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GCN Home > 10/13/03 issue

Defense Executive of the Year: Boutelle’s vision kept the military connected in Iraq

By Sami Lais, Special to GCN

During the Iraq war, the Army’s battlefield communications flowed with unprecedented speed and reliability, keeping nearly every soldier connected, Defense Department officials have said.

Warfighters used the secret version of the Army Knowledge Online Web portal to share information throughout the Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom operations.

Now Army CIO, the man in charge of the networking effort in Iraq and behind the model for AKO, Lt. Gen. Steven W. Boutelle has been on a mission to improve Army communications since his transfer to the Signal Corps in Washington in 1970.

Coming up through the ranks and working in IT as a senior Pentagon staff member honed Boutelle’s leadership skills, said his predecessor as Army CIO, recently retired Lt. Gen. Peter Cuviello.

“None of us do this alone,” said Cuviello, now a vice president for information infrastructure at Lockheed Martin Corp.

“But when it comes to getting things done, he’s the go-to guy. He knows who to talk to, who to assemble—whether that’s program managers, field commanders or contractors—and who to ask for advice. He’s a master at blending management with leadership,” Cuviello said.

Since his stint as one of the key architects for Task Force XXI, the Army’s experimental digital evaluation force, Boutelle has repeatedly shown what Cuviello called “enlightened leadership.”

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, 80 percent of the Army’s communications traveled via leased commercial satellites, a deal Boutelle made early, before demand drove prices through the roof.

Hearing good advice

“That was the result of a value judgment by a bunch of very smart people who work for me,” Boutelle demurred. “As we watched what was happening in the Middle East, they came to me and said, ‘You know, we may need to have access to a lot more satellite communications than we have. The only way we can do that is to reserve that time now.’ ”

The cash outlay was substantial, Boutelle said. “As with all decisions, there was a certain amount of risk, but in leasing satellite transponders early, we beat out CNN and Fox. But it was temporal, we did not have to outbid them.”

In retrospect, the decision looks golden. Because of it, during Iraqi Freedom, commanders, soldiers and U.S. allies were able to maintain near-constant, real-time contact via satellite and IP communications. New data was propagated throughout the system within four seconds.

Despite his communications coup, Boutelle said leasing satellites from commercial suppliers should be a one-time event.

“We should be 80 percent on government satellites,” he said. “But we don’t have a constellation that will support it today.”

More news on related topics: Defense IT, Management, COOP / Telework, The Community