FORT BLISS, Texas — With the insights gained during Project Convergence Capstone 4 fresh on leaders' minds following two months of experimentation in California and other locations around the West Coast, the Army modernization enterprise is continuing its work in 2024 at exercises and experiments in the Pacific and Europe.
Project Convergence experiments are designed to strengthen strategic readiness and experiment with capabilities, formations and emerging concepts. The U.S. Army Futures and Concepts Center executes over 60-70 experiments every year, in an effort known as persistent experimentation. These experiments are executed by the different organizations across the Army Futures Command enterprise and includes experiments such as Project Convergence-Europe and Project Convergence-Pacific.
The purpose of PC-E and PC-P experiments are to execute efforts with theater armies in support of the modernization needs of geographic combatant commands, in the context of their regional near-peer adversaries.
PC-P and PC-E are conducted in both the European and Indo-Pacific Command areas of responsibility and will align with one exercise a year in a theater. These experiments are designed to demonstrate current and emerging capabilities in a multi-domain environment. They push forward the capability of persistent experimentation, feeding lessons into PC Capstone events and specifically focus on Army service component command gaps addressing the combatant command integrated priority list.
Aerostar, an aerospace and defense solutions company based out of South Dakota, partners with the Department of Defense to launch a high-altitude balloon in support of Valiant Shield 2024 at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, Guam, on June 10, 2024. Exercises such as Valiant Shield allow the Indo-Pacific Command Joint Forces the opportunity to integrate forces from all branches of service and with our allies to conduct precise, lethal, and overwhelming multi-axis, multi-domain effects that demonstrate the strength and versatility of the Joint Forces and our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy Video by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan A. LeCompte and Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael J. Flesch)
Recently completed was Project Convergence-Pacific 24, during which six teams from the U.S. Army Joint Modernization Command, FCC, spread to the Philippines, Japan, Hawaii, Guam, South Korea and Washington state to gain Army transformation insights during Valiant Shield 24.
VS24, which took place from June 7-18, 2024, was led by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command as a multinational field training exercise focused on achieving interoperability in an all-domain environment. The exercise included forces from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Space Force and partner nations.
During PC-P24, the JMC team gathered observations and insights on capabilities like High Altitude Balloons and the Vanilla Ultra-long Endurance Unmanned Aerial System, and formations like Multi-Domain Task Forces.
The Joint Warfighting Assessment, coming in the fall in Europe, will be tied to the Avenger Triad exercise. JWAs focus on the Army operating concepts. The Joint Warfighting Assessment is the annual capstone force modernization exercise for the U.S. Army. JWA is designed to achieve four enduring HQDA exercise objectives: improve force readiness; obtain Soldier and leader observations and feedback on modernization solutions; integrate and assess MDO concepts, capabilities, and force designs at the echelon; and integrate and assess joint and multinational interoperability.
The efforts at PC-P24 and JWA24 are part of an integrated campaign of learning with all lessons funneling into Project Convergence Capstone 5 next spring, said Lt. Col. Zachary Quintana, who led JMC’s experimental hub in Hawaii during PC-P24.
“During these joint and multinational exercises, we take the opportunity to observe the latest in joint warfighting and gain insights into where progress is being made.”
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