CECOM CSM brings Changing Character of Warfare training to C4ISR Community

By Mary B. GrimesCECOM Public AffairsJune 1, 2017

CECOM CSM brings Changing Character of Warfare training to C4ISR Community
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CECOM CSM brings Changing Character of Warfare training to C4ISR Community
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CECOM CSM brings Changing Character of Warfare training to C4ISR Community
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CECOM CSM brings Changing Character of Warfare training to C4ISR Community
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – CECOM CSM Matthew D. McCoy leads the CECOM and C4ISR community in a conversation regarding the "Changing Character of Warfare." The professional development training opportunity was recently held at CECOM Headquarters, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryla... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
CECOM CSM brings Changing Character of Warfare training to C4ISR Community
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – CECOM CSM Matthew D. McCoy leads the CECOM and C4ISR community in a conversation regarding the "Changing Character of Warfare." The professional development training opportunity was recently held at CECOM Headquarters, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryla... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. -- Zeroing in on Army readiness, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) Command Sgt. Maj. Matthew D. McCoy, Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Maryland, continues to target leadership development opportunities aimed at increasing awareness of the several key strategic topics throughout the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) community.

Nearly 50 Soldiers and Department of Defense Civilians recently gathered at CECOM headquarters to listen and participate in the second in a series of professional development presentations McCoy has planned for the year. Keynote speaker, Command Sgt. Maj. Michael A. Crosby, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado, and other outstations joined the discussion via video teleconferencing.

"I want to thank you all for your attendance today," said McCoy. "In the first session we discussed the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) contributions to the Future Force. So, I've structured my Leadership Professional Development series around the Army Chief of Staff priorities…Readiness, Future Force and Taking Care of People. I thought it was important in the first session to start with TRADOC, specifically ARCIC (Army Capabilities Integration Center), to discuss how TRADOC designs the future Army. During today's session, we're focusing on U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), and our primary topic is 'The Changing Character of Warfare,' and its implications on individual, unit and strategic readiness."

Establishing some groundwork from which to build, McCoy reminded the attendees that the session while meant to be conversational, intended to focus on key topics.

"This isn't a deep discussion about 'Multi-Domain Battle,' although we're going to touch briefly on some of those topics as we address the changing character of warfare, and the bridge to the operational level."

Cognizant of his diverse audience, the CECOM CSM ensured the use of acronyms were limited, and that an understanding of military and systems terminology were clear.

Defining the role of FORSCOM, McCoy explained that its primary function is to make ready the Army to meet Combatant Commands (COCOM) requirements.

"Do they have a training responsibility, yes, they do. However, their primary focus is to make ready the Army for COCOM (Combatant Command) requirements. So, a COCOM combatant commander has a requirement --they tap into the Army, and FORSCOM decides what units will support -- based on their capabilities and readiness levels," said McCoy. "It's important to state here that the Army Materiel Command (AMC) sustains the Army by its very elementary definition. That sustainment, as many of us here well know, is very complex."

That complexity takes on many faces, and involves defeating enemies and adversaries who will challenge U.S. advantages in all domains: land, air, maritime, space and cyberspace. Army officials say that Joint operations will be critical to coping with such complexity. These strategic realities point to a Warfighter challenge that has never been greater for those Soldiers, teams and leaders, in preparing to win on a complex battlefield.

"I want to throw out a couple of quotes to give you some context. They came out of the AUSA brief last year, and seem to resonate more today than they did back then. 'The character of war is undergoing fundamental, profound and significant change. We must be open minded to that change,' and as far as combat goes, 'Not only is the future unknown, but it is unknowable,'" said McCoy. "So, we could all subscribe to the theory that warfare is changing."

What isn't changing, however, is the focus and the emphasis placed on the Army's number one priority…readiness. Addressing the audience, Crosby provided some insights as to one way that the 4th Infantry Division is pursuing the readiness challenge.

"We have used Iron Horse University to train and certify our communication specialists and some operators -- so they can go in and get trained and certified on basically every mission command system that we have inside of the installation. Some of those systems are nested with the foundry. So, the speed of assembly to get these individuals trained and certified, we made that part of the Home Station training package," said Crosby. "We did this to where, down to the company, troop, battery, operator and maintainer level, that they could go to Iron horse University--and get trained and certified on every system inside of this division…and we kept them here, instead of sending them off to other installations and MTTs (Mobile Training Teams)."

With the professional development session wrapping up (but far from discussions ending), McCoy told the attendees, "Whether it's research and development, or whether it's lifecycle sustainment, we've got a huge role in this. Our strategic readiness has a direct implication to the tactical level…down to the individual in some cases, with regards to C4ISR.

"I want to drive home this point," McCoy added. "There are two main reasons the Army exists. It's an arm of National power. Its purpose is to deter aggression, and if we go to war, to fight and win. When we go…we will win!"

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