BALTIMORE (Oct. 9, 2014) -- From agile command posts to mission command systems that are ready to go at moment's notice, the Army is focused on delivering tactical network solutions that enable an expeditionary force, senior leaders said.
By bridging the information gap between home station, en route and deployed environments, the Army will be able to fight on arrival and quickly adapt communications systems to fit changing conditions, the leaders said during a panel discussion at the MILCOM conference here on Oct. 8. That will be accomplished through harnessing commercial technologies like Wi-Fi and Android apps to deliver more capability with less bulk, increasing integration between the enterprise and tactical networks to reduce the need for on-site equipment, and simplifying and converging systems to ease the training burden on Soldiers.
"I want to make it intuitive -- I want them to be able to transition from their personal cell phone to a military device, and have the look and feel be very similar," said Col. Mark Elliot, director of the Army G-3/5/7 LandWarNet-Mission Command Directorate. "We're making great headway with that."
The Army is also streamlining the transition between garrison and deployed communications by providing robust en-route mission planning capabilities -- including onboard airplanes for the Global Response Force -- developing more expeditionary command posts, and standardizing capabilities like voice and chat messaging across the strategic and tactical networks.
"We're working very hard to make sure that the deployable cloud looks the same and feels the same as the cloud when they're connected (at home station)," said Jennifer Zbozny, chief engineer for the Army Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications-Tactical. "That makes it easy to set up, and there is no new training required."
With Wi-Fi reducing the need for Ethernet cables, software applications replacing many computer terminals, and increased network capacity allowing commanders to reach back to sanctuary locations for information rather than physically bringing services with them, agile command posts are the way of the future, the panelists said.
"We are coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan where we have lived on these forward operating bases where we had a very robust network to support the operations that were being executed," Elliott said. "We understand that going forward, we need to be smaller and more agile in how we deploy our forces. If I can provide the commander assured mission command and assured connectivity through multiple means, then I can start to lift that burden off of them, and start to think totally differently about how we fight, how we provide support to disaster relief."
Another key to enabling a more expeditionary Army is right-sizing field support so units can become more self-sufficient, said Maj. Gen. Bruce T. Crawford, commanding general of the Communications-Electronics Command. At Fort Riley, Kansas, the 1st Infantry Division is currently pioneering the Army's new field support structure, which provides "tiered" system troubleshooting to reduce the deployed support footprint, improve Soldier skill sets and better align to shifting mission requirements.
"Over the last 13 years, we've gone from user-owned, -operated and -maintained to, 'Call somebody to fix it,'" Crawford said. "That is unsustainable."
He praised the new approach, which is expected to generate more than $70 million in cost avoidance for the Army by Fiscal Year 2020, as "re-investing in Soldiers." Coupled with other steps like simplifying systems and increasing commonality between the enterprise and tactical networks, field support realignment will significantly reduce the complexity of units' pre-deployment activities, Crawford said.
Addressing industry representatives in the audience, the panelists also stressed the need to partner with vendors to deliver standardized solutions that will enable integrated network operations (NetOps) and seamless unit task reorganization -- both critical to increased flexibility in deploying tactical formations for expeditionary missions. Industry will also play an important role in delivering tactical applications that will run on the Army's Common Operating Environment (COE), which will improve interoperability and information exchange across the force while creating the agility for the Army to rapidly deliver capabilities to address any contingency.
One piece of COE, the Mounted Computing Environment that serves as the standard for communications systems inside tactical vehicles, recently adopted the Android framework to make apps easier for developers to create and for Soldiers to use.
"That opened the aperture to build apps quickly, and that is an emerging need we need industry to help with," Zbozny said. "That will be a pivotal feature for the network moving forward."
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