MEDIA RELEASE

US Navy to Demonstrate On-Board Systems to Web Warriors

Monday 31 March 1997 - ACS members and guests will see how the Internet and Web are used for military operations at a special lecture aboard USS Blue Ridge in Sydney tomorrow afternoon.

ACS President, Tom Worthington, (who is also Manager - Information Management Architectures, Department of Defence), will head the ACS contingent visiting the flagship of the US 7th Fleet for the 2 pm presentation by Captain Julie Keesling USN, Fleet Information Systems Officer.

Mr Worthington visited Blue Ridge in the Coral Sea during the recent Tandem Thrust 97 exercise to investigate the use of Internet for the Australian military. Mr Worthington is the Department of Defence's Web Master and prepared web pages for the exercise.

At tomorrow’s briefing, Captain Julie Keesling will talk about the function of USS Blue Ridge and its mission during the recent exercise. She will describe IT systems on board, with the use of commercial off the shelf hardware and software and the Internet and Web for military operations.

The 620-foot United States Ship Blue Ridge (LCC 19) represents a unique effort in the US Navy's Command and Control ship design. It was built from the keel up for mission of Command and Control coordination. This 18,500 ton ship utilises her "main battery" of computers, communications equipment and other electronic facilities to fulfil her mission as flagship for the United States Seventh Fleet.

Captain Julie Keesling is Fleet Information Systems Officer and has twenty-two years in the Navy. Her last tour was Commanding Officer of the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station in Puerto Rico, with "the best HF site in the Navy", providing backup to UHF Satellite Communications in the mid to south Atlantic.

Tomorrow’s talk will run from 2-3pm. ACS members and guests can book for the presentation with the ACS National Office: Tel: 02 9299 3666 or E-mail: info@acslink.net.au The talk is limited to 20 people.

If there is sufficient interest, additional briefings will be arranged for 9am on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Check with the ACS office for details.

For more information, check out:

This media release is located on the Web: http://www.acs.org.au/news/usnavy.htm

Photos of Blue Ridge Visit: http://www.acs.org.au/president/1997/travel/tt97/

ENDS

Media Enquiries:

Prins Ralston, ACS Vice President, Tel: (0889) 466 264 or (0418) 898 456, Email: p_ralston@darwin.ntu.edu.au

Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9630 2108 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au