ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., -- Delegates from the 11 nations taking part in the Conference of the American Armies Science and Technology session here this week were happy to be part of a significant and productive event.
This was the CAA's first formal engagement with their host, the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. Their primary takeaway was a road map that points them to the integration of science and technology in future peacekeeping and disaster relief operations in the Western Hemisphere.
"A lot of the delegates are taking away something that was not really evident the last time they met," said Lt. Col. Delisa Hernandez-Bryant, RDECOM science advisor to both U.S. Army South and U.S. Army North, both headquartered in San Antonio.
"This specialized conference (science and technology) last met in November 2008, and there was not a sense of any clear path forward. So most of the delegates came here with that same expectation - we'll get together, talk about something, and there's no follow-through.
"The sensing now is that there's a clear path forward," she continued." There's the expectation that this is only setting the stage for the work that lies ahead."
The plan delegate devised here is to be briefed at the commander's conference in October 2011.
"So they're walking away with a focused vision. Now they will have to put together some more thought, and finalize some concepts at our next ad hoc meeting in March 2011.
"I think they're more excited that someone is challenging them, giving them some tasks to complete and that we're not sitting idly by and saying, 'What do we do''," Hernandez-Bryant said.
"They have clear-cut charges that they have to complete after this conference is over," she added.
RDECOM became involved in the CAA at the request of the U.S. Army South and U.S. Army North commanders. They saw the wisdom of engaging the Army's premier technology command and asked Army leadership for support. RDECOM was tasked to host the science and technology conference by the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. George W. Casey.
Leading the technical portion of the conference was Dr. Ed Johnson, technical director of the International Technology Center, Americas, based in Santiago, Chile, whose scope is North and South America.
"Our job is to look for science and technologies in these other nations to bring them into the United States to help us address science and technology problems. We have a range of things we look at, for example, things that might affect global change, alternative energy, broader subjects and problems that all nations and all peoples around the world are interested in solving.
"The purposed of this meeting is to focus on peacekeeping operations, and as we've noted historically over the past year or so, peacekeeping operations can change immediately into humanitarian relief-type operations or disaster recovery operations. In our Western Hemisphere, and throughout the world, we've face a lot of problems recently - earthquakes, bad storms, oil spills, huge rain falls and resulting floods -- that affect just about every nation."
Johnson was proud that RDECOM had stepped forward to engage in this process.
"I compliment RDECOM as a whole for providing fantastic locations and fantastic support to put this on, and the technical speakers and subject-matter experts, so that the delegates attending this conference can do their job," he said.
"I look at the CAA as a United Nations organization, or perhaps as a NATO organization but on a much smaller scale. This group is in the starting stages of developing its science and technology, and we've got a lot of work to do so that we in the United States can contribute to these fellow partners in trying to come up with increased capacity and capability to do the work."
The need for continued collaboration was echoed by Col. Donald Gibson, commander of RDECOM's Forward Americas, also based in Santiago, Chile.
"I have an organization that's responsible for science and technology outreach and inter-security cooperation for countries within the Western Hemisphere... all of the Americas," Gibson said. He has offices in Santiago, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in Ottawa, Canada.
"We've made a lot of inroads. In Chile, we have agreements in place, bilateral agreements, and engineer and scientist exchange programs. We have Chilean officers working at RDECOM and there's RDECOM scientists working in Chile on their installations," he explained.
"We also have relationships and formal agreements in Argentina, and we're building the process in other countries such as Columbia, Mexico, and, of course, Canada which has been a long-time partner."
Gibson said hemispheric challenges affect all of us - earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, hurricanes and tropical storms in El Salvador. It's important that these countries cooperate in a collaborative manner when facing these challenges, and these conferences are a step in that direction.
"This is a dream come true," Gibson said of his role. "To have the opportunity to make a difference in this hemisphere, to support major Army commands, to support my command - RDECOM - and build support that has translated to three research centers providing resources to my mission in Chile is beyond my wildest imagination."
Gibson said RDECOM was recognized by the Chilean army chief of staff in a personal letter to the U.S. ambassador in Chile, thanking him for RDECOM's support to his army.
RDECOM's engagement and the support of APG Garrison agencies was heartily endorsed by conference president and host, Brig. Gen. Harry Greene, RDECOM deputy commanding general.
Greene noted the importance of the many social events during the conference, from the opening aboard the U.S.S. Constellation in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, to attending the Twilight Tattoo at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., to the musical presentations by the 248th National Guard (Puerto Rico) Salsa Band and the 82nd Airborne Division Chorus from Fort Bragg, N.C.
The delegates were personally welcomed at Fort McNair by U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff, Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli.
"The social aspects we conducted during the conference were our way of showing the delegates a little Americana," Greene said. "It's important that we are good hosts to leave a lasting impression with them.
"This conference would not have been possible without the excellent support and positive attitude of all those involved. I really believe we set a new standard here," Greene said in a closing after-action report to his support staff.
"With the commands that are now moving to APG because of Base Realignment and Closure that will make APG the true home of Army technology, this has been a real test of our ability to host a conference of this magnitude. Many, many thanks to all those who were involved," Greene said.
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