Information_Systems_Paper

Information Systems Paper By Aram Abramyan CJA 570/Scott McMillan March 8, 2010 University of Phoenix, Online Introduction The United States of America is comprised many companies, organizations, and agencies, which contribute to our daily lives and they contribute to convenience of our daily routines. Some of these organizations and agencies are also directly responsible for the safety and the well being of the citizens and properties of this country. We often time take for granted how important and crucial these organizations are to us, and we often take for granted the consequences of what would happen in these organizations failed. The growth of technology had brought upon new changes and possibilities which seemed like only science fiction a few decades ago. We are able to do things that we never thought possible. The same applies to these organizations. One of the major tools of any organization, especially ones such as the CIA, NSA, or the Military, is their ability to monitor and communicate with operatives and soldiers around the world, and be able to provide air support and intelligence through aircrafts and dedicated satellites. If the information and the communication systems of any one of these organizations were to fail, then that would open a window of opportunity for terrorists and opposing country to attack the United States and our soldiers around the world. US Army The United States Army is an organization which built around the idea of teamwork and communication. I happen to be serving for the United States Army, and part of the California National Guard. The Army teaches its soldiers to constantly communicate with one another and also communicate with the chain of command, constantly providing situational reports and real time intelligence. There are many tools that the Army uses in order to communicate with one another. Often times, a forward observation unit would be miles and miles away from headquarters and backup. Their only source of communication is radios and Global Satellite Positioning systems. Such a unit might spend weeks on the field gathering information and transmitting it back to headquarters. An example of information gathered would be the number or enemy combatants, or the number of tanks and artillery that the enemy has, or even the uniform and the weapons that they are carrying. That kind of information and intelligence is crucial part of the success of any combat operation. Commanders depend on that information to plan the necessary strategy of the operation. If the information and the technology system of the Army were to fail, then it becomes obvious what kind of consequences it may have. The first thing that would happen would be that the forward observation unit will be stranded. They will have no form of communication or information with headquarter. A situation like that can become very dangerous because if the enemy spots the unit or attacks, then the boots on the ground will not have any means of requesting an extraction or requesting air support. They will almost certainly be capture or killed. The domino effect of that the commanders will have no clue what the enemy is doing and when they are planning and attack and so on. It can potentially change the outcome of a battle and create a lot of problems for the Army. We have looked at the possibility of what might happen if one unit was to lose their communication systems with the rest of the force. Now, let’s take that and multiply it and look at it in a total force situation. We are currently fighting two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, and at the same time we straining our resources to prevent any attack in the United States. If the entire military’s information systems were to fail, then the consequences would be almost impossible to imagine. The country would be open against attacks, our soldiers would be stranded on the battle field, our transportation systems would be unprotected, and missile systems would be rendered useless without the operations of our information and technology systems. In sense, it would create complete chaos for our military fighting abroad, the people in the United States. Conclusion The United States Army and the rest of the military is constantly dependent on the information and technology systems to collect and share intelligence around the world, which in turn provides safety for the United States, its citizens and soldiers at home and abroad. If these systems were to fail, it would create disaster for everyone. We often times take for granted how fragile and crucial these systems are, and in order to avoid such disaster, we all need to take the necessary steps and measure to constantly monitor and upgrade our systems to prevent any future failures.