To make sure the message reaches the audience and that transmission does not get stuck somewhere across the airwave…These and other issues were thoroughly tested during the exercise COMPACT YELLOW that was conducted at the Baltic Barracks from 3rd to 7th March 2008.
Compact Information
Mysterious vehicles enriched the Corps’ landscape for a couple of days. Maj. Dariusz Stanek, the project officer for the exercise COMPACT YELLOW, explained that the vehicles were called REMUS cabins, in this case server REMUS cabins. In fact, these vehicles made the whole work possible.
COMPACT YELLOW 2008 constituted part of the preparation process for the exercise Steadfast Cathode 2008, a NATO Communication Information Systems exercise. However, it was actually the first time when this type of exercise was organised. Previously, there were only signal exercises conducted in that area of interest. The aim of COMPACT YELLOW was to train ADP (Automatic Data Processing) or IT (Information Technology) personnel coming from the German 610th and Polish 100th Signal Battalions, which belong to the Command Support Brigade, a formation affiliated with the Corps.
What was it all about?
“There was no training in staff procedures or operational background but the main focus was put on finding technical solutions”, Maj. Stanek emphasized. “MNC NE members trained the personnel from both battalions in establishing connectivity in accordance with the NATO procedures showing them how this should be organised on advanced level”. In practice it meant that they were installing workstations and servers in different domains specified by the classification of documents, e.g. NATO Unclassified, NATO Secret or NATO Mission Secret. Afterwards, they were trying to connect these different locations.
The exercise COMPACT YELLOW proved that all teams were fully capable of working in such a setup that will be used during the upcoming NATO exercise Steadfast Cathode. A similar type of exercise is expected to be repeated in the future, however, not necessarily only as part of preparations for the NATO exercise but for example as training in establishing and running the Corps’ Command and Control Information System.
