ARMY AL&T


commander immediately leveraged exist- ing staff plans and appropriate services to ensure security, provide stability, and set the foundational underpinnings for enabling posterity for the Haitian peo- ple. A cursory review of the response might include conversations on the use of U.S. Army or U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) security forces, U.S. Air Force logistics, and U.S. Navy medical sup- port to carry out vital roles as directed by the President.


Deeper analysis includes the perspec- tive that 51S officers might add to the discussion. Prior to this earthquake, SOUTHCOM’s Science Advisor had leveraged joint staff and Army resources to integrate promising emerging tech- nologies in several relief experiments. Insight on tactics, techniques, and pro- cedures was noted to enable COCOM stability operations. If the Army and RDECOM are linked to these events and value for a program is evident, pos- itive outcomes are possible both for the Army and the COCOM.


An example may be the use of renew- able energy to power a small video teleconferencing capability that Army medical teams might employ to lever- age a larger remote network of medical care professionals to help in triage, diagnosis, and potential treatment. The power of the network includes reduced security and logistics needs in the operational environment or, in the Haiti case, the disaster site. Just as important is how the com- mander might transition this capability to others once military forces and their equipment redeploy. The 51S is challenged yet again to help other organizations consider government- off-the-shelf or commercial-off-the- shelf technologies that will help them provide “whole-of-government” enduring low-cost health nodes that non-DOD agencies can leverage over the long run, thus furthering the com- mander’s goal of enabling prosperity.


Combatant commanders fight wars and the services provide trained and ready forces and equipment. Unless acquisi- tion laws change drastically, the key factor to further develop and transi- tion any promising technologies back to Army or service components falls on the shoulders of COCOM 51S officers. They run the trap lines and find the confluence of these joint needs with Army modernization opportu- nities expressed as new U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command or Joint Forces Command experimenta- tion efforts or documents, or vetted PM modernization strategies.


Such work benefits the services in future hybrid wars. Commanders include building partner capacity venues as part of their campaign plan. A technology that serves as an immedi- ate need in nation building that might also offer reduced life-cycle costs in ongoing contingency operations via reduced troop consumption and less wear and tear on vehicle fleets and reset costs, is very significant.


For example, many of the technolo- gies employed in Haiti for stability operations may also fit the emerging requirements that service leaders desire for reduced logistics and more efficient mass and energy autonomy of battle formations. This is a current focus area under discussion in the USMC and Army for brigades. Whether it be low- cost and energy-efficient unmanned aircraft systems for force protection, solar-powered water purification, or gray water management technologies, the COCOM 51S officers can advise the COCOM and joint staff on how to best horizontally integrate their needs into what the services envision for their programs. They can also provide the services with lessons learned from these joint experiments. The result of such collaboration can be underval- ued because it is achieved in the least disruptive manner by leveraging expe- rienced and networked 51S officers,


working real-time in a flat world with their materiel developer counterparts.


Vision


The 51S has evolved from a select few military Ph.D. personnel in special assignments to experienced multi- functional Acquisition Corps officers serving as 51S from division and corps levels and joint warfighting staffs. FAST Soldiers provide agile technol- ogy integration in the operational environment. The results have tactical significance and tie us to our warfight- ers. The 51S officers serving as STACAs on corps staffs help mitigate enemy fires and provide operational oppor- tunities to warfighting staffs. At the COCOM, they can enable combat- ant commanders’ strategic goals. These critical Soldiers should be recognized for the return they offer us in main- taining warfighting capability now and in the future. Continued mentorship and application of supporting processes to enable their interaction with the greater materiel developer community would include appropriate certification, promotion, and command opportuni- ties. Additionally, their insight might offer the foundational underpinnings for similar effort at the Office of the Secretary of Defense level that mimics this horizontal integration occurring in the Army, but appropriate for all ser- vices. The end result of good 51S work is efficient and anticipated combat power that provides commanders at all levels the most freedom of maneuver.


LTC RICH LONARDO is assigned to RDECOM. His deployment experi- ence includes both the Gulf War and three deployments in Operation Iraqi Freedom as a 51A/S. He holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Youngstown State University and an M.S. in envi- ronmental engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He is Level III certifi ed in systems planning, research, development, and engineering-S&T manager.


APRIL –JUNE 2010 59


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