and systems developments worldwide, because one of the key trends, of course, is that access to technology and knowledge is becoming more and more diffuse.
Being able to corner the market in a par- ticular area is increasingly difficult. So, [we are] starting with them and then leveraging the war games, studies, semi- nars, working with academia and, quite frankly, working with our allies and part- ners across the globe. We have 17 or 18 representatives here at TRADOC from other partner and allied nations that help us see things through a different light and help us stay connected.
Te other piece is that we stay very con- nected to the science and technology arenas, including working with the White House
Science Office—again, basic
research, the labs at various universities, both those that are hosted by or sponsored by the U.S. government and those that aren’t, and then the [U.S.] Department of Energy and others. We’ve got a wide net, and one of the mechanisms for bringing that thinking together is the Unified Quest effort. But we are not limited by that.
Army AL&T: How do you make sure that tomorrow’s solutions aren’t obsolete by the day after tomorrow?
MG Hix: Te first thing we do is we stay tight with our science and technology partners both in and out of the govern- ment. Te first piece is to understand what the art of the possible is and where things are going. Conversely, through the survey processes and war-gaming, we also develop concepts where we think we’re driving technology. And those two things are complementary. Tey’re not exclusive efforts.
And then you’ve got a balance, and this is where the iterative exchange of
information and discussion throughout the process [come in]. You don’t want to source-select too soon because you could wind up putting yourself in a bind. Nei- ther do you want to do it too late. If we had bought Renault
tanks, which we
were using for experimentation in the 1920s, we would have been woefully out of position come World War II. We did it too soon with the Future Combat System [FCS], in part because of the processes that we are currently required to operate inside of. We were co-developing a system and the S&T [that would operate it] at the same time. And, frankly, we just couldn’t get that done.
Somebody the other day called it the Goldilocks principle: Not too soon, not too late, just right. But there’s an art to it as well, I guess,
And that requires cooperation and collaboration.
Army AL&T: Can you give us an example of the most exciting or promising concept that you’ve developed in the past decade?
MG Hix: I would start with the ’90s. I was here at TRADOC as a field-grade officer and had an opportunity to be involved in three major efforts. Te first one was Force 21. Te second one was the Stryker brigade. And the third one was the Objective Force, of which the centerpiece system was FCS.
Of those three, I saw Stryker fielded, taking the ideas of Army After Next and then trying to bend them to a current capability. So we built an orga- nization that was enabled by information, infantry-heavy, very mobile, and for the first time we actually integrated UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] in a tactical formation. And that unit has performed, I think, magnificently both in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Te 4th Infantry Division is the initial manifestation of Force 21. And while we’re still working on getting a Common Operating Environment, getting our net- works fully put together, we have fielded units capability sets that they’ve taken to Afghanistan and used with great success over there.
And then the last one, the Objective Force, may have been too soon in terms of its implementation, and we may have been too aggressive on our
timelines.
We pushed the technology before it was mature enough. Again, that’s why you’ve got to be looking out 30 years—because you’ve got to be working on it today if you want to see it physically fielded, say, 20 or 30 years in the future.
is the short answer.
Army AL&T: Although the 30-year modernization planning process is rela- tively new, is there any promising thing that you’re seeing right now?
MG Hix: Human Dimension, started in the mid-2000s, which is about opti- mizing and enhancing our human performance—that’s a very promising idea, and we think there’s going to be a lot of impact on that both for Force 2025 and beyond. And then the other one, as GEN [Robert W.] Cone [then- commanding general of TRADOC] mentioned down at AUSA in Huntsville, the Expeditionary Maneuver Concept recognized the future—increasingly con- nected people, the momentum of a given interaction, greater urbanization, popula- tion growth, etc. Speed-of-event effect is going to be a huge driver of our thinking over the next 10 to 20 years.
In terms of the 30-year plan, two points are very important here, and I’ll let Chris touch on these as well. Te first thing, looking out 30 years, is now allow- ing our RDECs [research, development
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