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Celebrating 25 Years

Online forum | Ask LT. CMDR. CHRIS KLUCKHUHN

July 12, 2007 1:00 PM

Guest: Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kluckhuhn, U.S. Coast Guard

Moderated by Wyatt Kash, GCN Staff

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Q & A: 1
Moderator:

Welcome all to today's session. Our guest today is Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kluckhuhn of the U.S. Coast Guard, who will be with us today to answer questions from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Without funding, staff, authority or approval, Lt. Cmdr. Kluckhuhn set out to develop a system that would exchange information easily and accurately between Coast Guard aviation crews and the Web-based Maritime Information for Safety and Law Enforcement system.

For his efforts, GCN named him one of its IT Leadership Award winners for 2007.

We've got one hour to work with, so let's get started.



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Q & A: 2
Reilly O., Springfield, Va.: As someone who has been on the front lines of homeland security, do you think we are ready for the "Big One"? What do you think we should be doing differently, especially regarding technology, to better protect ourselves?

Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kluckhuhn:

I think Hurricane Katrina was the "Big One" for us. It demonstrated that regardless of the technology available, people will rise to meet the challenge. We all learned a great deal from those experiences and have been working to improve our processes and capabilities. We are better prepared and equipped to respond today than we were two years ago and we will continue to improve our capabilities.

Areas where technology can help most is in sharing situational awareness. Technologies for receiving information from field operators and the public and disseminating good information back out to everyone is very important. We, as a nation, currently have the technologies to do that very well, but standardizing, training, and implementing those technologies is a major challenge that remains.



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Q & A: 3
Reston, VA: Is bandwidth ever a problem when you are transfering data?

Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kluckhuhn: We worked around some bandwidth issues by using a traditional network connection to download updated information just prior to departing on patrol and immediately upload our information after a patrol. Limited bandwidth in the field can then be used to share the most critical "what, where, when" type of information.

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Q & A: 4
Oxon Hill, Md.:

Hi, Chris! What advice would you have for a young person who wants to go into government service, particularly the Coast Guard?



Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kluckhuhn: Now is a great time to get involved. Our nation needs people in government dedicated to meeting the challenges of the 21st century. Most agencies in government have websites as starting points to get information. The Coast Guard's site (http://www.uscg.mil) is a great place to begin gathering information about our service and whether it is the right fit for someone. We also regularly provide people tours of our stations and let them talk with new members of our service to get firsthand accounts from someone in their own peer group.

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Q & A: 5
Michael VanPatten from Virginia: How do you handle your mobile data security over wireless networks?

Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kluckhuhn: I'm not the right person to discuss that issue. We have a dedicated team that works to ensure our wireless data is secure. I can try to put you in touch with someone from that group if you like.

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Q & A: 6
Consuelo Bangs, Alexandria VA: What do you see as future needs in the biometrics arena? More specifically, what new technology and functionality would be most useful to the Coast Guard in fullfilling its operational mission?

Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kluckhuhn: Our R&D Center is currently working on a biometrics project. If you like, I can try to put you in touch with someone from that project.

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Q & A: 7
CDR Lane Johnson, USCG, Wash., DC: Chris, Good day to you. Beyond your work w/ Falconview, what in your opinion is the feasibility of imbedding a GIS viewer in the Coast Guard's MISLE mobile platform?

Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kluckhuhn: Hello CDR. A GIS viewer for MISLE mobile is very feasible and would be a significant enhancement for the field. Whether it is FalconView or another application, we found that it was very powerful to provide GIS capabilities out to the tactical level. During Katrina, we used MISLE GIS data in FalconView to show directly in our moving map where hospitals, stadiums, etc., were. We have added HSIP Gold data with a lookup capability so field crews can look up addresses and critical infrastructures. We also needed a way to report things like oil spills, houses searched, etc., in a format that could be directly ingested into a GIS system. The GIS experts couldn't keep up with all the non-standard reports coming in reporting changes in status. Linking MISLE Mobile with a GIS Viewer could help push the GIS info both to and from the field.

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Q & A: 8
Tom, VA: Cmdr, thank you for your service. How does you success story for patrol communication tie into the broader, longer term USCG initiatives such as NAIS and some of the Deepwater Projects? Will USCG expand its use?

Lt. Cmdr. Chris Kluckhuhn: The real story behind the work we did improving vessel sightings from aircraft was the collaboration that took place. The Coast Guard's Innovation Council and the MISLE program created an environment where field users, programmers, and decisionmakers could work together and spirally develop the applications. Many of the things we learned while developing the vessel-sighting tool have been spun off to improve in other areas directly related to NAIS and Deepwater. The environment that was created allowed us to learn things at a fairly low cost. Those lessons were then available to help inform decisions on much more difficult and complex issues.

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Q & A: 9
Moderator: Our hour is up, ladies and gentleman. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions, and a special thank you to Lt. Cmdr. Kluckhuhn for sharing his expertise with us.

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