The Army is prioritizing on-the-move communications in combat, according to top officials, with a particular focus on an operational IT baseline that primes troops for readiness.
“By the end of [2019] we will bring the Army to a common baseline,” Gary Martin, Program Executive Officer of Command, Control and Communications, Tactical, said July 20 at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Hot Topics event in Arlington, Virginia.
Martin, whose office develops, acquires, fields and supports the Army’s mission command network to ensure force readiness, highlighted several challenges the Army must overcome to improve its network capabilities.
To get to this single baseline, Martin said, not only must 400 units be brought up to speed, but some of these units’ computers must be entirely upgraded in order to even run the correct programs.
And, when it comes to on-the-move networks, Martin pointed out that stationary networks have the benefit of a crew of 30 to 40 people, specialized to keep it running. Meanwhile, networks are expected to perform at the commercial level while on-the-move and maintained by unspecialized 21- to 23-year-old soldiers.
After being asked about the status of the contested WIN-T, the Army’s current system, Martin said he thinks it’s working very well and the service is continuing to field the system with the National Guard in the fall.
He mentioned a modest success in reducing the size of WIN-T: Stryker vehicles no longer have to forego two seats to install it. Now they get to keep both.
Lessons from WIN-T: Buying smarter to avoid obsolescence
But, in the spirit of readiness, several leaders mentioned the Army is never alone, especially in networks. Daniel Corbin, chief technology adviser for C4, reminded Army officials that if the U.S. were to engage in war, on the first day of combat, they should expect to be sharing significant amounts of information with the Marine Corps and the other services.
And, with the NATO exercise CALFEX wrapping up in Romania, leaders emphasized communications and shared networks with other nations as well.
“Our international partners are absolutely critical,” said Brig. Gen. Maria Barrett, deputy director of current operations, Army Cyber Command.
Maj. Gen. Mitchell Kilgo, director of J-6 for Army Central Command, said five separate networks in one domain is inefficient, expensive and frustrating for our allied partners.
Kilgo criticized over-classification of information. He gestured to the international leader who sat to his right, Air Commodore Steven Thornber of the Royal Air Force, saying how sometimes it is easier to share information across international lines with other militaries than it is among agencies within the same nation.
Thornber nodded in agreement.
The Army never goes it alone in a combat setting, but neither can it rely only on itself for innovation and development.
Leaders pointed out how industry has usurped government research.
“Spending is inverted from what it was 30 years ago,” said Brig. Gen. Joseph “JP” McGee, Army Cyber Command deputy commander for operations.
Barrett pointed out that in the government research that is occurring there are inefficiencies, saying that there are many people researching within the federal government on the same thing rather than consolidating efforts. She noted that industry can be a better leader in fielding their research by scaling products to Army-sized operations.
Maj. Gen. Burke “Ed” Wilson, deputy principal DoD cyber adviser, agreed. He also suggested partnering with international allies for research and development.
Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, principal military deputy assistant for Secretary of the Army (acquisition, logistics and technology), said the Army has reached out to industry to submit network solution ideas. He outlined his ideal network: intuitive, upgrade-able, secure, accessible to allied partners, capable of voice, data and video on-the-move, rapidly deployable and have minimized electromagnetic signal.
But, Ostrowski said, the WIN-T will have to be a part of that. He advised industry to submit ideas that are easily-fielded and designed with the Army’s current programs in mind.
