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GCN Home > 09/16/05 web stories

Army PEO EIS takes over biometrics office

By Dawn S. Onley, GCN Staff

The Army’s Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems recently added another office under its purview of responsibilities.

Three weeks ago, PEO EIS took over control of the Program Director Biometrics Office from the Defense Department’s Biometric Management Office and put Lt. Col. Debbie Theal as its head, according to Col. Tom Hogan, an Army deputy program executive officer for enterprise information systems.

Hogan said the Army is the executive agent for biometrics across the Defense Department and that his office is still fine-tuning the scope of the new program office.

“We’re just figuring out what the scope of biometrics is. It’s an enabler technology,” Hogan said yesterday during an Industry Advisory Council luncheon.

Hogan said biometrics—everything from fingerprints to iris scanners—is currently being used in Iraq and that the data collected flows into a biometrics database maintained by DOD’s Biometrics Fusion Center in West Virginia.

The devices in Iraq have helped troops verify military and civilian employees and identify prisoners’ past crimes and affiliations.

““We’re doing biometrics in Iraq. We are fielding systems in Iraq at posts, camps and stations,” Hogan said. “Now if there’s an IED (improved explosive device) attack, we can check the database to see if it’s someone we know.”

More news on related topics: Authentication / Identity Management, Biometrics, Defense IT, Identity Management, Management



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