FORTIFIED BY FEEDBACK
Fort Bliss, Texas. Armed with the unit’s feedback, the Product Manager for Network Modernization, assigned to the Project Manager for Tactical Network within the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications – Tactical (PEO C3T), worked with industry to integrate more than 12 refinements to the radio within 45 days.
THE LISTENING EDGE TALKING POINTS
Lt. Col. Patrick Lane, commander of the 57th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, addresses troops following a look at refinements made to a line-of-sight radio during the demonstration at Fort Hood. Leveraging Soldier feedback from in theater and events such as user juries, coupled with greater outreach to industry partners, will help the Army get new capabilities to Soldiers more quickly. (U.S. Army photo by Amy Walker, PEO C3T Public Affairs)
“We have to get past that ingrained mindset that system acquisi- tion and modifications have to take years,” said Lt. Col. Mark Henderson, product manager for Network Modernization. “We have to listen to what the Soldiers are telling us they need, then work with industry to deliver smart commercial off-the-shelf solutions at an expedited pace whenever possible. Our enemies are not going to drag their feet to get capability to the field, nor should we.”
“It’s all about relationships and people,” he added. “Tis rapid process could not have happened as fast as it did without the terrific relationship we have with the Soldiers we support, like those in the 11th Signal Brigade.” (For more on how to make acquisition faster, see Henderson’s commentary, “From Idea to Front Line,” Page 142.)
Lt. Col. Patrick Lane, commander of the 57th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, said that he would be comfortable deploying with the enhanced system, and affirmed that it met the Soldiers’ expectations. “In terms of the modifications with setup and operating in the environment that they did out at Fort Bliss, I think the enhancements were significant. … Te improvements made to the components enhanced the overall durability of the equipment and made it easier to transport. Te [Soldiers’] con- tributions and feedback will have a lasting impact on the Army’s ability to communicate for years to come,” Lane said.
Te program office’s full follow-on capability demonstration at Fort Hood on Sept. 20 enabled the 57th Expeditionary Signal Battalion and the 11th Teater Tactical Signal Brigade to see firsthand that the capability was ready to be fielded.
“What I thought was most impressive was the follow-up and then the response time in terms of speed to action,” Lane said.
PUTTING NEW GEAR THROUGH ITS PACES Shortly after returning from Iraq to Fort Hood, the Army’s 57th Expedition- ary Signal Battalion supported the operational test of a line-of-sight radio during NIE 17.2, conducted in July at Fort Bliss, Texas. The program office used Soldier feedback from the event to make refinements to the system within 45 days after the NIE. (Photo by Keith West, Mission Command Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command Public Affairs)
“Sometimes you don’t know if they take your feedback or not. … To give the Soldiers an opportunity to have their voices heard, in terms of operationalizing the equipment that they work on every day, and then to see that their voices actually were heard, is pretty significant.”
84
Army AL&T Magazine
April - June 2018
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168
