Could one of America's highest-tech military tools be turned against this country? A general says "no" - not without inside help.
But a technician who demonstrated the system to the Deseret News said that sort of help could be forced from prisoners of war.The tool is the Global Command and Control System, a military version of the Internet that can be accessed through ordinary communications lines. GCCS is one of the brightest stars of the Software Technology Conference going on in the Salt Palace through Friday.
The conference has drawn thousands of military officers, civilian contractors, academics, government officials and software system manufacturers.
Many businesses and military branches have set up booths in the Salt Palace, but ordinary Utahns should not expect to see them. Security is so heavy that no reporters are allowed inside unless they have special conference credentials or escorts.
GCCS allows battlefield commanders, officers aboard Navy ships, Air Force base air traffic controllers and many others to see deployment of ships and planes throughout the world, in startling detail.
Lt. Gen. William J. Donahue, Air Force deputy chief of staff for communications and information, said it is the secret military command and control version of the Internet.
Commanders emphasize that GCCS is being integrated throughout all of the services. Remote users can even tie into the system by way of TELNET or SPRINTNET, using the telephone.
The global command system was a main topic of a press conference held among commanders of the Marines, Air Force, Army and the Defense Information Systems Agency Tuesday afternoon. They met with reporters - most of whom were from specialty publications covering the military - in the Doubletree Hotel.
Asked about the possibility that GCCS could fall into enemy hands, Maj. Gen. David A. Kelley, vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, said the biggest threat would be from the inside, a traitor giving information to unfriendly forces. The danger wouldn't be from the capture of a terminal, he said.
Anyone who captured part of the system would need to know the cryptography and the key to the system, which changes from day to day, he said.
But at the software conference itself, a military expert who demonstrated the system said a terminal could be captured and turned to the enemy's benefit. It would take the cooperation of some American technician - perhaps acting with a gun to his head - but it could happen.
During the conference, the demonstration screen was displaying detailed information about every ship and plane in this country's arsenal, including exact positions and heading.
Could that much information show up on a terminal in enemy hands?
"Yes, sir. Yes, sir," one military expert said Tuesday when asked if such a scenario could happen. "There's a lot of information at our fingertips."
During the press conference, Donahue said GCCS has "a capability that's really powerful." Every time it is used in military exercises, new potential is discovered, he said.
"We're putting it in every single Air Force base," he added. Speakers said it is also on all 350 of the Navy's ships. Battlefield commanders would be able to track progress of units involved in combat.
Lt. Gen. Otto J. Guenther, the Army's director of information systems for command, control, communications and computers, said the system is not going to prevent friendly fire casualties.
"It provides some situational awareness, but it still does not give you the positive ID" needed in combat to prevent friendly fire. "It does help," he added.
Maj. Gen. David A. Richwine of the Marine Corps cited the advantages of such an information system in helping protect Americans in Europe. He said Marines were stationed off the Albanian coast and were able to see images through the military's version of the Internet. The pictures were helpful in planning for the evacuation of American citizens from Albania.
Asked the source of the views, he said they came "from one of our servers in Europe."
Are the pictures taken from above, such as by aircraft, which would help in knowing how to evacuate? Richwine would only answer, "They're a variety of images." *****
Additional Information
A possible scenario for a terrible takeover
Here's a nightmare about what conceivably could go wrong with the Global Command and Control System, which funnels details of military deployment through a military version of the Internet:
World War III has started. A Navy guided-missile cruiser, the USS Pueblo II, sailing off the North Korean coast, is captured by a lightning commando raid. Before the captain can order its destruction, an enemy squad takes over the GCCS computer center.
A terrified technician, injected with a drug that ensures cooperation and facing a gun at his forehead, is ordered to type in the log-on and the password that the GCCS requires. The stunned sailor does as commanded.
A world map appears on the computer screen. It has symbols to show every U.S., allied, enemy and unknown plane, submarine, surface ship and troop unit in the world. Not only are U.S. and allied forces represented, but so are those of enemies and "unknown" vessels. Even fishing ships are detailed.
Col. Kim barks an order for the technician to zero in on the Southwest Asian theater, where some of the fiercest fighting has been going on.
A maze of details pop up, a close-up version showing that theater. At Kim's order, the technician double-clicks on one of the dots and a chart appears with a host of data: nationality and type of this aircraft, its exact position, its heading.
Kim forces the technician to explain the information.
"That's a stealth bomber heading toward Moammar's main airfield!" he exclaims to his radioman. "Tell I Corps to aim its missiles at the following intercept location. . . ."