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Conference Looks at Support to NATO Ops in Afghanistan

SUMMARY

A newly held Five Eyes conference in Ottawa, Canada, discussed signals intelligence issues related to the International Security Assistance Force’s effort to provide security in Afghanistan.

DOCUMENT’S DATE

Mar 30, 2006

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

Aug 15, 2018

TAGS

Afghanistan

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Page 1 from Conference Looks at Support to NATO Ops in Afghanistan
DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL (TS//SI) Conference Looks at Support to NATO Ops in Afghanistan FROM: Chief, Afghan Branch (S2A44) Run Date: 03/30/2006 (TS//SI) Representatives from NSAW and NSA/CSS Georgia (NSAG) along with all four Second Parties met in Ottawa, Canada, from 24-26 January 2006 to discuss the way forward with regard to providing SIGINT support to all countries participating in the NATO/International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) effort to provide security in Afghanistan. This was the third conference during the past year to address critical issues affecting the Afghan target - the first was held at NSAW in February 2005, while the second took place in Ottawa four months later. (U//FOUO) Canadian Forces Station Leitrim (S) The conference was held at Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Leitrim and was co-hosted by Lt Col Mazzolin, Station Commander, and CSE's Afghan Event Manager. Upwards of 75 people attended the conference. The U.S. delegation of approximately 20 individuals came from various organizations, including: the Near East/South Asia (NESA) Issue Managers Team, S1, S2, S3, the Foreign Affairs Directorate (FAD), S2 and S3 at NSAG, the former and future NSA/CSS Representative (NCR) Afghanistan, NCR CENTCOM, Army Technical Control and Analysis Element (ATCAE), the Army Cryptologic Office (ACO), and the current Office-in-Charge at Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan (CFC-A). (TS//SI) Participants were divided into two working groups - along national and theater lines to discuss various topics. However, several presentations of mutual concern were delivered to the entire audience. Subjects addressed during the conference included: target communications overviews, available linguistic resources, Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) usage in Afghanistan, environmental surveys by several partners, the status and future of the Remote Operations Control Center (ROC-C, built by ACO in Bagram in 2005), FAD's CENTER ICE collaboration system, and the status of the ISAF transition. Approximately 25 actions were generated during the conference and assigned to various individuals/groups for resolution. (S) While there are still issues to be worked, all of the participants agreed that this conference was highly successful and laid the groundwork for a smooth transition to the NATO/ISAF takeover of Afghan security in 2006. (TS//SI) A five-eyes GSM-only meeting took place at NSAW in late February; detailed discussions addressed issues such as current access, collection gaps, initiatives to close the gaps, and network mapping. A follow-on to the Ottawa conference is scheduled for NSAW in early April to update everyone on the status of the action list.
Page 2 from Conference Looks at Support to NATO Ops in Afghanistan
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet without the consent of S0121 (DL sid comms)." DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108