CASCOM delivers data-informed decision-making tools to Soldiers

U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) and U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) rolled out the Expeditionary Ammunition Site Planning-Software (EASP-S) on Jan. 30, 2026. This application will assist the ammunition community in designing safe tactical ammunition supply points (ASPs).

The software ensures ASPs adhere to all regulatory safety and handling policies and best practices. This new application (app) will reduce ASP design time by up to 97.5% and nearly eliminate the risk of human error. EASP-S includes a commander’s risk assessment tool to quickly assess risk to the stockpile, exposed personnel, equipment, and facilities.

CASCOM will house the app on the Sustainment Enterprise Analytics (SEA) tool, which went live May 2025. SEA is a robust cloud computing and data engineering environment supporting the Army’s sustainment community. The cloud infrastructure is now a complete agility layer that will host the EASP-S, additional applications, and analytics services for the Army’s sustainment enterprise. As the Army continues to push forward with Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2), SEA provides a source of authoritative data and containerized applications compatible with NGC2 requirements.

ASPs need to adhere to Army explosive safety standards, including critical distances, segregation by ammunition compatibility, and fortification, was proven Oct.10, 2006. For example, the Ammunition Transfer Holding Point at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Falcon, Iraq, which contained more than 355 short tons of ammunition with a net explosive weight of 120,000 pounds, went on “high order” after being attacked with rockets and mortars. Explosions and the resulting detonations lasted more than 13 hours, however, there were no casualties, only minimal equipment damage, and no interruption to ongoing combat operations. FOB Falcon resumed normal operations within 24 hours, demonstrating the effectiveness of proper safety measures.

The manual design process used at FOB Falcon has not changed in decades and still takes multiple experienced ammunition specialists days to create.

The work to define the ammunition storage and planning gap began in 2015 with a capabilities needs assessment. The Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (now DEVCOM Armament Center) performed the initial work, producing a prototype.

Over the past 10 years, ASP planning moved between various initial capability documents, requirements documents, multiple centers and boards, before the Army ultimately put it on hold. The effort to define requirements stalled after teams repeatedly reworked requirements and split them into two separate efforts.

Over the past three months, the combined team of DEVCOM Armament Center, CASCOM, Program Executive Office (PEO)-Enterprise, the Army G-4, Enterprise Cloud Management Agency (ECMA), and Army Analytics Group (AAG) West capitalized on the Army’s investment in Microsoft software and services (Army 365, Power Platform, and Azure) to adapt the EASP-S prototype into an app, instead of buying a software “system of record”. The EASP-S app will reside in the SEA agility layer and operate under the environment’s existing ATO (authorization to operate).

Developing new capabilities in an app reduces development time and costs exponentially. Systems of record are independent, stand-alone, procured software solutions that require a program management office, sustainment budget, and robust workforce.

Sustainment Future Capabilities Directorate estimated that developing EASP-S as a system of record would cost $4.9M and take at least one year to develop.

Apps like EASP-S developed within SEA are not procured at all. They are government-owned software designed by the Army’s enterprise architects and software analysts at CASCOM with the assistance of important industry partners like Microsoft.

Our industry partners have proven invaluable in identifying existing resources and efforts that CASCOM leveraged to maximize the Army’s return on investment and accelerate development.

A key component of the SEA agility layer is unrestricted access to the Army’s existing Microsoft 365 licenses in Army 365. This approach creates accredited, Army-owned software built in months instead of years, eliminating the need for additional licenses and reducing extensive Soldier training.

Future development will include ammunition safety and prediction models and data connection to various Army Divisions through rapid development, cost avoidance, and efficiency.

The Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Randy George, stated “We have to change the way we operate, how we organize, how we buy things. We have to buy smart and fast. Our budget is tight; our numbers are lean.”

The DEVCOM/CASCOM partnership leads to this necessary change by moving fast, developing smartly, and managing a tight budget, all while maximizing the value of existing resources. This initiative serves as a software development model that gives Soldiers the needed advantage in conflict.

Steven Vaccaro is the Director of Ammunitions Logistics within the Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition

Maj. Apoorv Vohra is data science project lead and enterprise architect assigned to CASCOM Data Science and Analytics Division

Chris Lovato is the Chief of the Data Science and Analytics Division within CASCOM Sustainment Data, Analytics and Transport Directorate.