FORT BLISS, Texas (Oct. 22, 2014) -- The U.S. Army Forces Command commanding general visited the Brigade Modernization Command (BMC) at Fort Bliss, Texas, Oct. 21, to observe field tests of the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 2, which could leverage proven technology down to the company level of maneuver brigades for the first time, during Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 15.1.
The importance of this testing as part of the Force 2025 program has drawn the attention of several high ranking officers: Gen. Mark A. Milley observed Soldiers' interactions with the new technology alongside Lt. Gen. Kevin W. Mangum, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command chief of staff, and Maj. Gen Thomas James, U.S. Forces Command operations.
With NIE 15.1 spanning several Fort Bliss training sites and incorporating more than 130 observer controllers, 3,900 Soldiers and approximately 1,200 civilian support staff, this complex communications system has found the perfect test site among the rank and file across Old Ironsides.
"This is the eighth NIE we've hosted here so far and Fort Bliss has been the perfect place for them," said Col. James Crider, the deputy commanding officer of the BMC. "This area is more than just desert. There's undulating terrain, high mountains, narrow and wide passes... all of which makes this an ideal location to conduct evaluations."
Under the precise supervision of the Soldiers and civilian staff during this NIE rotation, the BMC will enact physical integration and evaluations of the network itself, capability packages and other adaptive and core capabilities of the WIN-T system. These evaluations will allow the BMC to provide appropriate recommendations to Army command for the proper implementation of this new system at the company level.
Given the task of testing this new technology's compatibility with current and future platforms across all branches of the military are the Soldiers of 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division.
"We put things in the hands of Soldiers -- real Soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division -- because before anything comes here it will go through developmental testing or testing in a lab where the conditions are pretty good," added Crider. "When you put things out in the field, and you get a rain storm or the wind blows 20 or 30 knots or the heat … and you just get it in the hands of Soldiers who are moving around ... it performs differently. We want to learn those lessons here, before we send things forward."
"I want to highlight the great work being done by our Soldiers out here," James said. "Their hard work and dedication is appreciated, and the data we receive could have implications Army-wide."
The future of Army Battle Command Systems may still be a long way from NIE 15.1, but the BMC and 2nd Brigade., 1st Armored Division Soldiers are taking significant steps to get there.
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