FROM STRATEGY to


SOLUTIONS


Army S&T builds partnerships with private sector to identify and develop promising answers to high-priority problems


by Kris Osborn T


he U.S. Army science and tech- nology (S&T) community has made substantial progress in its ongoing effort to encourage its


laboratory, academic, and industry part- ners to address a host of relevant problem areas and challenges in need of specific solutions, Dr. Marilyn M. Freeman, Dep- uty Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology, told an audi- ence of Army and industry attendees Feb. 22 at the Association of the United States Army’s Institute of Land Warfare (AUSA ILW) Winter Symposium and Exposition.


The overall strategy, which identified 24 specific challenges aligned with seven major problem areas, is designed to harness and develop solutions that can enhance capability


The seven problem areas are force protection, maneuverability, human cognition,


surprise/tactical


sustainability/logistics, and tactical overmatch.


units on the move; lightening the load that Soldiers carry; and identifying tech- nologies that improve maneuverability, protection, and survivability for Soldiers.


REINVENTING S&T


“We are reinventing Army S&T with plans to change the culture regarding what we need to be successful


in the


future. These are new processes we’re implementing and new opportunities for increased partnership,” Freeman told the audience. “It is the Soldier on the ground, working in a small unit, that we need to focus on.”


for Soldiers. intelligence, overburdening,


For example, the challenges include creating common software; improving situational awareness,


intelligence, and mission command capabilities for small


“These seven problem areas are what Army S&T is focused on, meaning this is the stuff we are going to need to be able to do, no matter where we fight. Every one of these is a program to be formu- lated,” Freeman said.


“These are new capability enablers. The indications we are getting from every- body is that the S&T effort is a bridging strategy, so that when we are ready and working in partnership with TRADOC [U.S. Army Training


and Doctrine ASC.ARMY.MIL 143


Freeman said the Army hopes that its industry partners might choose to spend some of their research and development (R&D) funds to develop capabilities that can meet the identified challenges, with a focus on the small unit, squad, and dis- mounted individual Soldier.


In November 2011, the Army released a broad agency announcement


[BAA]


to industry, leading to the anticipated allocation of money from the congressio- nally approved Rapid Innovation Fund for small businesses, in amounts up to $3 million.


“OSD [the Office of the Secretary of


Defense] is releasing the rapid innovation funds. In FY12, there will be another BAA coming out against the remaining challenges,” Freeman told the audience.


DEMONSTRATING CAPABILITIES The proposed solutions to the challenges are designed to establish Technology Enabled Capability


Demonstrations


(TEC-Ds) and efforts to define “bridging” strategies that can determine whether a given technical or material solution can effectively solve a particular challenge and result in a new requirement.


CONFERENCE CALL


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