Ongoing Army network modernization efforts are offering soldiers and team leaders unprecedented communication and situational awareness capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the Army works through its network modernization efforts, improvements are coming to the individual\u2019s soldier kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These include a two-channel radio that allows soldiers on the ground to switch frequencies if one is being jammed by adversaries. Improvements also include what the Army calls the \u201cend-user device,\u201d an Android tablet mounted to a soldier\u2019s chest, providing geolocation and mapping services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, the kit empowers the soldiers to take control of their environment, which is a critical attribute for future operations as the Army prepares troops to operate on sophisticated and evolving battlefields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For platoon leaders, such a kit replaces the need for a radio telephone operator, someone at the side of the platoon commander who handles the radio communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can talk to your commander, and you can talk to your platoon at the same time,\u201d Lt. Tim Inman, a platoon leader under 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, told C4ISRNET during a January battalion event at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inman added that the biggest benefit may be the end-user device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat the [end-user device] really does is [it] gives you situational awareness. That\u2019s really the benefit of it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can see your little icon on the display of where you\u2019re at, where your platoon\u2019s at, where your battalion is at. That makes it a whole lot easier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, soldiers can use the device for land navigation, setting waypoints on the GPS much like the interface of a tablet or smartphone. This is an improvement over the multistep process of terrain analysis and grid plotting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the battalion used the kit during a rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center in fall 2017, Inman said they moved 8 or 9 kilometers at a time without ever breaking out a map, which is a major departure from the norm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other soldiers told C4ISRNET that the battalion \u201cdestroyed\u201d the opposing force at the center because a screen showed where their fellow soldiers were, and they were able to communicate on the fly with the device mounted on the chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inman said that during his unit\u2019s rotation he knew exactly when his platoon needed to push forward because he was watching his end-user device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs soon as they cleared one building and went to the next, I was like, \u2018OK, go!\u2019 and my other squads took off and it was all synchronized,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the end of the rotation, with a limited kit and leveraging 4G LTE, \u201cour ability to communicate, our ability to develop a plan, communicate the plan and then synchronize the plan was much, much faster in a decentralized operating space,\u201d Maj. John Intile, executive officer for 1-508th, told C4ISRNET at Camp Atterbury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were also during execution capable of dynamically re-tasking ourselves incredibly quickly because we could go from the point of identifying the problem to putting the problem up for decision or finding resolution and then communicating that decision or resolution to the entire force almost instantaneously,\u201d he added.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Intile said he would confidently deploy with the kit the way it is configured now, describing it as the most developed part of the integrated tactical network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the ease the end-user device provides can be problematic in some cases. Inman said sometimes the deliberate planning process is skipped because the device makes certain activities more convenient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n