Attachment T - COMSCINST_5290.1.pdf

COMSCINST 5290.1

PM9

COMSC INSTRUCTION 5290.1

From: Commander, Military Sealift Command

Subj: MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND VISUAL INFORMATION PROGRAM

Ref: (a) OPNAVINST 3104.1A

(b) Fleet VI CONOPS ltr of 2 Jul 15

(c) COMUSFLTFORCOM NORFOLK VA R 011001Z Oct 19 ZYB

(d) COMSCINST 3502.2

1. Purpose. To provide an overview and associated policies, roles and responsibilities for the Military Sealift Command (MSC) Visual Information (VI) program.

2. Background. The term VI refers to the visual evidence collected to document unsafe and unprofessional encounters with foreign military (excluding allied and partner) vessels and aircraft. References (a) through (c) provide Navy-wide VI policy and stipulate that ships at sea must be VI-capable on a 24/7 basis. This applies to all ocean-going MSC vessels that are government-owned or long-term-chartered – referred to below as “MSC units” or “MSC ships.”

Execution of the VI mission presents an unique challenge for MSC due to the relatively small size of our crews, limited off-ship data transmission capabilities and a continuous readiness strategy that does not allow for the pre-deployment training periods available in the phased readiness cycle employed by U.S. Navy combatant ships. That challenge aside, reference (c) characterizes VI as a “no-fail” mission and the MSC enterprise must ensure that units are manned, trained and equipped to ensure compliance. The Director, Public Affairs and Outreach (N02P) shall maintain overall responsibility and oversight of the VI program.

3. Policy. All ocean-going MSC vessels that are government-owned or long-term-chartered must be VI-capable while at sea per reference (c). The term “ocean-going,” for the purposes of this instruction, is defined as routinely operated beyond territorial seas (normally understood to be greater than 12 nautical miles from shore). “Long-term-chartered” is defined as a vessel chartered by MSC for greater than 365 days. The Civil Service Mariner (CIVMAR) or Contracted Mariner (CONMAR) crews in these vessels are to be capable of executing VI and will be provided equipment to assist in doing so by MSC. Exceptions to this policy must be documented in writing, typically via a memorandum of agreement or other formal document.

a. Personnel Designated to Perform VI Duties. For ships manned by CIVMARs, the mariner competency matrices, located in the Safety Management System (SMS) section of the MSC portal, designate personnel to perform VI duties by ship type. In ships operated by CONMARs, operating companies are responsible for designating personnel to execute VI duties.

30 Oct 2020

Designated CIVMARs, must receive VI training prior to reporting to the unit and CIVMAR Masters are encouraged to request training for additional personnel as desired. VI training prior to reporting to the unit and CIVMAR Masters are encouraged to request training for additional personnel as desired.

b. Training and Assessment. VI training is required at the individual and unit level per references (c) and (d). Individual training shall address the operational and procedural, photographic/videographic and information technology lines of effort that support producing VI.

For CIVMARs operating Government-Owned and -Operated (GOGO) ships, individual VI training will be included in the training pipeline created by the Marine Placement Specialists (MPSs). For contracted mariners CONMAR’s operating both government and contracted operated and Contractor Owned and Contracted Operated (GOCO/COCO) ships, VI proficiency requirements shall be specified in operating company (OPCO) contracts. Unit-level VI training for all government-owned ships (GOGO/GOCO) shall be conducted and assessed regularly by ship’s masters and the Afloat Training Team (ATT) per reference (c), and during designated availabilities as detailed in reference (d). The intent of unit-level assessments is to measure whole-of-unit readiness as required by reference (c).

c. Equipment Procurement and Life Cycle Management. VI kits provided to MSC units are comprised of photographic equipment (cameras, night vision devices, lenses, filters and tripods), as well as Information Technology (IT) hardware and software (laptop computers, applications, DVD drives and Next Unit of Computing mini-devices). N02P is responsible for the procurement and life-cycle management of all VI-related equipment – except IT equipment. The Director, Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems/Chief Information Officer (C4S/CIO) (N6) is responsible for the procurement and life-cycle management of all VI-related IT equipment.

d. Tracking Readiness. Per reference (c), Area Commanders (ACs) as the Immediate- Superior-in-Command (ISIC) and Commander, MSC (COMSC) as the Type Commander, are required to track unit-level VI personnel and materiel readiness. ACs must maintain accurate readiness information for ships in their area of responsibility and the Director, Operations and Plans (N2/3/5) at COMSC will maintain similar information covering all VI-capable MSC vessels. When the capability becomes available in the Defense Readiness Reporting System (DRRS), VI readiness maybe tracked via that means.

4. Transmission of VI Products. VI products include PowerPoint graphics, emails, still photographs and videos up to 60-seconds in length. Due to their size, video files in particular, cannot be transmitted, within the time constraints specified in reference (c) using existing MSC shipboard network technology and transmission capabilities. Reference (c) requires that units use the SPAWAR Acquisition Integrated Logistics Online Repository (SAILOR) web tool found at https://sailor.navy.mil to transmit video files, however only MSC ships equipped with the Common PC Operating System Environment (COMPOSE)/Integrated Shipboard Network System (ISNS) or Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) network architectures are capable of doing so.

MSC units that are unable to use SAILOR, must use alternative means for transmitting large video files, such as segmenting files prior to transmission using the Elemental application and hardware provided in their VI kits. Segmented videos must then be sent to the GovCloud or to an address designated by the applicable Operational Commander, where they can be transcoded for follow-on distribution.

5. Responsibilities

a. Director, Public Affairs and Outreach (N02P). Must maintain overall responsibility for the management of MSC’s VI program, including policies, projects, operations and equipment.

b. Visual Information Program Manager (N02P). The VI Program Manager shall assist the Director, Public Affairs and Outreach (N02P) in day-to-day execution and management of MSC’s VI program. This individual shall:

(1) Procure VI equipment.

(2) Develop and manage the System Development Life-Cycle (SDLC) for VI equipment

– IT excepted.

(3) Deploy, maintain, and sustain VI systems and capabilities for MSC afloat units, ensuring that all deployed/deploying ships have operable VI kits and that a requisite number of spares are available at forward locations.

(4) Ensure VI equipment inventory management is in accordance with Navy Comptroller and Naval Supply Systems Command property management directives.

(5) Provide MSC units with a centralized management point of contact for VI policy and equipment.

(6) Implement and ensure MSC compliance with applicable Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Navy VI directives, instructions and those portions of security, public affairs and other operational instructions pertinent to VI.

(7) Review operational requirements and provide technical advice to all MSC units in support of VI mission requirements.

(8) Evaluate present and future VI requirements and recommend acquisition and distribution of appropriate VI equipment required to meet MSC requirements.

(9) Serve as the VI training curriculum manager.

(10) Determine processes and metrics to gauge VI program health and communicate to leadership and other stakeholders.

(11) Report VI equipment shortfalls or unique MSC requirements to the Commander, United States Fleet Forces or Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet VI Managers.

(12) Represent MSC interests at various DoD, service, joint, systems commands, interagency and industry VI forums.

(13) Coordinate with the MSC Comptroller, Director, Corporate Operations, Director, Training and Readiness (N04T), Director, Total Force Management (TFM) (N1), N2/3/5 and N6 to formulate program objective memorandum, presidential budget and future year defense plan issue papers to satisfy capability gaps and resource shortfalls required to meet VI requirements.

c. Director, Total Force Management (N1 TFM). Provide trained CIVMARs to fill billets to which VI duties are assigned, as detailed in the SMS competency matrix.

(1) Manage the delivery of individual CIVMAR VI training.

(2) Certify and audit union and private sector schools that provide VI training.

(3) Certify training providers’ instructors to teach MSC-approved VI courses.

(4) Develop current and out-year budgets to ensure the provision of adequate individual VI training resources.

d. Director, Ship Management (DSM) (N03)

(1) In conjunction with the Director, Maritime Operations (DMO), monitor VI readiness throughout a ship’s readiness cycle, in accordance with class-specific Force generation (Fg) models.

(2) Ensure that program managers account for VI readiness requirements in executing force generation, including unit-level training and assessment events.

(3) For GOCO ships, ensure that OPCO contracts detail VI mission capability requirements.

e. Director, Training and Readiness (N04T)

(1) Develop and promulgate VI training requirements for CIVMARs.

(2) Develop and promulgate unit-level VI training and assessment requirements for MSC’s government-owned vessels.

(3) Ensure that personnel with VI subject matter expertise are assigned to the Afloat Training Team (ATT).

(4) Ensure that the DRRS includes VI readiness metrics for MSC and that these metrics are collected and assessed.

(5) Develop current and out-year budgets to ensure the provision of adequate unit VI training resources.

f. Director, Operations and Plans (N2/3/5)

(1) Coordinate ship availability for unit-level training and assessments.

(2) Enter completed VI assessments into the Fleet Scheduling Center Calendar.

(3) Track VI readiness across the force and provide periodic reports to the COMSC.

g. Director, Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems/Chief Information Officer (C4S/CIO) (N6)

(1) Provide systems engineering support, to include designing, securing, developing, testing, and releasing required command, control, communications, and computers and intelligence (C4I) capabilities, and provide expert analyses in support of acquiring and integrating VI capabilities into the MSC C4I enterprise.

(2) Ensure that cybersecurity is incorporated into all phases of the VI system development life-cycle (SDLC).

(3) Procure and sustain IT equipment for VI.

(4) Ensure that all units operating the ISNS/COMPOSE or CANES network architectures install and maintain artifacts required to employ the SAILOR web tool.

(5) Serve as the functional advisor and primary interface for cloud capabilities required to support VI data transmission.

h. DMO (N04). In conjunction with the DSM, monitor VI readiness throughout a ship’s readiness cycle in accordance with class-specific Fg models.

i. Area Commanders. Track VI readiness across the area of responsibility and provide periodic reports to COMSC.

j. Ship Masters and, Officers-in-Charge

(1) Ensure that assigned VI kits are complete, operable and maintained in a ready condition when at sea.

(2) Ensure that sufficient, trained personnel are available to perform the VI mission on a 24/7 basis while at sea per appropriate competency matrix or applicable operating company requirements.

(3) Exercise off-ship data bandwidth management to ensure VI products are disseminated to applicable parties within specified timelines as detailed in reference (c).

(4) Notify ISIC and COMSC of any personnel, training, and/or equipment issues that hinder the execution of VI.

6. Records Management. Records created as a result of this instruction, regardless of media and format, must be managed in accordance with reference SECNAV M-5210.1 CH-1, the DON Records Management Manual.

7. Review and Effective Date. Per OPNAVINST 5215.17A, PM9 will review this instruction annually on the anniversary of its effective date to ensure applicability, currency, and consistency with Federal, DoD, SECNAV, and Navy policy and statutory authority using OPNAV 5215/40 Review of Instruction. This instruction will be in effect for five years, unless revised or cancelled in the interim and will be reissued by the five year anniversary date if it is still required, unless it meets one of the exceptions in OPNAVINST 5215.17A, paragraph 9.

Otherwise, if the instruction is no longer required, it will be processed for cancellation as soon as the need for cancellation is known following the guidance in OPNAV Manual 5215.1 of May 2016.

M. A. WETTLAUFER

Releasability and distribution:

This instruction is cleared for public release and is available electronically only via MSC Intranet Publications Web site, https://msc.navy.deps.mil/policies/Pages/Directives.aspx