FORT CARSON, Colo.—A few weeks ago, I was asked to share some lessons I learned during my recent deployment to Eastern Europe as a member of the 4th Infantry Division headquarters. Although several things came to mind (maybe I’ll share them in a subsequent piece), there’s one lesson I believe deserves first mention because of how much it surprised me. Electronic equipment needs to be powered to work. No, that’s not the surprise. However, this seemingly obvious fact can easily be overlooked and, in such case, has the potential to wreak havoc on military operations causing an unpleasant surprise. For this reason, units should incorporate realistic power generation scenarios as part of their deployment training progression to mitigate the risk of losing equipment or network services due to power failures.
Mission Command Systems are Power-Dependent
Power-dependent, mission command systems are a critical part of command and control. As the Ivy Division G-6 (Signal) planner, I was responsible for establishing communication with the brigade S-6 sections from our subordinate units in theater. Our meetings covered their capabilities, as well as their restrictions at each of the forward operating sites. From these regular touchpoints, I noticed that my conversations with them frequently landed on the topic of power generation as a major concern. Not only did the brigades express concerns about sourcing reliable power, but I also observed some power generation issues with our partner nations and at the division-level. We took every real-world training opportunity to exercise mission command. We also leveraged virtual training opportunities using systems like the Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation. The challenge with simulations like this is that it allows us to operate without experiencing the reality of the impacts for managing and maintaining the sources that power our communications systems. Sitting in my office from Poland gave me a sense that there are high stakes related to the development of resident competencies and the establishment of the necessary processes for obtaining and sustaining power.
There's more to it than just getting a Generator
Sourcing reliable power proved challenging for units in our area of operations, especially brigades at the more remote locations. It’s easy to say, “Just hook the equipment to a generator for power redundancy if the shore power goes out.” In that, you’d be correct, but what occurs when these generators have a fault or are running for months at a time, which was the case during our deployment? What about fueling, manning, and maintaining these generators? Who’s going to do that? Better yet, who’s trained to do that? These questions highlight an underdeveloped aspect of our operational plan. If the power generation plan is not fully fleshed out, then there is an increased potential for the standard menu of G-6 services—networking, routing, etc.—to go into flux or become indefinitely unavailable. Furthermore, overlooking this aspect can lead to something worse than power outages. With sensitive equipment linked to these power sources, it can lead to a catastrophic failure of critical network infrastructure, such as servers. Due to the sensitivity of our equipment and the amount of effort it takes to maintain these pieces of equipment, there is little to no room for human error. The power management plan must be sufficient for the anticipated mission variables.
Relationships can Bridge the Power Gap
Relationships with multi-national military partners and allies can assist when managing power generation requires actions beyond the commander’s authority to directly effect. The Mission Partner Environment was our primary means of communicating with our foreign partners. Even though the Ivy Division was successful in establishing and maintaining network services during our time in Poland, it didn’t entirely remove the difficulties caused by language barriers, especially when communicating over secured channels. Command post exercises also served as a great way for us to get daily engagement with and exposure to our partner nations and their cultures, in addition to the opportunity to learn about their equipment and the subtleties of their communication methods. They were fantastic opportunities to get acquainted with our mission partners improving our understanding of each other, our communication methods, and our shared technical expertise. Ultimately, they provided the opportunity for our collective communications capabilities to be tested to determine what are our actual power generation needs.
Being deployed overseas for an extended period gave me an experience that I will always value. Most importantly, it reaffirmed for me that there can be no substitute to the old adage “train how you fight.” U.S. Army units and partner forces must plan, resource, and train to ensure readiness for real-world power generation challenges or else risk immeasurable negative impacts to mission.
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The 4th Infantry Division is the Army’s marquee multi-domain operations division. As the most agile and lethal division in the U.S. Army inventory, it has served in every major U.S. conflict since World War I.
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