An Update on the Joint Mission Environment Test Capability
(JMETC) and the Distributed Testing World
Bernard ‘‘Chip’’ Ferguson
Test Resource Management Center (TRMC), Alexandria, Virginia
D
istributed testing is
the linking together of
various live, virtual, and
constructive (LVC) sites
and capabilities in or-
der to conduct the test and evaluation
(T&E) of a system or a system of systems.
While distributed testing is not meant to
replace live, open-air testing, it is a tool
that can use actual live operational
hardware in a distributed environment,
in lieu of a large-scale open-air test.
Conducting distributed testing provides a
means for rapid integration of systems
early in a program’s developmental life cycle, thereby
reducing the technical risk of the program. Distributed
testing enhances the cross-flow of test data between
T&E agencies and allows for the early integration of
operational-test influence into development test. In
these times of cutbacks and austere budgets, distributed
testing has a proven and reliable record of saving
acquisition and T&E programs time and money.
However, it still is a new way of thinking for many in
the acquisition and T&E communities.
In December 2005, the Department of Defense
(DoD) directed the development of the Joint Mission
Environment Test Ca pability (JMETC) Program to
provide the test infrastructure necessary for conducting
joint distributed test events by cost-effectively integrat-
ing LVC test resources configured to support the users’
specific needs for each event. JMETC was placed under
the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition,
Technology, and Logistics, with responsibility for
execution assigned to the director of the Test Resource
Management Center (TRMC). In October 2006, the
JMETC Program Management Office was established
under the TRMC. JMETC provides the connectivity
and technical support enabling testing ‘‘early and often’’
across the full spectrum of the acquisition life cycle,
which allows for the identification of technical and
operational concerns to program offices and DoD
leadership. JMETC enables a near-real-time ‘‘test-fix-
test’’ process as well as an integrated methodology of
development and operational test, providing information
early in a system’s development process,
when it is easier and cheaper to correct
problems. JMETC has supported dis-
tributed testing events for all the
Services, many joint programs, and even
coalition events. In one recent event,
JMETC supported a joint urgent oper-
ational need, providing the distributed
infrastructure needed to test the inte-
gration of a classified command-and-
control payload onto multiple air
platforms. This program, designed to
resolve the challenges of in-theater
beyond-line-of-sight communications
limitations, required a complex test infrastructure
supporting live-fly developmental testing and an oper-
ational utility assessment. The JMETC-supported
distributed test event allowed for the efficient integration
of development and operational test, and enabled the
off-site participation of required test assets that were not
available on-site. In completing this distributed test, an
urgent capability was fielded quickly to support combat
forces, and the lead test organization reported that they
saved $1.2 million in anticipated test costs—a success
directly attributed to JMETC and distributed testing!
While JMETC has demonstrated a consistent ability
to save customers time and money, a stand out benefit
of JMETC is the engineering-risk red uction in
providing readily available, persistent connectivity with
standing network-security agreements, common inte-
gration software for linking sites , and accredited test
tools. JMETC’s unique total-package support allows
T&E customers to minimize the technical risk
associated with planning for and executing the
distributed test infrastructure so that they can truly
focus on their test requirements. This more efficient
approach of using distributed testing directly supports
significant impr ovements in joint combat capability by
enabling the T&E community to field a better, more
interoperable product quicker and at less cost!
To accomplish its mission, the JMETC program:
N maintains a core reconfigurable foundation that
enables the rapid integration of LVC resources;
The ITEA Journal of Test and Evaluation jite-34-04-05.3d 30/10/13 00:06:11 318
Inside the Beltway
ITEA Journal 2013; 34: 318–321
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