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Michael Hussey |
Ensuring Safe Harbors
Michael Hussey
January 2008
Maintaining two careers simultaneously is a challenge, but for
some MITRE employees it's the best of both worlds. Mike Hussey is
one of them.
As a Selected Reservist in the U.S. Navy and a veteran mariner,
Lieutenant Commander Hussey uses his skills as a harbor pilot to
provide ships safe harbor passage. Hussey is also a systems engineer
at MITRE, where he uses his skills developing methodology in support
of the President-approved National Plan to Achieve Maritime Domain
Awareness (MDA) to ensure that ships entering the harbors are safe.
Since coming to MITRE in 2005, Hussey and several other MITRE staff
have been working closely with the Navy and other inter-agency partners
in the MDA's evolving mission. The National Plan to Achieve MDA
defines it as, "the effective understanding of anything associated
with the global maritime domain that could impact the security,
safety, economy, or environment of the United States."
Maritime Data Sharing
A key component of the MDA mission is the establishment of a data
sharing community of interest (COI) to promote maritime information
sharing and improved maritime protection. MDA depends on the ability
to monitor activities in such a manner as to identify trends, differentiate
anomalies, and assess threats. In order to achieve such awareness,
the maritime community must collect, analyze, and distribute information.
Unlike other transportation networks, maritime cargoes are often
sold multiple times during a transit, vessels are often re-flagged
or modified, and the people (owners, operators, and crewmembers)
change frequently. "All of these factors make it more difficult—and
more essential that we have good data sharing," says Hussey.
One of the first steps in developing the MDA COI was to develop
a common vocabulary in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) for
the maritime community. In a cross-corporate effort, MITRE developed
the first version of the vocabulary, which the MDA COI approved.
It has now become a cornerstone of the community's data sharing
methodology. The MDA COI benefited greatly from the lessons learned
by the MITRE leads on the Command and Control Space Situational
Awareness COI.
"Now that the MDA pilot has proven successful," says Hussey, "we
can pass on best practices and lessons learned to other COIs MITRE
is supporting."
As for the future of MDA, Hussey explains the many challenges of
safeguarding our harbors. "As with many Homeland Security missions,
there is no quick fix," Hussey explains. "MDA is a global challenge.
For the immediate future, MITRE is providing support for new technology
and methodology for both the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy. Given the
many variables in the maritime domain, no single service or agency
can manage MDA.
"As demonstrated in recent exercises, one important staple
going forward is to continue shoring up our inter-agency relationships
and global partnerships. This will facilitate some of the new technology
coming online, increase joint inter-operability, and expand our
resources in the global war on terrorism."
A Lifelong Love of the Sea
Hussey is a Quincy, Mass., native and is pleased to be back in
the familiar waters of Boston Harbor. He started his maritime career
as a teenage lobster fisherman and went on to attend the United
States Merchant Marine Academy in Kingspoint, New York. After graduation,
Hussey started out as an Able-Bodied Seaman and worked his way up
to Master, commanding the SS Cornucopia (liquefied gas) and SS Trinity
(oil), both tankers.
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Michael Hussey and family |
As his career progressed and his family grew, Hussey received his
First Class Pilotage endorsement in 2001 and began piloting vessels
in Boston Harbor shortly thereafter. After the 9/11 tragedy, he
served two U.S. Navy recalls as an Officer in Charge (OIC) of a
Shipping Coordination Center with Fleet Forces Command and the Coast
Guard's Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center in Dam Neck, Virginia,
and received commendations from both services. Hussey continues
to serve as a Naval Reserve intelligence officer while working at
MITRE.
Hussey enjoys working for MITRE's Naval Program Directorate to
support MDA. "I was really lucky to meet up with Paul Odell, while
serving," says Hussey. "As a retired officer, Odell is a seasoned
veteran and has really helped me make a seamless transition from
the Navy to MITRE. I feel fortunate that I'm able to use my experience—both
my work as a mariner and my experience as an intelligence analyst
for the Naval Reserve—in my project work here at MITRE."
—by Robin Hartford and Kay M. Upham
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