NATO Communications and Information Systems Services Agency
Shield of NCSA
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| Type | NATO agency |
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| Headquarters | Mons, Belgium |
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The NATO Communication and Information Systems Services Agency, (NCSA), was a service provider to its NATO and national customers. Wherever NATO deployed on operations or exercises, NCSA was there, providing communication and information systems (CIS) services in support of the mission. Equally important, NCSA supported NATO’s ten major headquarters in Europe, North America, and Asia.
In 2012, as part of a NATO reorganization, NCSA was deactivated and major elements were realigned to create a portion of the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) and to create the NATO Communication and Information Systems Group (NCISG). NCI Agency provides NATO network core enterprise services, operational and exercise support, and program management. NCISG, aligned under Allied Command Operations, provides deployable communication and information systems to forward deploying elements of the NATO command structure and NATO joint task force headquarters.
The NATO Communication and Information Systems Services Agency (NCSA) had a long gestation which began in the 1970s and metamorphosed into various NATO organisations along the way.
The first identifiable communications and information distribution organization was called the NATO Integrated Communications Systems Central Operating Authority (NICS-COA) and was established to control, operate and maintain the NATO Communication systems of that time. The main elements of these systems were the Initial Voice Switched Network (IVSN), Telegraph Automated Relay Equipment (TARE), Status Control Alerting and Reporting System (SCARS), SATCOM systems and equipment and the ACE High Tropospheric Scatter trunk communication network. By the early 1990s due mainly to the arrival of new systems and new technology it became necessary to reorganize the Communication and Information systems support for NATO. This coincided with a major restructuring of the NATO Command to take advantage of the "peace dividend" after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1993 the NATO Communication and Information Systems Operating and Support Agency (NACOSA) was formed by the integration of functions previously undertaken by NICS-COA and some elements of the Communications and Information Systems Division of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE CISD). Over time it became apparent that there was still a need for establishments to streamline their operations to improve management and control and also to make a manpower saving of some 25% so NACOSA also took command of 4 subordinate elements. These were the Integrated System Support Centre (ISSC), Allied Command Europe Communications Security (ACE Comsec) (which later became INFOSEC Command NACOSA), The NATO Communication and Information Systems School (NCISS) at Latina, Italy and the Regional Signal Group SHAPE. In the following years, NACOSA developed into an organization with responsibilities for the operation and support of communication and information systems on both sides of the Atlantic and for all NATO Operational deployments.
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