1 INTRODUCTION

Reference 1 presents detailed descriptions of the RAIN System and plans for its development. This paper addresses the very early promotional strategy which is based on these key observations:

1. RAIN is a system formed existing technologies that are fully proven;
2. No new inventions are needed;
3. Companies now exist who can and have delivered each needed technology;
4. Because of the significant numbers of disparate organizations that will be needed to develop RAIN, it has been observed by many that management, not technology, is the greatest challenge for the project;

5. A key U.S. Government mission is to protect its citizens from threats such as wildfire;
6. The Federal Government is the only entity in the U.S. that has the resources, mission and technical expertise to cause RAIN to happen.

There are 3 parts to the strategy: preparations (already accomplished), team building (part complete) and government presentation. These are addressed below.

2 Preparations

These have been underway for the last 4 years including developing the organizations, infrastructure, promotional materials, website, and office frameworks needed for the project. Also, talking to hundreds of people from government and industry gathering opinions and options, and starting the assembly of a suitable team that can do this work.

3 Establish the Inital Program Office (PO)

The management structure using a PO has been proven on many projects similar to this one: those that need a significant number of organizations delivering disparate technologies to be combined into a complete operational system. NASA's Apollo Program (moon landing- Reference 2) and the CIA's Glomar Explorer or "Azorian" project (Russian submarine recovery during the cold war- Reference 3) are notable examples.

~Reference_4 defines the duties of the PO as presently envisioned, and ~Reference_5 presents plans for the building of the complete PO suitable for management of the RAIN System development.

This present paper proposes to seek modest support for the development of a small PO core. This organization will require minimal resources at the beginning, while delivering key and critical progress for the project. It then can be expanded as resources permit. Following are key elements of this approach.

• Perhaps a dozen individuals would make up the first embryonic PO, most not initially working full time;

• Included would be one or two senior Project Managers who will direct the initial work and the expansion of the PO as required;

• Other personnel will locate, develop and operate the "tools" needed by the PO- largely computer applications addressing system simulation and project planning;

• Tools assembled by this initial PO will be simple at first and, like staffing, will also evolve over the duration of the whole RAIN development project as resources permit. Initial forms of these tools will be used to perform various studies (e.g., global parametric trades) in support of an ongoing promotional effort;

• The initial PO will have as major tasks the location of candidate team members who have the ability to develop elements of the RAIN system, preparing plans for the development in phases and the collection of suitable contracting implements (Terms And Conditions customized for this program, etc.);

• Members of the early PO will have input to the initial proposal (defining tasks and associated needed resources) to potential customers;

• Administrative personnel will support the others and the evolution of the initial PO to its final form.

This initial team will collectively have all necessary resources to begin the development of the RAIN System and will represent a credible option for the Government, easing and simplifying justification to proceed expeditiously. They will also can provide initial segues into

appropriate Federal agencies and perhaps even Congress.

4 Government Presentation

The final step will be to approach the U.S. Federal Government for support: initially a minimum program to establish the first version of the PO.

The U.S. Federal Government is responsible for the security of U.S. citizens. It is the duty of elected and hired Federal officials to protect U.S. citizens from threats such as wildfire, whether started naturally or by acts of terrorism. Since RAIN is essentially the only viable tool that can stop wildfire (Reference 1), it is the obligation of the U.S. government (and possibly other governments, worldwide) to develop and operate it. Our job is to:

• introduce this system to appropriate Federal officials and to explain it;

• introduce the initial PO team to the Government emphasizing their

credibility to evolve to a full PO;

• show that the team has rich and applicable technology already completed (e.g., existing tools), saving taxpayers significant money;

• pursue responses to legitimate questions/issues that might be posed.

During this process the following steps are anticipated:

1. Approach individuals in government agencies who have:

• a mission to stop or fight threats to internal security (candidates are DHS, DOD et al);

• a legacy of technology development appropriate for RAIN (DARPA[DoD], NASA et al);

• personnel and facilities that can support contracting for this effort (i.e., high-tech expertise).

2. Propose to respond to issues certain to be raised by candidate customer personnel by using resources of the initial PO: e.g., conceptual designs, system engineering, simulation, promotional materials development, etc. Visits to other countries for contributing support might be authorized.

3. Determine if the entire development can be handled by initial Government contacts (e.g., DHS/DARPA) or if Congressional support will be required.

4. If necessary: interface with the media offering pre-developed movie shorts depicting the system to muster support from the general public (especially during disastrous fires) if this is needed to get the appropriate support from the Government.