NATICK, Mass. – Brigadier General Edmond “Miles” Brown, commanding general of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, or DEVCOM, visited the DEVCOM Soldier Center, or DEVCOM SC, on July 28–29.
During his visit, Brown shared his leadership philosophy with DEVCOM SC employees. Brown emphasized the importance of communication, expertise, discipline, and of being respectful of people, values, and the future needs of the Army. He also emphasized the need to be a leader in action and the importance of taking risks rather than relying on incremental change. He noted that increasing Soldier lethality is the end goal.
“Lethality is our ultimate responsibility,” said Brown. “Otherwise, you can’t fight and win the nation’s wars.”
Douglas Tamilio, director of DEVCOM SC, hosted the visit, which underscored DEVCOM SC’s commitment to discovering, developing, and advancing science and technology solutions that ensure America’s warfighters are optimized, protected, and lethal.
“It’s an honor to welcome Brigadier General Brown to the Soldier Center,” said Tamilio. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase the many ways in which the center supports DEVCOM, the Army Futures Command, and the Army’s Modernization efforts. Our innovative scientists and engineers are working to deliver next-generation capabilities that will improve the performance and lethality of our warfighters.”
DEVCOM SC subject matter experts briefed Brown on several technical and scientific projects and programs, including the Measuring and Advancing Soldier Tactical Readiness and Effectiveness, or MASTR-E, program. Led by DEVCOM SC, MASTR-E is a large-scale effort that will measure, predict, and enhance close combat performance with predictive performance algorithms, sensors, data-driven decision aids, and targeted interventions to maximize Soldier performance.
DEVCOM SC experts also briefed the commanding general on the Soldier and Squad Performance Research Institute, or S2PRINT. DEVCOM SC and the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, or USARIEM, are leading the development of S2PRINT, which is located at Natick Soldier Systems Center. S2PRINT will provide the Army with a critical capability to determine how individual Soldiers and teams of Soldiers perform, leading to the optimization and enhancement of squad interactions and team dynamics.
The visit also included a briefing about DEVCOM SC’s cognitive science partnership with Tufts University. Much of the collaborative work with Tufts University takes place through a cooperative research initiative at the Center for Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, which is co-managed by DEVCOM SC and Tufts. The center enables applied research focusing on measuring, predicting, and enhancing cognitive capabilities and human system interactions for individuals and teams working in naturalistic high-stakes environments.
Brown also saw firsthand several of DEVCOM SC’s cutting-edge facilities, laboratories and capabilities. His tour included the Design and Pattern Prototype Studio, Load Carriage Lab, Low Velocity Impact Laboratory, Ballistic Laboratory, Engineering Innovation Center, Interactive Small Combat Unit-in-the-loop Support PC21 / PC22, Textile Material and Evaluation, Environmental Protection Test Facility, Combat Feeding laboratories, Combat Feeding Ration Demo, Biomechanics Laboratory, Exoskeleton technologies, Aerial Delivery Design & Fabrication, the Doriot Climatic Chambers and Human Research Volunteer Program, Cold Weather Clothing, Chem/Bio Protection Clothing, Micro-climate Cooling System, and the lab of the Army’s senior research scientist for Soldier Nanomaterials.
Throughout the visit, DEVCOM SC’s commitment to the warfighter was on full display.
Brown emphasized the importance of taking action to improve technologies for the warfighter. He encouraged employees to look up “Medal of Honor” citations. He said that there you would find young Soldiers, usually between 17 and 24 years old, whose leaders had often died in battle before them, and yet they went on to complete the mission.
“It is up to you to take initiative,” said Brown.
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The DEVCOM Soldier Center is committed to discovering, developing, and advancing science and technology solutions that ensure America’s warfighters are optimized, protected, and lethal. DEVCOM Soldier Center supports all of the Army's Modernization efforts, with the Soldier Lethality and Synthetic Training Environment Cross Functional Teams being the DEVCOM Soldier Center’s chief areas of focus. The center’s science and engineering expertise are combined with collaborations with industry, DOD, and academia to advance Soldier and squad performance. The center supports the Army as it transforms from being adaptive to driving innovation to support a Multi-Domain Operations Capable Force of 2028 and a MDO Ready Force of 2035. DEVCOM Soldier Center is constantly working to strengthen Soldiers’ performance to increase readiness and support for warfighters who are organized, trained, and equipped for prompt and sustainable ground combat.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) outreach and mentoring the next generation of scientists and engineers is also an important part of the mission of DEVCOM Soldier Center. The mentoring of students by Army scientists and engineers benefits the students and their communities. It also increases young people's awareness of potential Army job opportunities and helps provide the Army with potential new talent, helping to fuel innovative ideas that benefit the nation's warfighters and the nation as a whole.
DEVCOM Soldier Center is part of DEVCOM. Through collaboration across the command's core technical competencies, DEVCOM leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more lethal to win our nation's wars and come home safely. DEVCOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command.
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