SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY AND THE U.S. NATIONAL GUARD

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Army Spc. Manda Walters attaches a satellite dish to the Defense Video Imagery Distribution System's mobile satellite during training at Camp Rapid, S.D., Oct. 23, 2012. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Julieanne Morse

Face of Defense: Guard Members Embrace Satellite Technology

By Army Spc. Manda Walters
American Forces Press Service
RAPID CITY, S.D., Oct. 26, 2012 - Soldiers with the South Dakota Army National Guard's 129th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment trained on state-of-the-art satellite equipment Oct. 22-24 here at Camp Rapid in preparation for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

The Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System's mobile satellite, known as DVIDS Direct, will give the unit, made up of journalists and broadcasters, the capability of providing U.S. news media with real-time broadcast-quality video, photography and print products.

"The unit could broadcast high-profile events live," said Donovan Hill, a support engineer with NORSAT Inc., who provided the training. "DVIDS Direct was used in the spring of 2012 to feed video of the president's address from Bagram Airfield."

DVIDS Direct will also allow the 129th to provide media outlets with immediate interview opportunities with service members, commanders and subject matter experts.

"This technology allows television or radio stations the opportunity to interview soldiers from their community, live on-the-air," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Theanne Tangen, operations noncommissioned officer. "The system will also provide our unit internet capabilities, allowing us to upload our content in remote areas that are without the internet."

The training focused on introducing members of the 129th to satellite terminology and the technical aspect of satellite news gathering.

"The unit has not used satellite systems prior to the training, so we were shown everything from setting up the satellite dishes, to operating the software and transmitting video," Tangen said. "We went through the entire process enough times that we're confident in our abilities and look forward to using the technology overseas to help us reach an even bigger audience."

The 129th will add two DVIDS Direct systems to their inventory, which will be used in Afghanistan and when they return home.

"DVIDS Direct will let us distribute our products immediately to media outlets worldwide, whether we are in South America covering stories on our State Partnership Program or here in South Dakota reporting on the National Guard's role in statewide emergencies like the Missouri River Flood," said Army Sgt. Jacqueline Fitzgerald, broadcast noncommissioned officer.

"This technology will enhance our ability to provide media with reliable access to all branches of the U.S. armed forces and coalition partners serving overseas," Tangen said. "It also helps us fulfill the military's obligation to provide maximum disclosure of information with minimum delay."

U.S. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS URGE CONGRESS TO REMOVE SOME SATELLITE TECH FROM EXPORT CONTROLS

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE 

Report Urges Lifting Some Satellite Export Controls

By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2012 - Officials from the Defense and State departments released a report today that urges Congress to move communications and some remote-sensing satellites off the tightly controlled U.S. Munitions List and into the commercial enterprise.

The report, conducted in accordance with section 1248 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2010, was prepared by technical and space policy experts from DOD and State, with support from the intelligence community and NASA.

In a briefing today from the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., Gregory L. Schulte, deputy assistant secretary defense for space policy, said the report "reflects a very thorough review ... that looked item by item, technology by technology, to assess the risk in moving specific items from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List."

Schulte was joined by Lou Ann McFadden, chief of the Defense Technology Security Administration's strategic issues division.

The report summarizes a risk assessment of U.S. space export control policy, concluding that most commercial communications and remote sensing satellites and their components can be moved from the USML to the CCL without harming national security. The items include communications satellites that contain no classified components, and remote-sensing satellites with performance parameters below certain thresholds.

The satellites and their associated systems, subsystems, parts and components make up what Schulte described as "hundreds of thousands of items" that already are being sold commercially by companies around the world.

U.S. companies couldn't sell the same satellites and components because of restrictions imposed by the items' listing on the USML or control under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, called ITAR, administered by the State Department.

"We believe that, if Congress is willing, the approach laid out in this report does two things," Schulte said.

"It can strengthen our national security by energizing the industrial base that is so important to us," he added, "and by allowing our industry to compete on the global market for satellites."

In a March 8 hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Schulte called the approach one of "higher fences around fewer items," and noted that no such changes could be made without legislation.

According to the report, in the interests of national and economic security, the president, and not Congress, should have the authority to determine the export-control status of satellites and space-related items.

As part of that recommendation, the report said DOD should have the authority to apply appropriate monitoring and other export-control measures to individual cases to most effectively reduce national security risks.

A fact sheet released by the White House today noted that the recommended items are controlled on the [USML] by statute, based on the requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 1999.

This makes them "the sole USML items for which the president does not have the legal authority to appropriately adjust the controls to ensure they meet current and anticipated U.S. national security requirements," the fact sheet said, "and to ensure they do not unintentionally harm the U.S. satellite industry and its supplier base."

Congress and the Obama administration "recognize the importance of this critical sector to the nation's national and economic security," the fact sheet said.

"This in-depth report shows that the United States can safely modify the export controls placed on satellites and related component technology that are widely available, while maintaining firm control on systems and technologies deemed truly critical to national security," Jim Miller, acting undersecretary of defense for policy, said today in a statement.

The report confirmed the need for some space-related items to remain on the list -- those that contain critical components, technologies and implicit expertise that give the nation a military or intelligence advantage in space.

The items include satellites that perform purely military or intelligence missions, high-performance remote-sensing satellites, services in support of foreign launch operations for USML- and CCL-designated satellites, and others.

"Implementing the recommendations in this report will facilitate cooperation with U.S. allies and export-control-regime partners," Miller said.