Months of planning to create the Navy's most sophisticated at-sea communications platform went on-line Oct. 10 aboard amphibious flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) to provide Commander, 7th Fleet and his staff with increased command and control capabilities. According to Lt. Cmdr. Mark Baehr, the flagship's communications information systems officer, the estimated $3.5m project was necessary to upgrade the aging hardware and dated software to keep up with the ever changing world of technology.