DCATS dedicated cybersecurity personnel form ATO tiger team

In August 2019, Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (DCATS) formed a group of dedicated cyber personnel for the Authorization to Operate (ATO) Special Projects Team. 

The team provided special project support for Land Mobile Radio (LMR) on the Army CONUS Enterprise Land Mobile Radio – Harris (ACE LMR - Harris) system. LMR received full-time cybersecurity support for the ACE project on October 1, 2019, but the team continued to work as a group until early December.

By partnering with Information System Security Officers (ISSOs) and Information Systems Security Managers (ISSMs) from the DCATS headquarters and Wideband Enterprise Satellite Systems (WESS), the LMR team inherited a special projects team in order to complete the ACE LMR - Harris system ATO by December 2019.

The volunteer team included the WESS cybersecurity lead, Marty Tucker. Lisa Meade and Chairie Smith joined from the WESS Combat Support System Very Small Aperture Terminal (CSS VSAT) project office. DeShawn Brown joined from WESS Terminals project office and Bob Anderson joined from WESS Baseband project office. The full-time cyber support for LMR, Valerie Edwin-Yorke, joined the team in October when she came on board. The team was led by the DCATS portfolio cybersecurity officer, Jeanne Hobbs.

WESS team members are still helping out with the extension of the ACE LMR - Harris system ATO and getting the authorization package ready for the ACE LMR – Motorola system ATO.

LMR would not have been able to get the ATO in such a short period of time without the hard work from dedicated DCATS team members, who truly demonstrated the meaning of inter-organizational team work.