CAVNET was a secure military forum which became operational in April 2004. A part of SIPRNet, it allows fast access to knowledge acquired on the ground in

combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

. It was used in

Iraq war The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, and helps US military forces against the

insurgents An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...

' adaptive tactics by providing data laterally and on a broader scale than with traditional reports. The data shared between patrols on "The Net" (as is it is sometimes referred to by soldiers) has already played a crucial role to dismantle grenade-traps hidden behind posters of Moqtada al-Sadr that US soldiers often rip down.

References

Wide area networks History of cryptography United States government secrecy {{US-mil-stub