FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. – In the arid, rugged terrain of Fort Huachuca, Arizona, the United States Army and the Intelligence-Capability Development Integration Directorate (I-CDID) undertook a momentous endeavor, Vanguard 24, the Intelligence community's premier capstone experiment. From Sept. 8 through 20, the Army delved into high-altitude sensors, terrestrial systems, and microsensors and explored Electronic Warfare capabilities that can traverse vast distances. This experiment was a gateway to the future, providing crucial insights to industry partners, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) laboratories, and the Soldiers on the ground, offering a glimpse into the emerging technologies and program of record technologies that will shape the future fight of 2030 and 2040.
Vanguard 24 leverages technologies from Army Labs, Army systems, existing prototypes, and Industry to experiment with these new technologies, integrate them into intelligence system architectures, and evaluate whether they could ever become future Army programs of record. Vanguard is a testament to the collaborative efforts of the I-CDID, U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence (USAICoE), and Fort Huachuca. This partnership has allowed Vanguard to increase the scale from what had previously been lab-based experimentation into an operational format.
"We now have the capability to leverage virtual, live, and constructive experimentation techniques, significantly enhancing the scope and impact of our research," said Thad Thome, Intelligence Battle Lab director.
Vanguard saw a large number of technologies being experimented on, including high-altitude balloons and aircraft, gliders, sensor systems, space-based collection capabilities, the architectures that move that data to Intel-based systems, and categories of technology focused on processing and disseminating data to other entities that need it.
"Things that are able to bring in the vast amounts of data coming in and make it smaller, correlate it, and turn it into something more easily used by our intelligence analysts to do analytics are all things that we are experimenting with here," said Thome.
Some technology being experimented with is already operational within the U.S. Army, such as the Army Intelligence Data Platform (AIDP).
"Multiple units are currently using AIDP in the operational Army," said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Norman Rosentreter, senior technical advisor for the I-CDID. “What is unique about Vanguard 24 is that we are turning it up a notch, and we can look at different ways to use AIDP information with new technologies. So, in a sense, we are using program of record technology and incorporating that data and that analysis into new systems. "
While Vanguard 24 primarily took place at Fort Huachuca, using other locations allowed experimenters to send and receive data over great distances. Technologies at Vanguard sense data as far away as White Sands Missile Range, process the data at Fort Huachuca, and then send the data to shooters at Yuma Proving Ground, all to simulate the vast distances that the future fight might operate in and put the technology through its paces from sensor to shooter. Beyond the three primary areas of experimentation, the Mississippi National Guard is helping in a reach capacity, delving into the distance some of the technology can reach, along with locations in the Pacific and Colorado at the strategic level dealing with space-based capabilities.
Fort Huachuca provides a rare opportunity by having a realistic and diverse environment that includes rolling terrain, mountains, hills, wooded areas, small pieces of urban terrain, and open deserts.
"We can do things that other locations simply can't do, like experiment with strong emissions from things like jammers," said Dylan Randazzo, I-CDID director. "We're outside the major air corridors, share a border with Mexico, and we have the backdrop of the mountains that create an excellent environment to let us do testing, training, and experimentation with a wide variety of capabilities."
From the beginning, Vanguard was designed to be part of the persistent experimentation pipeline.
"We understood at the intel center that we needed our experiment to help prepare us and the technologies that we wanted to look at in the capstone experiments," said Thome. "That is one of the reasons we did the first Vanguard event, and because of the successes of Vanguard 23, DEVCOM came to us and asked if we would be interested in supporting Capstone 5 by utilizing Vanguard as a lab-based risk reduction experiment."
Lab-based risk reduction events provide the industry vendors and DEVCOM laboratories that are bringing those technologies to Vanguard with an opportunity to exercise and integrate them with Army systems they would typically use either operationally in the force or during the Capstone 5 event to learn about shortcomings in the systems they may have now so they can refine or repair the systems they are developing. Experimentation with technologies is critical in the continuous transformation process. Observers from the I-CDID and vendors take feedback to be as informed as possible on how the different technologies are performing, how they are integrating, and how they can perform better.
"Experimentation is really helping develop the plans and processes used for the future fight,” said Cpt. Ian Knapp, Intelligence Battle Lab experimentation officer. "Without experimenting with those, there is no way to know how they're actually going to work until we get on the battlefield itself, or at the very least pre-deployment rotations, so giving the experimentation a chance to identify flaws and fill gaps we may have been the only way we will be able to solve those problems while developing those future capabilities."
Vanguard is conducted with a multitude of partners, including Soldiers and Civilians from PEO IEW&S, ISR-Task Force, U.S. Army Testing and Evaluation Command, Electronic Proving Ground, Army Futures Command, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Army Service Component Commands, and other Army and joint mission partners.
"This is truly a multinational event; we are partnered with the 3rd Multi-Domain Effects Battalion, and they are the primary training audience for this event," said Thome. "We are also partnered with elements of the 3rd Infantry Division to look at learning demands at the divisional level, and then we're partnered with the 1st Special Forces command and 11th Cyber Battalion who are working together with the 7th Signal Regiment from the Australian Army doing tactical signal intelligence and electronic warfare work."
Bringing in partners in experimentation early and often is essential.
"In the future, no conflict will be solved without partners integration The Army will always be part of a Joint fighting force, so bringing in Joint partners is critical," said Thome.
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