ASC Booth Pulses With Activity at AUSA 2003

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2003

As the U.S. Army Theme states, “We areat war. Our individual and organiza-tional approach to our duties and tasks

must reflect the seriousness and sense of ur-gency characteristic of an Army at war. OurSoldiers and Nation deserve nothing less.”

Every day America’s Soldiers put mission, unitand country first. They are serving with distinc-tion in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Balkans,Kuwait, the Sinai, and Korea — in 120 countriesthroughout the world. They face threats that change, quiteliterally, overnight, and their skill in meeting these chal-lenges fills us all with pride. Let me give you an example.

When SFC James Hamilton’s unit, the 762nd TransportationCo., delivered rations and water to troops in Iraq, it continu-ously received some type of small-arms and rocket-propelledgrenade fire. So Hamilton and the Soldiers in his Army Reserve unit started to gather excess parts and materiel andapplied them to their vehicles for improved survivability.

“The command received word of what we were doing andour commander gave us the green light to continue,” saidHamilton. “We’re getting ready to modify the design of thetrailer with two Mark-19s (automatic grenade launchers) andtwo additional SAWs (Semiautomatic Assault Weapons).”

”Other vehicles, to include Humvees and Heavy EquipmentTransporters, known as HETs, were also modified to mountM249 squad automatic weapons and M2 50-caliber machineguns. The operators of the vehicles have qualified with thenew weapon platforms at a [firing] range and are fully mis-sion capable for defending convoys,” Hamilton concluded.

SGM Robert D. Casher, operations sergeant major for the32nd Transportation Group remarked, “This is Soldier inge-nuity at its best.”

It is this “ingenuity,” mixed with the rapid acquisition of newtechnology, that is saving Soldiers’ lives in Iraq andAfghanistan. Interceptor Body Armor (16.4 pounds) has replaced the flak jacket (25.1 pounds). This lighter weightarmor provides more upper body mobility to the Soldierand greater protection. I have talked with Soldiers who are alive today because they wore body armor. Our goal is to provide all Soldiers with this same protection.

The Army’s Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below(FBCB2) system is also saving lives. As a major componentof the Blue Force Tracking (BFT) system deployed in supportof Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Free-dom, FBCB2 provides timely, relevant battle command infor-mation that enables informed decisions and facilitates inte-gration of all forces. It has been hailed by Soldiers and com-manders as an indispensable warfighting tool. A Marine

intelligence officer may have said it best, “Coun-terbattery radar picked up rounds going throughthe Marine sector. Prior to firing upon, I checkedBFT and discovered that a 3rd Infantry Divisionunit had crossed into the Marine sector and wasengaging the enemy.”

The accomplishments of our brave men andwomen in uniform are truly remarkable. That isone reason why the Rapid Equipping Force (REF)works day and night to quickly find innovative

ways to increase combat capabilities while making the tasksperformed by our Soldiers safer and easier.

Created just 18 months ago, REF works directly with opera-tional commanders to find promising technology solutions toidentified operational requirements. Instead of bringing a“one-size-fits-all” mentality to an urgent operational require-ment, REF representatives in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraqhave fulfilled more than 50 equipping requirements either directly or in conjunction with existing project and programoffices. Some requirements have been for items as sophisti-cated as the Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment, a 360-degreesurveillance device suspended from an Aerostat balloon orattached to a tower, to something as low cost as commercial-off-the-shelf Personal Digital Assistants with programmedmenus of mission-oriented phrases in local dialects.

In addition to the robot platforms that were first used toclear caves, compounds and bunkers in Afghanistan in2002, technologies that REF brought to operational com-manders in 2003 include a Soldier survivability electronicprotection system that neutralizes improvised enemy explo-sive devices, state-of-the-art hand-held thermal viewers,countersniper devices, a remote video system that enablesSoldiers to search for weapons in wells and other inacces-sible areas and special shims that enable Soldiers search-ing for weapons in Iraq to nondestructively open padlocks.Capitalizing on its theater support team in country, REF de-livered the last item to Soldiers to use on patrol within 24hours of getting the requirement.

We must continue to work tirelessly to identify future forcecapabilities for the U.S. Army that should be put in the fieldnow — not years from now. “We are at war. Our individ-ual and organizational approach to our duties and tasksmust reflect the seriousness and sense of urgency charac-teristic of an Army at war. Our Soldiers and Nation deservenothing less.” (U.S. Army Theme)

From the Army Acquisition Executive

Operational Challenges Fuel BattlefieldIngenuity and Innovation

Claude M. Bolton Jr.Army Acquisition Executive

32020_GG.qxd 12/23/03 11:18 AM

creo

ARMY AL&T

1NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2003

By order of the Secretary of the Army

PETER J. SCHOOMAKERGeneral

United States ArmyChief of Staff

Official:

JOEL B. HUDSONAdministrative Assistant tothe Secretary of the Army

PB 70-03-6

November - December 2003

CLAUDE M. BOLTON JR.Assistant Secretary of the Armyfor Acquisition, Logistics and Technologyand Army Acquisition Executive

EDITORIAL BOARD

LTG JOSEPH L. YAKOVAC JR. Director, Army Acquisition Corps

LTG STEVEN W. BOUTELLEChief Information Officer, G-6

LTG RICHARD A. HACKDeputy Commanding General, AMC

MG LAWRENCE R. ADAIRAssistant DCS, G-1

MG LESTER MARTINEZ-LOPEZCommanding GeneralU.S. Army Medical Researchand Materiel Command

TINA BALLARDDeputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Procurement, Office of the ASAALT

WIMPY PYBUSDeputy Assistant Secretary for ILSOffice of the ASAALT

DR. THOMAS H. KILLIONActing Deputy Assistant Secretaryfor Research and TechnologyOffice of the ASAALT

DR. MICHAEL O’CONNORDirector of R&DU.S. Army Corps of Engineers

DONALD DAMSTETTERDeputy Assistant Secretaryfor Plans, Programs and ResourcesOffice of the ASAALT

MICHAEL I. RODDINExecutive Secretary, Editorial Board

EDITORIAL STAFF

MICHAEL I. RODDINEditor-In-Chief

MAJ DENNIS ELLISONOperations Officer

DEBBIE FISCHER-BELOUSExecutive Editor

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MEG WILLIAMSSenior Editor/Writer

NOJAE KIMLayout and Graphic Design

To contact the Editorial Office:Call (703) 704-0110/0114/0128/0129 or DSN 654-0110/0114/0128/0129

Articles should be submitted to: DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, ARMY ALT, 9900BELVOIR RD, SUITE 101, FORT BELVOIR, VA 22060-5567.

Our fax number is (703) 704-0135. E-mail: [email protected].

Army AL&T (ISSN 0892-8657) is published bimonthly by theASAALT. Articles reflect views of the authors and not necessarily of-ficial opinion of the Department of the Army. The purpose is to in-struct members of the Army acquisition workforce relative to AL&Tprocesses, procedures, techniques and management philosophyand to disseminate other information pertinent to their professionaldevelopment. Private subscriptions and rates are available from theSuperintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,Washington, DC 20402 or (202) 512-1800. Periodicals officialpostage paid at Fort Belvoir, VA, and additional post offices. POST-MASTER: Send address changes to DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY,ARMY ALT, 9900 BELVOIR RD, SUITE 101, FORT BELVOIR, VA 22060-5567. Articles may be reprinted if credit is given to Army AL&T andthe author. Unless specifically requested, photo credits are notgiven. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

This medium is approved for official disseminationof material designed to keep individuals withinthe Army knowledgeable of current and emerg-ing developments within their areas of expertisefor the purpose of enhancing their professionaldevelopment.

Departments

Cover StoryOBJECTIVE FORCE WARRIOR ADVANCEDTECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION Carol J. Fitzgerald

Features

Future Battlefield WarriorsJean-Louis DeGay Page 2

6

Land Warrior-Stryker Interoperable Risk Reduction Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

COL Theodore E. Johnson and LTC David L. Gallop

Defining the Objective Force Soldier:TRADOC and the Objective Force Warrior

Advanced Technology Demonstration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

MAJ Marco J. Barrera and CPT Vincent Grizio

The Rapid Fielding Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

COL Gregory J. Fritz

Project Manager Soldier Weapons and the XM8: Applying Future

Technology to Benefit Today’s Soldier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

LTC Matthew Clarke, MAJ Trevor W. Shaw and David Ahmad

FBCB2 Blue Force Tracking — Fielding During Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

MAJ Rodney A. Mentzer

Ground Combat Vehicles: Present and Future Diagnostics and

Prognostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Dr. Elena N. Bankowski and Christopher Miles

SmarTruck II: A Versatile Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Paul D. Mehney

Army Acquisition Corps: ‘Your Soldiers’ on Point for the Betterment

of the Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

LTG John S. Caldwell Jr.

Soldiers Use AKO to Voice Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Patrick A. Swan

Army Presents Annual Research and Development Laboratory Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Meg Williams

Army Venture Capital Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Dr. John A. Parmentola and Dr. Robert S. Rohde

University Affiliated Research Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Dr. John A. Parmentola

The Role of the OFW LTI:The Eagle Enterprise Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Kevin G. Bonner and Scott D. Myers

Army Future Force Moves Toward Jointness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Meg Williams

Army Presents Acquisition Commander and Project and Product Manager

of the Year Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Meg Williams

Natick Integrated Materiel Management Center’s Fire Response Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Daniel Galarza

ASC Booth Pulses With Activity at AUSA 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Meg Williams

ACQUISITION, LOGISTICS

& TECHNOLOGY

Career Development Update .............................................................................................................. 50

News Briefs .......................................................................................................................................... 54

Book Reviews ...................................................................................................................................... 63

Contracting Community Highlights................................................................................................... 65

Writers Guidelines ............................................................................................................................... 73

0332501

32020_GG.qxd 12/4/03 4:13 PM Page 3

2 NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2003

ARMY AL&T

Engineers at the U.S. ArmyNatick Soldier Center (NSC)developed the concept of Fu-

ture Warrior (FW) in the late 1990sas a science and technology (S&T)“platform” similar to the automotiveindustry’s “concept car.” Althoughnot a formalized program, FW hasbecome a way to track advancedmilitary and commer-cial technologies to gen-erate ideas about whatwarriors of 2025 maylook like and the capabil-ities they may possess. Thegoal is to identify advancedtechnologies and capabilitiesthat may not be matureenough to fit into the currentObjective Force Warrior (OFW)Advanced Technology Demonstra-tion (ATD) System/Architecture butshow great promise for “OFW II”(i.e., the follow-on S&T effort tothe current ATD) or future soldiersystems even beyond that.

The FW is not simply an increaseto the OFW’s capabilities — it’s acomplete transformation (incorpo-rating current soldier, Land WarriorBlocks I-III lessons learned) to thecutting-edge FW who will lead usinto the next 20 years. There are anumber of advanced technologiesthat will provide “decade-after-next”soldiers with leap-ahead capabilitiesover the Land Warrior AdvancedCapability scheduled to start field-ing in 2010. The areas that showgreatest promise are being aggres-sively pursued by the U.S. Army

and include nanotechnology, exo-skeletons and full-spectrum indivi-dual protection.

NanotechnologyIn August 2001, the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT) wasawarded the U.S. Army’s competi-tion to research and develop nan-otechnologies for fiber production.The Institute for Soldier Nan-otechnology (ISN) began as a $50million proposal, with industrycontributing an additional $40million in funds and equipment.

ISN is a collaboration amongMIT, the U.S. Army and other in-

dustrial organizations such asDuPont, Raytheon and Dow Corn-ing. ISN’s primary goal is to createinnovations in nanoscience andnanotechnology in a variety of survivability-related areas that willbe harvested by the partners for fu-ture Army application. Nanostruc-tured or nanophase materials haveinternal structural features that areorganized on the nanometer sizescale. A nanometer is equal to1/1,000,000,000 meter, or about 10times the size of an atom.

This research will integrate a widerange of functions, including multi-threat protection against ballistics,sensory attack, chemical and biolog-ical agents; climate control (cooling,heating and insulating); biomedicalmonitoring and load managementto enable a revolutionary advance in soldier survivability through thedevelopment of novel materials for

Future Battlefield WarriorsJean-Louis DeGay

AL&T_Nov-Dec_final.qxd 12/4/03 12:40 PM

integration into the FW systems.These technologies will translateinto a one- or two-layered “smart”uniform that is soft and pliable likea traditional textile, yet providesballistic and chemical protection,strength augmentation and adaptive(i.e., chameleon-like) camouflage.Concurrently, NSC is conductingnanotechnology research onnanocomposites to replace soft andhard body armor for protection,nanofiber membranes withnanoscale decontaminants forchemical decontamination,nanophotonics for laser eye protec-tion and nanobarrier films for foodpackaging and protection.

ExoskeletonThroughout history, one of thegreatest challenges and limitationsfor soldiers, especially infantrymen,has been physical load. How muchweight can a soldier carry and stillaccomplish his mission? As warfarebecomes increasingly urban and ad-vanced technologies make the bat-tlespace wider and deeper, soldierswill be unable to depend on vehiclesfor protection, mobility, fire supportand materiel resupply. Under cur-rent doctrine, soldiers are requiredto march 3-4 miles per hour carry-ing as much as 100-plus pounds ofequipment. Exoskeleton-equippedsoldiers would be capable of movingapproximately three times fasterwhile carrying more than double thecurrent load with minimal actualstress to their bodies.

In Spring 2001, the Defense Ad-vanced Research Projects Agencydistributed the first grants from its$50 million, 5-year commitmentcontract to study and construct anexoskeleton. In nature, an exoskele-ton is an external hard shell support-ive covering of an animal. In this

context, it’s a powered mechanical,external support structure for sol-diers. The system will assist pack-loaded locomotion, prolong loco-motive endurance, increase locomo-tive speed and augment humanstrength. The system will be holisti-cally designed with the soldier wear-ing it as an outer skin. Rather thanoperate it with joysticks, a haptic in-terface (a suite of sensors through-out the system would be activatedby touch or contact to the skin) willallow the exoskeleton to become anextension of the soldier and his nat-ural movements.

This pursuit has tremendous advan-tages for our soldiers. The exoskeletonwould allow hard points to fastenarmor for greater full-body protection,heavy weapons for increased lethalityand the ability to carry greater loads(upwards of 400 pounds).

Other TechnologiesWhile nanotechnology and the ex-oskeleton comprise two “pillars” ofleading FW technologies, there areseveral other technologies that givethe FW never-before-seen abilities.FW will take advantage of 3-D bodyscanning to produce a system that istailored to each individual, from theelectrospun combat uniform to thebiomechanically engineered helmet,microturbine power generation,electrically conductive textiles capa-ble of data and power transmissionand active heating or cooling.Building on OF hardware and soft-ware systems, FW systems will act asremote triage stations. The uniformand onboard computer, tied into thetactical network, can recommendcare and be teleoperated by medicsto provide needed life-saving or life-sustaining measures. The FW willachieve oxygen exchange via aclosed-loop breathing apparatus that

negates the need for protectivemasks or filters. An onboard ad-vanced personal weapons systemwith voice activation will containfive tubes of soft-launched, 15mmintelligent “fire-and-forget” muni-tions paired with a magazine of4.6mm kinetic energy projectiles.NSC is also pursuing biotechnologyresearch that will allow biosensorsto be embedded in textiles to detectbiological and chemical agents andtoxic industrial chemicals and mate-rials. NSC is also incorporatingnovel materials to enable textiles toself-decontaminate chemical agentsand other toxic materials. Thesecombined technologies will allowthe FW to operate as an Army ofOne.

Soldiers, now viewed as a system-of-systems, will continue to be thefoundation of future Army forma-tions. The only way we can ensuresoldiers are on the cutting edge ofadvancing science and technology isto constantly look toward futuretechnology applications and adapta-tions. Today’s and tomorrow’s pro-grams must address soldiers’ con-cerns and feedback from the envi-ronments they work in. To be suc-cessful, FW must explore leading-edge technologies, making astute as-sumptions about future soldier re-quirements and battlespace employ-ment. Only then can we maintainthe combative edge of the unrivaledplatform we call the Soldier.

JEAN-LOUIS “DUTCH” DEGAY isan Equipment Specialist in the OFWTechnology Program Office at NSC. Hehas a B.A. in global political science fromthe University of Georgia.

ARMY AL&T



LW-SI will be developed andtested in small, manageablebites. For example, one chal-

lenging requirement for LW-SI isthe integration of a laser and radiofrequency (Laser-RF)-based combatidentification system. The LW-SIrisk reduction strategy is to inte-grate existing Laser-RF technologyinto LW-IC ensembles to identifyand isolate the technical difficultiesearly (within 7 months after con-tract award).

Another high-risk requirement is in-tegration of networking, communi-cations and power within the 10Stryker configurations through aLand Warrior Vehicle Interface Kit(VIK). Rather than develop an op-erational requirements document-compliant VIK over a 3-year periodand identifying real-world problemsweeks before formal test, LW-SI willdevelop and test a Prototype VIK(Proto-VIK). Proto-VIK’s objectiveis to force Land Warrior and Strykerengineers to work together insidethe vehicle to deliver a functioningproduct prior to critical design re-view. The Proto-VIK will only pro-

vide a small fraction of the requiredcapability but exercises the neces-sary engineering and organizationalcoordination to validate design assumptions.

Test ExerciserLand Warrior is developing a hand-held leader planning tool — theCommander’s Digital Assistant(CDA). The CDA uses Army stan-dard hardware and hosts Land War-rior software. Since the hardware isfully mature, the CDA serves as astable host to exercise Land Warriorcommand, control and communica-tions (C3) functions. The CDAcan provide real-world informationon wireless network capacity, mes-sage formatting, graphic user inter-faces and supportability. The CDAfacilitates low-cost Land Warrioranalogous information.

The 82nd Airborne Division usedCDAs in Iraq. Their feedback onplanning and communications re-quirements applies directly to LW-SI risk reduction. Having theability to exercise hundreds ofCDAs provides insights to LW-SI

supportability. Those insights feedthe LW-SI detailed design.

Early Parallel Development PathsGiven the HQDA mandate to field

Land Warriors tothe Strykerbrigades be-

fore the

end ofFY08,

should theprime contractorrun into a devel-opment road-block, there isno scheduleavailable to re-design. Tomitigate this

risk, programpersonnel de-

cided to sup-port earlyparallel


ARMY AL&T

Land Warrior-Stryker Interoperable Risk Reduction Strategies

COL Theodore E. Johnson and LTC David L. Gallop

The technology to provide soldiers with integrated and modular ensembles thatoffer unprecedented lethality by leveraging networked information has existed sincethe early 1990s. Integrating the technology has been difficult. The most recent at-tempt was Land Warrior-Initial Capability (LW-IC). LW-IC was unable to meet reliabil-ity requirements during developmental testing because hardening commercial hard-ware and software — while balancing functionality, space, weight, power and bal-ance requirements — was extremely difficult. As Land Warrior moves forward intothe development of Land Warrior-Stryker Interoperable (LW-SI), the program is incor-porating lessons from the LW-IC failures and applying risk reduction techniques toproduct development.


ARMY AL&T


development paths for the mostchallenging requirements — power,voice control, collaborative planning,weight reduction and combat identi-fication. The program office is ex-ploiting technology base expertise atthe Army Research and Develop-ment Center at Fort Monmouth,NJ, for these parallel paths. This al-lows the prime contractor, who hastotal systems integration responsibil-ity, to focus on the primary develop-ment path and monitor parallel pathprogress. The prime contractor,using the systems engineering andintegrated product and process de-velopment processes will determineif, when and what efforts from theparallel paths will migrate to the pri-mary path.

The parallel path efforts begin aftersystem preliminary design reviewand last approximately 9 months.Each of the paths results in a proto-type demonstration prior to systemcritical design review in the thirdquarter of FY04.

Risk Reduction RelationshipsThe internal LW-SI program risk re-duction efforts support a lower riskdevelopment of the Land Warrior-Advanced Capability (LW-AC) pro-gram. LW-AC is the revolutionarycapability plan of the ObjectiveForce unit of action (UA). Both theLW-AC and LW-SI programs takeadvantage of technologies maturedunder the Objective Force WarriorAdvanced Technology Demonstra-tion (OFW ATD). The OFW ATDwill feed LW-SI evolutionary im-provements as early as FY06 andprovide a foundation for revolution-ary improvements for LW-AC.

The Army restructured the LandWarrior program in FY03 to facili-tate a lower risk approach that fol-lows a build a little, test a little ap-proach. The program will exploitthe CDA as model for Land Warriorto get real world, analogous data onC3 and supportability immediately.Early, short-duration parallel devel-opment paths yielding working

prototypes mitigate some of theriskier technologies. Close coordina-tion between the OFW ATD andLand Warrior programs will reducethe risk of fielding LW-AC to theUA and reduce the risk that LW-SIcapabilities will become obsolete.

COL THEODORE E. JOHNSON isthe U.S. Army’s Project Manager SoldierWarrior. He has a B.A. in psychologyfrom Upsala College, an M.S. in interna-tional relations from Troy State Univer-sity and an M.S. in national resourcestrategy from the Industrial College ofthe Armed Forces, where he was a distin-guished graduate.

LTC DAVID L. GALLOP is the U.S.Army’s Product Manager Land Warrior.He has both an M.S. in aeronautics andM.B.A. from Florida Institute of Tech-nology and is a graduate of the U.S.

Army Command and General Staff Col-lege. Gallop brings more than 10 yearsof system acquisition experience to LandWarrior and is a member of the Interna-tional Council of Systems Engineers.

Defining the Objective Force Soldier:TRADOC and the Objective Force Warrior

Advanced Technology Demonstration

MAJ Marco J. Barrera and CPT Vincent Grizio

“Soldiers are the centerpiece of our formations.”The Army Vision

Defining the soldier concepts and requirements within the Objective Force (OF) is a daunting task. How-ever, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and the science and technology(S&T) community are in close partnership to help provide the answers. In fact, TRADOC and the

Army Natick Soldier Center have been working together since the early planning of the Objective Force Warrior(OFW) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) 2 years ago when both communities participated in develop-ing the ATD’s exit criteria. Through the OFW ATD, TRADOC, the S&T community and industry are set to re-fine the soldier operational concepts and user requirements and, ultimately, conduct a technology demonstrationthat provides the answers to the operational requirements for the OF soldier.


Where the unit of action (UA) op-erational and organizational(O&O) concept stops, the soldieroperational concept begins. Cur-rently, the Future Combat Systems(FCS) UA O&O describes the op-erational context forthe FCS-enabled OFbrigade and battalionbut does not providethe detail required forsmall units at companylevel and below. Thesoldier and small-unitoperational concept de-veloped by TRADOCin conjunction withthe OFW ATD will setthe conditions for op-erational requirementsthat will add the rightfidelity to the soldierdescribed in the UAO&O.

The Soldier Conceptand the UA O&O Even in the OF, the dismountedsoldier in close combat will con-tinue to possess the greatest opera-tional need. The TRADOC Sys-tems Manager-Soldier (TSM-S) andthe Infantry Directorate of CombatDevelopments (DCD) are develop-ing the third increment of the LandWarrior program and are addressingthe operational concept and poten-tial requirement deficiencies OFsoldiers may have. The OFW ATDleads the S&T effort to feed ma-ture, advanced technologies into theLand Warrior program. Throughdirect OFW ATD involvement, theTSM-S will synchronize TRADOCdevelopment efforts with thisATD’s spiral development processto continuously refine and validateoperational concepts and require-ments for soldiers and small unitoperations.

Army transformation has initiatedmany programs to make the OF areality. The UA O&O and theFCS Operational RequirementsDocument (ORD) provide the re-quirements for many of the UA

platforms and enablingsystems. TSM-S andDCD are spearheadingthe operational con-cepts and requirementseffort for the OF sol-dier and small unit.The current OF soldierconcept documentsfeed updates into theUA O&O Modes ofManeuver, Chapter6.3.3.3, and furtherdefine soldier capabili-ties within the FCSUA structure at com-pany level and below.

Annex E of the UA O&O addressesthe proposed soldier-borne ensem-ble capabilities, which is an inte-grated combat uniform that pro-vides individual connectivity to thenetwork, reduced weight throughthe integration of requirements forsoldier systems, greater integratedbody armor and better powersources. The user envisions soldierand small-unit operational conceptsthat describe dismounted, mounted,dismounted supported by mounted,mounted supported by dismounted,aerial envelopment operations andthree more additions that includedeployment preparations, forcedentry operations and sustainmentoperations. The user envisions fur-ther concept refinements to providea stand-alone soldier operationalconcept for the OF developedunder the Soldier-as-a-System(SaaS) concept documents.

The OF soldier concepts, nested withthe FCS UA O&O, will provide the

detail missing in many OF docu-ments because it shows how the in-dividual soldier and leader willfunction within the FCS-enabledOF. This concept shows the inte-gration of the soldier with his soldier-borne equipment and inter-operability with FCS family of vehi-cles and FCS complementary sys-tems. This integration and interop-erability enables the soldier’s contin-ued role as an integral player incombined arms operations.

Soldier Requirementsand the FCS ORD Not until the OFW ATD andTRADOC’s approval of the SaaSIntegrated Concept Team (ICT) re-quirements management processdid soldier requirements evolve in aholistic sense. Prior to integrationthrough the SaaS ICT managementprocess, fielding new equipment toa soldier was analogous to hangingadditional ornaments on a Christ-mas tree. The paradigm shift fo-cuses on centrally managing all sol-dier requirements. The SaaS ICTperforms this task with participa-tion from all TRADOC centers andschools. The Joint Capabilities In-tegration and Development Systemand TRADOC Pamphlet 71-9,Force Development Requirements De-termination, provide the currentguidance for requirements develop-ment. The SaaS ICT provides acustom-tailored approach to this re-quirements development guidanceto address the unique complexitiesinvolved with managing SaaS.

The current draft version of theLand Warrior Block III ORD consol-idates many of the baseline soldierrequirements for the OF soldier.The Land Warrior Block III require-ments document provides the nextspiral development of the Land


ARMY AL&T

The OFW ATD

seeks to exhibit

connectivity within

the command,

control, communi-

cations, computers,

intelligence, sur-

veillance and re-

connaissance net-

work of the UA

and Future Force.


ARMY AL&T


Warrior program. The Land War-rior Block I and II design addressedclose combatants and their vehicleinteroperability. Land WarriorBlock III evolves to provide OF ca-pabilities to all soldiers — from in-fantrymen to combat service sup-port soldiers.

The user continues the operationalconcept effort of streamlining sol-dier processes through integrationof required operational capabilities.A system-of-systems approach en-sures continuous integration of re-quired capabilities to increase func-tionality while reducing weight,space, power requirements and lo-gistic footprint. This effort includesintegration of different require-ments within this document includ-ing the approved Blocks I and IIand integration of soldier-related requirements from multiple proponents.

As soldiers begin to perform multi-ple tasks in support of their mis-sions, the requirements for all sol-diers become more common. Re-quirements normally reserved forinfantry soldiers are finding a placewith combat service supporters andvice versa. In essence, the require-ments address everyone, but to en-sure that the “Christmas tree” ap-proach does not continue,TRADOC, in conjunction with theOFW ATD, is working to providean integrated soldier-borne systemwith common capabilities that willaddress the requirements for all OFsoldiers. Integrated soldier systemdevelopment continues by address-ing additional requirements for spe-cific military occupational specialtyfunctions layered on top of thecommon soldier-borne ensemble.Primarily designed for all soldiers inthe UA, the Land Warrior Block III

vision includes airborne, air assaultand special operations units. Tofurther develop Land Warrior BlockIII requirements, the SaaS ICT isworking with all proponents to fullyaddress requirements for all soldiers.

The Way Ahead Through early collaboration be-tween TRADOC and the OFWATD communities, the conditionsfor defining the operational require-ments and concepts for the OF sol-dier are becoming a reality. Thesoldier and small-unit operationalconcepts and requirements devel-oped early on by TRADOC assistthe S&T community in focusingtheir development efforts. Con-versely, the S&T community willprovide answers and reality checkson the future force capabilities pro-vided by the concept and require-ment writers. This exchange willdrive spiral developments for multi-ple revisions of the operational re-quirements and the technology.Phase II of the ATD will concludewith system design lock and PhaseIII will deliver prototypes for a lim-ited systems demonstration that willprovide the first glimpse at the OFsoldier. This demonstration willshowcase an integrated soldier-borne combat ensemble and its in-teroperability with FCS enablersthat will project the soldier into theOF. The end result marries opera-tional requirements with technolog-ical solutions so that soldiers andtheir supporting systems are betterintegrated to provide greater lethal-ity, survivability, mobility, sustain-ability and command and control.

Defining the OF soldier requiresanswering many hard questions andunderstanding the daunting require-ments for operating in a network-centric, FCS-enabled OF. However,

careful thought, concept develop-ment, analysis and technology mat-uration will help refine the soldier’srequirements as an interoperablemember of the FCS-equipped OF.The developing soldier and small-unit concepts and requirementsdocuments, nested withinTRADOC’s OF operating capabili-ties provides the azimuth to guidethe S&T community and ensuresan integrated soldier concept withinthe current OF concept documents.The consolidated efforts ofTRADOC organizations, the S&Tcommunity and industry will helpreveal the answers to the hard ques-tions. The resulting systems willenable the soldier and small unit todominate all opponents with over-matching capability in warfightingenvironments anticipated duringthe next 20 years.

MAJ MARCO J. BARRERA is an Assis-tant TSM-S for Land Warrior Block III.He has a B.S. in engineering manage-ment from the U.S. Military Academyand an M.S. in management informationsystems from Auburn University. Othereducation includes completion of theMaterial Acquisition ManagementCourse.

CPT VINCENT GRIZIO is an Assis-tant TSM-S for Land Warrior Block III.He has a B.A. in marine science andbusiness administration from the Univer-sity of Miami. Other education includescompletion of the Army AcquisitionBasic Course.



ARMY AL&T

The PM worked directly withthe next brigade on its wayto Afghanistan — 2nd

Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division(Abn. Div.) — to prepare a list ofequipment that soldiers and unitsneeded for their mission in therugged terrain and harsh climate ofAfghanistan. The success of thisinitial effort between the PM andthe deploying brigade commanderbecame known as the Rapid Field-ing Initiative (RFI) and served as acatalyst for subsequent units de-ploying both to OEF and OperationIraqi Freedom.

In the months that followed, the re-maining brigades of the 82nd, plusthe entire 101st Airborne Division(Air Assault) and 10th MountainDivision (Light Infantry) have alsoreceived RFI equipment. RFI hasbeen a tremendous success becauseit provided thousands of articles ofmission-essential equipment to de-ploying units in a matter of weeksand months instead of the tradi-tional years-long acquisitionprocess. PM CIE, in close coopera-tion with deploying unit command-ers, HQDA, the U.S. Army Train-ing and Doctrine Command

(TRADOC) and the Army Test andEvaluation Command (ATEC), se-cured the funding and safety re-leases necessary to provide palletloads of equipment at an unprece-dented rate. As a result, thousandsof soldiers deployed to Afghanistanand Iraq with significantly en-hanced lethality, survivability andcomfort.

Several pieces of RFI equipmenthave been especiallysignificant in soldiersurvivability. TheInterceptor BodyArmor, which in-creased a soldier’s protec-tion from exploding fragments andshrapnel to ballistic protectionagainst rifle-fired ammunition, hasbeen credited with dozens of docu-mented cases of saving soldiers’lives. The Advanced Combat Hel-met has also been documented inprotecting soldier’s lives from AK-47 shots that previously would havekilled them.

While much of the RFI equipmentwas harvested from COTS andGOTS production lines, the Ad-vanced Combat Helmet was ex-panded from the Special ForcesMulti-Integrated Combat Helmet

program. This is just one exampleof PM CIE’s innovative approach tomeeting operational shortfalls fordeploying units. Another exampleis the Military Operations in UrbanTerrain kits that were adapted fromtraditional firefighting equipmentto provide a rapid solution for the101st Abn. Div.’s operational re-quirement for fighting in Iraqi citiesand villages.

RFI also provided combatoptics, sensors, lasers,

night vision devicesand thermal weaponssights to enhancesoldier and unit

lethality. This required some pur-chases above the basis-of-issue-plan(BOIP) and some adjustments tothe Department of the Army Mas-ter Priority List (DAMPL). Thank-fully, the compelling urgency ofhostilities in Afghanistan and Iraqcompressed the approval of beyondBOIP procurement and out-of-DAMPL sequence fielding so de-ploying units received the equip-ment they needed in a few shortmonths, rather than the tradition-ally long process.

RFI not only provided the equip-ment, but also training and

The Rapid Fielding InitiativeCOL Gregory J. Fritz

Lessons learned from Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) revealedserious shortcomings in soldier and unit equipment. As a

result, in November 2002, the Product Manager Clothingand Individual Equipment (PM CIE), began identifying

commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) and government-off-the-shelf(GOTS) solutions to meet these shortfalls.


ARMY AL&T


logistical support for the newequipment. Upon HQDA notifica-tion, Program Executive Office Sol-dier (PEO Soldier) and PMSoldier Equipmentarranged immediate co-ordination with thenext-deploying unit totailor their list of re-quired equip-ment, from theprevious unit’stemplate to theirunique mission re-quirements. HQDA then providedthe funding for PEO Soldier to pro-cure this equipment on an acceler-ated schedule. PEO Soldier alsoarranged for direct shipment ofthousands of articles of equipmentdirectly to the deploying units’home station, or in some cases, di-rectly to the theater distributionpoint. Representatives from PEOSoldier then deployed to Fort Bragg,NC; Fort Campbell, KY; and FortDrum, NY; to field the equipmentto soldiers and train them in its usejust before their deployments toAfghanistan and Iraq. As a result,soldiers and units were far more sur-vivable and lethal in the harsh ter-rain and climate of these countries.

Additionally, RFI equipment en-abled soldiers and units to “own thenight” from their mounted weapons

platforms and from their indi-vidual night observation

devices and individualand crew-served ther-mal weapons sights.And when the infa-

mous Iraqi sandstormsblinded nearly every

imaginable sensor andweapon platform, these indi-

vidual and crew-served thermalweapons sights were the only de-vices known to cut through thesand and provide limited visibilitywhen all else was obscured by theintense sandstorms.

ATEC was a key player in RFI’s accel-erated timelines, providing materielsafety releases in fractions of the tradi-tional testing process. TRADOC alsoassisted with documentation of opera-tional needs and coordination of basicand unit-specific requirements.

HQDA and, specifically, the DeputyChief of Staff G-3 and G-8, pro-vided the resources and prioritizationnecessary to procure all equipmentin a timely manner. But much ofthe success for RFI is attributable tounit commanders and their noncom-missioned officer support channel

who articulated the opera-tional necessity for RFIequipment before deploy-

ing into harm’s way.

Because of RFI’ssuccess, PEOSoldier has al-ready been noti-fied by HQDA

to initiate coor-dination with four

additional brigade com-bat teams to provide

them with RFI equipment in themonths ahead. Additionally, PEOSoldier is working closely withHQDA to formalize plans for pro-viding RFI equipment to the rest ofthe Active Component plus en-hanced brigades from the ReserveComponent as well. RFI has beena tremendous success, providing sol-diers and units with equipment thatenhanced their survivability andlethality across the operational spec-trum. RFI has significantly im-proved the trust and cooperationbetween warfighters and the acqui-sition community as well asHQDA, TRADOC and ATEC.This close cooperation will serve asa model for future acquisitions, pro-viding direct and timely feedbackfor Army modernization invest-ments and significantly compressingthe timeline for putting maturetechnology into the hands of sol-diers. RFI preserves America’sfighting forces’ technology over-match and boosts every soldier’s andunit’s survivability and lethality.RFI has been a tremendous oppor-tunity for the Army and industry toprovide soldiers and units theequipment that otherwise had beenprocured “out-of-pocket.” Withcontinued cooperation, prioritiza-tion and resources, RFI will con-tinue to provide American soldiersthe fighting edge that they deserve.

COL GREGORY J. FRITZ was the PMSoldier Equipment at the time this articlewas written. He has since retired. He hasa B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy, anM.S. from the Florida Institute of Tech-nology and a Master of Strategic Studiesfrom the Army War College. Fritz has alsoearned diplomas from the Defense Lan-guage Institute and the German GeneralStaff College, Hamburg, Germany.


PEO Soldier is supporting de-velopment of the ObjectiveForce Warrior (OFW) pro-

gram to further ensure battlefielddominance by soldiers today and inthe future. Responsible for the lifecycle of all individual and crew-served weapons, PM SoldierWeapons is charteredto manage the

development, acquisition and sup-port of small-arms weapons and mu-nitions for both mounted and dis-mounted soldiers.

PM Soldier Weapons is developing afamily of weapons that will provideincreased OFW lethality. Withinthe PM Soldier Weapons office, the

Product Manager IndividualWeapons is developing the

XM29 Integrated AirburstWeapon System. This

weapon system will giveovermatch lethality to

combat soldiers.

The XM29 integrated dual muni-tions weapon system incorporates a 5.56mm kinetic energy weaponand a semiautomatic, 25mm, air-bursting munitions launcher withfull-solution control. The XM29will provide precisely delivered air-burst ammunition in military opera-tions on urban terrain and complexterrain at ranges exceeding the M203Grenade Launcher with five timesthe lethality. Although the system isscheduled to support the FutureCombat Systems (FCS), the PM In-dividual Weapons has transformedthe planned strategy into a spiral de-velopment approach that allowsfielding of capabilities as they ma-ture. This strategy will allow forfielding of separate air bursting and5.56mm weapon systems with in-creased capabilities well ahead ofFCS. The XM25 and the XM8 aredirect outgrowths of this strategy.

XM25The XM25 will provide individualsoldiers with precision airburst capa-

bility that will increasethe probability of

incapaci-tation of

enemy forces indefilade, in trenches, behind trees

and on rooftops. The XM25 will in-tegrate a full-solution fire control toa 25mm semiautomatic air-burstingsystem allowing soldiers to engagetargets out to a range of 500 metersin both day and night conditions.The fire control, the systems’ brains,


ARMY AL&T

Project Manager Soldier Weapons and the XM8: Applying Future Technology to

Benefit Today’s Soldier

LTC Matthew Clarke, MAJ Trevor W. Shaw and David Ahmad

For the first time in Army history, there is a single office that centralizes all soldier support equipment.Activated June 7, 2002, Program Executive Office(PEO) Soldier has the mission to “Arm and equip sol-diers to dominate the full spectrum of peace and warnow and in the future.” Within the PEO’s portfolio aremore than 300 programs. Executing these programsare three project manager (PM) offices: PM SoldierWarrior; PM Soldier Weapons; and PM Soldier Sensorsand Equipment.

32020_GG.qxd 12/9/03 3:23 PM

integrates a thermal sensor, directview optic, laser range finder and en-vironmental sensor with a ballisticcomputer, just to name a few fea-tures. This capability will revolu-tionize the battlefield by enabling in-dividual soldiers to fire a 25mmhigh-explosive bursting roundthrough a window at 300 meterswith devastating first-shot effects.The XM25 may be available for useby FY07.

XM8The XM8 Lightweight Assault Rifleis a new 5.56mm carbine that formsthe basis for a family of weapons tofill multiple roles from a single archi-tecture. The XM8 weapon systemincorporates many features requestedby soldiers in the field including ahigh degree of modularity, an inte-grated sight, improved reliability anda reduced weight over currentweapons. A systems engineering ap-proach was taken in designing theXM8, ensuring that all capabilitiesthe soldier requires for combat willbe integrated into or fully compati-ble with the weapon. The XM8’sgoal is to be 20-30 percent lighterthan a similarly configured M4Modular Weapon System as it isfielded today but with increasedlethality when integrated with theSoldier-as-a-System. This effort isalso being supplemented by an am-munition science and technology ef-fort to examine the lightweight casematerials that could provide evenfurther weight savings for the actualweapon. The modularity of the cur-rent weapon design simplifies barrelchanges and requires a lower mainte-nance level compared to currentweapons, thus allowing for simplebarrel changes without the use ofspecial tools. The XM8’s modularityenhances combat capability and al-lows for mission-specific weapons

tailoring. In only 5 minutes, unitcommanders can direct their soldiersto reconfigure the weapon systeminto carbine, compact, sharpshooteror autorifle variants. For the firsttime, commanders can transform thecapabilities of their soldiers to meetspecific mission requirements using asingle common weapon platform.This means commanders can pro-vide their soldiers with longer rangesor higher volumes of fire capabilitiesfrom organic weapons. Each variantwill fire all standard U.S./NATO5.56mm rounds and provide semiau-tomatic and fully automatic opera-tion modes. Initiated in August2002, the XM8 program is on trackto field initial weapon systems inFY05. To view a table outliningXM8’s general weapon characteristicsand performance, go to http://asc.army.mil/pubs/default.cfm (Novem-ber-December issue).

The XM8 carbine will be the stan-dard individual weapon for riflemenand most unit leaders. The compactvariant will be significantly shorterthan the XM8 carbine, improvingportability and soldier mobility. Itcould be used for close quarter bat-tles, personal defense and for selectedvehicle crewmembers. The sharp-shooter variant would support thesquad-designated marksman mission.The autorifle variant will use a high-capacity magazine and a heavy barrel,and will provide a significant weightsavings over the current M249 SquadAutomatic Weapon, supporting theautomatic rifleman mission.

Each XM8 variant will have an inte-grated sight that is factory bore-sighted featuring a reflex sight, an in-frared (IR) illuminator, an IRpointer and an integrated backupsight capability. This combines threeaccessories into a single package.

This design effort’s goal is focusedon increasing overall accuracy whiledecreasing target acquisition time.Accessory rails will be eliminated andreplaced by a new integrated mount-ing system requiring only an initialboresight adjustment. PM SoldierSensors is also working to develop anultra-lightweight thermal weaponsight that will attach to the XM8 tocomplement the integrated sight.

Specific design attention also focusedon improved reliability and durabil-ity. Using proven materials andprocesses, the XM8 will have a pro-jected barrel life 63-117 percentlonger than current weapons andwill have improved reliability in allenvironmental conditions comparedto current weapons. Contractorweapons testing with the XM8-typeoperating system conducted at YumaProving Ground, AZ, demonstratedimpressive reliability. Weapons en-dured rigorous tests and incrediblyharsh conditions including the firingof 24,000 rounds from a singleweapon without stoppage and with-out cleaning. After completing thisextreme test, the barrel was stillwithin acceptable accuracy and dis-persion limits. During additionaltesting, 10 weapons fired 10,000rounds each with no cleaning ormaintenance, and had only one stop-page between them during the100,000-round test.

The XM8 multiple variant conceptcould replace the Army’s M16 series5.56mm weapons in use for the past40 years and constitute a true familyof weapons when combined with theXM25 and XM29. A high level ofcommonality will exist within thefamily, reducing the number ofunique spare parts in inventory anddecreasing the logistics burden andaccompanying life-cycle costs.

ARMY AL&T




ARMY AL&T

The focus of PEO Soldier is to con-tinuously provide improved capabil-ity to U.S. forces. The cutting-edgetechnologies developed for the futureXM29 are being used today to de-velop and field the XM8 and theXM25. The XM29’s spiral develop-ment strategy could provide the U.S.Army infantryman with a new car-bine by FY05 and precision airburstcapability by FY07 — systems thatwill provide enhanced maneuver andfire-support capabilities that will dra-matically improve soldier lethality onthe battlefield.

LTC MATTHEW CLARKE is the PMIndividual Weapons at Picatinny Arse-nal, NJ. He has a B.S. in biomedicalengineering from the University ofPennsylvania and an M.S. from theNaval Postgraduate School. His educa-tion also includes the U.S. Army Engi-neer Basic and Officer AdvancedCourses and the U.S. Army Commandand General Staff Officer Course.

MAJ TREVOR W. SHAW is the Assis-tant PM Individual Weapons. He has aB.S. in leadership from the U.S. Mili-tary Academy and an M.S. in systemsacquisition management from theNaval Postgraduate School.

His education also includes the U.S.Army Command and General Staff Officer Course.

DAVID AHMAD is the Acting Chief of the Future Weapons Division at PMIndividual Weapons. He has a B.S. inmechanical engineering and an M.B.A.in management of innovation and technology from Rutgers University. He is currently the system lead on thecarbine: 5.56mm, XM8 lightweightweapon system.

FBCB2 Blue Force Tracking —Fielding During Combat

MAJ Rodney A. Mentzer

On Jan. 7, 2003, a ForceXXI Battle CommandBrigade and Below

(FBCB2) training and installationteam arrived in Afghanistan facedwith the monumental task of train-ing and equipping the 1st Brigade(Bde.), 82nd Airborne Division’s(Abn. Div.) soldiers with a BlueForce Tracking System that would

greatly enhance battlefield aware-ness. These soldiers were in themidst of combat operations and, inmany cases, had no prior knowledgeof FBCB2 or its tremendous capa-bilities. The successful fielding canbe directly attributed to the 1stBde.’s outstanding leaders and well-trained soldiers.

Fielding and training a digital situa-tional awareness (SA) commandand control (C2) system duringcombat provided many lessonslearned that may apply to other sys-tems fielded during similar condi-tions. As the Assistant ProgramManager (PM) for FBCB2, I pro-vided Blue Force Tracking to the 1stBde. in Afghanistan.

After receiving the mission to install,train and support this digital systemduring combat operations fromCOL Nickolas G. Justice, PMFBCB2, the first thing I did wascontact the unit and begin to assem-ble a mission-capable team. As ex-pected, initial contact with the unitmet with some reluctance becausethe 1st Bde. was scheduled to de-ploy to a combat zone in less than 2months. Already training at a high

“FBCB2 is a winner! When all other means of commu-nications failed, FBCB2 carried the day. This systemprovides improved situational awareness for all sol-diers, leaders and staffs. The ability to send and re-ceive text messages, develop and distribute graphicsand monitor real-time tactical movements has madethe Brigade TOC much more effective.”

LTC Richard Trietley, Brigade XO,

1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division,

during Operation Enduring Freedom,

Khandahar, Afghanistan


operations tempo (OPTEMPO), theBrigade was not looking forward tofielding a new system. After schedul-ing several planning trips to FortBragg, NC, the Blue Force Team metwith MAJ Armida Montemayor,82nd Abn. Div. Assistant DivisionSignal Officer, and LTC Rick Triet-ley, 1st Bde. XO, to gain supportfrom unit leaders and begin to de-velop a fielding plan.

A multifunctional,multidisciplined teamwas assembled to installand train systems in re-mote locations, undervarying weather condi-tions and during com-bat operations. Theteam was comprised ofpersonnel who had in-dividual training expe-rience or had installedFBCB2 systems before.The FBCB2 PM hadalso chosen severalteam members that hadrecently retired fromthe Army and several people whohad prior field service representative(FSR) experience. This proved criti-cal because the FSRs had the neces-sary technical expertise to operatethe system.

The FBCB2 technical and trainingteam first met in November 2002 atFort Hood, TX. The meeting pro-vided a forum to formulate a mis-sion overview and begin the war-gaming process. Three major issuesresulting from the war-gamingprocess were:

• The need for cross-fertilizationamong all team members.

• Program of instruction (POI) de-velopment to support abbreviatedtraining during combat.

• The criticality of preparation andplanning given the prospect of aus-tere logistics support in country.

Early in the planning process, weidentified the need to cross-train allteam members. We divided theteam in half and identified eachteam member as either an installeror trainer. Those identified as train-ers were sent to a 5-day FBCB2Digital Master Trainers (DMT)

Course at Fort Knox,KY. Developed by theFBCB2 U.S. ArmyTraining and DoctrineCommand SystemsManager (TSM), thiscourse provided thebackground and in-depth knowledge ofhow the system func-tioned. These school-trained “trainers” be-came the subject mat-ter experts that wouldthen train the installers.

While the trainers attended theDMT Course, the installers de-ployed to Fort Bragg for hands-ontraining to learn how to properlyinstall the FBCB2 system on vehi-cles once we deployed toAfghanistan. The training providedthe installers the critical skills theyneeded to perform their tasksquickly and efficiently. Addition-ally, the installers compiled a list oftools and equipment needed to ac-complish the task. Each installationkit included an accessory bag ofhardware and equipment. When akit was opened at a remote safehouse along the Pakistan border, theteam knew they would have theright hardware, tools and equip-ment to complete the job onsite.

Once all team members had re-ceived training in their individualareas of responsibility, we reassem-bled at Fort Hood to begin thecross-fertilization process. TheFBCB2 train-the-trainer scenariosaved time and allowed individualsto practice teaching what they hadjust learned. To ensure the teamcould effectively train soldiers, theteam “borrowed” seven new soldiersfrom the 1st Cavalry Division to betrained on FBCB2. By trainingthese soldiers and using their subse-quent after action review com-ments, the team further refined thePOI that would be used inAfghanistan.

Once everyone was sufficiently fa-miliar with how to install and oper-ate the FBCB2, we began tweakingthe POI. We examined both thenormal 40-hour POI that is taughtat the basic FBCB2 operatorscourse and the modified POI thatwas used for instruction in theBalkans in the late 1980s. Fromthese two POIs, the team devel-oped a plan that would allow forrapid training during mission downtimes. The plan simulated Opera-tion Enduring Freedom missions andextracted the “need-to-know” fromthe “nice to know.” Once devel-oped, the hybrid POI containedthe basics for SA and C2 messag-ing. To reinforce the training, wecreated a set of laminated cards thatwere attached by a D ring to eachinstalled system. The quick-refer-ence cards proved extremely usefulin rapidly training soldiers on thesystem.

During the 10 weeks we were inAfghanistan, the PM FBCB2 in-stalled 144 ground systems, to in-clude 13 tactical operations center(TOC) systems at various echelons

ARMY AL&T


Accommodation

of operational re-

quirements and a

willingness to work

in less then ideal

conditions based

on vehicle and sol-

dier availability

was a major step in

gaining warfighter

confidence.


of command. The TOC systems’criticality within the C2 nodeproved that every echelon withinthe organization must be fielded asystem. Case in point, our initialplan did not include platoon andcompany command posts (CPs).Without providing CP systems atthe platoon and company level, wedid not gain the neces-sary command supportfor total fielding ac-ceptance and imple-mentation. Notwith-standing, FBCB2 onthe nonlinear battle-field has proven in-credibly valuable as aC2 node. With theunits configured insmall fire base posi-tions, each fire baseserves as its ownunique CP node.Therefore, each firebase must be equippedlike its higher TOC for receptionand dissemination of plans andgraphics. Smaller echelon fieldingshould be introduced to the G3

when performing mission analysis.Additionally, a complete and thor-ough understanding of how specificunits fight is integral to fieldingsuccess and implementation.

Systems were installed at seven dif-ferent locations in Afghanistan. Insome cases, these installations were

done without power,without cover and inweather conditionsthat included snow,rain, wind and sandstorms. The FBCB2team knew that mov-ing assets around to re-mote locations duringcombat would be ex-tremely challenging.Fortunately, we in-cluded the S3 Air in allfielding discussionsand subsequent trans-portation plans and re-quirements. Because

FBCB2 wasn’t part of the standardlogistics system yet, it was essentialthat all tools, equipment and spareparts were “kitted” to eliminate any

further strain on limited aviation re-supply assets.

More than 300 paratroopers weretrained on FBCB2 in TOCs, vehi-cles, safe houses and forward oper-ating bases. Much of this trainingwas conducted on the actual in-stalled platforms. Additionally, theTSM provided excellent handbookson tactics, techniques and proce-dures that took users to the nextstep. The FBCB2 TSM office aug-mented our team with CPT ThaneSt. Clair. He joined us a monthafter deployment as our TOCtrainer, traveling between varioussafe houses training company CPshow to employ the system at theirlevel. St. Clair took our POI to thenext level by training users andteaching leaders how to manage andemploy the system. In short, his ef-forts lent credence to the systemand reinforced leader support.

Without question, a major test infielding a new system during com-bat operations is gaining supportand confidence from warfightersand establishing the fielding team’scredibility. As Army AcquisitionCorps officers fielding new equip-ment, we were cognizant of the ex-ternal forces acting upon the unitwe were assisting. The approach wetook was, the unit is our customerand we must make accommoda-tions to meet the unit’s schedule.This is especially important wheninstalling systems on vehicles involved in combat operations andtheir subsequent OPTEMPO. Ac-commodation of operational re-quirements and a willingness towork in less then ideal conditionsbased on vehicle and soldier avail-ability was a major step in gainingwarfighter confidence. Addition-ally, involving the command team,


ARMY AL&T

During the 10

weeks we were in

Afghanistan, the

PM FBCB2 in-

stalled 144 ground

systems, to include

13 tactical opera-

tions center

(TOC) systems at

various echelons of

command.

Blue Force Tracking and FBCB2 link satellites, sensors, communications equipment, vehicles, aircraftand weapons in a seamless digital network to provide a continuous, all-weather battlefield picture.


ensuring on-the-spot assistance andproviding responsive customer serv-ice were major elements contribut-ing to the program’s success.

Clearly, establishing credibility wasparamount to the project’s success.The FBCB2 team accomplishedthis by becoming extremely profi-cient and efficient at their jobs.Additionally, the entire team wastotally committed to mission ac-complishment.

In the Nov-Dec 2002 Army AL&Tmagazine, BG Michael Mazzucchi,Program Executive Officer Command,Control and Communications

Tactical, stated that we have “madegreat strides in providing thewarfighter valuable tools to under-stand the tactical situation moreclearly, make decisions with moreconfidence and react more quicklyto changing battlefield conditions.”The FBCB2 fielding during Opera-tion Enduring Freedom was success-ful because of several key factors:the 1st Bde, 82nd Abn. Div.’s ac-ceptance and support for trainingand installation of the FBCB2 BlueForce Tracking system; and thecivilian team from PM FBCB2 andNorthrop Grumman. As the Commander, 2nd Batallion, 1st Bde.,82nd Abn. Div., summarized,

“FBCB2 is the best tactical situationalawareness tool that I’ve ever used.”

MAJ RODNEY A. MENTZER is theAssistant Product Manager forFBCB2/BFT at Fort Monmouth, NJ.He has a B.S. from the U.S. MilitaryAcademy, an M.S. in kinesiology fromIndiana University and an M.A. in pro-curement and acquisition managementfrom Webster University.

They employ standard sensors anddata busses that monitor data signals,measurements and built-in tests.These devices provide a comprehensive

data source to accomplish completeand accurate system-level diagnos-tics and fault isolation at line re-placeable unit (LRU) level. They

provide system health monitoringand prognostics capability for sub-systems consisting of engine, trans-mission, power pack interface,gauge cluster unit and others. Prog-nostics routines provide diagnosticscapability to identify the cause offailure, when failure is predicted,and corrective action to prevent un-scheduled maintenance action.

A GCV’s health status and prognos-tic information are displayed to op-erator, crew and maintenance per-sonnel. Present systems use a com-mon data/information interchangenetwork per standards defined inthe Joint Technical Architecture toprovide access to vehicle healthdata. The technologies used inpresent systems include embeddeddiagnostics, combat maintainers, re-vised maintenance concepts andschematic viewers. Implementation

ARMY AL&T


Ground Combat Vehicles: Present and Future Diagnostics and Prognostics

Dr. Elena N. Bankowski and Christopher Miles

The diagnostics capability of ground combat vehi-cles (GCVs) has to be compatible with the ArmyDiagnostic Improvement Program. Present sys-

tems are capable of performing health monitoring andhealth checks using internal embedded resources.


of these technologies significantly re-duced maintenance hours on GCVs.For example, today’s Main BattleTanks (MBTs) contain a multitude ofprocessors, yet combat systems suchas the Abrams provide redundancyonly between the hull electronics unitand the turret electronics unit. TheAbrams employs duplicate processorshosting redundant software in differ-ent vehicle compartments. Morethan half a million lines of softwarecode span multiple processors. Thesoftware in the Abrams tank was cre-ated in a highly sophisticated devel-opment and testing environment.

The U.S. Army Next GenerationSoftware Engineering TechnologyArea (Next Generation) proposedStatistical Usage Testing (SUT) in thePost-Production Software Support(PPSS) project for the Army’s MBTs.Usage models were supported by theMarkov chain process, test manage-ment, test-case generation and statis-tical testing. We implemented a pro-totype tool for composing top-levelmodels and lower-level submodels.This model-compose utility allowedfor the development of submodelssimilar to subroutine development inprogramming. The major lessonslearned from the SUT project were:

• SUT can positively impact MBTtesting because the focus is on oper-ational usage.

• Usage modeling is feasible in theMBT environment.

• Usage modeling uncovers issuesthat relate to behavior and testing.

• A logical and complementary rela-tionship exists between the currenttesting approach used by NextGeneration and SUT.

SUT modeling techniques were ap-plied to the Driver’s Integrated Dis-play, a component of the tank’s soldier-

machine interface. Since then, addi-tional LRUs with increasing com-plexity have been modeled usingSUT. In applying modeling tech-niques, a high degree of complexitywas observed, consisting of the num-bers of screens to be modeled and theamount of information that couldimpact a tester’s next action. Thesechallenges were overcome using someinnovative approaches. Next Genera-tion investigated the feasibility ofusing SUT in the PPSS test environ-ment. The primary motivation wasthe realization that there were notenough test assets, people or time totest the MBT software for each re-lease. The SUT’s approach was todetermine better ways to test increas-ingly complex systems and system-of-systems in the future. Significantprogress has been made, and effortsare now underway to combine SUTwith other approaches to automatedtesting to scale it up even further.

Future Diagnostics andPrognosticsThe proposed new technology forhealth monitoring, diagnostics and

prognostics of future systems will usea federated software and probes ap-proach. Gauges will determine if thesystem operates within acceptableperformance bands by monitoringdata provided by the probes. Healthmonitoring systems will use missionmodels to make intelligent choicesconsidering tasks criticality. Prog-nostics of system LRUs will be basedon probes data and statistical usagemodels.

Future weapon platforms will host asignificant increase in software. Theprocessing burden of the front-linevehicles will require a further in-crease in processing capability. Next-generation weapon systems process-ing requirements will grow with theincorporation of intelligent decisionaids, sensor fusion and advancedcommunications. A future systemwill have 2 x 106 configuration com-binations. Cost, reliability, spaceand mission requirements will pre-clude achieving redundancy withdedicated, embedded processors thatduplicate functionality.


ARMY AL&T

Local Administrator

Evaluates Probe

Query (assess

operational bands of

top level query)

Probe Query

(P-Test)

Initiate

an expanded

Query?

NO

NO

YES

YES

Assess Operational

Bands of Element

Initiate

Dynamic

Reconfiguration?Determine Extent

of Reconfiguration

Assess Availability of

Processing Resources

Assess Criticality

of Element to Mission

Receive Mission

Requirements

Initiate

Shadowing

System Health Check Process


The Next Generation vision is that a collection of general-purposeprocessors connected to a commonbus will be scattered throughout theGCV and assigned dynamically tothe various vehicle control and mission-specific tasks as required.This approach reduces cost andprovides greater effective redun-dancy because any healthy processorcan be assigned to any task. NextGeneration system processes requireextensive monitoring and analysiscapabilities to track whether theweapon system is operating prop-erly. A robust reconfiguration capa-bility is required to reorganize taskassignment to processors to respondto hardware and software failuresand changed mission requirements.

The proposed technology will pro-vide better health and situation con-trol (HSC) for GCV diagnostics andprognostics. HSC continually teststhe processing elements withprobe/agent technology. Algorithmswithin HSC assess the processors’health based on a criticality scoringsystem that considers mission re-quirements. Probes are launched byHSC query processing elements.The probed data are sent to a gaugethat has a variable sensitivity or gain.Statistical usage models and criticalityscoring control the gauge’s sensitivity.

In response to the gauge, the replicat-ing process launches agents that caninsert anomalous events for diagnos-tic purposes. In this context, a probeis a subset of an agent having onlythe ability to query without affectingframework, I/O protocol or qualityof service.

Each weapon system fitted with theHSC will control self-repair and reconfiguration of onboard proces-sors using a statistical-based intelli-gent scoring system that considersfunction criticality in current battle-field situations. HSC is a softwaresystem that will enhance the per-formance of a weapon system byproviding on-the-fly reconfigurationto accommodate the loss or mal-function of processing elements orto optimize onboard performancecapability. Selected software compo-nents of soldier-machine interface ina crew station will be modeled usingHSC architecture modeling tech-niques. The hardware environmentwill be modeled so that HSC analy-sis tools can select compatible hostsfrom candidate processors.

Missions will also be modeled so thatHSC tools can make intelligentchoices considering task criticality.HSC will detect faults and select theoptimal crew station configuration to

maintain essential functionality in re-sponse to current battlefield condi-tions. HSC will also construct cor-rect configurations of software toload onto a GCV for combinationsof weapons systems, sensors and mis-sions. It will collect usage and run-time error data that can be used toimprove the software developmentand testing processes. HSC-collectedusage information and runtime errorpatterns will be fed into Next Gener-ation SUT models to improve themodeling fidelity and software testingprocess. Success of this aspect ofHSC will be measured by the reduc-tion in time for the SUT models toidentify, isolate and repair errors.HSC architecture descriptions will beused to improve SUT usage model-ing techniques and processes. TheHSC probe controller will serve as anagent for the HSC controller, report-ing the health of the weapon systemelements. Off-vehicle probes willalso be launched to assess the healthof companion vehicles within the op-erational unit.

DR. ELENA N. BANKOWSKI is a Senior Computer Engineer at the U.S.Army Tank-automotive and ArmamentsCommand and has an advanced degreein engineering. She previously worked inthe automotive industry and at the Uni-versity of Detroit-Mercy. In addition,she published 20 research papers and re-ceived two awards from the National Sci-ence Foundation.

CHRISTOPHER MILES is pursuinghis Ph.D. at the Naval PostgraduateSchool. He is a software engineer at theU.S. Army Tank-automotive and Arma-ments Command and has worked onseveral Army combat vehicle ground sys-tems, including the Crusader, Bradleyand Abrams.

ARMY AL&T


Proposed PrognosticScreen


Unveiled at the North American InternationalAuto Show in Detroit, MI,SmarTruck II is NAC’slatest homeland security/coun-terterrorismvehicle.

Two years in the making,SmarTruck II is the resultof input gathered from a

variety of military, law enforcementand government entities. This in-formation was then merged into amultipurpose prototype vehiclebuilt on a modified com-mercial Chevrolet Silver-ado platform by the U.S.Army’s Tank-automotiveResearch, Developmentand Engineering Center(TARDEC) NAC, Inte-grated Concepts and Re-search Corp. of Alexandria,VA, and Applied MindsInc., of Glendale, CA.

Sporting 6 x 6 all-wheel-drive capa-bility and an increased payload ca-pacity, SmarTruck II negotiatedevery terrain challenge thrown at itduring homeland security, militaryand counterterrorism trials. In

part, the truck features arugged all metal stainlesssteel front grill guard, runflat tires, flood lights, ad-justable blackout lightsand the ability to launchand control an electricPointer unmanned aer-ial vehicle that has real-time video transmissioncapabilities. Most im-portant, the SmarTruckII possesses a first-of-its-kind, rapidly re-configurable modu-

lar system design.

According toSmarTruck II de-signer Bran Fer-ren, of AppliedMinds Inc.,“With thistruck, you’re notconfined to any

one mission,or any onetechnology.

What you have,basically, is a plat-

form that can take from one to sixmodules, or any combination thatfits the form factor and payload ca-pacity. It’s the modules that providethe flexibility,” Ferren explained.

SmarTruck II is capable of accept-ing from one to six specializedmodules that perform a variety ofspecific functions. Once they areplugged into the truck, a high-techonboard computer Vehicle Operat-ing System recognizes the moduleand will automatically configure thetruck’s command and control capa-bilities. “You can reconfigure thetruck however you want and be upand running in minutes,” Ferrencommented.

With the module system, theSmarTruck II will excel in a varietyof roles. NAC Director Dennis J.Wend stated, “Beyond military ca-pabilities, SmarTruck II can be con-figured for homeland security, com-munity service and humanitarianaid applications such as disaster re-lief, medical response, surveillance,field kitchen, water purification,water pump and as a command andcontrol center.”

Ferren agreed, “Whatever the mis-sion, the idea is that you can outfit afleet of standard, all-purpose chassiswith whatever modules you need.

“A multipurpose vehicle for multipur-pose missions,” was how one NationalAutomotive Center (NAC) engineer de-scribed the function of NAC’s latest pro-totype vehicle — SmarTruck II. Unveiled at theNorth American International Auto Show in Detroit, MI,the SmarTruck II has been a hot topic of conversationwithin defense and homeland security offices eversince. Sporting truly revolutionary technology,SmarTruck II has the ability to adapt to diverse mis-sions by using a variety of plug-in computer modules.


ARMY AL&T

SmarTruck II: A Versatile Vehicle

Paul D. Mehney


Army Acquisition Corps: ‘Your Soldiers’ on Point for the Betterment of the Army

LTG John S. Caldwell Jr.

In the wheeled vehicle department,it’s a genuine breakthrough. Thepoint is reconfigurability. That’swhat provides flexibility and that’swhat has never been done before.”

On display with the truck are fourof its most innovative module sys-tems, the Base Power Module, Electro-Optics Module, WeaponsModule Pad and Integrated Com-munications Module. According toSmarTruck II Program ManagerGermaine Fuller, “The Base PowerModule is the brain of the vehicle.Currently, SmarTruck II uses shorepower to prevent depleting the ve-hicle’s power for auxiliary units.The Base Power Module managesthat power and acts as a control andswitching center for AC/DC capa-bilities.” The Electro-Optics Mod-ule has a 30-foot vertical lift thathosts a high-powered surveillancecamera that is capable of viewingobjects 20 miles away. Other mili-tary applications for this modulecould include battlefield radar host-ing and electronic warfare packages.

The most impressive module, theWeapons Module Pad, boasts an

impressive Spike fire-and-forgetmissile system and its two support-ing self-feeding magazines. Devel-oped by the U.S. Navy specificallyfor the SmarTruck II platform,Spike is a low-cost, shoulder-launched, man-packable system thathouses 16 missiles and can fire 2missiles simultaneously at inde-pendent targets. When not in use,the Spike retracts into the modulefor storage.

Lastly, the communications moduleensures that vehicle crew can se-curely communicate with variousmilitary and intelligence sources.This module also integrates 3Dmapping capability, vehicle-mounted thermal imaging and in-vehicle surveillance radar that is ca-pable of detecting moving objectswithin 7 kilometers of the vehicle.Additionally, the Integrated Com-munications Module houses thetruck’s cutting-edge light-emittingdiode (LED) messaging system.“This is the first time such a systemhas been used on this type of vehi-cle platform,” explained Fuller.“Through using infrared spectrumcommunication housed in the

truck’s tail lights, the LED systemenables SmarTruck to communicatewith other vehicles in a convoy.Trailing vehicles’ computers arethen able to read the informationand decipher things such as the leadtruck’s speed, direction and brakingdistance between the vehicles.”

As technologically advanced as theSmarTruck II is, the most impor-tant aspect of this truck is its role.As summed up by designer Ferren,“The message here is really aboutsaving lives. The truck’s purpose isto meet the requirements of a new,emerging challenge — how to mosteffectively protect our cities andpeople. We designed SmarTruck IIfor this role — to help people andto save lives.”

PAUL D. MEHNEY is a MarketingSpecialist with TARDEC’s OperationsBusiness Group. He has a B.A. fromMichigan State University.

ARMY AL&T


Congressman and Mrs.Schulze, Michael and Bar-bara Wynne, Secretary and

Mrs. Bolton, Gil Decker, Page andBarbara Hoeper, Dr. and Mrs. KenOscar, General and Mrs. Paul Kern,Judy — distinguished guests all.Good evening and welcome to theArmy Acquisition Corps (AAC) Ball.

The following is ex-

cerpted from LTG

John S. Caldwell Jr.’s

keynote address at the

2003 Army Acquisition

Corps Ball, Oct. 5, 2003,

Arlington, VA.Photos by SPC Adam R. Mancini, Army Visual Information Division


Before I get into my remarks andreminiscences, I want to remind usall that our Nation is at war andour service men and women are inharm’s way every day, even rightnow. They are there because ourway of life and our freedoms areunder attack. Please keep them inyour prayers.

Now, I want to take a little of yourtime and talk about “us” and whatwe do to support our warfightersand what we must do to transformour Army. I want your spouses,families and friends tounderstand what youdo for our great Army.

Who are “we?” We arethe Nation’s Acquisi-tion Workforce, a spe-cial blend of uniformedmilitary, governmentcivilians, supporting in-dustry and friends.

Let me focus on yourArmy AcquisitionCorps, military andcivilian. I’ll call them“Your Soldiers” in thisaudience. “Your Sol-diers” fight a myriad ofbattles every single dayto safeguard the sys-tems in development sothey can actually be-come combat capabili-ties. They fend off wolves and haveto deal with more oversight than asecond lieutenant who has justmade his first really big mistake.

The warfighters we support oftenundervalue “Your Soldiers.” Fieldcommanders are unaware of thebattles “Your Soldiers” fight on theirbehalf. The regulations, policiesand laws that govern our business

frustrate them. However, “YourSolders” go through each day mak-ing the Army the best, realizing thatthey will get little credit for their ef-forts, outside of their own commu-nity. They work hard, deploy, fightand have longer commands. Yet,“Your Soldiers” are the grease in thewheels that the Army cannot operatewithout. “Your Soldiers” are theones that design, build, field, sustainand retire the capabilities that enableour Army to dominate any enemywishing to tangle with us.

You may say, wow,that’s pretty grim.Well, at least they getto work in luxuriousoffice space like thePentagon! Did any ofyou hear the recentstory about the Penta-gon penthouse?

The Pentagon pent-house was the 5th floornerve center where theAcquisition Corpsstorm troopers preparedthe Future CombatSystems program to dobattle in the halls of thePentagon heading to-ward program approvallast May. Field mar-shals Yakovac [MG(P)Joseph L. Yakovac] andSchenk [BG Donald

Schenk] were in command. I tried toshow you pictures, but no one wouldvolunteer them. However, many wit-nesses are here among you tonight.Look around and a smile may betraythem.

The penthouse was established lastfall as a small office, equipped forabout five, but normally occupied by20 on a 24-hour shift basis. With

the dust 3 inches thick, it probablyhadn’t been used since GEN GeorgeC. Marshall was Chief of Staff.

Well, the penthouse conditions weretolerable for a while. But a fewweeks into it, a young major askedme, “Sir, how long are we going tobe working like this?” I said, I thinkwe’re making good progress, but youshould expect to be there until thebig milestone decision meeting. Hereplied, “Which one? May 3 or theone in November 2004?” I justsmiled.

Soon the “house” was in disarray. Itsmelled like a locker room, lookedlike a college dorm room on a Satur-day morning, had trash piled up in-side and out, clothes hanging off ofeverything imaginable and had thesound of a tactical operations center.Let me tell you this place was an op-erations center and nothing less. Thestorm troopers were counterattackingin every direction all day long. It gotso bad they had rodents stealing theirfood and paperwork. It was at thatpoint I made my visit to the pent-house to award my coins for valor.

So we have “Your Soldiers” leadingour Acquisition Corps, military andcivilian, doing battle around theworld. Let me mention just a few.

COL Nick Justice and LTC JohnBullington did great things with field-ing digital systems in Iraq; COL MaryFuller, Craig Spisak and COL PeggyCarson helped me with the personnelpart of this business; MAJ Lance Scottfielded advanced joint battle com-mand capabilities in Iraq; LTC MarkMalatesta provided biological agentdetection capability to all the services;COL Bruce Jette, working directlywith field commanders and our program managers, converted


ARMY AL&T

“Your Soldiers”

fight a myriad of

battles every sin-

gle day to safe-

guard the systems

in development so

they can actually

become combat

capabilities. They

fend off wolves

and have to deal

with more over-

sight than a sec-

ond lieutenant

who has just

made his first re-

ally big mistake.


technology into fielded combat capa-bility in record time; COL CurtisMcCoy handled all the battle damageassessments in Iraq; and finally, it wasLTC John Zavarelli who ran the Pen-tagon penthouse.

Let me briefly address what we needto do to transform our Army andcontinue to lead the transformationof our Joint Forces. These strategicobjectives will be your challenge andthey are articulated in our CampaignPlan (http://asc.army.mil/divisions/cm). It shouldn’t surprise you thatthey are all people oriented. Theright people will handle the rest.

First, we need to strengthen the re-lationship between the acquisitionworkforce and the warfighter. Thiswill enable us to get better combatcapability faster, and better spot-light the value of your Army Acqui-sition Corps.

Second, we must provide a clearlydefined environment that encouragesand offers career opportunities andleader development. This will enableus to fill the shoes of those greatleaders that have gone before us —many are here tonight.

Third, we must maintain a techni-cally competent workforce respon-sive to the current and future Army’sneeds. This will enable our forces tomaintain and even widen our force’stechnological advantage in this verydangerous world.

As I near retirement, I’ve given a fairamount of thought to how I’d likemy 36-year career contributions tobe measured. Let me share that withyou. You can agree or disagree.

I was commissioned in 1967. Someof you are my contemporaries. Wewere at war in Vietnam, not yet nearthe end or even the most violentphase. During the most violentphase, 300 to 400 Americans werebeing killed each week! By the endof hostilities, more than 58,000 diedin that war — 27 of them were myWest Point classmates. Several hun-dred thousand more were seriouslywounded.

I like to think that my contempo-raries that stayed in the military de-cided to do something about that.We set out to transform just abouteverything about our Army — thequality of its soldiers, leaders, ma-teriel, organization, doctrine and

tactics — everything. Recognizingthat the loss of even one life is onetoo many, to date, we have lost ap-proximately 316 in Iraq and 34 inAfghanistan.* America has lost lessthan 500 to hostile action since1980, despite being at war a substan-tial portion of that time. That’s thekind of metric I want to be meas-ured by and I am very proud of ouraccomplishments.

Your challenge is to be much betterthan that. Your objective should bezero loss of life.

Well, I can’t think of a better way toclose than to say how proud I am tobe one of “us.” I am proud of youand what you have accomplished;and what you will do to meet to-morrow’s challenges. I know of yoursacrifices. You are great Americans.Thank you and God bless you all.

LTG JOHN S. CALDWELL JR. is theMilitary Deputy to the Assistant Secre-tary of the Army for Acquisition, Logis-tics and Technology and Director, Acqui-sition Career Management. He has aB.S. degree from the U.S. Military Acad-emy and an M.S. degree in mechanicalengineering from Georgia Institute ofTechnology. In addition, he has at-tended the Industrial College of theArmed Forces, the U.S. Army Commandand General Staff College and the De-fense Systems Management College Pro-gram Management course. He will retireJan. 1, 2004, capping a distinguished ca-reer of more than 36 years.

*As of press time, that number has risento 423 casualties in Iraq and 92 inAfghanistan. These figures include hostileand nonhostile casualties.

ARMY AL&T


Army Acquisition Executive Claude M. Bolton Jr. presented a statuette representing the AmericanSoldier's tireless efforts to keep the United States free for all to LTG John S. Caldwell Jr., thankinghim for giving the AAC Ball keynote address.

32020_GG.qxd 12/9/03 3:23 PM

WANTED:Feedback on soldier equip-

ment. Please visit the PM

Soldier Equipment (PM SEQ)

community page to provide

your feedback on everything

from uniforms to body armor

to combat optics.

The field response surprised eventhe most optimistic-minded at PMSEQ. “Before we got the Army-wide announcement posted onAKO’s home page, we had 33unique visitors to our communitypage for all of July,” said Commu-nity Page Administrator Frans Vander Lee. “AKO listed our an-nouncement on a Friday night. BySaturday, we’d had 535 unique visi-tors. On Sunday, we had 438more. The overwhelming responsewe received in just one weekend isproof positive of AKO’s power,”Van der Lee remarked.

PM COL Greg Fritz said hundredsof soldiers, including some in Bagh-dad, posted feedback to the SoldierEquipment discussion threads onAKO. Van der Lee said 22 soldiers

e-mailed him directly through thee-mail link on the PM SEQ com-munity page.

“Surprisingly, the majority of the e-mails were purely positive feedback,which means a lot to the productteams working hard to develop thebest equipment possible,” Fritz said.“Also there were a few commercial-off-the-shelf solutions suggested andother outside-of-the-box ideas.”

Fritz said the purpose for placingthe announcement was simple. “Wewanted to drive traffic to our com-munity page and make soldiersaware of where their equipmentcomes from and that our productteams care about them and wanttheir feedback. We also wanted togive soldiers a direct link to the PMsmaking the decisions and the prod-uct teams developing the equip-ment. Now they can have a directline of communication to those re-sponsible for delivering the goods.More importantly, Fritz added, theannouncement was placed becausesoldiers are the customers.


ARMY AL&T

Soldiers Use AKO to Voice Views

Patrick A. Swan

What Does SoldierFeedback Look Like?

The following is a samplingof soldier feedback from theAKO Web site.

SPC Daniel G. KempB Co., 3/502 Infantry

Subject: Soldier FeedbackWanted on Interceptor BodyArmor (IBA)

This is my second deploymentwearing IBA with plates, and Ican say it works a lot better withthe MOLLE [Modular Light-weight Load-carrying Equip-ment] than it did with the oldLBV’s [Load-Bearing Vests] andALICE [All-purpose LightweightIndividual Carrying Equipment]rucksacks. Most of us have justattached the MOLLE pouches tothe fronts of our IBA’s andthrown the MOLLE carrier vestinto our B bags for later. It’s agood system. A guy from our3rd Brigade stopped three 7.62 x39s with his chest plate, and stillshot the guy who shot him.

Now, is the IBA the way to go ifyou do not have plates? No.It’s designed for front-line closecombat. It’s not a one-size-fits-all measure. The Army is so injury-paranoid they want every-one to have some kind of bodyarmor just to cover themselves,but fail to acknowledge the needfor various types of body armor

Afavorite pastime for many soldiers is voicing

their opinions on how to improve their uni-

forms and equipment (see related sidebar).

Unfortunately, they rarely give those views to the

people who can act on them. That oversight changed

in a big way Aug. 8, 2003, when the Project Manager

for Soldier Equipment placed the following short teaser

in the Group Announcement section of the main AKO

home page:


“They are the ones putting theirlives on the line serving their coun-try,” Fritz continued. “They deservethe best equipment and near real-time answers to their questions andconcerns. Knowledge is power andthe more information we can passto them about the equipment, thebetter they will perform. The morefeedback we get from them, the bet-ter we can serve them and get thebest possible equipment in theirhands quickly.”

LTC Rod Wade, an AKO TeamLeader, said soliciting and obtainingsuch field feedback is what Armyknowledge management is allabout. “The work by PM SEQ toquickly gather feedback from an in-formal community of interest aslarge as the Army represents theideal of combining new technology,people with common interests inmaking things better and a receptivefunctional proponent to make theArmy better,” Wade said.

The AKO discussion threads beganwith solicitations for feedback onuniforms, interceptor body armor(IBA), thermal weapons sights,night vision devices (NVDs), bootsand the Rapid Fielding Initiative(RFI).

Van der Lee said that those itemswere chosen because they are someof the more recent hot items andbecause soldiers always had com-ments on uniforms. He added thatsoldiers took it upon themselves tostart their own follow-on discussionthreads on the community page forother pieces of equipment. PM,SEQ personnel were very happy tosee that because it allows them tojust plant the seed and let it grow.Some of those soldier-generatedthreads included discussions about

the Army physical fitness uniform,the battle-dress uniform (BDU),fire-support equipment, the M45protective mask, the Class A uni-form and the Army beret.

Fritz said it was no surprise that sol-diers were brutally honest in re-sponding to questions about thesubject topics, but he was surprisedat the initiative to start their owndiscussion threads as well as to seethe feedback generated on topicsthat weren’t even proposed. “Thereare a lot of soldiers out there eagerto have their say,” Fritz continued,“and I was surprised by the numberof replies from outside of our or-ganization that provided great an-swers to some tough questions.There are many subject matter ex-perts on soldier equipmentthroughout the Army, and thesethreaded discussions give them anopportunity to weigh in no matterwhat their current duties are.”

Fritz stated that soldier-driven feed-back is essential for building a bet-ter Army, but AKO also plays a crit-ical role because it provides a forumfor Internet-savvy younger soldiersas well as everyone in the Armyfamily — from senior Army leadersand retirees to family members,commanders and noncommissionedofficers. AKO thrives around-the-clock and around-the-globe harness-ing the “intellectual capital” or goodideas from one of the world’s mostsuccessful institutions. PM SEQ isproud to do its part in promotingAKO and the free exchange of ideasfor improving America’s Army.

Fritz said that PM SEQ will sharethe feedback with product develop-ment teams and others who can in-fluence decisions about soldierequipment including HQDA, the

ARMY AL&T


just like different types of glovesor whatever. But it’s all aboutthe funding, guys. Look at allthe money that got flusheddown the Crusader howitzerboondoggle and think of all theoperator-level gear we couldhave bought with it.

SGT Michael Martin

Subject: Soldier FeedbackWanted on NVDs

I am with 3/3 Infantry Divisionand we went all the way toBaghdad wearing PVS-7A. No,they were not comfortable, butthey helped us get where weneeded to be during night anddawn. I have driven all nightand I am home so, yes it wouldhave been nice to have at least7B, but oh well. Yes, we are ahigh-deployment unit so ourlow-tech 7A was much betteroverall than the opposition’s,and that allowed us to do whatwe did. I hope the Army doesupgrade these old NVDs [nightvision devices], but I guess weshowed they work.

SGT Benjamin Lewis C Co. 1-506 Infantry (Air Assault)

The issue of boots seems to bedebated more by noninfantry,nonhumping types. As anygood infantryman will tell you,the current boots work just fine.You need to take care of yourfeet. Fresh socks, foot powderand exercise will keep your feetdry and hard. Still, new bootswould be an enjoyed luxury. Asfar as steel-toed boots in themotor pool, they used to be


U.S. Army Training and DoctrineCommand, the Army Test andEvaluation Command, the ArmyAcquisition Executive, the ArmyForces Command and industry. Inaddition, the information will beshared with anyone who cares to lis-ten. “None of this valuable feed-back is locked away in PM SEQ’svaults,” Fritz said. “On the con-trary, AKO enables us to put it outthere for everyone. As a matter offact, anyone logging onto AKO canaccess it right from the home page,just by clicking on AKO Discus-sions in the upper left-hand corner,”he added.

PM SEQ previously captured feed-back for programs such as RFI pri-marily through onsite visits, phonecalls and e-mails. RFI is a new pro-gram and, at first, the office wasjust dealing with one brigade. Thatsoon grew to one division, and thenanother. “Now, it is spreading likewildfire across the Army, for unitsbeing deployed to Afghanistan andIraq,” Fritz stated. “Thus, by usingthreaded discussions and knowledgecenters on AKO, we can pass lessons-learned feedback from eachbrigade to their successors and reacha far wider audience than phonecalls, e-mails and onsite visits.”

Fritz and Van der Lee take issue withcritics who say such feedback ismerely anecdotal and not scientific.Van der Lee stated, “What could bemore scientific than a soldier puttingon his uniform and body armor andthen noting that he cannot accessthe pockets on his chest? You canonly test and experiment with equip-ment in a controlled environment somuch. It is the soldier in the fieldemploying the equipment that willprovide to the most true and scien-tific test of the equipment.”

Fritz sited another example usingthermal weapons sights. “Duringthe infamous Iraqi sandstorms, ourArmy had very limited visibility,” hesaid. “But soldiers in Iraq (not ascientific-controlled test environ-ment) discovered that they still hadgood visibility with their individualand crew-served thermal weaponssights, even when the sandstormsobscured nearly every other opticalsensor.”

“Although scientific feedback is im-portant, so is feedback from soldierson the ground in all the placeswhere AKO reaches,” Fritz said.“We have already received feedbackfrom hundreds of soldiers, around-the-clock and around-the-globeand, scientific or not, we want tocapture their feedback so we can doa better job of supporting them,” headded.

Some soldiers may say that al-though discussion threads let themvent, nothing will change. Fritzdisputes that assertion as well. “Inless than 1 week, we have gener-ated feedback and replies fromhundreds of soldiers across theArmy. In turn, we share this feed-back with everyone who influencesthe design, development, testing,fielding and funding of soldierequipment. I assure you, a sol-dier’s honest feedback significantlyinfluences the decisions that aremade in that entire process,” Fritzcontinued. “All those ideas thatwere stuck in a soldier’s head as heor she served honorably on thefront lines are finding their wayback to the people who can makeprofound changes to benefit theentire Army. One soldier’s lessonlearned now has the potential tobenefit the rest of the Army assoon as that soldier can get to an


ARMY AL&T

authorized. It wasn’t until peo-ple started dropping things ontheir toes that they realized thesteel is thin and it will collapse.I would rather have a few bro-ken toes then missing some thathave been cut off by my ownboot. That is the reason for nosteel toes in the motor pools.

SGT Clifford Oliver

I agree that the LBV has to go. Ijust spent 6 months in Iraq andthe way to travel is with the IBAand your magazines, canteens(if you use them) and whateverelse you use strapped to thebody armor. I think we shoulddo away with the LBV alto-gether. The IBA should be stan-dard issue to all soldiers insteadof the old body armor we have.

Anonymous

A couple of thoughts on whatI’m reading in this discussion:

1. Pockets are an issue. Bodyarmor takes away the 4 pock-ets on the BDU blouse. A pro-tective mask takes away atleast the left hip pocket andrestricts access to the leftcargo pocket. This leaves sol-diers with their right hip andcargo pockets. I’m leaving theback pockets out of this com-ment; I haven’t used them inabout 10 years. A possiblesolution includes slanting thechest pockets on the BDUblouse. This will ease accessto these pockets while wear-ing body armor. Add calfpockets similar to aviatorBDUs. Having worn aviator


Internet connection and put it outthere for everyone else to read.”

Fritz stated that things have alreadychanged because AKO is transform-ing the Army in ways that most ofus never imagined. As the Armytransforms to a knowledge-basedforce, everyone will have the poten-tial to be better informed and tomake smarter decisions. “Thechange genie is already out of thebottle,” he continued, “and bright,young soldiers who are tech-savvywill continue to use AKO to havetheir voice heard and to help builda better future Army.”

Fritz hopes that soldiers will book-mark the PM SEQ site and com-munity page and will continue toreturn, to contribute their feedbackand to keep abreast of what is beingdone with that feedback. The vi-sion is for AKO Knowledge Collab-oration Centers that will be a single-source repository of detailedinformation, technical manuals,training modules, briefings and no-tices. The goal is to give soldiersthe best equipment and universalaccess to information about thatequipment. The AKO communitypage is their direct link to equip-ment decision makers.

Fritz added that it is important forsoldiers to spread the word aboutthe PM SEQ community page onAKO and what it provides to them.“The more feedback we get, themore justification we have to imple-ment change and improve soldierequipment,” Fritz concluded.

PM SEQ is a component of Pro-gram Executive Office (PEO) Sol-dier, which was activated June 7,2002, to provide centralized soldiersystem acquisition management.

PEO Soldier is the first organizationwith acquisition responsibility todevelop, field and sustain every-thing a soldier wears or carries.PEO Soldier’s mission is to arm andequip soldiers to dominate the fullspectrum of peace and war, nowand in the future. Developing andfielding an effective soldier systemrequires alignment, synchronizationand funding of multiple programs.PEO Soldier manages 346 programsorganized under the direction ofthree project managers. ProjectManager Soldier Warrior consists of Product Manager Land Warriorand Product Manager Air Warrior. Project Manager Soldier Weaponsincludes Product Manager Individ-ual Weapons and Product ManagerCrew-Served Weapons. ProjectManager Soldier Equipment con-sists of Product Manager SoldierSensors and Product Manager Cloth-ing and Individual Equipment.

Additional information about PEOSoldier can be found on AKO atwww.us.army.mil, or the PEO Soldier public Web site at http://peosoldier.army.mil and at http://www.pmsoldierequipment.army.mil.

PATRICK A. SWAN is the Chief Infor-mation Office/G-6 Public Affairs Officer.He has an M.S. in communication andpublic administration from the Univer-sity of Oklahoma.

ARMY AL&T


BDUs, I got a lot of use out ofthese pockets, especiallywhile seated in a vehicle oraircraft. As far as the cargopockets, add an opening tothem similar to the aviatorBDUs so that when the soldieris seated this opening is fac-ing up.

2. Soft cap vs. the beret. I thinkgreat arguments can be madefor both sides. I go with func-tion. I can put my soft cap onwith one hand and it keepsthe sun out of my eyes. Ioften think that the Army for-got to acquire tables for everybuilding exit on post. Withoutthese tables, I have to puteverything on the floor to getmy beret on.

3. Field uniforms and clothingallowance. Four sets of BDUsaren’t enough. I typicallykeep at least six uniforms onhand. At almost $50 per set,the price for BDUs is a littlesteep. Add in the physicaltraining uniform, and a sol-dier’s clothing allowancedoesn’t cover all the costs.I’m strongly in favor of a direct-exchange system forBDUs with a reduced clothingallowance. After all, howmany soldiers do you knowwho look at their clothing al-lowance as an opportunity topay bills or, like I used to do,blow it on beer?


Claude M. Bolton Jr., theArmy Acquisition Executiveand Assistant Secretary of

the Army for Acquisition, Logisticsand Technology (ASAALT); LTGJohn S. Caldwell Jr., MilitaryDeputy to the ASAALT; and Dr.Thomas H. Killion, the ActingDeputy Assistant Secretary for Re-search and Technology and ChiefScientist, presented the RDL Awardsat the 2003 Army Acquisition CorpsBall Oct. 5, 2003, at the GrandHyatt Regency, Crystal City, VA.

“The labs that competed are to becommended for their outstandingresearch efforts and warfighter focus,as well as their support to Soldiersduring Operations Enduring Freedom

and Iraqi Freedom and nationalHomeland Defense,” SecretaryBolton remarked. “The rankingswere close and the selection com-mittee had an especially difficulttime choosing this year’s winners.”

The Research and DevelopmentLaboratory of the Year (Small LabCategory) Award was presented tothe Natick Soldier Center (NSC)for technology generation, applica-tion, transition and rapid fielding ofequipment, and technology acceler-ation through strategic partneringand leveraging. NSC developed theScorpion Soldier Platform achievingmajor breakthroughs in human fac-tors engineering, biomechanics, an-thropometrics and technology inte-gration into the human platform.Edward Doucette, NSC Directorfor Airdrop and Aerial Delivery, ac-cepted the award on behalf of “thebrilliant and hardworking workersof NSC.”

The Research and DevelopmentLaboratory of Excellence (Large LabCategory) Award was presented tothe U.S. Army Armament Research,Development and EngineeringCenter (ARDEC) for its advancedwarhead development. ARDECcreated a single liner Explosively

Formed Penetrator resulting in a 60-percent increase in armor penetra-tion over current warheads.ARDEC also implemented Lean/SixSigma processes that resulted inmore than $700 million in life-cyclecost savings from completed proj-ects. COL John A. Merkwan,ARDEC Commander, thanked theaward committee and acquisitionsenior leaders for recognizing thepeople at ARDEC for being theArmy’s center of lethality.

The Research and DevelopmentLaboratory of the Year (Large LabCategory) Award was presented tothe U.S. Army Aviation and MissileResearch, Development and Engi-neering Center (AMRDEC) forone-stop life-cycle engineering,


ARMY AL&T

Army Presents Annual Research and Development Laboratory Awards

Meg Williams (Photos by SPC Adam R. Mancini, Army Visual Information Division)

All 15 Army laboratories competed for the Annual Research and Development

Laboratory (RDL) Awards — a testament to the strength of the Army’s labs and

the significant contributions their people are making to Army transformation

and readiness.

Edward Doucette, NSC Director for Airdropand Aerial Delivery, accepts the award for R&DLab of the Year in the Small Lab Category.

COL John A. Merkwan, ARDEC Commander,accepts the award for R&D Lab of Excellencein the Large Lab Category.


technical and scientific support foraviation and missile weapon systemsand their support systems, includ-ing Unmanned Aviation Vehicle plat-forms, robotic ground vehicles andvarious other systems.

Specifically, AMRDEC’s Low-CostPrecision Kill Advanced TechnologyDemonstration, a low-cost conver-sion using commercially availablecomponents, transformed the cur-rent HYDRA-70 unguided rocketinto a precision strike weapon pro-viding Hellfire level of accuracywith a cost reduction factor of 86percent. In addition, AMRDEC’s

implementation of an innovative,highly responsive Prototype Integra-tion Facility helped it quickly de-velop and rapidly exploit technol-ogy, transitioning to fielded solu-tions in hours, days or weeks ratherthan years. “Our most importantcustomers are Project Executive Of-fices (PEO) and Project Managers,”said Dr. William McCorkle, AM-RDEC Director, who accepted theaward on behalf of the 2,400 peopleat AMRDEC. He also thankedAMRDEC’s principal customers:PEO Air, Space and Missile Devel-opment; PEO Aviation; and PEOTactical Missiles.

“The Army’s labs are the enablersfor the achievement of the Army vision, its objectives and the Army’stransformation to the FutureForce,” LTG Caldwell stated.“These exceptional research and de-velopment organizations, like thoserecognized here tonight, will con-tinue to provide the unmatchedtechnical advantage in support ofour non-negotiable contract withthe American people — to fight

and win our Nation’s wars,” he concluded.

The RDL awards program was es-tablished in 1975 to honor Armyresearch and development labs thathave made outstanding contribu-tions in science and technology,providing the Army’s warfighterswith the best capabilities in theworld. The RDL awards recognizelabs for their outstanding contribu-tions and their impact on enhanc-ing the capability of Army opera-tional forces worldwide.

MEG WILLIAMS is a Senior Editor/Writer and provides contract support tothe Acquisition Support Center throughBRTRC’s Technology Marketing Group.She has a B.A. from the University ofMichigan and an M.S. in marketingcommunications from Johns HopkinsUniversity.

ARMY AL&T


Dr. William McCorkle, AMRDEC Director, ac-cepts the award for R&D Lab of the Year in theLarge Lab Category.

On Oct. 10, 2003, the U.S. Army Soldier SystemsCenter (SSC), Natick, MA, welcomed new com-mander COL David Bongi during a ceremony inHunter Auditorium. Bongi was introduced as theInstallation Commander and Acting Deputy Com-manding General for Operational Readiness, U.S.Army Research Development and EngineeringCommand (RDECOM), a new command headquar-tered in Edgewood, MD.

Bongi previously was assigned as SSC’s Director ofSecurity for Homeland Operations. Homeland Op-erations transferred to U.S. Army Forces Commandand will no longer be represented at Natick. TheRDECOM position details still need to be finalized

with RDECOM headquarters and the Army MaterielCommand, but the duties will be focused on pro-viding integrated and responsive technologies andsupport to current military operations, and toquickly adapt advanced or near-term technologiesinto military systems.

Bongi replaces BG Craig Peterson, who served asDeputy Commanding General for Homeland Oper-ations and Installation Commander since July2002.

For more information about SSC, go tohttp://www.natick.army.mil .

SSC Welcomes New Commander


Venture Capital and the ArmyThe National Venture Capital Associ-ation defines venture capital (VC) as“money provided by professionalswho invest alongside management inyoung, rapidly growing companiesthat have the potential to developinto significant economic contribu-tors.” Because VC isusually invested inyoung companies withinnovative products, VCinvestments are inher-ently risky, but hold thepotential for high ratesof return on investment.VC is usually providedin exchange for an eq-uity stake in the recipi-ent business, with typi-cally substantial investorinvolvement in thecompany’s day-to-dayoperations. This pro-vides a degree of busi-ness focus and expertise that mightotherwise be very limited within thecompany, improving the startup com-pany’s chance of success.

The Army constantly looks for tech-nology innovations that can offergreater performance, lower cost andbetter ways of accomplishing its

mission. Entrepreneurs in small,young companies often develop suchinnovations, but generally targetlarger commercial markets for profitpotential. These companies may notconsider defense markets because ofconcerns about the defense contract-ing environment, intellectual propertyprotection, limited market size and

the perceived potentialfor extensive oversight,largely because of a re-quirement to protect thepublic interest.

An Army-focused and -funded VC company,managing its relation-ship with the Armythrough a flexible agree-ment instrument, can, ifproperly formulated,mitigate some of theseconcerns. By offeringwhat the entrepreneursneed most — capital for

company and technology develop-ment — the VC company can pro-vide a strong incentive for initiatingand maintaining close relationshipswith the Army. An Army-focusedVC fund would help entrepreneursdevelop products that are potentiallyuseful to both the commercial andgovernment markets. In this dual-use

market, the Army could be the entre-preneur’s influential “first user,” as op-posed to being an isolated and limitedniche market player.

There is a precedent for this type ofapproach. The CIA established In-Q-Tel® as a not-for-profit (NFP) VC-like corporation to find and developtechnologies for the intelligence com-munity. Though the CIA and In-Q-Tel have only been using VC for afew years, the experience appears tohave been positive.

AVCIIn Section 8150 of the 2002 Depart-ment of Defense Appropriations Act,Congress earmarked $25 million ofthe Army’s FY02 basic and applied re-search funds for a “Non-Profit ArmyVenture Capital Corporation.” As aresult of this legislation, the Armymoved forward to establish its VCI.

The Army focused the VCI on powerand energy technologies for the soldier — a technology area with aclear Army requirement, a parallelcommercial market and ability to beinfluenced by the amount of availablefunding.

In the fall of 2002, a Broad AgencyAnnouncement was issued for


ARMY AL&T

Army Venture Capital Initiative

Dr. John A. Parmentola and Dr. Robert S. Rohde

On May 7, 2003, the Army announced that OnPoint Technologies of Maitland,

FL, would manage an Army Venture Capital Initiative (AVCI) focused on inno-

vative power and energy technologies for the soldier. The announcement

marked the introdcution of a new Army model for engaging small, entrepreneurial

businesses to develop and transition innovative technologies to support the needs of

individual soldiers — the centerpiece of Army transformation.

VC is usually

provided in

exchange for an

equity stake in the

recipient business,

with typically

substantial in-

vestor involve-

ment in the com-

pany’s day-to-day

operations.


Continued on Page 43

proposals to establish and manage theArmy’s $25 million VCI. Twentyproposals were received. The Armyselected Military Commercial Tech-nologies Inc. (MILCOM), a for-profit VC company with an excellentinvestment track record and experi-ence in collaborating with govern-ment organizations. MILCOM pro-posed an NFP partner, OnPointTechnologies Inc., through which theArmy and MILCOM would managethe initiative.

The AVCI was established throughan “other transaction” (OT), a legalinstrument with significant flexibility.The OT highlights OnPoint’s twoprincipal goals:

• Find innovative power and energytechnologies, invest in their devel-opment and then transfer them tothe soldier.

• Reap substantial net returns for theinvesting organizations from com-mercial and Army markets.

Because OnPoint is an NFP organi-zation, earnings on its investmentsare reinvested. If the fund is success-ful, OnPoint will become an “ever-green” fund (self-financing), usingthe proceeds from earlier investmentsto finance each new round of invest-ments in technologies of interest tothe Army.

Under the terms of the agreement,MILCOM will manage most of theactual investing activities by identify-ing potential investments, conduct-ing due diligence to recommend in-vestments and managing most of theadministrative burdens associatedwith the investment process. On-Point will approve investments rec-ommended by MILCOM, managerelations with the Army and ensurethat Army technology goals are

pursued as a main objective of the in-vestment activities. Both entities areresponsible for managing the tech-nology road-mapping process used toidentify investments that best balancethe Army’s technology requirementsand the venture capitalist’s need for apositive return on investment.

For its efforts, MILCOM will becompensated much the same as anyother venture capitalist, though with atwist. The typical venture capitalisthas only one goal whenmaking investment deci-sions: to make signifi-cant returns on themoney invested over arelatively short time pe-riod. To encouragemoneymaking invest-ments, the typical ven-ture capitalist retains apercentage of any profits(the “carry”) earned onthe investments madewith the monies en-trusted to him/her. TheAVCI, however, differsin that the goal of realiz-ing a positive return onmonies invested must beconsidered concurrentlywith the more impor-tant goal of developingtechnologies that transi-tion to the Army. MIL-COM will be incen-tivized with the prospectof additional compensa-tion when technologiesfrom its investments actually transi-tion to the Army. These two primarymechanisms, the carry and the tech-nology transfer incentive, have beencarefully structured to encourage in-vestments with the dual likelihood ofmaking money and yielding tech-nologies that will be integrated intoArmy systems over time.

Managing AVCI for SuccessThe Army has decided to have no decision-making authority in approv-ing or disapproving OnPoint’s invest-ments. This will go a long way to-ward eliminating the perception of ex-tensive oversight that is of concern tocompanies that the Army seeks to en-gage through the AVCI. It will alsoprovide OnPoint with the flexibility toshape its strategy and maintain itsagility in responding to both commer-

cial and Army interests.However, this does notimply a hands-off ap-proach. The initiative’sprobability for successwill be enhanced by theArmy’s actions on itsmarket side.

OnPoint, in partner-ship with the Army,must identify the issuesand requirements asso-ciated with the soldier’spower and energyneeds — teaming withsoldiers, with those inthe Army responsiblefor managing the de-velopment of soldierequipment and withthe entrepreneurialcompanies doing thedevelopment work.The planned Armyparticipation in theseteaming activities willhelp to ensure that On-

Point has the information andknowledge it needs to make invest-ing decisions that correctly alignwith and produce innovative tech-nologies that transition to the Army.

Through this new approach to doingbusiness, the Army expects to capture

ARMY AL&T


OnPoint, in

partnership with

the Army, must

identify the issues

and requirements

associated with

the soldier's

power and energy

needs — teaming

with soldiers, with

those in the Army

responsible for

managing the

development of

soldier equipment

and with the

entrepreneurial

companies doing

the development

work.


UARCs are established to promoteinnovation and facilitate rapid mat-uration and transition that labora-tory knowledge to practical techni-cal applications. The university,government scientist and industrialteaming is key to achieving successin translating knowledge and under-standing into a feasible acquisitionprogram.

Nanotechnology for theSoldierThe Institute for Soldier Nanotech-nologies (ISN) was formally estab-lished as a UARC May 22, 2003.ISN is a collaboration between theMassachusetts Institute of Technol-ogy (MIT), U.S. Army, and indus-try partners Dupont, Raytheon,Dow Corning and the Center forIntegration of Medicine and Innova-tive Technology. Nanotechnologyseeks to enable the design and cre-ation of novel materials or devices atthe nanometer scale, often at thelevel of individual atoms and mole-cules (1 nanometer is about 50,000times smaller than the diameter of ahuman hair). Nanostructures would

be assembled into macroscopic sys-tems to produce materials with per-formance characteristics that are notachievable today.

The goal of ISN’s spe-cific work is to enableultra-lightweight mate-rials for soldier protec-tion integrated intowarfighting ensembles.ISN’s cutting-edge re-search focuses on sol-dier survivability inthree key areas: ballisticprotection from high-speed projectiles, blastsand chemical/biologicalthreats; soldier per-formance improvements; and med-ical interventions. Research supportsrevolutionary capabilities includingmultithreat protection against ballis-tic projectiles, sensory attack andchemical and biological agents; sol-dier ensembles with climate control;remote biomedical monitoring; andphysiological stress management.For example, research efforts in me-chanically active materials will

provide actuators for body armor orexoskeletal support (for load-carry-ing systems, wound compresses andsplints embedded in uniforms) andpressure/motion sensors to remotely

monitor soldier health.Signature managementtechnology will provideembedded sensors todetect enemy range-finding or target desig-nation surveillance.Soldier medical tech-nology will providetriage information andembedded first-aid.

ISN currently has amultidisciplinary staff

of 34 faculty, 80 graduate studentsand 28 postdoctoral research associ-ates from several departments inMIT’s schools of engineering andscience; it will also include govern-ment and industry scientists. MIThas established ISN building spaceof more than 30,000 square feetwith a state-of-the-art nanotechnol-ogy laboratory and office space forstudents, visiting researchers and


ARMY AL&T

University Affiliated Research Centers

Dr. John A. Parmentola

University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) are DOD-approved collabora-

tive partnerships between academia, government and industry. They com-

bine universities’ cutting-edge research capabilities, industry’s expertise in

technology manufacturing and the knowledge of government scientists on how to

shape basic research understanding into technology that satisfies warfighting

needs. UARCs are affiliated with major universities that conduct research in scien-

tific areas with potentially high-payoff, paradigm-shifting technology applications.

The Army seeks to exploit the opportunities created by UARCs to accelerate devel-

opment of transformational capabilities to a lighter, smarter, faster force.

The Army seeks to

exploit the oppor-

tunities created by

UARCs to acceler-

ate development of

transformational

capabilities to a

lighter, smarter,

faster force.


MIT faculty. The laboratory is de-signed to foster collaborative re-search across many disciplines, in-cluding mechanical engineering,chemical engineering, chemistry andmaterials science. The ISN labora-tory is also situated for easy access tothe rest of MIT’s world-class research infrastructure.

Advanced Simulation andImmersive EnvironmentsThe Institute for Cre-ative Technologies(ICT) UARC was es-tablished in 1999 withthe University ofSouthern California toexploit research andtechnology opportuni-ties in advanced gam-ing and entertainmentindustry simulationsfor Army applications.ICT leverages the re-sources and talents ofthe entertainment andgame development industries towork collaboratively with computerand artificial intelligence (AI) scien-tists to advance state-of-the-art im-mersive simulation capabilities. Thisinnovative center’s long-term goal isto enable creating virtual reality sys-tems that could take the form of im-mersive environments like the“Holodeck,” used in the Star Trektelevision and movie series. Thiswork will one day make possible afour-dimensional simulated interac-tive world with holographic images,directional sound and olfactory andtactile experiences.

ICT research in modeling and simu-lation focuses on technologies forimmersion, networked simulation,computer-generated autonomy and

tools for creating simulated naturalenvironments. Applications includevisual prototyping of equipment andconcepts, mission planning and re-hearsal and adaptable leader training.The ICT/Army Experience LearningSystem provides the ability to learnthrough active learning systems.

ICT engages entertain-ment industry re-searchers to capitalizeon innovations in mul-timedia, location-basedsimulation and interac-tive gaming. Exploit-ing dual-use technol-ogy, ICT creates oppor-tunities for the Armyto benefit from andtransfer applicable en-tertainment technolo-gies into military train-ing systems. Workingwith some of the mostcreative entertainmentindustry talent, ICTadapts their artisticconcepts of story and

character to increase the degree ofparticipant immersion in syntheticenvironments and to improve therealism and usefulness of these ex-periences for support training andmission rehearsal. The Mission Re-hearsal Exercise System, a simulatorthat uses AI-based virtual humansto challenge trainees with dilemmasthey might encounter in peacekeep-ing operations, received the DefenseModeling and Simulation Office/National Training Systems AssocationOutstanding Achievement Award inModeling and Simulation Training.

ICT has already successfully collab-orated with several Army organiza-tions to speed products from re-search into practical applications. Ithas worked with the U.S. Army

Training and Doctrine Command’sInfantry School at Fort Benning,GA, to develop cognitive leadershiptraining aids that leverage both“gamer” PC’s (Full Spectrum Com-mander) and Microsoft’s© X-Box®

game console (Full Spectrum War-rior). Both training aids feature Ex-plainable Artificial Intelligence de-veloped at ICT. Full Spectrum Warrior is now in final developmentand could be in soldiers’ hands be-fore the end of the year. Full Spec-trum Commander is already in usetraining soldiers in Afghanistan. Atthis year’s annual Electronic Enter-tainment Expo, Full Spectrum War-rior won two Game Critics Awards:“Best Original Game” and “BestSimulation Game.”

The Critical Leadership AnalysisSystem, developed for the Army Re-search Institute at Fort Leaven-worth, KS, combines coordinationarchitecture, a machine learning ap-proach to natural language process-ing and a novel algorithm for auto-mated animation of renderedhuman faces in an application de-signed for interactive learning ofleadership skills.

ICT is currently developing theJoint Fires and Effects Trainer Sys-tem as a training component for theFort Sill, OK, Joint Fires and Ef-fects Integration Center. This proj-ect includes groundbreaking workin virtual human depiction andgraphical capabilities similar to theICT-developed “FlatWorld” systemto create a series of immersive envi-ronments for training the “universalobserver” of the future.

BiotechnologyThe Institute for CollaborativeBiotechnologies (ICB), establishedthis year, performs cutting-edge

ARMY AL&T


Nanotechnology

seeks to enable the

design and cre-

ation of novel ma-

terials or devices at

the nanometer

scale, often at the

level of individual

atoms and mole-

cules (1 nanometer

is about 50,000

times smaller than

the diameter of a

human hair).


research in the area of biologicallyinspired materials and sensors. Theactual contract, offered to multipleuniversities, was awarded in August2003. This UARC was establishedto promote rapid progress inbiotechnology, which promises radi-cally new technologies that are ex-pected to impact soldier survivabil-ity, early warning and weapons sys-tems. Through this center, theArmy seeks to foster the interdisci-plinary fundamental knowledge andtechnical capabilities to manipulatebiological systems andcomponents and to ex-ploit biologically de-rived products andprocesses for soldierand platform applications.

ICB will conduct sci-entific research in twoareas of emphasis: sen-sors, electronics and in-formation processing;and technical funda-mentals to transitioncutting-edge biotech-nology research intothese application areas.A single university willserve as lead UARChost for ICB, with sub-contracts to two otheruniversities to complement the ex-pertise of the host institution andthat are fully integrated and net-worked into the host institutionprogram. The lead university willestablish procedures to provide dy-namic and real-time collaborationbetween the three universities, aswell as participating team membersfrom industry, Army labs and/orother research centers. The Army’svision for ICB is that it will serve asthe network “hub” for assessing, co-ordinating and leveraging extramural

cross-disciplinary biotechnology re-search on the Army’s behalf.

Electrodynamics, Pulsed Power and Hypervelocity PhysicsThe Institute for Advanced Technol-ogy (IAT) at the University of Texasat Austin was initially founded in1990 as a Federally Funded Researchand Development Center and re-structured as a UARC in 1993. Thecenter’s principal goal is to developrevolutionary capabilities in lethality.

To achieve this, theUARC provides theArmy with world-classexpertise in electrody-namics, pulsed power,hypervelocity physicsand long-term, compre-hensive research pro-grams at the forefrontof advanced electricweapons technology. Italso engages in the spe-cialized training andeducation of Army per-sonnel to ensure theArmy’s capability to ad-dress the critical scien-tific, engineering andtechnical issues associ-ated with developingadvanced weapons.

Hypervelocity physics investigationat IAT provides fundamental de-scriptions of impact dynamics be-tween penetrators and targets.Their electrodynamics research isdirected at developing a basic un-derstanding of electromagneticlaunchers and their associatedpulsed power systems. IAT useshigh-performance computing cou-pled with baseline experiments con-ducted in their facilities. It is theArmy’s first UARC dedicated to thescientific underpinnings for

electromagnetic launch. It isthrough the balance between thetheoretical foundations and experi-mental art that IAT has maintainedits leadership position in these chal-lenging research areas.

DR. JOHN A. PARMENTOLA is theDirector for Research and LaboratoryManagement for the Deputy AssistantSecretary of the Army for Research andTechnology, Office of the Assistant Secre-tary of the Army for Acquisition, Logisticsand Technology. He has a B.S. in physicsfrom the Polytechnic Institute of Brook-lyn and a Ph.D. in physics from the Mass-achusetts Institute of Technology.

The Institute for

Creative Technolo-

gies (ICT) UARC

was established in

1999 with the

University of

Southern Califor-

nia to exploit re-

search and tech-

nology opportuni-

ties in advanced

gaming and enter-

tainment industry

simulations for

Army applications.


ARMY AL&T

Did you know?Effective Oct. 14, 2003, ProductManager (PM) Physical SecurityEquipment was redesignated asPM Force Protection Systems.The name change reflects theArmy’s increasing emphasis onforce protection capabilities andleveraging technology to improvesecurity while reducing manpowerrequirements. The program willfocus on providing affordable, scala-ble, modular and supportable tacti-cal force protection capabilities toforward-deployed tactical forceswhile continuing to provide state-of-the-art physical security equipmentto Army installations worldwide.Furthermore, the name change bet-ter represents the growing focus onforce protection efforts, homelanddefense and support to forward sup-port forces.

The PM Office is responsible for de-velopment and acquisition of capa-bilities to include robotics, un-manned ground sensors, installa-tion security, mass notification, ex-plosives detection, access controland surveillance systems. Locatedat Fort Belvoir, VA, the PM ForceProtection Systems Office is alignedunder the Program Executive Officefor Combat Support and CombatService Support, Warren, MI.


To achieve a lightweight,overwhelmingly lethal, fullyintegrated individual soldier

combat system, Eagle Enterprise isimplementing an approach that fo-cuses on:

• Soldier Borne Systems (SBS) that include everything worn, borne or consumed by the dismounted soldier.

• Integrated systems-of-systems approach focusing on a

ARMY AL&T


The Role of the OFW LTI:The Eagle Enterprise Perspective

Kevin G. Bonner and Scott D. Myers

As the Lead Technology Integrator (LTI) for the Natick

Soldier Center (NSC)-led Objective Force Warrior (OFW)

Phase II program, Eagle Enterprise (a General Dynam-

ics Co.) works with NSC to select and integrate leap-

ahead technologies to create the equipment and opera-

tional concepts for the Army’s future soldier. The OFW

soldier must be capable of revolutionary lethality, sur-

vivability and mobility and be fully integrated and in-

teroperable with the Army’s other major transforma-

tion efforts under Future Combat Systems (FCS).

32020_GG.qxd 12/9/03 3:23 PM

soldier-centric force enabled by ro-bust, netted communications, ad-vanced situation awareness and net-ted direct and indirect fire effects.

To achieve the OFW soldier system-of-systems vision, Eagle Enterprise has formed a diverse,16-member team of technologyand systems integration experts toprovide a comprehensive evalua-tion of suitable technologies to beincorporated into theOFW Phase II system pro-totypes and a rigorous sys-tem-of-systems engineeringapproach to ensure techno-logically feasible and field-supportable OFW systemsthat can transition to Pro-gram Executive Office(PEO) Soldier. The EagleEnterprise team’s ability toemploy new technologiesand operational concepts isfacilitated by the agree-ment between Eagle andits government customer.The Section 845 agree-ment establishes a truepartnership between Eagleand the government andallows for changes in teammembership to incorporatenew technology providersas well as coordinate seam-less transition to Phase IIIwhen all milestones aremet (approximately mid-FY05).

Technology Assessment/SelectionDuring the competitive Phase I, EagleEnterprise identified enabling tech-nologies to drive leap-ahead capabili-ties in OFW units and developedconcepts for all soldiers in the unit ofaction. These capabilities include:

• Integrated soldier-level protectionand individual equipment system.

• On-the-soldier power generationand management.

• Networked communications withmultilevel security.

• Semiautonomous ground mobilitysupport for soldier offload and resupply.

• Networked effects for massedfires.

• Multispectral enhanced vision.

• Integration of an individual soldier weapon into system func-tionality.

• Information management softwarefor situational awareness and tacti-cal planning and modification.

Comprehensive technology surveysand assessments were initiated toidentify candidate technologies in

each technical domain enumeratedabove. In all, 2,073 specific DOD-or government-sponsored and commercial technologies were iden-tified and entered into their respec-tive trade spaces. Each technologywas assessed using both quantitativeand qualitative methodologies forOFW applicability on the basis ofpower usage, technology readinesslevel, weight, cost, form factor andtechnology-specific discriminators.

The 884 technologiesdeemed appropriate forOFW use were then as-signed an overall score of 1(poor) to 5 (excellent) forsuitability insertion duringPhase II. In each category,primary and alternate tech-nologies were selected todefine the overall OFWsystem concept. The ini-tial choices for SBS com-ponents are being reevaluated during Phase IIfor insertion into the sys-tem during the spiral de-velopment process described below.

System-of-SystemsApproachUnlike most science andtechnology (S&T) pro-grams, to ensure appropri-ate risk reduction duringthe S&T phase prior totransitioning to the PEOOFW has adapted a formal

systems engineering process, includ-ing compliance with Software Engi-neering Institute/Capability Matu-rity Model levels, which providessoftware development monitoringprocesses and metrics to ensure easeof integration within the SBS, acrossthe Small Team Systems and toachieve interoperability with FCS.


32020_GG.qxd 12/24/03 6:57 AM

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Eagle has made systems engineeringan integral part of its integratedproduct and process development bycreating the Systems EngineeringTeam (SET). SET operates in con-junction with the User and Opera-tional Effectiveness Team (UOET)and the System-of-Systems Integra-tion Team (SoSIT) to develop theOFW prototypes, move require-ments forward and ensure user ac-ceptance. Each major team and itssubteams are co-led by governmentand LTI members.SET is charged withoverseeing the overallspiral development ofsmall soldier team re-quirements throughsound analyses, tech-nology exploration, ex-perimentation and as-sessment with users ina relevant operationalenvironment. SET fo-cuses on requirementstracking, developingand managing a soundmodeling and simula-tion methodology, pro-viding analysis and as-sessment capabilitiesand applying systemicinfluence for human/system interaction(MANPRINT), inter-operability, producibil-ity, logistics and train-ing. One of SET’sgoals is to supportachievement of an approved opera-tional requirements document tosupport a Milestone B decision.

SET flows its requirements to theSoSIT that is responsible for the de-velopment of integrated OFW proto-types through a spiral developmentprocess. The program’s spiral devel-opment approach, selected by Eagle

because of the aggressive OFW sched-ule, is a robust, iterative process en-abling incremental capability growth.To mitigate schedule risk, in addi-tion to the spiral developmentprocess, the Eagle approach reliesheavily on modeling and simulationto prove the maturity of technology,integration and operational concepts.A critical element in SoSIT’s charteris the development of architecturethat is flexible enough to accommo-date future OFW developments and

be compatible withFCS. Three integrationsubteams under theSoSIT are managing thedevelopment and inte-gration of key aspects ofthe SoS architecture:SBS Integration Team(SBSIT), Software Inte-gration Team (SIT) andSmall Team Systems In-tegration Team(STSIT).

SBSIT manages develop-ment of and integrateshuman-worn andhuman-borne equip-ment, providing requi-site resources to the de-velopment of integratedprotection and individ-ual equipment, electron-ics, radio equipment, en-ergy storage, weapon sys-tems and physiologicalmonitoring and sustain-

ment. SIT provides the netted com-munications and collaborative situa-tional awareness that enables theOFW’s revolutionary capability.STSIT leverages the assets available tothe dismounted soldier as an integralpart of the teams, squads and pla-toons, developing and assisting in test-ing and assessment of capabilities pro-vided by integrating unmanned

ground and air vehicles and sensorfields with the soldier.

UOET provides the continuous uservoice throughout the spiral designprocess to facilitate synchronizing theOFW technologies with user expecta-tions. This team provides SoSIT withcontinuous feedback while SoSIT andSET provide feedback to the usercommunity for continued refinementof the OFW operational concepts andLand Warrior Block III requirements.

In summary, OFW is a pioneeringprogram, bringing the engineeringdiscipline normally associated withsystem development and demonstra-tion programs earlier in the acquisi-tion life cycle while retaining thetraditional innovative S&T develop-ment and prudent risk-taking envi-ronment. LTI’s role is to developOFW SBS prototypes capable offighting effectively in small unitsand with FCS and future jointforces, while also ensuring thatOFW products can be transitionedsuccessfully into the Land Warrioracquisition program.

KEVIN G. BONNER is the ProgramManager Objective Force Warrior Pro-gram, General Dynamics Eagle Enter-prise. He has a B.S. and an M.S. in elec-trical engineering from Drexell University.

SCOTT D. MYERS is Vice President ofGeneral Dynamics Eagle Enterprise andVice President General Dynamics Ro-botic Systems. He serves in the capacityof Lead Technology Integrator ProgramOversight for the Objective Force War-rior program. He has a B.S. in mechani-cal engineering from Clemson Universityand an M.S. in mechanical engineeringfrom the University of Texas.

ARMY AL&T


SBSIT manages

development of

and integrates

human-worn and

human-borne

equipment, pro-

viding requisite

resources to the

development of

integrated protec-

tion and individ-

ual equipment,

electronics, radio

equipment,

energy storage,

weapon systems

and physiological

monitoring and

sustainment.


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OBJECTIVE FOR32020_GG.qxd 12/9/03 3:50 PM

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Advanced TechnologyDemonstrationCarol J. Fitzgerald

The Objective Force Warrior AdvancedTechnology Demonstration (OFW ATD),led by the U.S. Army Natick Soldier

Center (NSC), is the Army’s flagship scienceand technology (S&T) program charged withmaturing and integrating technologies into asystem-of-systems (SoS) and demonstrating arevolutionary capability for the individual sol-dier and small team. OFW is the primary S&Tfeeder to Land Warrior Block III Advanced Ca-pability (LW-AC), the variant of Land Warriorthat is scheduled to be fielded with the FutureCombat Systems (FCS) Increment 1 in 2010.OFW is an approved FY02 Science and Tech-nology Objective (STO) and was approved asan ATD in FY03.

The OFW vision resulted from several inde-pendent efforts sponsored by the Deputy

Assistant Secretary of the Army for Researchand Technology (DASA(R&T)) to determinewhat could be done to field a revolutionarysoldier system this decade as the centerpieceof the Army’s Future Force. Among these ef-forts were an Independent Review Team(2000), an Army Science Board Study (2001)and a multiteam visioning effort coordinatedby Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Each ini-tiative concluded that achieving revolutionaryincreases in capability this decade would re-quire increasing investments and integrating,holistic SoS approaches for the individual andsmall team. The result was the OFW ATD —the programmatic forcing function that will in-tegrate myriad technology maturation effortsand demonstrate them by the end of FY06 —and a paradigm shift similar to that initiated inthe FCS program.


“It is only bydoing things

others have notthat one can

advance.” LTG George S. Patton Jr.

ORCE WARRIOR32020_GG.qxd 12/9/03 3:50 PM

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A Unique ApproachThe early planning for OFW ATD included identifica-tion of warfighter needs, capabilities to meet those needsand investigation of technologies that could provide thedesired capabilities. This resulted in many planned S&Tefforts being reshaped under the leadershipof DASA(R&T) and the Assistant Secretaryof the Army for Acquisition, Logistics andTechnology to better support the OFW vi-sion. Planning also included active involve-ment with NSC by the key stakeholders —the U.S. Army Training and DoctrineCommand (TRADOC) Systems Managerfor the Soldier; the Project Manager Soldierand the U.S. Army Forces Command(FORSCOM). Their participation contin-ues and is instrumental in keeping the pro-gram on the correct azimuth to accomplishthe long-term OFW transition goal to Pro-gram Executive Officer Soldier for acquisi-tion and fielding as LW-AC.

OFW SoSFrom the outset, OFW’s focus has been on an SoS.This concept includes all items that the soldier wearsor carries — the Soldier-Borne System (SBS) — andthose systems that are integral to the small team’s

assets — the Small Team Systems (STS) —that contribute greatly to mission per-formance. (Assets include small unmannedground vehicles, back-packable unmannedaerial vehicles, laser designators and unat-tended sensors, just to name a few.) Whilethe ATD focuses on the SoS, many tech-nologies that are embedded within the SBSand STS components are being leveragedfrom STOs and other external programslike FCS for integration within or interfacewith the OFW SBS. This holistic TRADOCSoldier-as-a-System approach will helpminimize or reduce soldier-borne loads, enhance power management and optimizeindividual and team performance.

ARMY AL&T


The early planning

for OFW ATD in-

cluded identifica-

tion of warfighter

needs, capabilities

to meet those needs

and investigation

of technologies

that could provide

the desired

capabilities.


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ARMY AL&T


32020_GG.qxd 12/9/03 3:25 PM

OFW ImperativesThe OFW ATD seeks to exhibit connectivity within thecommand, control, communications, computers, intelli-gence, surveillance and reconnaissance network of theunit of action (UA) and Future Force. The goal is to op-erate the soldier-borne system for 24 mission hours with-out resupply and reduce soldier-borne fighting loads to50 pounds or less. These capabilities will bedemonstrated at a system technology readi-ness level (TRL) 6 (system/subsystem modelor prototype demonstration in a relevant en-vironment) and in a fightable, user-friendly,tactically viable and technologically soundSoS. In addition, the requirements for LW-AC (Block III of the LW Operational Re-quirements Document (ORD)), currently indraft, will be refined and validated in con-junction with the spiral design process. Thegoal is to have the ORD completed by theend of FY06 to support Milestone B.

OFW CapabilitiesMyriad capabilities are embodied within theOFW SoS concept and push the technologi-cal research and development envelope.These capabilities include netted communi-cations and collaborative situational aware-ness; netted lethality, full-spectrum individ-ual protection in an integrated multifunc-tional ensemble; sensory enhancement; ro-botics and mobility; power sources andpower management; training and humanperformance as depicted in Figure 1. Thespecific technologies associated with thesecapabilities, which will be demonstrated inthe FY06 ATD, are illustrated in Figures 2and 3.

OFW ATD StructureThe OFW seamless government/industryteam is using an Integrated Product andProcess Development (IPPD) approach with disciplinedsystems engineering processes and a structure of teamsand integrated product teams (IPTs) that reflect the holis-tic, human-centric, SoS approach. The OFW ATDstructure has three phases:

• Phase I — Concept Development• Phase II — Preliminary and Detailed Design• Phase III — Prototype Fabrication and Demonstration

Phase I was competitive with two Lead Technology Inte-grator (LTI) teams — Eagle Enterprise and WolfpackEnterprise — developing competing operational andSoS concepts for all soldiers in the UA. The Army se-lected Eagle Enterprise for Phases II and III, wherefunding constraints allow for the design and fabricationof only the dismounted variants of OFW, but with in-

clusion of the “hooks” to grow the systemfor the other soldier variants when fundingbecomes available. The major activitieswere:

• Conduct operational and organizationalconcept studies.

• Perform technology searches and assess-ments.

• Design initial operational, system andsoftware architectures.

• Perform critical modeling and simulationexperiments.

• Evaluate targeted government technologymaturity investments.

• Demonstrate TRL 3.

The team will conduct four design spiralsduring Phase II to iteratively and incremen-tally build and assess the OFW SoS, withappropriate risk mitigation throughout theprocess. The major activities will be:

• Conduct four spiral “design, prototyping,experimentation and analysis” iterations.

• Implement mature process for systemsand software engineering.

• Develop interfaces with FCS, WarfighterInformation Network-Tactical (WIN-T)and Comanche.

• Leverage and integrate technology fromrelated Army and DOD S&T projects.

• Perform critical modeling and simulation,integrate design evaluations and user as-sessments with design spirals. Refine ar-chitectures and operational requirements.

• Evolve robust prototypes through designspirals.

• Move to TRL 5.

During Phase III, the OFW team will undertake severalLimited Objective Experiments (LOEs) to iteratively assessOFW’s operational and technical merit and determine if

ARMY AL&T


While the ATD

focuses on the SoS,

many technologies

that are embedded

within the SBS

and STS compo-

nents are being

leveraged from

STOs and other

external programs

like FCS for inte-

gration within or

interface with the

OFW SBS. This

holistic TRADOC

Soldier-as-a-System

approach will help

minimize or re-

duce soldier-borne

loads, enhance

power manage-

ment and optimize

individual and

team performance.


creo

the ATD exit criteria have been met. The capstonedemonstrations will look at the entire SoS used collec-tively and tactically and validate the enhanced operational effectiveness. Simulation experiments willaugment live experimentation. An Experimental Force(EXFOR) will be requested from FORSCOM to partic-ipate throughout the Phase II design/assessment processto conduct the LOEs and capstone demos. The majoractivities will be:

• Fabricate final sets of products to support Squad (+)EXFOR.

• Comprehensive training program for EXFOR.• Conduct 6 LOEs.• Conduct capstone demo in operationally

realistic environment to achieve exit criteria.• Move to TRL 6.• Integrate demos with FCS, WIN-T and

Comanche.• Transition to PEO Soldier for system de-

velopment and demonstration phase.

Transition StrategyThe revolutionary OFW SoS will transi-tion to PEO, Soldier when the ATD con-cludes. Transition deliverables will includeall OFW hardware and software; technicaldata and analyses; tactics, techniques andprocedures and training programs of in-struction; any model and instrumentationupgrades that are undertaken and newprocesses and methodologies developed toeffectively execute the rigorous ATD. Inaddition, a two-pronged transition ap-proach will allow OFW technologies orcomponents that individually mature early(i.e., a TRL 5 or 6 now or in the next yearor two) to be considered by PEO Soldierfor insertion into Land Warrior-Stryker toget evolutionary improvements into thehands of soldiers quickly. At the same time, these tech-nologies will remain a part of the OFW system architec-ture and will be enhanced within that architecture.

Achieving InteroperabilityInteroperability within the Future Force will be accom-plished via OFW active participation with PEO Soldierin the FCS Soldier System Integration IPT. This IPTwill provide a forum for collaborative identification, def-inition, development and assessment of optimal Soldier

System/FCS interfaces, based on the soldier systems’more challenging size, weight and power constraints.In addition, an Associate Contractor Agreement willallow the Eagle Enterprise LTI to interact directly withthe FCS Lead Systems Integrator. Interoperability as-sessments are part of Phase II and interoperability exper-iments are part of Phase III ATD activities.

OFW begins the paradigm shift to a soldier-centric Fu-ture Force, and the rigorous, disciplined systems ap-proach led by NSC puts LW-AC on a glidepath to suc-cess via risk reduction and pushing the envelop in thisATD. Partnering with TRADOC ensures OFW is onthe right azimuth for soldier and small-team capabilities;

and partnering with PEO Soldier ensuresan effective transition from S&T to acqui-sition. But the vision doesn’t end withOFW. Future Warrior will continue tolook beyond the current S&T focus tobring the full OFW revolution to fruition.

Note: If you are unfamiliar with acronyms usedin this article’s figures, check the List of Acronymsat http://asc.army.mil/pubs/alt/default.cfm.

CAROL J. FITZGERALD is the OFW Tech-nology Program Manager. She has a B.S. fromCornell University, an M.S. in science and tech-nology commercialization from the University ofTexas-Austin and an M.S. in national resourcestrategy. She has completed the Defense SystemsManagement College’s Program ManagementCourse, the Senior Acquisition Course and is adistinguished graduate of the Industrial Collegeof the Armed Forces.

ARMY AL&T


The OFW

seamless govern-

ment/industry

team is using an

Integrated Product

and Process Devel-

opment (IPPD)

approach with dis-

ciplined systems

engineering

processes and a

structure of teams

and integrated

product teams

(IPTs) that reflect

the holistic,

human-centric,

SoS approach.

32020_GG.qxd 12/9/03 5:33 PM

creo


ARMY AL&T

Army Future Force Moves Toward Jointness

Meg Williams

All of the “Army Future Force” panelmembers addressed jointness in theirremarks. “Since the vision of trans-formation was unveiled at this con-ference in 1999, the guidance hasbeen very clear,” said GEN Kevin P.Byrnes, Commanding General (CG),U.S. Army Training and DoctrineCommand. “We need to capturetechnologies as they emerge and putthem in the hands of our Soldiersnow. Our Future Force must con-tribute to the Joint Forces Commandand we must broaden our mix of ca-pabilities to support the Joint ForcesCommand.”

Byrnes noted five steps that will helplead to the Army Future Force.

• The Army must adopt a culture ofinnovation.

• Rigorous experimentation is neededto network the battle command.

• Modular formation units of actionwill be the centerpiece of the Fu-ture Force.

• Networked systems must supportsoldiers.

• Training and leader development isparamount to building the FutureForce.

“Our future contract to our soldiersis to get them the tools they need,”Byrnes continued. “The RapidFielding Initiative (RFI) has madesure that every soldier deployed hasthe same kit whether they’re Guard,Reserve or Active Component Sol-diers. Program Executive Officer Soldier BG James R. Moran andBG(P) Benjamin Freakley, [CG, U.S.Army Infantry Center] Fort Benning,GA, have done very well in leadingthe soldier-as-a-system concept for-ward. We are changing how we pullforward technologies to use in theCurrent Force.”

Another way the Army brings newtechnology to soldiers is throughthe Rapid Equipping Force (REF),which is run by REF Director COLBruce Jette. “The Army has a goodprocess to have resources appliedimmediately,” said GEN Paul J.Kern, Commanding General, U.S.Army Materiel Command (AMC).“We will continue to use the REFto solve problems today.”

AMC is pushing forward conceptsand technologies such as V-SAT(small aperture commercial C and

Ku-band satellite terminals). V-SAT was not set up until 45 daysafter the Army arrived in Baghdad.Prior to its arrival logisticianscould not communicate with eachother. “We must ensure that thenetwork exists, that it is less vul-nerable and has a land-based com-ponent able to keep up with theforce,” Kern emphasized. “Therewere no requisitions for communi-cations capability for logisticiansand all ground lifts were used forfood, water, fuel and munitions.Also, no C-130 cargo aircraft wereavailable to us. These are thethings we’ve got to fix today — wecannot wait until 2010.”

Moving from a supply-basedprocess to a joint distribution-basedprocess is another concept AMC ispushing. “We are facing a full-spectrum of threat and we need tohave the agility to fight with a fullspectrum of forces,” Kern remarked.“We must operate jointly to providecommunication with our folks andto reduce the number of soldiers inconvoys. We need to have an agilecentral distribution center insteadof a linear distribution center.”

Four Army leaders discussed the “Army Future Force” at the 2003 Association

of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting held in Washington, DC,

Oct. 6-8. They were taking U.S. Army Chief of Staff GEN Peter J.

Schoomaker’s message and moving it forward, according to LTG (Ret.) Theodore G.

Stroup Jr., AUSA Vice President, Education, who introduced panel members.

Schoomaker spoke at the conference’s Dwight David Eisenhower Luncheon, pressing

the Army to move ahead with its transformation efforts and outlining 15 priorities,

including “jointness” as a top Army priority.


Continued From Page 29

As the Army transforms, spiral de-velopment will bring in technolo-gies from both inside and outsidethe Army. LTG Benjamin S. Grif-fin, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8,works with the Joint CapabilitiesIntegration and Devel-opment System, ajoint board that looksat common systemsamong services. To re-inforce this coopera-tion, the “8s” of eachService have beenmeeting every 2 weeksto lay the groundworkfor the Joint Require-ments OversightCouncil. “Our goal isto cut bureaucracy and get systemsapproved and fielded quicker,” hesaid.

One such good news story is theArmy’s Stryker Brigade CombatTeam. “It took 4 years from con-cept to IOC (initial operational ca-pability) for the Stryker Brigade,”said Griffin. “And we are upgrad-ing the Strykers with Force XXI

Battle Command Brigade andBelow and Blue Force Tracking toimprove situational awareness,satellite communications and slatarmor for rocket-propelled grenadeprotection.”

Another element criti-cal to the Future Forceis command, control,communications, com-puters, intelligence, sur-veillance and reconnais-sance (C4ISR). “Wemust fully integratespace and terrestrialcommunications,” Grif-fin implored. “TheC4ISR technical initia-

tives include Blue Force Tracking,combat identification systems andsoftware blocking.”

LTG John M. Riggs, Director, Objective Force Task Force, ex-plained that DOTML-PF (doctrine,organization, training, materiel,leadership, personnel and facilities)development and fielding is beingaccelerated and that this is being

driven top-down to the Services.“We’re not just preparing for war,”Riggs said. “We are at war and wemust bring technology to the war-front sooner.”

Riggs suggested that, to bring tech-nology to the warfront, the Armymust operate in Joint InteragencyMultinational teams using commonarchitecture, network, equipmentand processes. Title X (the U.S.code that lists the responsibilities toraise an Army) functions will alsoneed to be modified — the civilianworkforce will need to assume non-core and nonmilitary-essential missions.


ARMY AL&T


innovative technologies produced bysmall entrepreneurial companies that,in the past, hesitated to do businesswith a government agency. This willwiden the Army reach into other in-novative and rapidly evolving com-mercial world segments. The expecta-tion is that this could open up unfore-seen technological opportunities tosupport the needs of future soldiers.

DR. JOHN A. PARMENTOLA is theDirector for Research and LaboratoryManagement for the Deputy AssistantSecretary of the Army for Research andTechnology, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition,

Logistics and Technology (ASAALT).He has a B.S. in physics from the Poly-technic Institute of Brooklyn and aPh.D. in physics from the Massachu-setts Institute of Technology.

DR. ROBERT S. ROHDE is theDeputy Director for Laboratory Manage-ment for the Director for Research and

Technology, ASAALT. He has a B.S. inphysics from Loyola University inChicago and an M.S. and Ph.D. inphysics from the Illinois Institute ofTechnology in Chicago.

“We’re not just

preparing for

war,” Riggs said.

“We are at war

and we must

bring technology

to the warfront

sooner.”


The Honorable Claude M.Bolton Jr., the Army Acqui-sition Executive and Assis-

tant Secretary of the Army for Ac-quisition, Logistics and Technology(ASAALT), and LTG John S. Cald-well Jr., Military Deputy to theASAALT, presented the annual Ac-quisition Commander and Projectand Product Manager of the YearAwards at the 2003 Army Acquisi-tion Corps Ball, Oct. 5, 2003, atthe Grand Hyatt Regency, CrystalCity, VA.

“It is a testament to both the Armyand Acquisition Corps that so many

excellent people are nominated andrecognized each year for remarkableservice above and beyond the call ofduty,” remarked Bolton. “Theseaward winners have been selectedfrom an elite group of nominees.They faced challenges and complex-ities in a year characterized bychange, deployments, unit rotationsand high operations tempo.”

Project Manager of the YearThe Project Manager of the YearAward at the Colonel/GS-15 levelwas presented to COL David Oggfrom the Interim Brigade CombatTeam, Program Executive Office(PEO) Ground Combat Systems.The Interim Brigade Combat Teamplans, manages and directs the de-velopment, testing, production,fielding and sustainment of a fullrange of systems, including 10 vari-ants of the Stryker Family of Vehi-cles. Despite the complexity andrequirement to meet tighter dead-lines than in other more traditionalArmy Acquisition programs, Ogg’sprogram exceeded a 90-percent

Operational Readiness Rate, deliv-ering products on time and meetingor exceeding Soldier requirements.

“I’d like to thank my boss, MG(P)Joseph Yakovac Jr. for nominatingme,” Ogg said. “There are 150military and civilian people workingat Warren, MI; Fort Lewis, WA;Washington, DC; and General Dy-namics and it’s my honor to acceptthis award on their behalf.”

Product Manager of the YearThe Product Manager of the YearAward at the Lieutenant Colonel/GS-14 level was presented to LTC Dave Lockhart, Product Manager for Joint Tactical RadioCommunications Systems (JTRS)Army – Ground and Air, from PEO Command, Control and Communications-Tactical. Lockhartand his team were able to identifyand effectively minimize contractorcost and schedule overruns via ag-gressive program reviews and relentlessapplication of earned-value manage-ment. He spearheaded streamlined,innovative measures that enabled the


ARMY AL&T

Army Presents Acquisition Commander and Project and Product Manager of the Year Awards

Meg Williams (Photos by SPC Adam R. Mancini, Army Visual Information Division)

Before the Acquisition Commander and Project andProduct Manager of the Year winners were announcedall nominees were asked to stand and be recognized.These outstanding representatives of the Army Acqui-sition, Logistics and Technology Workforce research,manage, develop, test, evaluate, contract, field andsustain our warfighting systems to ensure that our sol-diers have the materiel they need to fight with greaterlethality, survivability and sustainability — regardlessof where the battlefield or mission takes them.

Project Manager of the Year COL David Ogg

Product Manager of the Year LTC Dave Lockhart


JTRS team to maintain objectiveschedule momentum and deliver ex-ceptional results for five JTRS clus-ters and responsibility for fieldingmore than 100,000 systems with a$23 billion budget.

“On behalf of myself and my team,we’ve worked extraordinarily hardto get the JTRS radio out andtested and I thank you for thisaward,” said Lockhart.

Acquisition Commanderof the Year — ColonelThe Acquisition Commander of theYear at the Colonel/GS-15 level waspresented to COL Mary Brownfrom the Army Test and EvaluationCommand, Aberdeen Test Center.As the Aberdeen Test Center Com-mander, Brown manages 60-plusacres of test ranges and 73 major

test facilities. She also oversees op-erations involving nearly 1,600 mil-itary, civilian and contractor person-nel and is responsible for develop-mental testing of combat and com-bat support systems; ammunition,including small rockets and missiles;and Navy ship structures. Brown’sorganization is committed to ensur-ing that Soldiers receive the safestand best equipment available.

“I would like to recognize mybosses for their unwavering sup-port,” said Brown. “This is a teamaward — it took a team effort towin this. I represent more than 150civilians and officers who work hardevery day and who know how muchtheir work means to others.”

Acquisition Commanderof the Year — LieutenantColonelThe Acquisition Commander of theYear Award at the LieutenantColonel/GS-14 level was presentedto LTC Jack Cunnane, U.S. ArmyContracting Agency, Southern Re-gion. Cunnane’s command was di-rectly responsible to the U.S. ArmyIII Corps for missions and qualityof life support at Fort Hood, TX,and in supporting force projectionand rapid deployment contingencyoperations. His support enabled III

Corps to complete 100 percent ofits mission requirements. Cunnanefurther demonstrated his dedicationby volunteering to serve in Iraq toestablish the joint contracting ele-ment that supported ongoingwarfighter operations in theater.

“This award would not be possibleif not for the civilians and soldiersat the Army Contracting Agency,”Cunnane said. “There’s truly noth-ing they wouldn’t do for the Army.”


ARMY AL&T


Natick Integrated Materiel Management Center'sFire Response Team

Daniel Galarza

Army Acquisition Executive Claude M. BoltonJr. presents the Acquisition Commander of theYear Award to COL Mary Brown along with LTGJohn S. Caldwell Jr.

Acquisition Commander of the Year LTC JackCunnane

On Dec. 18, 2002, at ap-proximately 8 p.m.,molten red flames engulfed

a major military parachute storage,packing and maintenance facility inVicenza, Italy. The facility con-tained thousands of personnel and

reserve parachute systems. Thecause of the blaze was linked tofaulty electrical wiring. The ex-treme heat from the fire caused ceil-ing light fixtures and electrical con-duits to melt. On Dec. 27, 2002,DOD response team personnel

were called away from their holidayactivities and flown to Vicenza,Italy. The team consisted of aerialdelivery representatives from theNatick Soldier Center (NSC) andIntegrated Materiel ManagementCenter (IMMC), Natick, MA.


The parachute packing and storagefacility had been operational sincethe early 1980s. The storage site inVicenza houses more than 3,300 T-10D Troop BackParachute Assembliesand approximately3,200 Modified Im-proved Reserve Para-chute System (MIRPS)parachutes. The site’smain function is tostore, pack and main-tain parachutes in sup-port of airborne opera-tions. The facility alsoserves as a major air-borne equipment logis-tics platform for the Army’s South-ern European Task Force (TF)Command. Additionally, para-chutes are stored at the site for usein real-world contingencies such asOperations Iraqi Freedom and En-during Freedom.

The NSC team’s mission was toevaluate and assess the burned para-chutes’ form, fit and function.Most parachute equipment is madeof nylon, which, under intense heatconditions, can melt or burn and

become nonfunctional. The teamhad to inspect two types of parachutes.

T-10D Troop BackParachute EquipmentCharacteristics. The T-10D Troop Back Para-chute Assembly pro-vides the capability tosafely deliver an air-borne soldier and indi-vidual equipment froman aircraft in flight fora vertical assault on anenemy. The materialsused in manufacturingthe parachute include:

• Canopy — 35 feet in diameter andcomprised of 1.1-ounce rip stopnylon cloth.

• Pack tray — made of 7.5-ouncenylon duck material.

• Deployment bag — made of 8.2-ounce sateen cloth.

• Universal static line (USL) — madeof 15 feet of tube edge material.

• Suspension lines — made of type IInylon cord.

• Risers — made of type XIII 30-inchnylon webbing.

MIRPS. The MIRPS is an emer-gency parachute system that is usedonly after a malfunction is detectedin the main parachute. With theexception of a stainless steel ripcordand compression spring, the canopyand pack tray materials are identicalto the T-10 parachute.

The Mission Begins On Dec. 27, aerial delivery repre-sentatives boarded a plane boundfor Vicenza. The team consisted of IMMC Aerial Delivery Sustain-ment Team Leader Gloria Wooten-Standard, NSC Personnel AirdropSystems Equipment Specialist JohnR. Mahon, NSC Textile Technolo-gist Laurra Winters and NSC Mas-ter Airdrop Technician CW4Murry Chapman and Master Air-drop Technician CW3 CortezFraser of the Defense DistributionCenter, Susquehanna, PA. Theteam’s main purpose was to evalu-ate and assess the parachute mater-ial’s and hardware’s serviceability.They were also tasked to inspectand determine the availability andreplacement costs of the fire-exposedparachutes and estimate what itwould take in time and resources torestore the facility to mission-capablestatus. The urgency of restoringthe parachute system quantities tomeet contingency requirements ne-cessitated a round-the-clock, 24-hour operation.

The inspection consisted of firstseparating the chutes that could beeasily labeled “unserviceable.”These parachutes displayed severesigns of melted nylon, large holesin the canopies, burn marks andbreaks in the material caused byflames or extreme heat. After con-ducting a visual inspection, theteam began the grueling task of individually inspecting each


ARMY AL&T

IMMC inspectors recommend that USLs distorted by heat and contact with metal storage bins beimmediately replaced.

The urgency of

restoring the para-

chute system

quantities to meet

contingency re-

quirements neces-

sitated a round-

the-clock, 24-hour

operation.

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parachute system’s component/sub-component for the following:

• Parachute system hardware in-cluding condition, finish andstrength.

• Parachute material degradationincluding canopy, harness, packtray and suspension lines.

The team sought to answer com-mand leadership questions thatwere posed to them upon their ar-rival. Inspection details are in-cluded below.

What are the effects of smoke onparachute systems? Winters wasinstrumental in providing answersto this very important question.Tests were conducted on the pHlevel of the soot found on the para-chutes to determine if the acidfrom the soot had degraded theparachute systems’ materials. Testresults indicated the materials werewell within the range of serviceabil-ity for that particular item. For in-stance, the test results for the T-10Canopy indicated an average pHlevel of 6.9. The specificationsrange for canopy serviceability isfrom 5.5 to 9.0. Therefore, thecanopies, other than containingdusty black particles, were serviceablefor actual use.

What is the effect of extreme heaton the parachutes? Besides fire,petroleum distillants can degradeparachute fabrics and accelerate thematerial’s usage life. Fortunately,the firefighters who fought theblaze used only water. USLs expe-rienced material distortion as a re-sult of the heat generated by themetal containers they were storedin. For safety reasons, the teamrecommended that all affectedUSLs be replaced. The remaining

system components underwenttesting for proper pH levels as wellas a thorough physical inspection.The inspectors determined theparachutes that survived the fire in-tact, could be put back into service.

When the fire began, 95 percentof the parachutes were packed. Ifthe outside of thepacked chutes werenot damaged, is it safeto assume the insideof the chutes were un-affected as well? Theteam quickly andunanimously decidedthat no assumptionswould be made wheresafety was concerned.Each parachute wasphysically inspectedfor serviceability re-gardless of its outwardappearance.

The soot from the fire formed athick layer on the parachutes.Would they all require washing?The amount of soot resulting fromthe fire was almost overwhelming.The water spray and mist used todouse the blaze stained the para-chute fabric materials and rustedthe metal hardware. The fine mistof black particles embedded them-selves in the parachute and hard-ware. Nylon and cotton parachutematerials, as well as worker cloth-ing, were covered and stained withthis natural black camouflage. Ad-ditionally, tests had already deter-mined the soot to be more of anaesthetic nuisance than a genuineperformance impairment. The cri-teria of form, fit and function hadbeen met. Brushes were used to re-move gross amounts of soot. As aresult, the inspection team did notrequire that the parachutes systems

be washed. Just to be sure, theteam sent worst-case samples of ma-terials and hardware to Natick, MA,for further evaluation.

How much will it cost to replacethe unserviceable equipment orparts within? Many systems didnot require total replacement. For

example, after replacingseveral USLs, the para-chute system becameserviceable and wasplaced back in contin-gency. Several packtrays were shippedfrom the United Statesto make the systemscomplete. The detailedinspection helped iden-tify the defective/unser-viceable components,allowing the organiza-tion to requisition justwhat they needed,

thereby decreasing the time it tookto replenish their operational andcontingency stocks. IMMC’sWooten-Standard was on-handthroughout the operation and wasable to give on-the-spot authoriza-tion for procurement of replacementparts and systems. The final cost ofreplacing parts and/or systems wasmore than $500,000.

Regaining Soldier ConfidenceNews of the Vicenza parachute stor-age facility fire spread quicklythroughout the southern Europeanmilitary community. Soldiers ex-pressed safety concerns over havingto depend on equipment that hadbeen exposed to extreme heat andsmoke conditions. Soldiers enter-tained visions of hurtling toward theground as air rushed through biggaping burn holes in their para-chutes. Southern European TF

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Tests were con-

ducted on the pH

level of the soot

found on the para-

chutes to deter-

mine if the acid

from the soot had

degraded the para-

chute systems’

materials.

32020_GG.qxd 12/9/03 3:26 PM

leaders asked the aerial delivery team toassist in restoring Soldier confidence.

On Jan. 6, 2003, the TF commanderheld a special briefing to inform sol-diers about overall parachute conditionand to inspire soldier confidence intheir equipment. The Natick aerial de-livery team played a crucial role in thebriefing. For instance, Mahon pro-vided a summary of the team’s inspec-tions results. He reviewed the inspec-tion standards, findings and recom-mendations. Winters discussed sootand pH acid level test results. A micro-scope was also set up for soldiers to ex-amine the microscopic smoke and sootparticles on the nylon cloth material.

Finally, the team fielded direct ques-tions from the paratroops. They pro-vided straightforward responses to thetechnical questions. At the briefing’sconclusion, Soldier safety concernswere allayed and confidence in theparachute systems was restored.

The Aerial Delivery Response Team’svalidation came in March 2003. Theteam received news that an airbornebrigade from Italy had just performeda combat airdrop mission in Iraqwithout incident. More importantly,the brigade used the parachutes thatwere involved in the Vicenza para-chute facility fire. It did not takelong to realize the parachutes used by

the brigade were the very same chutesthat were inspected and recertified 2months prior by aerial delivery teammembers Wooten-Standard, Mahon,Winters, Chapman and Fraser. Theteam takes great pride knowing thatthey played a vital role in helpingcombat units win the airborne warover Iraq.

DANIEL GALARZA is a recently retired Army Major. He is an Aerial De-livery Equipment Specialist with the U.S.Army Tank-automotive and ArmamentCommand’s Commodity Business Of-fice. He holds a B.A. in communicationsfrom Southwest Texas State University.


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ASC Booth Pulses With Activity at AUSA 2003

Meg Williams (Photos by Mike Roddin)

ASC designed its boothwith striking new imagesincluding the Abrams

tank, Black Hawk helicopter anddesert warfighters to focus onASC’s 2003 goal to Strengthen OurLink with the Warfighter. OversizeAmerican and Army AcquisitionCorps (AAC) flags proudly flewhigh above the multimedia display,helping pinpoint ASC’s location in avery crowded, newly opened Wash-ington Convention Center. The 20’x 20’ ASC space pulled in an esti-mated 6,000 visitors who learnedmore about ASC’s goals and objec-tives and mission to develop, im-prove and integrate the systems andservices that enable the U.S. Armyto meet its non-negotiable contractto fight and win the Nation’s wars.

Taking particular interest wereArmy Acquisition Executive and

Location. Location. Location. When it came to

this year’s Association of the United States Army

(AUSA) Annual Meeting, held Oct. 6-8, 2003, the

Acquisition Support Center (ASC) booth space was

hot property.

An AUSA Annual Meeting visitor learnsmore about AAC/ASC during his visit toASC’s booth.


Assistant Secretary of the Armyfor Acquisition, Logistics andTechnology (ASAALT) ClaudeM. Bolton Jr. and LTG John S.Caldwell Jr., Military Deputy tothe ASAALT and Director, Ac-quisition Career Management.The two senior acquisition lead-ers looked on as convention at-tendees took an AAC quiz onthe interactive kiosk andwatched ASC’s Soldier-centricvideo, another focal point thathelped draw visitors to thebooth.

The kiosk also featured a GoodNews Story segment to promoteseveral key acquisition workforceaccomplishments during OperationsIraqi and Enduring Freedom. Visi-tors could select from 17 acquisi-tion success stories featured in aninteractive, multimedia format.These success stories can also be

found on ASC’s Web site athttp://asc.army.mil/goodnews.

Army AL&T magazine debuted itsnew look at the convention, earningrave reviews from current readersand those who had never seen thepublication before. Many becamenew subscribers on-the-spot afterpaging through the newly re-designed magazine.

Information cards that announcedthe location of Program ExecutiveOffice (PEO) booths at the conven-tion were given to visitors at theASC booth. PEOs that also exhib-ited at AUSA included PEO Air,Space and Missile Defense; PEOCombat Support and Combat Ser-vice Support; PEO Enterprise Infor-mation Systems; PEO Intelligence,Electronic Warfare and Sensors;PEO Simulation, Training and In-strumentation; PEO Soldier; andPEO Tactical Missiles.

ASC military and civilian personnelactively recruited the next genera-tion of acquisition professionals, lo-gisticians, contractors and technolo-gists. ASC representatives includedCOL Mary Fuller; Craig Spisak;

LTC Dwayne Green; MAJs Joy Kol-hoff, Jonathan D. Long, Michelle

Nassar and Andrea Williams;CW2 Cevilla Mosby; MSGTerry Graves; Tomasine Cole-man; Tom Evans; AncelHodges; John Kelly; HeatherKohler; Kevin Maisel; Jan Mc-Griff; Mary McHale; GaretMcKimmie; RobertaMcMillen; Mara Mucciolo;Robert Neff; Nicole Perella;Mike Roddin; Joan Sable; MegWilliams and Barbara Wright.

Representatives from the U.S.Army Human Resources Com-mand’s (AHRC’s) Acquisition

Management Branch (AMB), in-cluding MAJ William Boruff, MAJJeanette Jones, Bruce Dahm, Chan-dra Evans-Mitchell, Roosevelt In-gram, Cathy Johnston, Gloria King,Giselle Whitfield and RichardYager, updated folks on how toapply to board-select programs andanswered other human resources-related questions.

MEG WILLIAMS is a Senior Editor/Writer and provides contract support tothe Acquisition Support Centerthrough BRTRC’s Technology Market-ing Group. She has a B.A. from theUniversity of Michigan and an M.S. inmarketing communications from JohnsHopkins University.

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CW2 Cevilla Mosby guided visitors through themultimedia kiosk quiz and educated visitingNCOs about career opportunities in the AAC.

LTC Lisa Kirkpatrick, Product Manager HeavyTactical Vehicles, talks to ASC Strategic Com-munications Division staffer Nicole Perella.

Industry representatives to learn more aboutASC from Joan Sable, PEO/PM Support Manager, ASC Force Structures.

Army civilian Roosevelt Ingram, of AHRC’s AMB, answers ca-reer management and professional development questions atthe ASC booth.


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Many of you have spent the lastyear in a whirlwind of activ-ity for the U.S. Army before,

during and after Operation IraqiFreedom. I appreciate the energy, cre-ativity and dedication you put forth for

our warfighters. Now it is time to replenish your ownintellectual stores. As your mission allows, I hope youwill schedule time to attend training, a professional con-ference or seminar, or undertake self-study. To find acourse of study right for you, go to the Acquisition Sup-port Center’s (ASC) Acquisition Education, Training &Experience catalog at http://asc.army.mil/pubs/aete. The discoveries you makewhile learning enable you to better re-search, manage, develop, test, evaluate,contract, field and sustain our warfightingsystems as we help transform an entireArmy for the future good of our great Nation.

ASC recently celebrated its first anniversaryas a field-operating agency formed under theAssistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisi-tion, Logistics and Technology (ASAALT).ASC has accomplished much over the pastyear and I would like to share just a few ofthe team’s numerous contributions.

U.S. Army Acquisition Workforce Campaign Plan.The Campaign Plan was an initiative developed to en-sure that the Acquisition, Logistics and Technology(AL&T) Workforce is responsive to Army requirements,sized and trained properly and equipped with the righttools to support the Army’s transformation. This initia-tive includes three strategic objectives: (1) Strengthenthe relationship between the AL&T Workforce and theoperational Army, the warfighter; (2) Ensure that ASCprovides a clearly defined environment that offers careeropportunities and leadership development at all levels;and (3) Ensure that the AL&T Workforce remains tech-nically competent and responsive to the Army’s current

and future transformation needs. The full plan, withcurrent and future action items, can be viewed athttp://asc.army.mil.

ASC Communication and Outreach Plan (COM-PLAN). An overarching ASC COMPLAN was devel-oped and implemented by our new Strategic Communi-cations Division to directly support ASC programs, mis-sions, goals and initiatives. Effectively communicatingASC’s messages to its target audiences is critical to thesuccess of our collective missions. Implementing a com-prehensive communication and outreach plan, carefullyaligned with a sound branding strategy was a priorityendeavor during FY03. Brand recognition, messagingand high-quality communications, to include a massiveASC Web site redesign and a larger tradeshow presenceat the October 2003 Association of the United StatesArmy (AUSA) Annual Meeting, all served to get specificASAALT, DACM, AAC and ASC messages out togreater target audiences and will continue to be of ut-

most importance in FY04.

Program Executive Office (PEO) Reorga-nization. ASC played a key role in PEOand Project Manager (PM) reorganizationof PEO Simulation, Training and Instru-mentation; PEO Soldier and JPEO Chemi-cal and Biological Defense. This reorgani-zation established a total of 12 PEOs. Ad-ditionally, ASC absorbed nearly 1,000 newfaces and spaces from Army Materiel Com-mand as a part of this reorganization.

Expanded Resource Stewardship for ASC.ASC’s responsibility for resources has alsoexpanded both as a direct result of the PEO

reorganization as well as for the administration andoversight for Global War on Terrorism funding. ASC’stotal Operation and Maintenance (OMA) funding alonegrew from $367 million at the beginning of FY03 tomore than $2.2 billion by the end of FY03. When con-sidering OMA funding, ASC is now the Army’s 6thlargest MACOM, with expectations being that ASC willcontinue to take on an even greater funding role as theArmy transforms for the future.

PM Post-Utilization Task Force. ASC identified prob-lems associated with the post-utilization of civilianproduct and project managers. To date, 24 actions havebeen formulated and ASC is implementing solutions.

From the Acquisition Support Center Director

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ASC played a key

role in PEO and

Project Manager

(PM) reorganization

of PEO Simula-

tion, Training and

Instrumentation;

PEO Soldier and

JPEO Chemical

and Biological

Defense.

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See “Update: AAC Civilian PM and Post-UtilizationTask Force” in the September-October 2003 ArmyAL&T magazine, page 8.

Uniformed Army Scientist and Engineer (UAS&E)Program. The Army is in the midst of establishing atruly remarkable program leveraging the collective in-telligence and experience of select Army officers for sci-entific, engineering and leadership positions. TheUAS&E is a subset of the Army Acquisition Corps(AAC) Area of Concentration (AOC) Functional Area(FA) 51S (Research and Engineering). The ASAALTannounced the program Aug. 4, 2003, and inductedthe initial cadre of officers during a ceremony at theUnited States Military Academy, West Point, NY, onOct. 1, 2003.

Army AL&T Magazine Redesign. ArmyAL&T magazine was totally redesigned tomodernize it as a delivery platform forAAE/ASAALT, DACM, AAC, ASC andAL&T Workforce information relative toprocesses, procedures, techniques and man-agement philosophy. The magazine willcontinue to disseminate information perti-nent to professional development, but doso in a more eye-catching, reader-friendlylayout and design.

Army Acquisition Lessons Learned Man-agement System (ALLMS). The Acquisi-tion Branch of the Center for ArmyLessons Learned transitioned this past sum-mer from Fort Leavenworth, KS, to FortBelvoir, VA. ALLMS’ mission is to provide relevant les-sons learned to the AL&T Workforce and provide aWeb-based tool to record and query lessons learned inArmy acquisition, logistics and technology. This effortsuccinctly aligns with the U.S. Army Acquisition Work-force Campaign Plan objectives and initiatives, and canbe accessed via the ASC Web site portal or directly bypasting this address into your browser: http://acquisitionll.leavenworth.army.mil/. A searchable ver-sion of ALLMS is projected to be online and availableto the AL&T Workforce by Spring 2004.

ASC Web Site Redesign. ASC’s Web site provides user-friendly navigation and encompasses the goals andstructures that make up the organization. Site visitorsnoticed the striking bronze and green design of the

newly branded site, http://asc.army.mil, which reflectsthe dynamic face of the AL&T Workforce and rein-forces ASC’s ongoing support to warfighters and acqui-sition professionals. Also, our home page was stream-lined to focus on the latest acquisition-related news andevents impacting the AAC and ASC communities.

Human Capital Strategic Plan (HCSP). Human Capi-tal Strategic Planning is a top priority because of DoDdownsizing, an aging AL&T Workforce and minimalnew hires into Army acquisition career fields. TheHCSP’s goals include open communication between theOffice of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the Com-ponents and a commitment to provide a valuable prod-uct that can be used to shape the workforce. The 2003cycle focused on two career fields of interest to OSD:

Systems Engineering and Life Cycle Logis-tics. The HCSP working group estimatedcurrent inventory and future desired distri-bution in FY08 for these two career fields,and will continue to assess such factorsacross the AL&T Workforce.

CP-14 Intern Program. ASC reengineeredand implemented the CP-14 ManagementDevelopment (Intern) Program. Also, theArmy Civilian Training, Education andDevelopment System (ACTEDS) Plan wasrevised for CP-14.

2003 Acquisition Senior Leaders’ Confer-ence. The conference, held Aug. 12-14 inSeattle, WA, attracted more than 300 par-

ticipants. The conference theme was “StrengtheningOur Link with the Warfighter.” Conference attendeesvisited Fort Lewis, WA, and observed demonstrations bythe Stryker Brigade and other Army PEOs/PMs.

2003 Army Acquisition Workforce Conference. ASCconducted its annual conference Feb. 10-13, 2003, atTrump’s Marina Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ. This year’stheme was “Reenergizing and Revitalizing the AL&TWorkforce.”

ASC Tradeshow Multimedia Kiosk/Booth. A multime-dia kiosk was developed for the AUSA Annual Conven-tion in October 2003 and will be the centerpiece for fu-ture AAC/ASC tradeshow, recruiting event and workshopparticipation. The kiosk, which can be set on auto run

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The Army is in the

midst of establish-

ing a truly remark-

able program lever-

aging the collective

intelligence and ex-

perience of select

Army officers for

scientific, engineer-

ing and leadership

positions.


or interactive modes, includes acquisition good newsstories (audio and pictures); facts, “did you know” infor-mation and quotes; a quiz section that tests the individ-ual’s knowledge of acquisition-related topics and careermanagement issues; a personal quiz that can be tailoredto the event with the outcome downloaded for review;and a high-energy, Soldier-centric ASC video was usingthe theme, “People, Teamwork, Partnership, Leadership:Making a Difference Every Day.” The video was intro-duced at this year’s AAC Ball and then infused in themultimedia kiosk’s design. The entire kiosk/booth de-sign proved to be on target based on the high-volume oftraffic (more than 6,000 visitors) that came to ASC’sdisplay during the 3-day convention.

Special Workforce Buyout Authority Program. ASCmanaged this program for the PEOs in FY02 and FY03,resulting in the voluntary retirements of 54 individualsin FY02 and 66 in FY03. This allowed the PEOs to re-structure their workforce to meet new mission require-ments, improve supervisor-employee ratios and providefor career development.

Acquisition Career Experience (ACE) Program. TheACE Program helps address the human capital crisis viapaid, academic/government summer employment. TheACE program recruits high-potential, full-time under-graduate sophomore and junior college students into theArmy’s civilian AL&T Workforce. Now in its thirdyear, the first graduating ACE students were placed non-competitively into HQDA intern and local intern pro-grams. For organizations looking to place ACE studentsinto upward mobility/internships or for additional in-formation on securing ACE students for your organiza-tion during the summer months, please contact yourRegional Director: [email protected],Southern and Western Regions; [email protected], Northeast and Central East Regions; [email protected], National Capital andCentral West Regions. For more information aboutACE, visit http://asc.army.mil/programs/ace.

New Assimilation. Regional Acquisition Career Man-agers worked closely with newly assimilated personnel toexplain AL&T Workforce requirements and benefits.They also updated the Acquisition Career Record Brief(ACRB) for many newly assimilated people and helpedthem draft their Individual Development Plans (IDP).Assimilation was based on Refined Packard AssimilationGuidance approved May 13, 1999, and subsequent

OSD guidance issued April 6, 2001. The ongoing as-similation being conducted by the Army has recently re-sulted in more than 37,000 positions being reviewed bycommands, with 27,000 people being assimilated intothe AL&T Workforce.

Intermediate Level Education (ILE). ILE’s goal is toproduce operations career field warfighting experts andfunctional area specialists capable of operating in an execution-centric environment across the full spectrumof operations. ILE provides quality, tailored educationfor all majors and prepares officers for success over theirnext 10 years of service. ASC is working toward theILE achieving MEL 4/Joint Professional Military Educa-tion level I mandates per Title X and meeting DefenseAcquisition Workforce Initiative Act level II certifica-tions and the Army Chief of Staff ’s intent on leader de-velopment (The Bench). The AAC ILE approach willconsist of the Army’s ILE Core Course and an AAC follow-on Complement Course.

COL Mary Fuller

Director

Acquisition Support Center

AHRC Notes

SSC Selection Board Results

Results of the Senior Service College (SSC) SelectionBoard were released Sept. 16, 2003. The board selected27 members of the Army Acquisition Corps (AAC) toattend SSC during academic year (AY) 04/05. Five offi-cers were revalidated from the AY03-04 list and are notincluded in the selection statistics below.

The AAC had 355 officers eligible for selection, and 27officers (7.6 percent) were selected. The overall Army selection rate was 7.6 percent. Twenty-six of the 27

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selectees were former or current product managers (PMs)or acquisition commanders (ACs) (the one officer not incommand was on orders to a Command Select List posi-tion). One officer retired before the release of theboard’s list, and that name will not be published in thisarticle.

This SSC Selection Board was the second one held bycareer field. AAC officers are in the Operational Sup-port career field. The Foreign Area Officers (FA48) arethe only other functional area in this career field. Belowis an overview of Acquisition Corps selectee profiles:

• 1.67 PM/AC Officer Evaluation Reports (OERs) inboard file (up from 0.9 last year).

• 0.6 above-center-of-mass (ACOM) PM/AC OERs inboard file.

• 81 percent of selectees had at least one PM/AC OERin board file (up from 53 percent last year).

• The average number of DA Form 67-9 OERs for theselectees was 5.4, with an average of 65.8 percentACOM in board file.

• Selectees belonged to year groups (YGs) 82 (19 per-cent), YG83 (56 percent), YG84 (22 percent) andYG85 (3 percent). This year, 78 percent of the offi-cers (up from 57.2 percent last year) were in what his-torically have been the “primary” year groups for theAAC (e.g., YGs 83 and 84 for this year).

Each officer selected for attendance at SSC was sent aletter from the U.S. Army Human Resources Command(AHRC)-Alexandria Acquisition Management Branch(AMB) explaining how to access the AHRC Officer Ca-reer Management Knowledge Center. The letter alsocontains a synopsis of each SSC and fellowship avail-able. Officers will provide their preferences for SSC on-line through the Knowledge Center. Selectees maychoose to attend resident SSC, enroll in the Army WarCollege Distance Education Program for AY 04/05 ordecline. SSC selectees normally attend the Army WarCollege, the Air War College, the Acquisition Fellow-ship at the University of Texas (UT)-Austin, or the In-dustrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF). The latterthree have limited seats. ICAF and UT-Austin tend tobe the two programs for which we have more officerswanting to go than seats available. ICAF has specialconsiderations: officers who are already a Joint ServiceOfficer and have been awarded an additional skill iden-tifier of 3L are ineligible to attend, and 50 percent +1 ofattendees (by branch) must go to a joint position

immediately following school. Therefore, it is very im-portant selectees give as much consideration to their sec-ond and following choices as they do to their first choice.

The SSC alternate list is not published. However, offi-cers who were selected as alternates will receive a letterinforming them of their status in the December time-frame. AMB will only be given the list of officers whoare considered high alternates. High alternates are thoseofficers who are most likely to be activated to attendSSC. AMB does not expect to receive the high alternatelist until mid-December 2003 or January 2004.

The names of the selectees and revalidated officers arelisted below:

Bass, James D.Bass, Joseph L.Bedell, Cynthia M.Besch, Thomas M.Billington, Robert B.Carpenter, Robert C.Coffman, Thomas D.Cottrell, Daniel T.Cunnane, John L.Dukes, Beatrice S.Edwards, Keith R.Ellis, Carl M.* Fletcher, James P.Gallagher, Daniel J.Giunta, Joseph A. Jr.Kunkel, George D.Lamb, William L.*Lambert, Charles S.Lockhart, David E.Manning, Barry G.*McGuiness, John J. Miller, Scot C. O’Day, Sean P. Rice, David J.*Ross, Christopher M.Shifrin, Scott E.* Stockel, Eugene F. Turner, Thomas E. Jr.Wilson, Jeffrey K.Winters, Brian C. Yacovoni, Philip M.* Revalidated from AY 03/04 SSC List

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FY04 Army Experimental Test Pilot Board

The FY04 Army Experimental Test Pilot (XTP) Boardwill convene on or about Feb. 18, 2004, to select thoseaviators best qualified to participate in the Army Avia-tion XTP Training Program. This board will review andselect both commissioned and warrant officers. Com-missioned officers selected to attend the U.S. Naval TestPilot School (USNTPS) are automatically accessed intothe Army Acquisition Corps, where they will serve forthe remainder of their careers.

The Army Human Resources Command-Alexandriamust receive applications for the FY04 Army XTPBoard by Jan. 9, 2004. Applications should be mailedto Commander, U.S. Army Human Resources Command-Alexandria, ATTN: AHRC-OPF-Q (MAJDonovan), 200 Stovall St., Alexandria, VA 22332-0411. Applications must include the following:

• Application memorandum signed by the officer andendorsed through the chain of command (O-6 level).

• Current Department of the Army photo.• Officer Record Brief.• Official transcripts of college credits.• Copy of most current DA Form 759, Individual Flight

Record and Flight Certificate-Army.• Endorsements by instructor/standardization pilots with

specific comments on the applicant’s flying ability.

XTP utilization assignments will be based on the Army’sneeds. Most initial tours are served at the AviationTechnical Test Center at Fort Rucker, AL. USNTPSgraduates will serve in XTP or organizational staff posi-tions that directly influence the type, design and config-uration of Army aircraft.

For additional information or to request a sample appli-cation memorandum, contact MAJ Sharlene Donovanat (703) 325-5479, (DSN) 221-5479 or e-mail at [email protected]. Warrant offi-cers should contact CW4 Lee Tutin at (703) 325-5228,(DSN) 221-5228 or e-mail [email protected].

NEWS BRIEFS

TACOM/Industry Logistics Symposium

The 13th annual U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Ar-maments Command (TACOM)/Industry Logistics Sym-posium will be held April 6-8, 2004 at the Hyatt Re-gency hotel in Dearborn, MI. This logistics symposiumbrings together government and industry personnel todiscuss issues and concerns relevant to the constantchanges in the logistics environment. The symposiumwill offer formal presentations, workshops, exhibits,demonstrations and open discussions and will emphasizehow logistics contributes to transforming the ArmedForces. Symposium speakers will discuss logistics trans-formation, lean logistics, recapitalization and Armytransformation. Speakers will also discuss the impact oflogistics on Homeland Defense, U.S. Joint Forces incombat, technology development and exploitation, logis-tics support to Operation Iraqi Freedom, Future CombatSystems, sense-and-respond logistics and resetting theArmy structure back to pre-war conditions. For addi-tional information on the symposium, call ChericeCarter, TACOM Symposium Chairperson, at (586) 574-4175, or go to the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Web site at http://www.ndia.org.

New Spatial Decision Support SystemComing to U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground

Intricately detailed, astonishingly beautiful poster-sizemaps of the terrain on and around U.S. Army YumaProving Ground, AZ, lay across a large table at theRange Scheduling Office. The breathtaking work in-volved in each and every computerized map, printablefrom any of the many plotters throughout the ProvingGround, speaks impressively.

Gary Burris, Range Safety Officer and Range Con-troller, pours over the multitudinous reproductions ofcolorful ridges, gullies, washes, gorges, flatlands and hills

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throughout the Proving Ground’s Cibola Firing Range,squinting at what looks like an old airfield never beforeshown on a map. “These maps are part of a system get-ting a life of its own,” Burris said. “This new system isthe Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) and willsoon be accessible from the desktop of all Yuma TestCenter personnel, as well as fire and police personnel,”he continued.

Providing project focus, guidance and direction is DaveLashlee, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) man-ager. The SDSS systemfeatures a database ofmaps for Yuma ProvingGround and the adjacentvicinity covering severalthousand square miles.The maps included inthe new database will allbe standardized. The oldsystem’s maps, thoughdone well, were overlap-ping, redundant andwithout a common scale.

Under SDSS, the newuniversalized maps will be top-driven from the state ofArizona using a Data Share Agreement with the follow-ing agencies: the U.S. Department of the Interior; Bu-reau of Land Management; Yuma Field Office Bureau ofIndian Affairs; Bureau of Reclamation; U.S. Fish andWildlife Service; National Park Service; U.S. Border Pa-trol; U.S. Geological Survey; Marine Corps Air Station,Yuma; Arizona Department of Transportation; ArizonaGame and Fish Department; Arizona Department ofCorrections; and City of Yuma, Yuma County for Digi-tal Geospatial Data Sharing and Integration.

“Having all test and rescue personnel maps equivalentwill be a great asset to the Proving Ground,” Lashleesaid. “There will be many software tools from which tointeract with the mapping database that will allow a per-son to zoom in to an area down to the meter. Unex-ploded ordnance on test sites will be able to becomepart of the history of a test, stored on the test’s CD,archived for use should a similar test come up,” Lashleeexplained.

Intricate maps of danger zones — or what is calledsafety fans — surrounding test areas, will be a key

feature of the system unique to Yuma Proving Ground.A safety fan, or unsafe area, extends along the trajectoryof all airborne projectiles. As the projectile reaches itstarget, the safety fan is at its maximum width. When atrajectory is rerouted because of safety concerns, thesafety fan goes along with the rerouted trajectory path.The new mapping software will have tools that can draga safety fan to an adjacent or new area.

Software developer Heather Knight said she is excitedabout the new interactive software specific to safety fan ma-

nipulation. “We will be ableto use what we do at theProving Ground as a proto-type for other installationsneeding this kind of maneu-verability with their safetyzones,” Knight remarked.

The faster a projectile, thegreater the safety fan is atthe impact area. Whenworking with ordnance atYuma Proving Ground,there are other factors totake into account when de-

termining the area of a safety fan, such as the rate ofprojectile spin, type of fuse, as well as the amount andkind of ammunition and explosives used. The use of astandard computerized map base will allow rescue per-sonnel to see exactly what route to take to bypass testsin progress and go as quickly as possible to the scene ofan accident or unexploded munition.

Burris, who is acquainted with the routing and rerout-ing of safety fans to accommodate the most tests in theshortest amount of time, said he really likes the idea ofinvolving rescue personnel when it comes to using astandardized mapping database. His office will be thefocal point for all incoming test agendas proposedthrough the mapping software. Digitizing the rangemaps will make his duties a lot easier and quicker, hesaid. It will be a lot different than using pen and wall-long, hand-drawn maps.

Isabel Goode, Test Director at the Proving Ground’sMunitions and Weapons Division, said testers knew itwas time to update the Proving Ground’s 1973 mappingsystem by incorporating GIS capabilities. “We were try-ing to take baby steps to get there,” she said, “but we

Gary Burris, Range Safety Officer and Range Controller, draws a safety fanby hand for a recent test, knowing the process will soon be computerized.


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just have had too much to do, so the effort went by thewayside.”

“With SDSS,” she said, “we’re looking to the future.Instead of erasers and markers, we will have state-of-the-art maps depicting all of our firing ranges so we can pullup by date and see what is being used that day and whatis not. And the best part is, we will be able to access itfrom our desktops,” she concluded.

This article and the accompanying photograph were submitted byMarcia Chavez, Writer-Editor, Public Affairs Office, U.S. ArmyYuma Proving Ground.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

On May 22, 2003, the Detroit Arsenal at Warren, MI,hosted the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, a programsponsored by the Acquisition Support Center as part ofits FY03 Regional Training Plan. With help from theU.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Com-mand (TACOM) Learning Center (TLC), more than250 Warren associates attended the leadership program.

The 21 Laws program is based on the popular book byJohn C. Maxwell, founder of Injoy Inc., an organizationdedicated to helping people maximize their personal andleadership potential. Maxwell is also an inspirationalspeaker and author of more than 22 books. The pro-gram was delivered by Richard Biggs, an inspirationalspeaker, author and close friend and protégé of JohnMaxwell.

For this 1-day seminar, Acquisition CareerManager (ACM) Bob Sivalelli and late TLCAssociate Dan Osinski carefully selected 9laws for Biggs to discuss, thereby complement-ing a current TACOM Desired Traits of Lead-ership initiative that the Warren com-munity has employed during the last2 years.

The Arsenal adopted these De-sired Traits as a direct responseto feedback from a number ofsurvey instruments used to gageorganizational climate, morale

and overall employee perception of past leadership prac-tices. More recent feedback indicates that issues oftrust, personal growth, communication and personalsacrifice are still at the top of employees’ concerns.

The 9 laws Biggs covered included: the Law of the Lid,Law of Solid Ground, Law of Process, Law of Buy-In,Law of Sacrifice, Law of Navigation, Law of Connec-tion, Law of Empowerment and Law of Respect.

Biggs, who authored Burn Brightly Without BurningOut, provided real-life examples to emphasize the conse-quences of not employing each of the 9 laws covered.

During the program introduction, TACOM AcquisitionCareer Management Advocate (ACMA) Harry Hallockaddressed the audience to communicate the command’sdesire to improve the leadership qualities of associates atevery level of the organization, but especially of its su-pervisors and managers. Hallock touched on 6 desiredtraits including leadership, communications, strategicplanning, organizational climate, teaming and employeesupport. He also stressed that the command expects itsmanagers and supervisors to hold to these tenets in deal-ing with their subordinates, peers and superiors, andthat every command employee has a right to expect noless from their supervisors. Hallock made the connec-tion between the TACOM Desired Traits and the 9 Lawsof Leadership that Biggs would discuss.

Biggs asked the audience if they had a “master plan forpersonal growth.” He gave tips on how to create rou-tines that help forge habits that lend to personal growth.For example, he suggested making time to read from agood book at least 15 minutes every day and to belongto accountability groups or mastermind groups that

meet monthly or semiannually.

The Law of Solid Ground, which addresses the issueof trust, struck a particular chord in many attendees.

This law’s cornerstone is built on the understandingbetween the image and integrity of what you

see in others. Image is what oth-ers think you are, which

may or may not betrue, but integrity is

the real you — beingtrue to yourself. Some key

integrity busters are the abuseof either money or power.

Speaker Richard Biggs

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The audience was challenged to complete action itemsto take back home or to the workplace to implement.Afterward, audience members gave positive feedbackon Biggs’ presentation, citing him as an excellentspeaker and motivator, and requesting that he comeback again. Other attendees agreed that 21 Laws wasone of the best classes on leadership they had ever at-tended. A common feeling among attendees was cap-tured best by this statement: “I came away feeling verymotivated to go out and put into action that which Ihad just heard!”

The 21 Laws program was a huge success and the War-ren community is now equipped with additional tools topractice leadership and personal goal setting.

HARRY HALLOCK is the Director for Research and Develop-ment and Base Operations Contracting at TACOM in Warren,MI. He has a B.S. in business administration from the Univer-sity of Delaware and an M.S. in program management from theNaval Postgraduate School. He is a member of the Army Acqui-sition Corps and is Level III certified in Contracting, ProgramManagement and Life Cycle Logistics. In addition, he is Level IIcertified in Test and Evaluation Engineering.

ROBERT SIVALELLI is TACOM’s ACM. He has a master’sdegree in public administration from Central Michigan Univer-sity. He is Level III certified in Contracting, Level II certified inProgram Management and is Corps Eligible.

TARDEC Becomes ISO-14001 Certified

“We can not afford to act irresponsibly when it

comes to the environment. The day will come

when all government labs are expected to have

an ISO [International Organization for Standard-

ization] certified environmental protection

process or equivalent. Why wait for someone to

make us comply when it is obviously the right

thing to do?”

Dr. Richard McClelland

TARDEC Director

Echoing McClelland’s remarks, U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and EngineeringCenter (TARDEC) associates attended a ceremony

celebrating the certification of TARDEC’s Environmen-tal Management System — the first Army research anddevelopment center to become ISO-14001 certified.

Three years in the making, TARDEC achieved its goal tobecome third-party certified by passing both Stages 1and 2 of a formal certification audit. Audit findings —performed by CRS Registrars Inc., Maumee, Ohio — in-dicated outstanding conformance to American NationalStandards Institute/ISO 14001: 1996. Auditors also eval-uated TARDEC’s self-imposed strict environmental pol-icy, which ensures compliance to all local, state and fed-eral environmental regulations and goes extra steps tofurther minimize pollution, educate employees about theEnvironmental Management System and reinforce com-mitment to a proactive environmental policy.

Noting TARDEC’s proactive environmental stance,CRS President Bill Niedzwiecki stated, “TARDEC tooktheir environmental policy to the next level by takingthe initiative and adding accountability by seekingthird-party certification.” The certification is applicableto TARDEC’s research, development and engineeringof military ground vehicle systems and associatedweapon systems.

Certification is not the end of TARDEC’s ISO 14001efforts, but rather the beginning of a brand new chapterin the ISO Environmental Management System jour-ney. TARDEC is now embarking down the challengingroad of maintaining the Environmental ManagementSystem. According to McClelland, “Our mission is tobe proactive and to avoid non-conformances at allcosts. We must continue the task of further developingthe culture of our workforce to sustain this program.ISO will continue to be an integral part of our dailywork environment.”

Despite the challenge of sustaining the system,TARDEC is taking a few minutes to relish this toughachievement, which was not an easy thing to do and isa real accomplishment for both TARDEC and theU.S. Army.

Monica F. Kapso is a Project Officer with TARDEC’s OperationsBusiness Group. She has a B.S. from Oakland University,Rochester, MI.

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TARDEC Robotics Mobility Lab’s ODIS Robot

One of the Army’s leading research and developmentcenters, the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, De-velopment and Engineering Center (TARDEC), re-cently participated in an experimental study with theOmni Directional Inspection System (ODIS) robot inLong Beach, CA. Members of the TARDEC RoboticsMobility Lab team conducted the test in cooperationwith the California State University Long Beach(CSULB) Center for International Trade and Trans-portation, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) andthe U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are responsi-ble for moving more than 30 percent of U.S. tradegoods. Routinely, queues of more than 100 54-footcontainer trucks extend for more than a mile from portentrances. These vehicles represent a considerable por-tion of local area traffic. This location is a prime targetfor terrorist attacks. A 10-lane U.S. Customs inspectionpoint where a portion of the ODIS study was con-ducted is shown in Figure 1.

The CHP is responsible for inspecting these vehicles forroadworthiness, a dangerous and dirty job. Inspectorscurrently check container truck undercarriages using a“mirror on a stick.” In many cases, the lack of resolu-tion and clarity from the mirror requires the guard tofurther examine suspicious areas by physically gettingunder the truck as shown in Figure 2. In this line ofwork, the guards and inspection personnel put theirlives in harm’s way when examining suspicious vehicles.

Obviously, potential danger exists if the vehicle is armedwith explosives or if the driver forgets to engage theparking brake correctly. Currently, such inspectioncheckpoints are the only method for securing and clear-ing trucks before they enter public roads or shippingdocks/terminals.

During this study, ODIS demonstrated the capacity torapidly and continuously screen convoys of trucks andexposed assets through the use of robotics. Onboardnuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) and hazardousmaterials (HAZMAT) sensors provided the guards withstandoff capability, allowing them to remain a safe dis-tance away from the vehicle while it’s being inspected.

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Figure 1.

Figure 3.

Figure 2.

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COL Mary Fuller, ASC Director and Deputy Directorof Acquisition Career Management, presents theLTG Ronald V. Hite Award to MAJ Sandra L. Vann-

Olejasz during a cere-mony at the U.S.Army Commandand General Staff College, Fort

Leavenworth, KS.

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Along with NBC and HAZMAT sensor data, ODISalso remotely communicates visual and thermal sensordata to operators using radio signals. Operators can usea hand-held Operator Control Unit (OCU) or a wear-able vest-like OCU to teleoperate the robot. For a pro-totype robot 1 1/2-years-old the ODIS-T performedbetter than exemplary. Figure 3 depicts a CHP officerand a CSULB student using an OCU.

Use of advanced robotic platforms such as ODIS wouldbe a force multiplier and measurably improve base andforce protection at both inbound and outbound DODand commercial logistics and transportation facilities.Robots continue to show great potential in providingthis standoff security and inspection capability. CHPOfficer Les Chambers stated, “I couldn’t do what ODIScan with this particular rig.” Inspection times with therobot versus the manual inspection are comparable butare much more thorough with the robot. During thisstudy, 164 trucks were inspected with ODIS robots.Primarily, CSU students operated the robots, but severalCHP and USCG operators participated as well. Theseseaport scenarios are representative of U.S. Transporta-tion Command operations at the Port of Basra duringcurrent operations in Iraq.

DR. GRANT GERHART is a Science and Technology Expert inunmanned ground vehicles. He is the director of all programs atTARDEC’s Robotics Mobility Lab.

BILL SMUDA is a Research Engineer at TARDEC’s RoboticsMobility Lab, Research Business Group. He is the Lead Engineerfor the ODIS robot and is a Ph.D. candidate in the SoftwareEngineering Department at the Naval Postgraduate School.

JOSEPH ALEXANDER is an Intern at TARDEC’s RoboticsMobility Lab. He has a B.S. in electrical engineering from Ket-tering University.

Vann-Olejasz Receives 2003 Hite Award

MAJ Sandra L. Vann-Olejasz received the LTG Ronald V.Hite Award at a ceremony held June 4, 2003, at Fort Leav-enworth, KS. The award, established in March 1999, rec-ognizes the outstanding Army Acquisition Corps (AAC)student attending the resident Command and General

Staff Officer Course (CGSOC). COL Mary Fuller, Ac-quisition Support Center (ASC) Director, Office of theAssistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logisticsand Technology, presented the award.

Vann-Olejasz received an individual plaque, a three-starAAC coin and congratulatory note from LTG John S.Caldwell Jr., Director, Acquisition Career Management(DACM). Additionally, Vann-Olejasz’s name was placedon a plaque permanently displayed at the U.S. ArmyCommand and General Staff College (CGSC).

The award is named in honor of former DACM and AACDirector LTG Hite who was instrumental in establishingthe Acquisition Education and Training Program (AETP)at CGSC. Vann-Olejasz was selected from 69 Army Ac-quisition Corps students attending the academic year2002-2003 CGSOC. All AAC officers attending the resi-dent CGSOC are eligible to compete for the award. Se-lection is based on a student’s grade point average, contri-bution to group work, leadership skills, written communi-cations, oral communications, research ability, recommen-dation of his or her academic counselor/evaluator and ac-quisition faculty consensus.

The AETP consists of a distinct AAC area of concentra-tion within CGSOC and a fully funded master of arts de-gree-producing Acquisition Graduate Degree Program(AGDP) offered in conjunction with CGSOC.

AAC Officers Earn Graduate DegreesIn other Fort Leavenworth news, 22 AAC officers receivedacquisition-related master of arts (M.A.) or master ofbusiness administration (M.B.A.) degrees at a com-mencement ceremony held June 4, 2003, at CGSC.



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Randy Wright, Associate Vice President for AcademicAffairs and Director of Military Programs, gave thecommencement address. Webster University conferredthe degrees as part of the AGDP, a fully funded programthat permits selected AAC students to complete an ac-quisition-related advanced degree concurrently withtheir attendance at the resident CGSOC.

M.A. in Procurement and Acquisitions Management Blanchette, Robert MAJBroek, Harold MAJChambers, Floyd MAJFry, Christopher MAJHughes, Frederick MAJJamison, Vernon MAJNelson, Scott MAJOyler, Douglas MAJPeel, Kevin MAJPeters, Jeffrey MAJRobinson, W. Earl MAJStarostanko, Timothy MAJ

M.A. in Computer Resources and Information ManagementBennis, Darrell MAJKelley, Thomas MAJKerish, John MAJStewart, Maurice MAJTice, Michael MAJTerrell, Paul MAJ

M.B.A.Cote, Courtney MAJMaloney, Patrick MAJSloane, Michael MAJSpencer, Gary MAJ

AAC officers selected for resident CGSOC and inter-ested in the AGDP should contact the Chief, Acquisi-tion Education and Training Program, CGSC, FortLeavenworth, at (913) 684-5330/5329 or DSN 552-5330/5329.

New Program to Develop Army Scientistsand Engineers

On Oct. 1, 2003, GEN Paul J. Kern, Commander,U.S. Army Materiel Command, welcomed the firstcadre of 33 officers into the Uniformed Army Scientistand Engineer (UAS&E) Program at the U.S. MilitaryAcademy. The Army of the future will have more thanadvanced technology and equipment. It will have ad-vanced scientists and engineers.

“The uniformed Army scientist and engineer officer,equipped with field experience and an advanced engi-neering or hard-science degree, provides the Army withspecialized technical skills and understanding,” Kernsaid. “These officers enable our Army to make in-formed decisions on new and emerging technology andthen to rapidly transition that technology from the lab-oratory to warfighters on the battlefield.”

The UAS&E Program provides promotion opportuni-ties through colonel and beyond. Approved in August2003 as an area of concentration within the Army Ac-quisition Corps, the program enables the Army to de-velop and grow future leaders for its research and devel-opment communities and organizations charged withproviding rapid, technological solutions to warfighters,such as the Rapid Equipping Force and the Agile De-velopment Center.

The program will provide a cadre of military expertswho will effectively bridge combat development, ma-teriel development and technology implementation infield operations. These officers will search for cutting-edge technology to use on existing programs, thus

Newly inducted Uniformed Army Scientist and Engineer Program offi-cers. (Photo by MAJ J.D. Long)


achieving real-time solutions to immediate battlefieldrequirements while providing technical leadership tomeet future combat system program needs.

Kern noted that, historically, officers in the scientific orengineering fields could not compete with their opera-tional peers and were eventually passed over for promo-tion. However, the Army’s modern weapon systems andtechnology requires trained, technology-literate line offi-cers and science, math and engineering-educated officers.

Kern credited Assistant Secretary of the Army for Ac-quisition, Logistics and Technology Claude M. BoltonJr. with making the program a reality. He said thatBolton’s support and the hard work from many othersled to the program’s successful implementation.

The officers inducted at the ceremony hold doctoratedegrees and experience in biology, chemistry, computerscience, engineering management, biomedical, chemi-cal, computer, electrical, materials, mechanical, roboticsand software engineering.

“From their uniforms, it is also clear that they are sol-diers with combat and field experience,” Kern added.“Within this group are four Bronze Stars, one BronzeStar with a V device, one Purple Heart, deployment ex-perience in Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, En-during Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.”

Kern sees these officers as spearheading the Army’s ef-forts to connect combat development, materiel devel-opment and technology implementation with rapid in-tegration into field operations.

Kern challenged the members of the program to getvital technology and solutions to the field quickly.“Remember, our soldiers do not complain. They go towar and win with the equipment they are given,” hesaid. “They are counting on you to provide them thebest solutions and the best equipment in the shortesttime possible. Together, we won’t let them down,”Kern concluded.

UAS&E officers will also serve in Army and DOD lab-oratories; the Army’s Research, Development and Engi-neering Command (RDECOM); the U.S. MilitaryAcademy; and Army, joint staff and key scientific andengineering advisory positions.

The above article was written by Karen Jolley Drewen, RDECOMPublic Affairs Office.

Natick Workforce Given Opportunity toLaugh — at Themselves

As part of the Regional Training Program, the Natick Sol-dier Systems Center’s Acquisition, Logistics and Technol-ogy (AL&T) Workforce enjoyed a Sept. 30, 2003, semi-nar by nationally known humorist, Loretta LaRoche, onhow to be part of a team in today’s environment.

LaRoche is an acclaimed speaker, consultant, authorand television personality. She is an international stressmanagement and humor consultant whose wit and ir-reverent humor has raised the humor potential in all ofus. She spoke to the workforce on teaming, comicallyhelping folks to recognize their own potential for disas-ter when trying to be a member of a successful team.Her wisdom and humor provide a common-sense viewof life that leaves audiences inspired, motivated androaring with laughter. Often irreverent — always hilar-ious — LaRoche helps people discover how thoughts,feelings and behaviors can affect work performance, re-lationships, success and self-worth.

She shows how humor can benefit the health of an or-ganization and its employees and improve productivityin the workplace. There was an excellent turnout andthe AL&T Workforce thoroughly enjoyed themselves,while taking away a fresh perspective on how to be suc-cessful in a teaming environment.

Center Celebrates Golden Anniversary

The Soldier Systems Center (SSC) in Natick, MA, cele-brated its 50th anniversary with cake, music and storiesfrom the battlefield at a packed Hunter AuditoriumOct. 21, 2003.

Kicked off by the singing of the national anthem byMassachusetts State Trooper Sgt. Dan Clark, a prayer byChaplain (MAJ) John Wheatley and selections from the


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Massachusetts State Pipes and Drum Corps, the pro-gram was a time to reflect on the past, speak abouttoday and look to the future of what started as theQuartermaster Research Laboratory in 1953.

“All of you remain true to your mission — supportingthe warfighter,” said COL David Bongi, Acting DeputyCommanding General for Operational Readiness, Re-search Development and Engineering Command, andinstallation commander, in his opening remarks. “Youmake our warfighter more efficient, improve the qualityof life and, indeed, save their lives by the work you doevery day.”

LTC Charles Dean, moderator, narrated a brief slideshow highlighting achievements such as food irradiationand improvements made to boots. The show was sprin-kled with video clips from former SSC employees dis-cussing their work.

In one video segment, a helicopter pilot in Vietnam re-called how a steel protective plate strapped to his bodystopped a .50 caliber bullet, saving his life. In another clip,a former Ranger and SSC employee recounted how hisPASGT (Personnel Armor System, Ground Troops) helmetsaved his life while in combat in Panama.

Judging from audience reaction, the stars of the morn-ing were the soldiers invited to give testimonials of howthe equipment developed at Natick affected them.Body armor was the common thread.

Caught in an ambush during fighting in Operation IraqiFreedom, SGT SirVantis Dennis, 3rd Infantry Division,was struck squarely in the front of his Interceptor BodyArmor vest by an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade,causing a bruise the size of the ceramic plate inserttucked inside the vest. In the same firefight, he wasstruck again, this time by a rifle round that was stoppedby the plate.

“I guarantee you two strikes and I’m out,” Dennis said.“I’d like to thank the Lord and the people who inventedthis piece of equipment. I’d like to thank you for allthat you’ve done for us.”

His tank getting pounded by Iraqis in a separate battle,SGT David Dellenbaugh, a gunner also with the 3rd In-fantry Division, left the cabin to return fire and wasstruck by a rifle round on the outer edge of his protective

plate, the vest itself absorbed some of the impact. Afterdiscovering he was all right, he kept on firing. “Thereare no right words to say,” Dellenbaugh told those as-sembled. “I just want to thank you for saving my lifeand keeping me in the fight.”

Jumping into northern Iraq along with 1,000 fellow sol-diers, PFC Christopher Taffoya, 173rd AirborneBrigade, 2nd Infantry, 503rd (Airborne) Battalion, bene-fited from the airdrop mission at the Soldier SystemsCenter. On the ground, his unit was tasked with start-ing a police force. When a grenade exploded nearbyduring a patrol, he was wounded in the legs but hisbody armor caught shrapnel in the lower back thatwould have severely injured or killed him. The equip-ment developed here “got me in safely and got me out,”Taffoya said.

1ST SGT Colin Rich, 504th Parachute Infantry, sur-vived a strike in the rear of his Modular Integrated Com-munications Helmet from a sniper rifle. He’s still suffer-ing from the injury’s effects, but said he is amazed at howa helmet not designed to stop a large, high-velocityround protected him. “This facility has a profound im-pact on everybody in the military,” Rich said. “Continueto increase our odds. Continue to make (our advantage)as lopsided as possible.”

Dean showed a few animated clips depicting the future,with new and advanced ways to fuel, protect and equipwarfighters to provide an overwhelming edge on thebattlefield. “As with any anniversary celebration, welook ahead to the next half century, and the Soldier Sys-tems Center will continue its tradition of excellence inall of our areas,” Dean concluded.

This article was written by Curt Biberdorf, a writer and editorfor the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center Public Affairs Office,Natick, MA.


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WORTH READING

Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton

Martin van CreveldCambridge University Press, 1977

Reviewed by Geoffrey French, a CounterintelligenceAnalyst with General Dynamics and former LogisticsSpecialist for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

The typical image of Napoleon is not one where he re-mains 60 miles behind his advancing troops, personallyoverseeing the army’s supplies. Nor does the thought ofthe Prussian army in 1870 usually conjure images ofthousands of soldiers gathering the harvest around Paris,processing and distributing food. Yet these images wouldbe historically accurate. The study of logistics is often anafterthought, but to armies in the field, it is of para-mount importance, and often, as in the two instances il-lustrated above, becomes the single most important taskthe military must address. Martin van Creveld — arenowned historian whose works have been used to edu-cate U.S. Army and Marine Corps officers — brings lo-gistics to the forefront in this military classic, SupplyingWar: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton.

Just as the instances above may change the reader’s no-tions of how two great militaries actually functioned,van Creveld challenges a number of ideas perpetuated inmilitary history. His book describes campaigns in fivemilitary periods: 17th and 18th century warfare,Napoleonic warfare, the Franco-Prussian War, andWorld Wars I and II. In each, he uses detailed accountsof food, ammunition, transportation, requests and deliv-eries to study “the practical art of moving armies andkeeping them supplied.”

In this way, van Creveld wins his first victory. Whereasothers who address logistics tend to rely on theories andconcepts, van Creveld thoroughly documents the seem-ingly mundane to craft well-supported arguments aboutthe feasibility of certain campaigns or retrospective criti-cisms (such as the Schlieffen Plan and critics of Moltke’s

changes). This makes his arguments — such as after theimmediate mobilization, the railroads provided no ad-vantage to the Prussians in 1870 because the suppliesdelivered to the railheads could not then be transportedto the troops in the field — very convincing.

Van Creveld’s writing style makes his ideas easy to ab-sorb. Each chapter is highly organized, describing thecommonly held thoughts of the era he is about to ex-plore and the methods he will use to examine them. Ineach, he reviews salient points and draws conclusionsfrom the research. This said, van Creveld assumes aworking knowledge of military history. Those familiarwith the battles he explores will get much out of hiswork. Those who are not students of military historymay need a supplementary text to describe the strategy,maneuver and tactics of the battles, which are of second-ary importance in this particular study.

Supplying War validates the importance of logistics tothose who work at it daily. It is important for them,therefore, to use this book as a way of getting a firm un-derstanding of the role logistics has played in militaryhistory. For those involved in military strategy, it isequally important. Van Creveld shows that inattentionto logistical considerations have undone many com-manders in the past. If military success rides on takingrisks when opportunities present themselves, SupplyingWar shows that commanders can only take those risks ifthey have already addressed operational logistics.

The Next War Zone Confronting the Global Threat of Cyberterrorism

James F. DunniganCitadel Press, 2002

Reviewed by Scott Curthoys, a CounterintelligenceAnalyst contracted to a federal law enforcementagency and retired Army military intelligence and foreign area officer.

The prognosticators of cyberterrorism were wrong thistime. By their reckoning, the war in Iraq should haveresulted in major computer attacks against the UnitedStates. It was, after all, if not an appropriate time for a


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symbolic and devastating “digital Pearl Harbor,” thencertainly the right time for smaller cyber-attacks againstelectric power distribution, transportation networks andbanks. Despite the fact that the number of defacedWeb sites increased significantly over prewar levels, nosecond front in cyberspace was ever opened.

This lack of a cyberwar, however, does not translate intothe absence of threats to U.S. computer systems. Simi-larly, it does not mean that U.S. computer systems arenot vulnerable. But it does raise questions about howextensive is the threat and what would be the impact ofa serious cyber-attack? In his book The Next War Zone,James Dunnigan attempts to answer these questions bydescribing the battlefield, identifying the warriors andputting forth his ideas on how to survive what he envi-sions to be the coming cybercataclysm.

Dunnigan has taken on a daunting task. In addition topersonal computers (PCs), there are thousands of com-puter systems that most Americans never hear about,such as process control systems or supervisory controland data acquisition systems that electronically overseewater systems, electric grids, railroad switches and othercomponents of America’s infrastructure. Despite theubiquitous and benign nature of computers in our lives,many people are still mystified by how they work, howthey connect with each other and how they can bethreatened from great distances.

Dunnigan tries to bridge this knowledge gap by intro-ducing the reader to the concept of cyberwar and howthis emerging warfare method affects the average Ameri-can. He does this by sequencing the chapters in hisbook to take the reader through an introduction to cy-berwar, its history and components, and finishes with ahopeful chapter titled “Surviving Cyberwar.” While thebook’s organization is sound, it is difficult to cutthrough Dunnegan’s shrill rhetoric and find a reasonedand consistent description of who or what is threateningthe United States.

The Next War Zone is straightforward in its theme: thereis a real threat of a cyber-attack against the UnitedStates; the United States is vulnerable to such an attack;and the impact of such an attack could be very grave.The book’s premise is based on the thought that theUnited States is a digitally homogeneous society. It isnot. There are millions of networks, some linked withothers through the Internet or private nets, some not

linked at all, and each with different vulnerabilities. Unless coupled with a physical attack on key assets, adigital attack on one of these networks, or even severallarge networks, will not likely have a devastating impacton the United States. In making his argument, Dunni-gan cannot escape the hyperbole and misconceptionsthat usually characterize discussions by subject matterexperts on this topic.

The assertion that a cyber-attack can alter the orbits ofsatellites belies a lack of understanding of satellitetelemetry, tracking and control, as well as the digital se-curity that surrounds these national assets. The authormakes several unsubstantiated assertions that “Cyber-warfare is a battle for control of the Internet ... ” (theInternet is not something that can be occupied and de-fended as if it were the objective in a digital king-of-the-hill game); and that banks, big corporations and largeWeb sites have the resources to protect themselves fromcyber-attack, but PC users and small businesses don’t,leaving them as potential cybertargets.

The clearer understanding and more careful use of rele-vant terms and definitions might have restrained the au-thor’s use of “bogeyman” tactics. However, the authorfails in this aspect as well. Dunnigan ignores extant doc-trinal concepts over what constitutes information opera-tions, information warfare and cyberwar. In chapter twohe refers to Alexander the Great as a cyberwarrior be-cause he attempted to control what was released to themedia of the day. This muddles the concept of cyber —having to do with digitized information communicatedover computer networks — and contradicts his own defi-nition of cyberwarrior presented on page one.

Perhaps the biggest frustration with The Next War Zone isits total absence of footnotes, endnotes or a bibliography.This absence of references is indeed odd coming from anexperienced author and part-time television analyst. Thereader should meet the author’s request for faith, as well ashis dramatic prose, with extreme skepticism.

Correction

In the September-October 2003 Army AL&T article,“FY04 LTC/GS-14 PM/AC Slate,” LTC Dwayne A.Morton should have been listed as becoming ProductManager for Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equip-ment. We regret this error.


CONTRACTING COMMUNITYHIGHLIGHTS

Ihope that you are finding theDeputy Assistant Secretary of theArmy for Policy and Procurement

segment to be rewarding as well as in-formative. This issue’s feature article,“Baghdad — A Contracting Officer’s Per-spective” focuses on the real-life, day-to-

day experiences of a contracting officer supporting theCoalition Provisional Authority efforts in Baghdad, Iraq.From the intense heat of the sun, the thick dust in theair and what were once elaborate Hussein presidentialpalaces, life in Iraq as it was once known, is changing.

We are pleased to have individuals from the Army’s con-tracting community supporting the rebuilding efforts inIraq. Dennis Longo, a Contracting Officer from theU.S. Army Robert Morris Acquisition Center, and otherdedicated contracting folks are working hard and verylong days to support this ongoing effort. The contract-ing issues are often complex because of various fundingand time constraints, communication barriers, equip-ment malfunctions and availability of sources and ma-teriel just to name a few. Also, the living conditionsand the water problems pose a constant challenge forour people. We applaud these individuals who are dedi-cated to this great effort and honor them for their tenac-ity to get the job done and to see real change.

Ms. Tina Ballard

Deputy Assistant Secretary

of the Army

(Policy and Procurement)

Baghdad – A Contracting Officer’s Perspective

Baghdad, Iraq — Great place to work on a tan, if you canget past the thick dust in the air. We take malaria pillsand drink lots of bottled water, but don’t drink water outof the tap. In fact, I don’t let the tap water near my

toothbrush. The sun is so intense that thick draperiescover the windows to keep the building cool. I share atrailer with three other guys. Each trailer is divided intotwo rooms, two bunks per room with a bathroom in be-tween. I work on the second floor in what was one ofHussein’s several elaborate presidential palaces.

Everyone working here has, it seems, a personal stake inthe outcome of the Coalition Provisional Authority’s(CPA’s) efforts. I have never seen such dedication. Thedays are long and the work very complex because of thediverse issues: availability of sources and material, fund-ing, time constraints, communications, equipment mal-functions and lives that are often at stake. In a contin-gency operation, contracting officers are like surgeons in aMobile Army Surgical Hospital unit. There is a lot ofwork to do and little time to get everything “perfect.”“Sufficiency” is now a relative term, resources are limitedto determine responsibility of the prospective contractorand every contractor wants advance payments or letters ofcredit. My supervisor says we work a 3-day workweek:they wanted it yesterday, you work on it today, it getshere tomorrow. The resources that we’re used to in theUnited States simply don’t exist here, so you rely on yourexperience and exercise sound judgment. There are noelectronic fund transfers to pay contractors because nolocal banks are sophisticated enough to accommodate thesystem. So many times an armed finance officer and Ipay contractors in cash. One of my interpreters is a busi-

ness liaison between CPA and the localmarketplacemaking $15 aday. “I amrich,” he tells

me. Others aremore fortunate. Ihave a “buyer’sagent” who makespurchases in thelocal marketplaceand acts as liaisonand interpreter

making$500permonth.


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A mural defaced by Iraqi citizens.


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The Iraqis I talk to are very bitter about Hussein and hisregime. As Tahir, an interpreter, and I were walking past thepalace one day, he explained how much things had changedsince the war. “Before the war, if you look at the palacewhile walking, they stop and question you why you arelooking.” Another now-successful businessman told me hewas imprisoned for 9 months for doing business outside ofIraq without Hussein’s permission. No one knew where hehad been or what happened to him during those 9 months.

Wahab is an interpreter and liaison working under contractfor the CPA. As we sat together eating lunch in a cafeteria,I asked Wahab what the typical Iraqi citizen would sayabout the current conditions in Iraq.

“We have been taught to hate,” he said. “Forty years of hateis not easy to erase. It is like walking in a long, dark tunnel.For what we have experienced in the past, we now havemuch to look forward to. But we are afraid you are here tosuck the oil from us, and I tell them that America pays foroil the same price as everyone else.

“During the war, a woman was in much pain from burns allover her body. The American Marines were trying to helpher. When she would yell in pain, they would raise theirhands to stop hurting her. They could not find a vein inher arms because of the burns. They tried to help her for45 minutes and finally found a vein in her neck to give theinjection. I saw this and I believe they were sincere. Weneed to see these things.”

After he finished speaking, I thought about the elaboratepalace Saddam had built for himself in Baghdad. The wallsand floors elaborately decorated with several types of highlypolished granite and marble. A huge bust of Hussein him-self is positioned at each corner of the rooftop outside thepalace, his eyes under the helmet seemingly keeping sternwatch over the countryside. On the highway about half amile beyond the palace stand two walls joined together at a90-degree angle. On each wall is a quartz mural of Hussein:one, the statesman — dressed in shirt and tie with a flowerin his lapel; the other, a military commander wearing a hel-met with his hand resting on the sword strapped to his side.Both murals are intact except for the head, now replacedwith bullet holes.

I wonder how the change will come. Like Wahab’s experi-ence, change will come one person at a time. Even, per-haps, through the acts of one person. Like those Marines, ithas to be sincere.

Working here is an extremely challenging experiencewhere the achievements, or even the outcome, may notbe fully comprehended except by the citizens being di-rectly affected. I believe all of us are honored to be hereand to be a part of this effort.

This article was written by Dennis P. Longo, Contracting Officer, Coalition Provisional Authority, Baghdad, Iraq.

Career Broadening Opportunities

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army forAcquisition, Logistics and Technology is offering devel-opmental assignments for all DA employees who areGS-12 and Level III certified in the Contracting andAcquisition Career Program (CP-14). Assignment dura-tions are 6 months to 1 year. The formal developmentalprogram is run through the Contracting Career ProgramOffice, which funds travel and temporary duty costs.

For more information on CP-14 developmental assign-ments, go to http://asc.army.mil/docs/programs/cp/FY04CPDAnnouncement.doc. For Contracting CareerProgram Office information, contact Sally Garcia at (703)704-0112.

Contracting Successes

AMCOM’s Contracting Professionals of the Quarter. AU.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM)Acquisition Center contracting team is recognized for itsefforts in awarding a Program Executive Office Air andMissile Defense Common Hardware/Software-3 require-ment. The 5-member team used various acquisition re-form measures to successfully negotiate and award, in anunprecedented 45 days, a competitive best-value, indefi-nite delivery/indefinite quantity, time and materials con-tract with a potential value of $2 billion over a 10-yearperiod of performance. The AMCOM team placed specialemphasis on encouraging and maximizing small-businessparticipation. The winning proposal has a 29.1 percentgoal established for small business and 24.6 percent goalfor small disadvantaged businesses.

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Army Contracting Agency (ACA) Northern Region.COL Steven R. Boshears, Director, ACA NorthernRegion, recently announced that the Northern RegionContracting Center (NRCC) awarded master con-tracts for Security Guard Services for all Tier II instal-lations in late September. Earlier this year, awardswere made for all Tier I installations. Six contracts totaling $126 million for the 20 high-priority installa-tions have been awarded to four different contractors.Under the direction of NRCC Commander LTC FredRoitz, contracting team members Barbara Blair, AbraSmith, Joe Farrell and Laurie Avery were recognizedfor their expeditious contract awards and expertise.

TACOM-Watervliet Socioeconomic Programs. Hatsoff to Melanie Keith of the U.S. Army Tank-automotiveand Armaments Command (TACOM)-Watervliet Ar-senal Contracting Office. Melanie placed 100 percent($2.7 million) of the 8(a) awards, 99.9 percent ($1.3million) of the HUBZone awards and 83 percent ($1.5million) of the woman-owned awards for WatervlietArsenal in FY03. Through the use of several BlanketOrdering Agreements for construction with 8(a) and8(a) HUBZone woman-owned businesses, Melaniemade it possible for Watervliet to achieve outstandingperformance in these socioeconomic areas. This is nosmall feat for one contract specialist/contracting offi-cer. Great effort!

Joint Munitions Command (JMC). JMC’s Arma-ment Retooling and Manufacturing Support (ARMS)Team is recognized for using acquisition reform totransform Army ammunition plants. In 2002, theARMS program saved the Army $48 million by using

incentives and innovative acquisition techniques toattract commercial tenants onto idle portions ofArmy installations. Revenues from these tenants re-duce the Army’s cost of ownership and overheadrates, thus lowering ammunition unit costs. TheARMS program has lowered the future disposal costof facilities, increased the value of facilities, retainedcritical industrial skills, provided $461 million in eco-nomic impact to local communities and sustainedmore than 3,400 jobs.

U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity(USAMRAA). USAMRAA is recognized for its excel-lent leadership and commitment to supporting the In-dustries for the Blind. USAMRAA personnel dedi-cated time and effort to establish the Base Supply E-commerce program within the U.S. Army Medical Re-search and Materiel Command. An intense marketingeffort, classroom training and distribution of literatureto establish the Industries for the Blind as an acquisi-tion solution was initiated by USAMRAA. The Indus-tries for the Blind provides all office supply needs(more than 37,000 items) in one simple desktop deliv-ery system with next-day delivery. This successful pro-gram is embraced by the customers who now use itsexceptional services.

SPS Army Users’ Conference: Updates on Upgrades

On July 15-18, 2003, the U.S. Army ContractingAgency (ACA), the Army Business Center for Acquisi-tion Systems (ABCAS), and the American Manage-ment Systems (AMS) Army Response Team hosted aStandard Procurement System (SPS) Army Users’Conference in Las Vegas, NV. More than 380 pro-curement professionals attended the event, which fea-tured business system leaders from ACA, SPS andother DOD programs.

Stephanie Mullen, Deputy Director, Business SystemsManagement Directorate, ACA, welcomed partici-pants to the conference. She stated that Adapter tech-nology being inserted into the soon-to-be deployedversions of the Procurement Desktop Defense (PD2)software (which powers SPS), must be uploaded byArmy procurement professionals themselves to their

Pictured from left are AMCOM Commander MG Larry Dodgen, Dorphelia Wherry, Acquisition Center Executive Director Marlene Cruze,Rod Matthews, Ted Arterberry, Detra Battle-Blue, Milt Petersen and CSMGregory Lunn.


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desktops. Both of these topics formed the conference’stheme, “Adapting to the Future.”

SPS BackgroundIn 1996, DOD took an important first step to stream-line its contract-writing and acquisition processes whenit purchased PD2, a commercial off-the-shelf solutionbased on proprietary software developed by AMS,based in Fairfax, VA. DOD enhanced readiness andsupport to warfighters through the standardization andoptimization of procurement systems and activitiesusing SPS.

Today, 23,000 DOD procurement professionals (nearly8,000 of them Army) use SPS. It’s the first — and stillthe only — electronic business system designated for department-wide deployment.

ACA Director Keynote Address The conference’s keynote speaker, Sandra Sieber, ACADirector spoke of ACA’s transformation progress and itsimpact on Army business systems. ACA was initiated inJanuary 2002 to support the Army’s centralized installa-tion management plan. Activated just 9 months later,ACA is a field operating agency under the Office of theAssistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logis-tics and Technology. ACA is one of the three largestcontracting organizations in the Army and has morethan 2,300 employees worldwide.

During her address to Army SPS users, Sieber — ACA’sfirst Director — said the organization’s focus is on en-terprise buying opportunities facilitated by Armywidebusiness processes. In less than 1 year, ACA has madesignificant progress, including awarding a new master li-cense agreement with Microsoft© and awarding a masterblanket purchase agreement for cell phones and pagers.

Both achievements leveraged the buying power ofArmywide purchases and contracting vehicles and re-sulted in substantial cost savings for the Army.

Sieber said ACA will continue to make progress and re-fine itself as it faces the challenges all new offices face, in-cluding merging cultures from several organizations.The most daunting challenge Sieber faces is coordinatingthe Army’s automated business systems with other DODautomated systems. “The government needs to ensureadequate coordination with affected systems before im-plementing new systems,” she continued.

To that end, ACA is working closely with SPS and Busi-ness Management Modernization Program (BMMP)leaders. “We’ve learned a lot from SPS from an IT [in-formation technology] program management stand-point,” Sieber continued. “Process changes need to beaddressed before they can be automated. We’re realgood at automating old systems, but we’re finding thatpaper works better if we don’t change the processes be-hind the old systems,” she added.

Responsibility for SPS Armywide falls under thepurview of ACA. Sieber said ACA is working closelywith SPS at several levels to ensure that Army users’needs are addressed in upcoming versions of SPS soft-ware and integration with existing Army systems is in-corporated.

SPS Program ManagerSPS Program Manager COL Jake Haynes followedSieber’s address with an update on the program andthanked the Army for its continued — and growing —support of SPS. For example, Fort Lee, VA, volunteersran the latest version of PD2 (v4.2 Increment 2)

COL Jake Haynes, SPS Program Manager, fields a question from Angelica Moshammer, ACA Germany, during his presentation.

Debbie Rice, Contract Specialist/Systems Administrator (SA), FloridaNational Guard U.S. Property and Fiscal Office; Bob Parillo, SPS UserSatisfaction Manager; and MaryAnn Maynard, SA, U.S. Army Corpsof Engineers, enjoyed this year's SPS Users’ Conference.


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through its paces, performing actual contracting func-tions that SPS users experience every day.

“Thanks to Fort Lee, we got real-time feedback aboutv4.2.2,” Haynes remarked. “We were able to make ad-justments immediately. As a result, customer satisfac-tion is at an all-time high and our deployment schedulewas cut in half.”

Haynes also noted that the teamwork between theArmy, other military services and agencies, the SPS JointProgram Management Office (JPMO) and DOD lead-ers, results in cost savings. These cost savings allowed along list of requirements to be addressed in the develop-ing version of PD2 (v4.2 Increment 3).

Addressing new requirements, many of which comefrom users themselves, is an involved process and onethat must meet the needs of a growing number of stake-holders, Haynes explained. While Army users have spe-cific requirements they want to see implemented rightaway, other users, including DOD, have requirements tobe fulfilled as well.

The SPS Joint Requirements Board (JRB) weighs thesecompeting requirements and prioritizes the list. JRB iscomprised of representatives from the military servicesand other defense agencies. JRB stratifies requirementsusing the industry-accepted prioritization standard ofthe Industry of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE). The decision to use the IEEE was a significantchange Haynes made when he came to the program 2years ago to ensure processes addressed the needs ofusers and DOD leaders.

“The JRB members are your SPS congressmen,” Haynescontinued. “If you’ve got a change you’d like to see in thesoftware, contact your JRB rep and get it on the table.That’s the most effective way for users to change SPS.”

Adapter: Coming SoonAmy Taylor, Technical Division Chief, SPS JPMO, pro-vided participants with an in-depth look at upcoming PD2technology, focusing on the Adapter, which is part of asoftware solution that will provide a more “open” interfaceto simplify integration between PD2 and external systems.

JPMO will be working with the Army and other mili-tary services to replace the existing proprietary SPS-Integration interfaces with the more open Adapter

interfaces, which are based on Extensible Markup Lan-guage technology and commercial software products.Users are looking forward to the changes the Adapterwill bring. “Let me tell you, the Adapter is good. Youcan really see what’s going on in the system from end-to-end,” said Dan Rolle, an Army contracting officer inWeisbaden, Germany, and a volunteer tester for v4.2.2.

Army Self-Upgrade Users are excited about the Adapter and other expandedfunctionality in v4.2.2, but deployment methodology isgoing to be different than past deployments, warnedSPS Desk Officer George M. Chavis Sr., whose briefingfollowed Taylor’s. Chavis is the primary point of con-tact for Army users and is a direct liaison between theArmy and the SPS JPMO.

“This upgrade [to v4.2.2] is going to be a self-upgrade,occurring on the database and application servers …and will be performed by system administrators or[other] personnel. Client software will be upgraded atusers’ desktops by system administrators,” said Chavis.The upgrade is scheduled to begin in mid-2004. Priorto the upgrade, Chavis will conduct regional pre-upgrade conferences to remind users of the informationprovided at the conference and to ensure individual sitesare prepared for the upgrade.

Other SessionsOther informative sessions included briefings by ACABusiness Intelligence and BMMP officials.

SPS Positive FeedbackUsers at the conference were positive and upbeat aboutSPS. Charlene Duncan, Procurement Analyst, U.S.Army Corp of Engineers, Walla Walla, WA, district,liked the ability to go totally paperless. “The end docu-ment is a better document, and you have a lot more‘flexibility’ with SPS versus the old SAACONS [Stan-dard Army Automated Contracting System]. But there’sstill room for improvement,” Duncan said. She addedthat SPS was designed to be too restrictive for a contractspecialist and that if contract specialists really know theirjob, they shouldn’t have a tool tell them they can’t dosomething.”

Bob Parillo, SPS User Satisfaction Manager, addressedDuncan’s comments. He said that SPS is a standardizedsystem, and the goal is to standardize the procurementprocess across DOD. Parillo added that it can mean less

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flexibility in some instances, but the payoff will be forDOD as a whole because procurement data will be acces-sible and transferable to a number of related business sys-tems across DOD’s acquisition and financial communities.

Shared InformationUsers said they came to the conference to get informa-tion and share lessons learned with other users. Jim Ca-puzziello, Army Materiel Command, said that he’s cometo every conference since 1999. He added that theamount of information you get and the networking arewhat these conferences are all about.

Comments like Capuzziello’s reflected the upbeat moodof users, who, through a conference communicationssurvey, said they appreciated the Army hosting SPS con-ferences. The Las Vegas conference was the seventhArmy SPS Conference since 1999.

For more information about the conference (including a copy of the presentations), go tohttps://www.armysps.sdcl.lee.army.mil.

Linda Polonsky-Hillmer is President, CorpComm Inc., and hasworked with SPS since its inception.

Army Awards Aviation Simulation Services Contract

The Army Program Executive Office for Simulation,Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) announcedthe award of a service contract to provide aviation simu-lation services to the U.S. Army Aviation Center at FortRucker, AL, to Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) FederalSector-Defense Group, Falls Church, VA. Flight SchoolXXI Simulation Services will permit the U.S. Army Avi-ation Center to conduct individual and crew training ina computerized synthetic environment and collective,combined-arms training in a real-time, interactive com-puterized battlefield. CSC will provide a comprehensivesuite of contractor-owned and operated helicopter simu-lators, enabling the Aviation Center to teach basic andadvanced flight techniques to student pilots and ratedaviators training on “go-to-war” aircraft.

The contract awarded to CSC is a fixed price contractwith award-term provisions, with a potential value of

$1.1 billion over performance period of 19 1/2 years.CSC will provide, manage, test, install, integrate, oper-ate, maintain and upgrade simulators concurrent withthe latest fielded aircraft at the home of Army aviation.CSC will also be responsible for future concurrency up-dates and total life-cycle support costs of the simulatorsthroughout contract life.

PEO STRI is headquartered in Central Florida’s Re-search Park in East Orlando, FL. In addition to re-search, development and program management, thePEO provides life-cycle support and operations for mostof the Army’s training systems around the world. PEOSTRI is dedicated to putting the power of simulationinto the hands of warfighters.

Secretary of the Army Awards Presented for Contracting Excellence

The annual Secretary of the Army Awards for Excellencein Contracting Ceremony was held Aug. 11, 2003, inconjunction with the Army Acquisition Senior Leaders’Conference in Seattle, WA. Army Acquisition Execu-tive/Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Lo-gistics and Technology Claude M. Bolton Jr. andDeputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Policy andProcurement (DASA P&P) Tina E. Ballard presentedthe awards. MAJ Joy N. Kollhoff, Acquisition SupportCenter, Fort Belvoir, VA, was the master of ceremonies.

The Secretary of the Army Awards for Excellence inContracting commend exemplary contracting organiza-tions and individuals. This Armywide award honors ex-cellence and leadership in a variety of contracting activi-ties, and distinguishes contracting individuals and or-ganizations that excel in customer satisfaction, produc-tivity, process improvement and quality enhancement.Hard work and dedication have placed these winners inan elite class.

Nominating ProcessThis year, 61 nominations were received. A letter re-questing nominations is issued at the end of the currentfiscal year. Nominations are submitted online athttps://apps.rdaisa.army.mil/saaec/awards.htm. Eachnomination is endorsed by the nominee’s major com-mand/major subordinate command (MACOM/MSC)

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principal assistant responsible for contracting (PARC),the program executive officer or other appropriate offi-cial. There is no limit on the number of nominationsthat may be submitted. However, when more than onenomination is submitted by an organization, the endors-ing official will rank order the nominations within spe-cific categories before submitting them to the Depart-ment of the Army. An evaluation board consisting ofsenior-level contracting personnel, convenes, reviewsand evaluates all selection packages and reconvenes forthe final award determination.

This year’s award recipients represented seven com-mands: the U.S. Army Pacific Command (USARPAC),the U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), theU.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command(SMDC), the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE),the U.S. Army Contracting Command Europe (USACCE), the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Arma-ments Command (TACOM), and the U.S. Army Com-munications-Electronics Command (CECOM). Alist of the FY02 award recipients follows:

Unit/Team Awards• Unit/Team Award for Installation-Level

Contracting CenterRecipient: Fort Hood Contracting Command, Fort Hood, TX (FORSCOM)

• Unit/Team Award for Installation-Level Contracting SatelliteRecipient: Directorate of Contracting, Fort Campbell, KY (FORSCOM)

• Unit/Team Award for Systems ContractingRecipient: Brigade Combat Contracting Team, Warren, MI (TACOM)

• Unit/Team Award for Specialized ContractingRecipient: Residential Contracting Initiatives Performance Delivery Task Force (RCI PDT), Washington, DC (USACE)

Outstanding Contracting Officers• Outstanding Contracting Officer at

Installation-Level Center (Military)Recipient: MAJ Willard G. Zbaeren, (USARPAC), 9th Theatre Support Command, Okinawa, Japan (FORSCOM)

• Outstanding Contracting Officer at Installation-Level Center (Civilian)Recipient: Yvonne S. Land, Anniston Army Depot,Anniston, AL (TACOM)

• Outstanding Contracting Officer at Installation-Level Satellite (Military)Recipient: MAJ Scott F. Bruner, Directorate of Contracting, Fort Campbell, KY (FORSCOM)

• Outstanding Contracting Officer at Installation-Level Satellite (Civilian)Recipient: Phyllis Y. Poyhonen, SMDC, Huntsville, AL

• Outstanding Contracting Officer in Specialized Contracting (Civilian)Recipient: Dr. James J. Rich, USACE, Baltimore District, MD

• Outstanding Contracting Officer in Systems Contracting (Civilian)Recipient: Lynn Selfridge, SMDC, Huntsville, AL

• Outstanding Contracting Officer in Contingency Contracting (Military)Recipient: MAJ Stephen J. Conaway, FORSCOM,Fort Drum NY

• Outstanding Contracting Officer in Contingency Contracting (Civilian)Recipient: Pamela Runyon, USACE, Europe, Grafenwoehr, Germany

Special Awards• Secretary of the Army Professionalism in

Contracting (Military)Recipient: COL Charles J. Guta, FORSCOM, Fort McPherson, GA

• Secretary of the Army Professionalism in Contracting (Civilian)Recipient: Kathleen T. Walk, CECOM, Fort Monmouth, NJ

Secretary of the Army Award for ExceptionalSupport of the Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD)Act ProgramThe JWOD Program is one of the most important pro-grams that the Army uses to help blind and severely dis-abled people. This award recognizes commands, instal-lations or activities that successfully initiate significantadditions of products or services to the ProcurementList of the Committee for Purchase from People WhoAre Blind or Severely Handicapped.

Recipient: Barbara G. Maxwell, 63rd Regional SupportCommand, Directorate of Contracting Cell, Los Alami-tos, CA (FORSCOM)

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Bolton was delighted to recognize the performance ofsuch outstanding contracting professionals and organiza-tions and encourages all commands to continue to sup-port this prestigious recognition of Army contractingpersonnel. Nominations for FY03 awards can be sub-mitted from October through December 2003.

DTIC Annual Users Meeting

The Defense Technical Information Center’s (DTIC’s)30th annual user’s meeting will be held March 29 –April 1, 2004, at the Hilton Old Town, Alexandria, VA.DTIC’s customers include scientists, engineers and pro-fessionals in the federal technology research, develop-ment, information science and acquisition communities.Conference participants represent DOD, other federalagencies, contractors and potential contractors. Govern-ment and commercial exhibitors will demonstrate theirlatest information technologies, and the conferenceagenda will address changing information sources andtechnologies in support of research, development, testand engineering programs. For more information, or toregister for this year’s conference, go tohttp://www.dtic.mil/dtic/annualconf/.

Air Travelers Give up Seats for Soldiers

Nearly everyone has experienced an airport boggeddown by bad weather, delayed and cancelled flights, andovertired travelers wanting nothing more than to get totheir destinations.

That was exactly what Will Ross, an Administrative Judgefor the Defense Department’s Office of Hearings and Ap-peals in Los Angeles, encountered Oct. 27 at the Balti-more/Washington International Airport. But he said whathe witnessed that day made him proud to be an American.

“(It) also told me why we will win this war (on terror-ism),” Ross said. Like many of his fellow passengers,Ross had been forced to spend the night in Baltimore.The California wildfires had forced the Los Angeles In-ternational Airport to close, and the ripple effect drovedomestic travel nationwide into a tailspin.

When Ross reported to the airline counter the follow-ing morning for the next scheduled flight to Los Ange-les, bad weather and aircraft mechanical problems madethe prospect of a timely trip even grimmer. In the ter-minal, Ross noticed many servicemembers in theirdesert camouflage uniforms, arriving from SouthwestAsia and awaiting connecting flights. In the service-members’ case, it was to begin two weeks of rest and re-cuperation leave.

By the afternoon, one particular flight to Denver hadbeen delayed several hours. Airline agents kept askingfor volunteers to give up their seats and take anotherflight, but with few takers, Ross said. Finally, Rosssaid an airline spokeswoman for the Denver flight goton the public address system and made a desperateplea. “Folks, as you can see, there are a lot of soldiersin the waiting area,” the agent said. “They only have14 days of leave and we’re trying to get them wherethey need to go without spending any more time inan airport than they have to.

“We sold them all tickets knowing we would oversellthe flight. If we can, we want to get them all on thisflight. We want all the soldiers to know ... we respectwhat you’re doing, we are here for you and we loveyou,” the agent continued.

“The entire terminal of cranky, tired, travel-weary people — a cross-section of America — broke into sus-tained and heartfelt applause,” Ross said. “We’re talkingabout several hundred people applauding, a whole ter-minal. The soldiers looked surprised and very modest.Most of them just looked at their boots.”

Many of the travelers in the terminal wiped away tears.“And, yes,” Ross said, “30 to 40 people lined up to takethe later flight and all the soldiers went to Denver onthat flight. “I think people realized that this fight isgoing to be long and drawn-out, and these kids are inthe thick of it,” he said. “It was heartwarming to seetheir outpouring of support.”

This article was written by Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service.

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ARMY AL&T


Army AL&T is a bimonthly professional developmentmagazine published by the Office of the Assistant Secre-tary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technol-ogy. The address for the Editorial Office is DEPART-MENT OF THE ARMY, ARMY ALT, 9900 BELVOIRRD, SUITE 101, FORT BELVOIR, VA 22060-5567.Phone numbers for the editorial staff are as follows:(703) 704-0114/DSN 654-0114(703) 704-0111/DSN 654-0111(703) 704-0129/DSN 654-0129(703) 704-0128/DSN 654-0128Fax: (703) 704-0135/DSN 654-0135

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Individuals submitting articles that report Army costsavings must be prepared to provide detailed documen-tation upon request that verifies the cost savings andtheir reinvestment. Organizations should be preparedto defend these monies if higher headquarters has ahigher priority for them. All articles are cleared by theAcquisition Support Center Director.

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