Maryland Congressman Gets Firsthand Look Into APG Capabilities

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Congressman Charles Albert "Dutch" Ruppersberger III, U.S. Representative for Maryland's 2nd Congressional District (MD-2), visited APG to meet with senior leaders from across the installation on May 20. The visit also included a tour of the Combined Joint Systems Integration Laboratory (JSIL) and a demonstration of new Army Network Modernization capabilities.

Maj. Gen. Robert L. Edmonson II, APG senior commander and U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) commanding general, hosted the working lunch portion of the visit, which centered on the unique and invaluable mission sets executed on APG.

Edmonson kicked off the lunch discussion by noting APG’s extraordinary ability to see a military asset through its entire lifecycle, from concept to divestment.

“With such a wide variety of organizations contained on just one installation, APG offers a truly collaborative environment that delivers innovation quickly and efficiently, while still considering long-term sustainment needs,” said Edmonson. “It really is the right place for these types of discussions to take place.”

Other senior leaders from organizations and commands around the installation were present at the working lunch and had their opportunity to engage with the congressman.

These APG organizations included the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC); U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM); Program Executive Office Command Control Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T); U.S. Army Public Health Center (APHC); the Army Future Command's Network-Cross Functional Team (N-CFT); PEO Intelligence Electronic Warfare and Sensors (IEW&S); 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Command; the U.S. Army DEVCOM C5ISR Center; and the APG Garrison.

Senior leaders frequently described the impressive brainpower of APG’s workforce and the installation’s ability to attract prospective employees. The increasing need to stay modernized and the importance of APG’s work on Joint Force initiatives were also frequent talking points during the congressman’s visit.

John Willison, DEVCOM’s deputy to the commanding general, highlighted the benefits of being able to quickly move from concept to research & development to sustainment, conveniently in one community.

“With the speed that this environment affords, APG programs can move smart, but move fast,” said Willison. He added that the appeal of the location and the community offered at APG has been a strong selling point for employees.

Many long-serving senior leaders who moved to APG from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, noted that it took time to rebuild the APG workforce and brainpower lost after the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, but praised APG’s hard work and dedication to strengthen itself since then.

After the working lunch, Ruppersberger and his party were given a walkthrough overview tour of the DEVCOM C5ISR Center’s CJSIL.

Elliott Phaup, a Senior Staffer for Ruppersberger, had high praise for the work the Army and APG are doing to prepare America’s military and its allies for Multi-Domain Operations and potential future conflicts with near-peer adversaries.

“The CJSIL is just one example of how the Army is investing in APG as part of the Future Fight,” Phaup noted. “The CJSIL and Project Convergence (PC) clearly show that APG is hosting programs that will transform the Future Force.”

In looking to the future, several members of the team stressed the collaboration between the Joint Force and Coalition Partners that takes place on APG. Phaup added that he witnessed PC exercises in the past and was impressed with the decision-making and experimentation process, stating that “the Army is taking the leading charge on investing in future decision pathways.”

The final leg of Ruppersberger’s visit to APG included a Network Modernization demonstration of Capability Drop 1, which is a tactical, expeditionary toolset at the battalion echelon, allowing users to build all-source intelligence products with streamlined workflows and greatly reducing the burden of Soldier training.

Although Ruppersberger lost the Proving Ground in Maryland’s new re-districting map, he still voiced his continued support for the installation and what it does for both the nation and the surrounding Maryland communities.

As Ruppersberger saw during his visit, APG remains the Army’s premier home of innovation in support of joint warfighter readiness. Employing more than 21,000 of the world’s finest military and civilian scientists, research engineers, technicians and administrators, APG is on the leading edge of proving capability for the Future Force through the entire life cycle from design to development, acquisition, and deployed support.