science

National Communications System

National Communications System is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand National Communications System rather than just read about it. In short: The National Communications System (NCS) was an office within the United States Department of Homeland Security charged with enabling national security and emergency preparedness communications (NS/EP telecommunications) using the national telecommunications system. The NCS was disbanded by Executive Order 13618 on July 6, 2012.

Key takeaways

National Communications System belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect National Communications System to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of National Communications System from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The National Communications System (NCS) was an office within the United States Department of Homeland Security charged with enabling national security and emergency preparedness communications (NS/EP telecommunications) using the national telecommunications system. The NCS was disbanded by Executive Order 13618 on July 6, 2012.

Background and history The genesis of the NCS began in 1962 after the Cuban Missile Crisis when communications problems among the United States, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and foreign heads of state threatened to complicate the crisis further. After the crisis, President John F. Kennedy ordered an investigation of national security communications, and the National Security Council (NSC) formed an interdepartmental committee to examine the communications networks and institute changes. This interdepartmental committee recommended the formation of a single unified communications system to serve the president, Department of Defense, diplomatic and intelligence activities, and civilian leaders. Consequently, in order to provide better communications support to critical government functions during emergencies, President Kennedy established the National Communications System by a Presidential Memorandum on August 21, 1963. The NCS mandate included linking, improving, and extending the communications facilities and components of various Federal agencies, focusing on interconnectivity and survivability. On April 3, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12472 which broadened the NCS' national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) capabilities and superseded President Kennedy's original 1963 memorandum. The NCS expanded from its original six members to an interagency group of 23 federal departments and agencies, and began coordinating and planning NS/EP telecommunications to support crises and disasters. With the addition of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on September 30, 2007, the NCS membership stood at 24 members. Each NCS member organization was represented on the NCS through the Committee of Principals (COP) – and its subordinate Council of Representatives (COR). The COP, formed as a result of Executive Order 12472, provided advice and recommendations to the NCS and the National Security Council through the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board on NS/EP telecommunications and its ties to other critical infrastructures. The NCS also participated in joint industry-Government planning through its work with the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), with the NCS's National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications (NCC) and the NCC's subordinate Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC). After nearly forty years with the Secretary of Defense serving as its Executive Agent, President George W. Bush transferred the National Communications System to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The NCS was one of 22 federal agencies transferred to the department on March 1, 2003, in accordance with Executive Order 13286. A revised Executive Order 12472 reflects the changes of E.O. 13286. On November 15, 2005, the NCS became part of the department's Directorate for Preparedness after nearly two years under the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate. In March 2007 the NCS became an entity of the National Protection and Programs Directorate. The DHS Under Secretary for National Protection and Programs Directorate served as the NCS Manager. On July 6, 2012, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13618, which replaced Executive Order 12472, thus eliminating the NCS as a separate organization; it was merged into the Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) of DHS' National Preparedness and Programs Directorate (NPPD) which had been created in 2007. A ceremony to retire the colors of the NCS and to celebrate the legacy of the organization was held on August 30, 2012 in Arlington, VA. Upon establishment of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) the OEC was renamed the Emergency Communications Division (ECD). The President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee helps strengthen United States national security, enhancing cybersecurity, maintaining the global communications infrastructure, assuring communications for disaster response, and addressing critical infrastructure interdependencies and dependencies. On September 29, 2017, President Donald Trump renewed several committees including the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.

Services In fulfillment of their mission to enable emergency communications, the NCS has created a number of different services.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with National Communications System

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what National Communications System claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to National Communications System before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about National Communications System ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of National Communications System

In research: National Communications System appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses National Communications System in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: National Communications System is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2012 disestablishments in the United States, Government agencies disestablished in 2012, Telecommunications in the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for National Communications System outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study National Communications System in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what National Communications System means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain National Communications System out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is National Communications System in simple terms?

Why does National Communications System matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study National Communications System?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on National Communications System.