-6) and U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). The same rigorous information assurance process required for the Bertholf became seamless integration on the Waesche as lessons learned were incorporated into the contract to resolve potential discrepancies.”

TEMPEST was a core information assurance challenge essential to successfully achieve ATO and involved two-years of inspections and testing. TEMPEST is a U.S. government term referring to the prevention and detection of compromising emanations (CE) from information technology systems. TEMPEST inspection and testing ensures systems processing classified information have been installed correctly, thereby reducing the risks of CE. The Coast Guard and industry were very proactive to ensure that all lessons learned from the TEMPEST “test-fix-test” process utilized during construction of the Bertholf were incorporated during production on Waesche. An aggressive quality assurance program and government oversight enabled a successful final Instrumented Test Survey (ITS), the last step in obtaining TEMPEST certification. Waesche completed its final ITS prior to the signing of its DD-250 at preliminary acceptance whereas Bertholf’s final ITS occurred a year after delivery.

Like Bertholf, Waesche is scheduled for future upgrades after commissioning that include installation of a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) this year. Any future improvements potentially affecting the cutter’s information assurance posture, such as the SCIF installation, will require additional TEMPEST testing and recertification.