WASHINGTON, DC (October 11, 2022) – As the U.S. Army modernizes to face challenges in the Pacific, Europe and other regions, it must continue to upgrade and simplify its data sharing approaches across the force, concluded a group of Army military and civilian leaders during a discussion panel held Monday at the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
“In order for the Army to be effective, we have to be able to handle data quickly and effectively so we can make decisions quickly,” said Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson, Commanding General, I Corps. “This is especially necessary in the Indo-Pacific region, which covers a vast area with many different types of terrain, from oceans to jungles to mountains, and is home to seven out of the 10 largest armies in the world and many of the most populous cities as well.”
To operate in this demanding environment, while communicating with many different allies, the Army needs to be able to distribute, secure, and access data at different echelons across far-flung distances, Brunson said. That distributed approach – which is also informed by ongoing operations in Europe and the need for battlefield mobility – is only possible through a network that is agile, resilient, survivable and scalable, leaders said.
“We need colorless data transportation and data centricity,” noted the Army’s Chief Information Officer, Dr. Raj Iyer. “We are achieving ubiquitous access to data throughout the Army, thanks to use of cloud technology and an agile software development approach to get applications into the hands of Soldiers faster.”
Maj. Gen. Jeth Rey, Director of the Network Cross Functional Team, part of Army Futures Command (AFC), said that in addition to sharing data faster and being cyber-secure, the Army’s network needs to be less complex and more unified, extending from the tactical “edge of battle” all the way back to headquarters and Army installations, where enterprise computer systems are used in day-to-day Army operations. He said this will enable the Army to function in a “data-centric” environment, where faster, better, and more reliable information can provide Army leaders with “decision dominance” over potential adversaries.
Brunson, Iyer and Rey were joined by two other Army senior civilian leaders on a panel discussing “Data Centricity at Speed and Scale,” held on the first day of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting. The other participants were Nicholaus Saacks, Deputy Program Executive Officer for Command, Control and Communications - Tactical (PEO C3T), and Joseph Welch, Director of the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center of the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, also part of AFC.
Army network enhancement has been underway for several years already. Most recently, the service has issued modernized Capability Set 21 tactical network tools and devices to eight brigade combat teams, six expeditionary signal battalions and two multi-domain task force units. More than 300 units also have received modernized network enablement technologies, such as upgraded mission command systems servers, mobile mission command upgrades, resilient satellite communications equipment and modernized security systems.
The next step, leaders said, is continuing to leverage data-centric concepts and technologies in unit operational exercises, such as those that I Corps is executing, as well as through experimentation such as Project Convergence. Outcomes and Soldier feedback from these events inform the next iterations of capability that the Army can field through the Capability Set model, Saacks said. At the same time, Welch said, the Army science and technology realm is learning from the field and looking ahead to the “art of the possible” – what the next big advances can be in combining military and commercial emerging technologies.
“The big question is how we take the ‘what’ that we have learned and apply it, to give Soldiers what they need,” Saacks said.
Additionally, the transmission and use of data is not simply a technical question, Rey said.
“It affects doctrine,” he said. “How do we fight when we use data? How do we view the requirements for data?”
Iyer agreed, emphasizing that the CIO office is focusing on how the Army can operationalize what it has learned in the last couple of years in fielding modernized equipment and experimenting with the use of data in Army operations.
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