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Rapid Prototype Process Creates State-of-the-Art Intelligence Training Tool Michael C. Higgins 
raining military intelligence staff includes developing complicated scenarios and exercises that are realistic enough to sharpen critical skills. For example, in the scenario "Terrorist Attack on the Island of Oahu," several different kinds of attacks occurred within a short timeframe—involving bombings, riots, and chemical attacks—launched by two separate groups. Numerous military services from the United States, as well as from Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, participated in this 2003 exercise. The scenarios were richer and easier to produce, thanks to a tool called the Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Exercise Scripting Support System (CHESSS). MITRE was instrumental in creating this capability through the use of a rapid prototyping approach and is transferring the technology both to the Department of Defense and to commercial manufacturers. The need for a tool such as CHESSS was highlighted by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The U.S. Pacific Command Joint counterintelligence coordinating staff (USPACOM J2XCI)—which leads and coordinates joint and combined military counterintelligence, human intelligence, and criminal investigative service operations—has worked hard to improve its field training and command post training via the Vigilant Shield joint and combined exercises held in Hawaii and Australia. This series of exercises aids in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the command, control, communications, and computers used by the joint groups in support of combined military counterintelligence, human intelligence, and criminal investigation. The USPACOM J2XCI asked MITRE to help design, develop, and deploy a new secure Web-based prototype to improve the richness and quality of the Vigilant Shield scenarios, as well as the efficiency of the scripting development process. The CHESSS portal provides information and tools to help configure exercises, create story lines and roles, assign locations, etc. Before CHESSS, USPACOM J2XCI used ad hoc processes and manual methods to develop its complex exercise scenarios and scripts. It had few documented procedures available to support its novice scriptwriters. Thus it took a great deal of time to produce high-quality scenarios and scripts, particularly those that required collaboration among participants spanning time zones. CHESSS, however, saves limited resources by:
Lessons in Prototyping The successful development of CHESSS illustrates important lessons in concept development, prototyping, and technology transfer. Lesson 1: Share Information Place an early and continuing emphasis on communications among all team members to build a close working relationship. This is crucial to understanding the sponsor's needs and concerns; and through regular communication you can clearly define a sponsor's problem and the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders involved in the project. Also, through communication you can help educate the sponsor on the various ways in which current and emerging technologies could be used in solving the problem. It's also important to remain objective and neutral while discussing requirements with the sponsor to ensure a clean development slate. With CHESSS, we set up regular communications between the MITRE team and the sponsor's team, as well as among MITRE team members located in Bedford, Massachusetts, McLean, Virginia, and the sponsor's base of Honolulu, Hawaii. We employed all the communication methods available to us: video teleconferencing, teleconferencing, MITRE's internal Web site, a list server, e-mail, Instant Messaging, and face-to-face visits. Lesson 2: System Design Appraise all factors when determining an appropriate prototype design approach. Carefully consider the duration of the project; the availability, amount, and type of funds; development resources, including hardware, software, and labs; the number and type of sponsor agencies; the complexity of the proposed prototype; and security and accreditation requirements. When MITRE weighed the factors involved in developing CHESSS, security was one of our chief concerns. Because CHESSS would operate at the Secret level, security drove the design, choice of tools and technologies and engineers (clearances), and created a requirement for accreditation. Lesson 3: Storyboarding Storyboarding helps ensure that the development team understands the requirements of the sponsor, and it enables the team to more clearly articulate the technical requirements to members not familiar with all aspects of the work. Storyboarding serves as an excellent visual tool. However, the first prototype applications often prove to be the best means by which sponsor and engineering teams can understand the evolution of the prototype and refine it further. MITRE created an interactive storyboard, using MS Visual Studio Net, of the various CHESSS pages. This storyboard allowed users to understand the design layout, functions, links to databases, and other features. Lesson 4: Spiral Development Using a spiral development model is often conducive to prototyping and rapid application development. Spiral development promotes an iterative process between the sponsor and development team and allows for a continuous reevaluation of the system to refine its design. The phases of development (requirements analysis, design, development, and testing) are seen as a cycle in the model, and you can build up the functionality and quality of the product incrementally with each round of the cycle. Through this model, developers can work closely with stakeholders through all phases of development in setting and managing expectations. This helps the sponsor take ownership of the prototype and thus encourage its development, production, and implementation. We employed a rapid prototyping model based on a timeline of days, not months, in developing CHESSS. By using the MITRE Web portal to host the early prototype (keeping the project development unclassified as long as possible), we made it easier to demonstrate CHESSS to the sponsor and to allow stakeholders in locations across the globe to review, test, and provide feedback on the project. Through the feedback supplied by the spiral development process, our team compiled users' lists of "wants and needs" to ensure that all issues were considered, agreed on, and prioritized. We demonstrated the prototype to the sponsor on a weekly basis. Each cycle allowed MITRE and the sponsor to define "objectives for success" for each milestone. Lesson 5: Training When building a unique prototype, it is important to develop a hands-on training program to ensure that all users thoroughly understand how to use it. After each training session, gather feedback and recommendations from end users through discussions and surveys, and use this feedback in improving the system. MITRE employed just such a training program to ensure that USPACOM J2XCI staff and coalition users (from Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom) were sufficiently skilled in the application of CHESSS to use it successfully in the Vigilant Shield exercises. Lesson 6: Testing and Documentation Capture key installation and user documentation notes during development, rather than try to retrace those steps later. Testing and documentation help keep development teams focused on the fact they will eventually have to turn their prototype over to the sponsor, who will have to know how to install, use, and maintain the system. Through MITRE's thorough documentation efforts, the USPACOM J2XCI had no difficulties in employing CHESSS when it debuted at the Vigilant exercise. Lesson 7: Technology Transfer When developing a prototype that may be used outside the sponsor's domain, make sure to use an adaptable design. As CHESSS would not be limited in use solely to USPACOM J2XCI, we designed the prototype so that it could easily be adapted to domain areas beyond intelligence. CHESSS now supports exercises around the world, with a user base that includes the 8th U.S. Army in Korea, the Counterintelligence Field Activity, the U.S. Southern Command, the Joint Readiness Training Center, and the Joint Forces Command. We transitioned the prototype software system to the U.S. military and its contractor engineering support team so that the contractors could develop the operational system for further configuration control, enhancements, operation, and maintenance. While delivering the CHESSS prototype to the U.S. military was a straightforward process, honoring the requests of foreign governments such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom for copies of CHESSS required our team to look to the MITRE Technology Transfer Office for help. MITRE began developing CHESSS in July 2002. Following the lessons described above allowed us to help put CHESSS into operation in time for the Vigilant Shield exercise held in July 2003. We continue to work closely with sponsors to transfer CHESSS to other military groups who will apply this technology in a wide variety of exercises. |
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| For more information, please contact Michael C. Higgins using the employee directory. Page last updated: January 7, 2005 | Top of page |
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