Combat Service Support (CSS) SATCOM

The Combat Service Support (CSS) SATCOM provides wideband Non Secure Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNET) connectivity to all major sustainment nodes across the Army. The CSS SATCOM enables deployed maneuver and support battalions to reach key sites located in the continental United States (CONUS) and in sanctuary. It is combined with the wireless CSS Automated Information Systems Interface (CAISI) system to provide flexible connectivity down to the unit level logistics systems (ULLS) ground, and ULLS-S4 system.

After achieving unprecedented success with their Combat Service Support Very Small Aperture Terminal (CSS VSAT) satellite communications network at the National Training Center (NTC), Ft. Irwin, Calif., the Army's first unit of action, the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) of Ft. Stewart, Ga. began testing the network in Kuwait, as part of deploying once again to Iraq in 2005.

The combination of CSS VSAT and the Combat Service Support Automated Information Systems Interface (CAISI) - a wireless interface which plugs the system into a local area network, or to a wide area network - increases readiness by giving Combat Service Support (CSS) Soldiers in the field the ability to electronically transmit supply requisitions and receive near-real time status reports on their orders, 24-hours-a day, seven-days-a-week.

The use of CSS VSAT/CAISI - which were fielded to the 3ID by the Product Manager, Defense Wide Transmission Systems (PM DWTS), part of the Ft. Monmouth, N.J.-based Project Manager, Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (PM DCATS) - also enhances force protection by greatly reducing the need for Soldiers to get into convoys and risk being ambushed in "dropping disks" (hand-delivering disks) containing detailed logistics orders to other locations, or in travelling to maintenance meetings, which they can conduct "virtually" via CSS VSAT/CAISI.