Pocket Guide for DoD Participation in the Development of Materiel … · 2016-05-23 · Contents Foreword ii Introduction 1 Purpose of Materiel ISAs 2 Importance of ISAs 2 Governing

Pocket Guide for DoDParticipation in the

Development of MaterielInternational Standardization

Agreements

Defense Standardization Program Office2012

Contents

Foreword ii

Introduction 1

Purpose of Materiel ISAs 2Importance of ISAs 2Governing Directives and Guidance 2

Major ISA Bodies 4North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) 4American, British, Canadian, andAustralian Armies (ABCA) 8Air and Space InteroperabilityCouncil (ASIC) 9Combined Communications-ElectronicsBoard (CCEB) 10Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UnitedKingdom, and United States Naval C4Organization (AUSCANNZUKUS) 11

Standardization Process and Principles 12

Responsibilities of Participants 14

Guidance for Participants 16Planning for Participation 16Preparing for Meetings 17Being Professional and Productive 17Following Up 19

Accessing ISAs 20

DSPO Contact 21

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ForewordWith the emphasis on interoperability betweenthe United States and its allies, effective U.S.participation in groups (committees) thatdevelop international standardization agree-ments (ISAs) is essential. Not only must suchparticipation produce the optimum level ofinteroperability, it must do so in a way that isconsistent with good business practices anddefense acquisition objectives.

This pocket guide provides some basic infor-mation about the ISA process and the respon-sibilities of participants on standardizationcommittees, so that participants can best represent U.S. interests. So please keep thisguide handy as a ready pocket reference.

For further information, visit the DefenseStandardization Program Office website athttp://www.dsp.dla.mil.

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IntroductionStandardization is one of the key ingredientsfor multinational forces to operate togethereffectively.The use of common equipment,procedures, tactics, and doctrine between U.S.forces and coalition partners, to the maximumextent practicable, is defense policy. Within theU.S. Department of Defense (DOD), eachMilitary Department and Defense Agency hasestablished its own directions to implementingthis policy, but this pocket guide describes thefollowing fundamentals:

� Purpose of materiel ISAs� Major bodies that develop ISAs� General process and principles of standardi-zation

� Responsibilities of participants� Guidance for participants� Accessing ISAs� Contact information.

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Purpose of Materiel ISAsA materiel ISA is the record of an agreementamong several or all member nations of amultinational organization to use compatible,interoperable, interchangeable, or common systems, subsystems, equipment, software, components, parts, and consumables (includingC3, ammunition, fuel, supplies, and stores).

IMPORTANCE OF ISAs

ISAs are important for ensuring interoperabili-ty and operational readiness within alliancesand partnerships. ISAs increase joint and coali-tion operations, achieve information technolo-gy superiority, improve logistics support, andenhance technological sophistication. It isimportant to ensure that operational require-ments critical to coalition operations are iden-tified, documented, and made easily availablefor implementation.

GOVERNING DIRECTIVES AND GUIDANCE

Many DOD directives and instructions dealwith ISAs, but three key policy documentsrelate to materiel ISAs:

� Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffInstruction (CJCSI) 2700.01, “InternationalMilitary Agreements for Rationalization,Standardization, and Interoperabilitybetween the United States, Its Allies, and

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Other Friendly Nations.” This CJCSI andothers can be found at http://www.dtic.mil/cjcs_directives/.

� DOD Instruction 2010.06, “MaterielInteroperability and Standardization withAllies and Coalition Partners.”The full textof this and other DOD directives is locatedat http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives.

� DOD 4120.24-M, Defense StandardizationProgram Policies and Procedures. This manualprovides guidance and procedures for par-ticipating in materiel ISA committees andfor ratifying and implementing materielISAs. This document can be found athttp://www.dsp.dla.mil.

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Major ISA BodiesMany multinational organizations developISAs, but most ISA activities take place withinthe five major organizations described below.Further information can be found at the web-site address shown for each body.

NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO)

As of 2012, NATO is an alliance composed of28 nations from North America and Europeand 23 Partnership for Peace countries.NATO’s fundamental role is to safeguard thefreedom and security of its member countriesby political and military means.

Since its inception in 1949, NATO has takenon additional roles outside of its originalpurview.These include crisis management andhumanitarian relief efforts when there is con-sensus among the member countries to do so.Within NATO, there is the fundamental prem-ise that standardization is not a means withinitself, but rather a tool to enhance interoper-ability among multinational force operations.

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U.S. Code, Title 10, Section 2457 states that itis U.S. policy that equipment procured for U.S.forces employed in Europe under the terms ofthe North Atlantic Treaty be standardized tothe level or degree required for interoperabilitywith equipment used by other NATO mem-bers for similar purposes. Also, DOD will seekgreater doctrine and tactics compatibility toprovide a better basis to arrive at commonNATO requirements.

The NATO Standardization Organization(NSO) is an organization that operates underthe authority of the North Atlantic Council(NAC). The NSO consists of two main func-tional elements:

� Committee for Standardization (CS)—thesenior NATO committee for alliance stan-dardization, composed primarily of repre-sentatives from all NATO countries.Operating under the authority of theNAC, it issues policy and guidance for allNATO standardization activities. The CSmeets twice yearly and reports annually tothe NAC on standardization activities. It isassisted by National Representatives(CSREPs), with delegated authority, whomeet four times a year. The work of theCSREPs focuses on harmonizing standardi-zation activities between NATO andnational bodies and on promoting interac-tion between them in all areas of standardi-zation.

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� NATO Standardization Agency (NSA)—anindependent NATO agency established bythe NAC to function as the coordinator forall standardization efforts with the goal ofenhancing the combined operational effec-tiveness of alliance military forces. In addi-tion, it functionally supports the NSO andespecially supports the Military CommitteeStandardization Boards. The NSA directoris responsible for the activities of fivebranches: Policy and Coordination, Joint,Naval, Army, and Air. These branches pro-vide staff support to their related MilitaryCommittee Standardization Boards.

Within the NSO are Tasking Authorities(TAs), which are senior NATO committeesthat validate standardization requirements andcan task subordinate groups to work on stan-dardization-related activities and produce stan-dardization documents. NSO has four majorTAs:

� Military Committee (MC)—responsible forthe development of military operationalstandards. Its standardization initiatives arecoordinated by the Joint, Air, Land,Maritime, and Medical Standardizationboards.

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� Conference of National ArmamentsDirectors (CNAD)—responsible forNATO armaments cooperation betweenNATO member nations and for the acqui-sition of equipment for NATO forces.

� C3 Board—a senior multinational bodyresponsible for all matters relating to con-sultation, command and control (C3)throughout NATO.

� Logistics Committee (LC)—the seniorbody responsible for assessing alliance logis-tics requirements and ensuring adequatelogistics support of NATO forces.

Each NATO member nation is encouraged tosend representation to engage in the standardi-zation process within the TAs. The types ofISAs that NATO develops are StandardizationAgreements (STANAGs), StandardizationRecommendations (STANRECs), and AlliedPublications (APs); they can be found in theNATO Standardization Document Database(NSDD) website at https://nsa.nato.int. Youwill also find all U.S.–ratified documents usedby DOD at https://assist.dla.mil/. Also, formore information on the activities of NATO,visit http://www.nato.int.

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AMERICAN, BRITISH, CANADIAN, AND AUSTRALIAN ARMIES (ABCA)

ABCA is an international program that pro-motes interoperability and standardizationamong the armies of the United States, Britain,Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The focusof the ABCA program is on interoperability,defined as the ability of alliance forces, andwhen appropriate, forces of partner and othernations, to train, exercise, and operate effective-ly together in the execution of assigned mis-sions and tasks. The program office for ABCAis the U.S. Army.

ABCA Products, the prime tangible output ofthe program, are formal outputs of data ordocumentation from the program that areintended to enhance interoperability amongthe ABCA armies. The types of ABCAProducts are standards, publications, architec-tures, databases, and reports. With the assistanceof the program office, these Products are man-aged by Capability Groups and SupportGroups, which are responsible for theirProducts’ accuracy, currency, quality, and rele-vance. See http://www.abca-armies.org.

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AIR AND SPACE INTEROPERABILITY COUNCIL(ASIC)

Formerly known as the Air StandardizationCoordinating Committee, ASIC is an interna-tional organization that includes the air forcesof Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UnitedKingdom, and the United States. Its mission isto enhance current and future air and spacewarfighting capabilities through joint andcoalition interoperability.The ASIC missionand objectives are realized through standardiza-tion of doctrine, procedures, materiel, andequipment.

ASIC’s tasks are carried out within theWorking Group and Project Group structure,which comprises subject matter experts fromeach of the member nations. The types of ISAsthat ASIC develops are Air Standards (AIRSTDs), Advisory Publications (ADV PUBs),and Information Publications (INFO PUBs).More information may be found at http://www.dtic.mil/asic.

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COMBINED COMMUNICATIONS-ELECTRONICSBOARD (CCEB)

The CCEB is a five-nation joint military com-munications-electronics (C-E) organization. Itsmission is the coordination of any military C-E matter that is referred to it by a membernation. The member nations are Australia,Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom,and the United States. The CCEB consists of asenior C4 (Command, Control, Communica-tions and Computers) representative from eachmember nation. The purpose of the CCEB isto enhance C4 interoperability and capabilityfor the defense forces of its member nationsand to provide leadership and influence acrossthe wider C4 community.The CCEB does notcontrol national procurement initiatives ormandate the use of particular standards. Formore information, see http://jcs.dtic.mil/j6/cceb/acps.

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AUSTRALIA, CANADA, NEW ZEALAND, UNITEDKINGDOM, AND UNITED STATES NAVAL C4 ORGANIZATION (AUSCANNZUKUS)

AUSCANNZUKUS consists of five nations:Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UnitedKingdom, and the United States. Its mission isto foster knowledge sharing that enables thewarfighter to complete missions successfullyacross the spectrum of joint and combinedoperations. Its vision is “to deliver battle win-ning Maritime Information WarfareInteroperability.” A series of documents underthe Network Working Group addresses con-cepts of operations, standard operating proce-dures, and technical operating instructions.More information can be found at https://community.apan.org/international/auscannzukus.

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Standardization Process and Principles

Each organization has its own set of steps andterminology for creating ISAs, but they allinclude generating standardization require-ments and developing, staffing, ratifying, imple-menting, and periodically reviewing ISAs.Because ratification is a formal statement bythe United States, it is mandatory that U.S.delegates follow the coordination policies andprocedures established by the MilitaryDepartments and Defense Agencies they repre-sent in the multinational treaty organization orforum.

The United States will generally ratify ISAsthat meet identified needs of its military. U.S.delegates should consider the following criteriaduring the ratification process:

� ISAs should be substantive, technically cor-rect, and adequate.

� ISAs should positively impact the perform-ance, quality, cost, and/or reliability of U.S.materiel.

� ISAs should be consistent with U.S. stan-dardization documents, U.S.–ratified ISAs,and DOD acquisition policies.

� ISAs should be accompanied by a viableU.S. implementation plan.

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The underlying principle of participating inthe development, ratification, and implementa-tion of ISAs is to enable military forces of theUnited States and its allies to operate togethereffectively and economically. Establishing anISA is not an end in itself. Interoperability isthe primary aim of standardization, and stan-dardization agreements should be developed insupport of this objective.

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Responsibilities of ParticipantsU.S. personnel who participate in WorkingGroups or forums to develop materiel ISAsmust become familiar with DOD 4120.24-M,Defense Standardization Program Policies andProcedures, Chapter 6, “U.S. Participation in theDevelopment and Ratification of InternationalStandardization Agreements Intended for Usein Defense Acquisitions.” It establishes criteriafor the development, ratification, and imple-mentation of materiel and materiel-related

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ISAs. Several important participant responsibili-ties are described below:

� Participate in the development and ratifica-tion of only those ISAs that will improvethe effectiveness of multinational forceswhen operating together; that will ensurecompatibility, interoperability, interchange-ability, or commonality for U.S.–suppliedmateriel; and that will not conflict withacquisition policy.

� Ensure the appropriate level of support andcoordination for the proposed ISA by fol-lowing applicable Military Department andDefense Agency policies and procedures toensure that the ISA is technically correct, isadequate, and meets identified needs of theU.S. military.

� Consult the cognizant StandardizationExecutive on issues such as whether theUnited States should participate on specificISA committees, ratify specific ISAs, orexpress reservations about specific ISAs.

� Periodically review the ISA and take theappropriate actions resulting from thereview.These actions could include updat-ing the ISA, withdrawing ratification, ormaintaining the ISA in its present form.

� Ensure that U.S. ratification details are doc-umented and reflected in official reposito-ries of the originating multinational treatyorganizations.

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Guidance for ParticipantsRepresenting the position and interests of yourMilitary Department or Defense Agencyrequires knowledge, skill, and attention. Thefollowing advice, based on lessons learned, canhelp make your efforts more effective andworthwhile.

PLANNING FOR PARTICIPATION

You must plan well in advance of your actualparticipation in standardization meetings. Hereare some things that require your attentionlong before you sit down at the discussiontable:

� Coordinate the visit with the Head ofDelegation, appropriate office of primaryresponsibility, and organization within yourMilitary Department or Defense Agency.

� Prepare your visit notification to the appro-priate U.S. Government agencies (e.g.,Mission to NATO) and applicable multina-tional treaty organization.

� Make air travel reservations early, particular-ly during peak travel periods.

� Be sure to attend your Military Department’sor Defense Agency’s antiterrorism trainingand security briefing.

� Obtain or update your passport and mili-tary identification. It takes a while for theprocess, so get started several weeks beforeyou’ll need these credentials.

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� Review any guidelines for successful partic-ipation issued by your Military Departmentor Defense Agency.

PREPARING FOR MEETINGS

It takes a lot of groundwork and coordinationto represent effectively the interests of yourMilitary Department or Defense Agency.Therefore, you will need to prepare statementsand positions carefully before attending themeeting. This does not mean you aren’tallowed any flexibility. In fact, it’s a good ideato establish not only your primary goal butalso a few alternatives. Yet these, too, requirethorough consideration in advance.

Also, you should coordinate and obtain approv-al for U.S. positions with the appropriate staff,Head of Delegation, and organization. Reviewand become familiar with the applicable U.S.policy directives, as well as the policies andprocedures of the multinational treaty organi-zation with which you’ll be working.

BEING PROFESSIONAL AND PRODUCTIVE

The time you spend in meetings should be theculmination of your groundwork. Your focusand diligence during these meetings will deter-mine how well your efforts pay off. Dressappropriately for the meetings; determine thedress code beforehand, and dress accordingly.When in doubt, arrive in business attire. Focus

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on being an effective listener. Stay engaged andattentive in the meeting room. Translationissues demand careful listening and speaking inorder to understand and to be understood.Speak when you can make a positive contribu-tion, not for the sake of merely appearinginvolved.

It’s important to participate in social occasions;they can add a significant dimension to youreffectiveness. That means you can’t be a “lonewolf.” Issues often can be successfully dealtwith over dinner or at other social events out-side the formal meeting room. Offer to helpyour colleagues—within the boundaries ofethics and confidentiality—when they are try-ing to get information and you are in a posi-tion to assist them. This helps solidify yourrole, and you may need their help later. Behavegraciously when encountering hostility,unfounded accusations, or misinformation tar-geting you as a representative of the UnitedStates or its defense sector. Do not allow pro-tracted discussions of “good and evil” or “rightand wrong” to tie up group time or distractfrom the business at hand. Offer to continuethe discussion elsewhere at another time, andtry to understand the source of the hostility.

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FOLLOWING UP

As with so many other endeavors in life, thesecret to success in standardization discussionsis good follow-through. When meetings areover, take care of action items and other looseends to sustain the momentum toward results.Review the meeting minutes or decisionsheets and follow up; complete your assignedtasks. Also remember to prepare trip reports inaccordance with your Military Department orDefense Agency, and distribute them to theappropriate interested parties.

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Accessing ISAsASSIST is the official source for specificationsand standards used by DOD.ASSIST is a com-prehensive database providing access to currentinformation associated with military and feder-al specifications and standards under the man-agement of the Defense StandardizationProgram. In addition to domestic standards andspecifications, it provides electronic copies ofISAs ratified by the United States, their nation-al points of contact, implementing documents,and reservations. To access standardization doc-uments, users must establish an account athttps://assist.dla.mil.

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DSPO ContactNeed more information about the contents ofthis guide? Please contact:Defense Standardization Program Office8725 John J. Kingman Road, Suite 1742Stop 5100Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6221Commercial: (703) 767-6872Website: http://www.dsp.dla.mil

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Notes

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Defense Standardization Program Office8725 John J. Kingman Road, Suite 1742

Stop 5100Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6221

http://www.dsp.dla.mil