DTAS Fielding and Training Plan-Pre-Fielding Message (Corrected Copy)

1. PURPOSE. OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (OSD)
HAS MANDATED EACH MILITARY SERVICE ENHANCE THEIR PERSONNEL SYSTEMS
TO CAPTURE AND REPORT HISTORICAL LOCATION INFORMATION ON DEPLOYED
PERSONNEL. MARFORPAC UNIVERSAL NEEDS STATEMENT ALSO IDENTIFIED
REQUIREMENT FOR MARINE CORPS TO HAVE ABILITY TO TRACK DEPLOYED
PERSONNEL. PER THE REFS MANPOWER AND RESERVE AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
(M-RA) AND MARINE CORPS SYSTEMS COMMAND (MCSC) HAVE INTEGRATED
EFFORTS WITH THE U.S. ARMY FIELD SYSTEMS DIRECTORATE (FSD) FOR
DEVELOPMENT OF DEPLOYED THEATER ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE (DTAS). 
OVER THE PAST EIGHT MONTHS DTAS HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY TESTED AND
FIELDED TO MARINE UNITS IN SUPPORT OF OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM 
OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (OIF-OEF). DTAS WILL BE USED TO CAPTURE
INDIVIDUAL DEPLOYED LOCATION INFORMATION FOR ALL FUTURE OIF
DEPLOYMENTS.
2. BACKGROUND
A. DTAS PROVIDES UNIT COMMANDERS AND HIGHER HEADQUARTERS STAFF WITH
AN EFFICIENT SIPRNET ENABLED CAPABILITY TO TRACK AND REPORT ALL
PERSONNEL ASSIGNED BY NAME-SSN, UNIT, AND LOCATION (6 DIGIT GRID
COORDINATE) ON A DAILY BASIS. DTAS PRODUCES PERSONNEL STATUS
(PERSTAT), JOINT PERSONNEL STATUS (JPERSTAT), AND OTHER PERSONNEL
ACCOUNTABILITY REPORTS AND POSTS THE DATA TO A CENTRAL REPOSITORY
ACCESSIBLE VIA SIPRNET.
B. MARCORSYSCOM CONDUCTED A THOROUGH GAP ANALYSIS BETWEEN DTAS AND
EXISTING MARINE CORPS DEPLOYED TRACKING APPLICATIONS AND HAS
DETERMINED THAT DTAS BEST MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED IN
PARAGRAPH 1. 
C. CURRENTLY DTAS OBTAINS MARINE PERSONNEL DATA FROM THE MARINE
CORPS TOTAL FORCE SYSTEM (MCTFS) AND USES DEFENSE MANPOWER DATA
CENTER (DMDC) DATA TO VALIDATE PERSONNEL INFORMATION.
D. ACCREDITATION AND APPROVAL TO OPERATE DTAS HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
MARCORSYSCOM, C4I-I, JUNE 22, 2005.
3. FIELDING PLAN.
A. DTAS TEAM WILL PROVIDE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS TO FIELD DTAS AND
HELP UNITS CONFIGURE THE SYSTEM TO MEET FORTHCOMING INITIALIZATION
REQUIREMENTS. UNITS WILL PROVIDE SIPRNET LAPTOPS FOR DTAS TEAM TO
LOAD DTAS SOFTWARE FOR CONNECTION AND ACTIVATION CAPABILITY.
B. INITIAL OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY (IOC) WAS ACHIEVED WHEN INITIAL
FIELDING, TESTING, AND SUCCESSFUL UNIT ACTIVATION OF DTAS WAS
ACHIEVED IN FEBRUARY 2005. FINAL OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY (FOC) FOR
DTAS WAS ACHIEVED WHEN 84 UNITS (MARINE UNITS AND OTHER SERVICE
UNITS ASSIGNED TO MARINE UNITS) UNDER COALITION FORCES LAND
COMPONENT COMMAND (CFLCC) HAD BEEN ACTIVATED AND TRAINED IN MARCH
2005. 
C. ALL MARINE CORPS UNITS PREPARING TO REPORT TO THE CENTCOM AREA
OF RESPONSIBILITY (AOR) MUST PREPARE THEMSELVES TO USE DTAS UPON
REPORTING TO THE AOR. 
D. DTAS WILL ADHERE TO A SPIRAL DEVELOPMENT APPROACH TO SATISFY
UNKNOWN FUTURE REQUIREMENTS. THEREFORE, TRAINING AND FIELDING WILL
CONTINUE WITH EVERY UPDATE-ENHANCEMENT OF DTAS. THE NEXT SCHEDULED
FIELDING IS THE AERIAL PORT OF DEBARKATION (APOD) MODULE IN JULY
2005 AND THE NEXT SOFTWARE RELEASE OF VERSION 3.0 DURING THE FIRST
QUARTER OF FY 2006.
4. STRATEGIC TRAINING.
A. IN PREPARATION FOR THE UPCOMMING MEF TURNOVER THE DTAS TEAM
WILL PROVIDE INSTRUCTOR LEVEL TRAINING 19-21 JULY 2005 AT MISSO-2
ABOARD CAMP JOHNSON. THE TARGET AUDIENCE FOR THIS TRAINING IS
REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE MEFS WHO WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONDUCTING
DTAS TRAINING FOR THEIR DEPLOYING UNITS. DURING NOVEMBER 2005 THE
MARINE THEATER MANAGER HELP DESK AND DTAS TEAM REPS WILL PROVIDE
DTAS SOFTWARE VERSION 3.0 TO USING UNITS AND PROVIDE TRAINING IN
THEATER PRIOR TO SCHEDULED FIELDING IN DECEMBER 2005.
B. INSTRUCTOR LEVEL TRAINING CONCENTRATES ON THE MOBILE SYSTEM,
I.E. SIPRNET LAPTOPS FOR G-1 AND S-1 REPRESENTATIVES, THEATER DATA
BASE MANAGEMENT AND BOTH THEATER AND ENTERPRISE DATA STORE
CAPABILITIES. ADMIN SECTION REPS WILL BE PROVIDED WITH HANDS ON
TRAINING, A WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF DTAS FUNCTIONALITY THAT RELATES TO
MOBILE USERS' DAILY TASKS, AND THE MANAGEMENT REQUIRED BY
HEADQUARTERS ELEMENTS. TRAINING INCLUDES AN INTRODUCTION TO DTAS
AND DATA STORE OUTPUT USING COGNOS SOFTWARE. 
C. UNIT LEVEL MOBILE SYSTEM AND THEATER MANAGEMENT TRAINING WILL BE
PROVIDED TO EACH DEPLOYING UNIT ADMINISTRATION OFFICE PRIOR TO
DEPLOYMENT. THE DTAS TEAM WILL PROVIDE TRAINING TO MISSO AND UNIT
LEVEL REPRESENTATIVES AS REQUIRED. THE LOCAL MISSO'S WILL PROVIDE A
DTAS OVERVIEW AS PART OF THE PRE-DEPLOYMENT SUPPORT FOR DEPLOYING
UNITS.
5. SUPPORT PLAN.
THERE ARE THREE LAYERS OF TECHNICAL SUPPORT: TIER I IS THE THEATER
MANAGERS (ARMY AND MARINE CORPS); TIER II IS THE ARMY'S FIELD
SYSTEMS DIRECTORATE (FSD), DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION; AND TIER
III IS THE DEVELOPER OF DTAS, ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS (EDS). EDS IS
RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING THE SOFTWARE AND THE THEATER AND
ENTERPRISE HARDWARE SUITES FOR HIGH LEVEL DTAS OPERATIONAL
CAPABILITY. THE FIRST RESPONDER TO ADDRESS ANY HARDWARE - SOFTWARE
ISSUES IS THE THEATER MANAGER AND THE LAST RESPONDER TO CORRECT
ESCALATED ISSUES IS THE DEVELOPER.
6. COORDINATING INSTRUCTIONS.
REQUEST THAT MARFORS PROVIDE A SINGLE POC AND ALSO PROVIDE POCS AT
MARCENT AND MEFS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INSTRUCTOR TRAINING AND
COORDINATE ALL INSTALLATION, OPERATION AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR
THEIR RESPECTIVE SUBORDINATE COMMANDS. PROVIDE LTCOL MARCUS MESSINA
AND KIL (PAUL) YOON WITH THE FOLLOWING POC INFORMATION NLT 15 JULY
2005: ORGANIZATION, NAME, RANK, TELEPHONE NUMBER, AND EMAIL ADDRESS.