Department of Defense, Defense Support to Civil Authorities, Automated Support System (DDASS)

Description and Background

DDASS (DEE-dass) is a web-enabled Government software application developed and hosted by the Army Geospatial Center (AGC) to manage (i.e., collaborate, coordinate and prioritize) FEMA Mission Assignments (MAs) assigned to the Department of Defense in real time. DDASS provides the automated means for a Defense Coordinating Unit (DCU, one assigned to each FEMA region), to validate MAs and allow for all Orders, Requests for Forces (RFFs) and FEMA MA forms to be associated with specific missions and provides multiple commands situational swareness to view and respond to mission critical actions. DDASS serves as the backbone to support the DoD’s Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) responsibilities assigned primarily to U.S. Northern Command (NORAD/NORTHCOM) and supported, in turn, by two other Combatant Commands, U.S. Pacific Command (US PACOM) and U.S. Southern Command (US SOUTHCOM), as required.

Capabilities

DDASS is used to control the Validation and Approval Process for each MA, from request by a DCE through approval by the Secretary of Defense; the sourcing process by the Combatant Command; mission tracking and funding, all accomplished through the MA manger. The manager is adaptable to serve a variety of user defined functions via a filtering capability that allows MAs to be viewed and sorted by FEMA region, precedence, incident and other factors. DDASS also provides a forensic capability to show User ID, date/time stamped actions for each MA as well as hosting additions and modifications as they move through the validation, approval and sourcing processes providing an audit trail. The data that is displayed on DDASS is exportable as KML, making it visible in many GIS systems such as Google Earth™ extending its utility. Funding for each Event and MA is also tracked to the penny via its Reimbursable Funds Manager.

Benefits

DDASS allows DSCA mission decision makers to collaborate, coordinate and prioritize missions in real time supplanting the former paper and file folder methods of DSCA coordination. Other benefits of DDASS are that it is:

• Unclassified
  • DDASS operates in an unclassified environment, making access to its data easier among other U.S. Government agencies.
• Ubiquitous
  • Because of its web-enabled form, DDASS is available anywhere an Internet connection can be established.
• Designed for low-bandwidth conditions
  • DDASS is designed to operate where bandwidth resources are minimal, such as at or near a DSCA incident.

• An Army software reuse success story

  • DDASS form and functionalities were patterned after JADOCS, the Joint Automated Deep Operations Coordination System; a system used today to track, prioritize and coordinate High Value, Time Sensitive Targets. Much of the software for DDASS was taken directly from JADOCS.

Points of Contact: Dr. John Karpiscak, Michael Reck;, U.S. Army Geospatial Center (ATTN: CEAGC-GSA); 7701 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 22315; (703) 428-6708; e-mail: john.karpiscak.III@usace.army.mil