MITRE On–Site Support Helps Post–Earthquake Japan Get Back on its Feet

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MITRE On-Site Support Helps Post-Earthquake Japan Get Back on its Feet

November 2011

Tens of thousands of people displaced, missing, or dead, concerns about radiation, and continuous aftershocks have become the new normal in Japan, after the devastating earthquake and powerful tsunami of March 11, 2011.

Mo Danesh, a MITRE principal communications engineer, and the project leader for MITRE's Japan programs was visiting the corporation's Tokyo site when the earthquake struck. "Along with the rest of the world, we at MITRE Tokyo soon became aware of the horrendous scope of destruction 200 miles north in Sendai, via round-the-clock television news coverage."

At the exact moment the earthquake hit—on a Friday afternoon—Danesh and several of his associates were in a third-floor conference room at a Japan Air Defense Command building at Fuchu Air Station, a 40-minute drive northwest of Tokyo. They were in the midst of a two-day seminar on tools for a military tactical data link system. Meanwhile, two other colleagues were at Ichigaya base in central Tokyo, working on the U.S.-Japan bilateral military data-sharing network known as CENTRIXS-JPN.

MITRE's history of supporting military partners in Japan extends back several decades. For the last 40-plus years, the company has maintained a Tokyo site; the current five-person office is supported by MITRE staff worldwide. The office provides on-site guidance and expertise to the Japan Ministry of Defense's (MoD) Joint Staff and Air Staff in multiple areas, including a next-generation air defense system to include Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) for Japan, command and control, interoperability between Japanese and American military systems, cybersecurity, and networking.

When the Great Tohoku Earthquake—as the world now calls it—struck, Danesh and four other MITRE engineers, along with their meeting hosts from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force either ducked under tables or ran to stand in doorframes. Simultaneously, at Ichigaya base, MITRE engineers Ken King and Dan Brandsma located below ground thought of the 20 floors swaying above them, and as soon as they could, quickly exited the building alongside other MoD staff.

Within hours, the U.S. military had commenced Operation Tomodachi, a U.S. Armed Forces assistance operation to support Japan's disaster relief. The scale of Operation Tomodachi was massive: within days, 20 naval ships, 140 aircraft, and almost 20,000 U.S. Marines and sailors were involved in humanitarian missions and disaster relief efforts in and around Japan. MITRE was quick—and ready—to join the endeavor, by applying technological know-how and essential knowledge about Japan's networks to establish connectivity to the direst locations.

Swift Thinking

One of MITRE's first tasks led by Ken King, the task lead in Tokyo, occurred during the three days after the quake. The team developed alternatives for getting a two-way video-teleconference (VTC) capability up and running to the new Operation Tomadachi Joint Task Force Headquarters in Sendai, the hardest-hit area of the country.

"For the past four years, we've contributed to the design of the MoD's major command network, which was already connected to Sendai base," says Danesh. "Therefore, we applied our understanding of the existing infrastructure to quickly get an interim VTC operating to the region."

During the second week of Operation Tomodachi—which means "friend" in Japanese—the Japan MoD decided it was critical to accelerate upgrades of CENTRIXS-JPN. "The MoD asked MITRE to coordinate the upgrade of the CENTRIXS-JPN backbone in Japan to 80 times its original capacity," explains Danesh.

Just a year earlier, MITRE had gained consensus between the U.S. and Japan for upgrading CENTRIXS-JPN from low bandwidth point-to-point serial circuits to a network defined by secure segments, known as "black core." The team finished the first phase of the upgrade in late 2010. MITRE had already completed the design and had recently finished an integration and checkout process.

"The combination of the IP conversion of CENTRIXS-JPN with the black core upgrades provided the necessary infrastructure to support the bandwidth increase," says Danesh. "MITRE's forward thinking and preparation paid off sooner than anyone expected—the system became a vital component in support of Operation Tomodachi."

A Friend in Need

Not only did MITRE's groundwork allow an immediate upgrade to CENTRIXS-JPN, it also leaves room to handle additional bandwidth increases in the future for MoD facilities. Since the earthquake, MITRE has expanded its role to performing the overall CENTRIXS-JPN network design, specification, and configuration. On-site staff has also conducted training for set up and operation of network communications security devices.

"Because MITRE is already so familiar with these major command networks—it's work we've been performing on an ongoing basis—we are able to accomplish these sudden, unpredictable tasks," Danesh says. "We consider it our duty to support our partners and friends with the best technical knowledge, especially in moments of great need."

MITRE Personnel Offer Firsthand Accounts of Earthquake

"Having lived in Japan many years, I'm no stranger to earthquakes, or so I thought," says Ken King, a systems engineer and MITRE Tokyo's site leader. On Friday, March 11, King and Dan Brandsma, lead information systems engineer, were located two levels below ground in the Japan MoD Central Command Post. "Dan and I were situated between racks of equipment and a ceiling pillar during a very long period of side-to-side shaking," says King. "There was no building sway since we were deep underground—we felt the direct movement of the earth."

Brandsma estimates that the duration of the quake was two-and-a-half minutes. "I remember thinking that this was an awful long time to be shaking," he says. "And I wondered about how much damage there would be on the surface."

Both emerged from the building, along with other MoD staff, to see surprisingly little damage to Tokyo. "There was no panic or commotion—everyone was very quiet," King recalls. The pair, much like everyone else in the metropolitan area, set off on foot for a several-hour walk home.

There were 11 people from MITRE in Japan at the moment the Great Tohoku earthquake rumbled, six of whom are based at the corporation's Tokyo site. The other five were traveling on business.

"I was at a bank ATM near Fuchu Air Station, forty minutes south of Tokyo," says Janice Watanabe, a staff writer and editor at MITRE Tokyo. "I expected the shaking to pass quickly, like other quavers I've experienced, but it became clear this wasn't a common tremor." Utility poles, power lines, and the tops of large gingko trees shuddered and swayed. "Everyone was looking for something to hold onto," Watanabe remembers. "Traffic came to a halt, but everyone was very composed." At Watanabe's Tokyo-area fifth-floor apartment, her piano had shifted away from the living room wall, and books and papers were strewn around. "But I turned on the television news, and I was stunned and saddened to see what happened in the north of the country," she says.

Watanabe, a Japanese native, offers some perspective on how her nation is handling the crisis. "Some of the core principles of the Japanese spirit include 'gaman,' which means to have patience and bear what may be unpleasant," she says. "'Hitoni meiwaku wo kakenai' means not to inconvenience others or cause them trouble, while 'nakayoku suru' means to get along well with others and maintain harmony, and 'gambaranakucha' is the idea of persevering and doing one's best. These values will no doubt help the Japanese through the tremendous challenges ahead."

—by Cheryl Scaparrotta

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