BACK TO BASICS
training occurred early in the ARFOR- GEN cycle rather than during the unit’s intensive pre-deployment training. Tis lack of sustained C4ISR equipment train- ing contributed significantly to Soldiers’ reliance on civilian field support.
A TEAM EFFORT
During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, FSRs and FSEs have worked with Soldiers to ensure that mission-critical capabilities are in constant working order. (Photo by Travis McNiel, SoSE&I)
Te current field support model served its purpose by providing Soldiers with timely support during two wars. FSRs and FSEs embedded with units served as the depend- able first line of defense when it came to troubleshooting and repairs in theater. FSRs and FSEs, many of whom were former Sol- diers themselves, made great sacrifices as they deployed with BCTs to austere and hostile environments to ensure that critical communications remained intact.
Te IRM team for PEO C3T MilT- ech Solutions’ Single Interface to the Field (SIF) provides a single point of online reachback through which Sol- diers can obtain support for any system managed by the Army’s C4ISR organi- zations. Te team worked directly with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology System of Systems Engineering and Inte- gration Directorate (SoSE&I) to create a customized console for Soldiers to use during the Army’s Network Integration Evaluations (NIEs). NIEs are semian- nual, Soldier-driven evaluations aimed at quickly delivering advanced network technologies to Soldiers.
Te SIF module, which works for any C4ISR system, features an 11-item incident reporting form for Soldiers to quickly fill in the relevant information for a support ticket while continuing their assessments in the field at the NIEs. Tis served as the basis for a future, all-encompassing field support form piloted at the NTC.
24 Army AL&T Magazine
EVOLVING NEEDS For more than a decade, Soldiers have relied on FSRs and FSEs for technical troubleshooting and repair. While the new C4ISR capabilities were battle-tested by Soldiers, they were maintained by con- tractors and DA civilians. Tis was born of the need to have C4ISR equipment at near-100 percent readiness, while ever- changing mission requirements brought a great proliferation of digital technologies onto the battlefield.
C4ISR training was a moving target. Because of the pressures of the Army Force Generation (AFORGEN) cycle, units often sent Soldiers to weeklong equipment operator courses. In turn, those same Sol- diers were engaged in other duties or not assigned to the same system once deployed.
To adapt, the C4ISR organizations designed the Mission Command System Integration Training to augment opera- tor and maintainer courses. However, this
However, the C4ISR community continues to transition from system- centric support to unit-centric support. In the past, each system was fielded with its own support construct, which was designed to sustain only that system. Now the Army continues to move toward a unit-centric focus, evident with the fielding of Capability Set 13, an integrated communications package that spans the entire BCT formation, connecting the fixed command post to the commander on-the-move to the dismounted Soldier.
With this transition to a system-of-systems approach, there is a need for a smaller multifunctional and multi-organizational team on-site that is prepared to support the unit at home station, during exercises and in theater.
Furthermore, by placing the technical knowledge back in the hands of Soldiers, particularly on systems they already know and work with, the Army will realign with its mandate that Soldiers maintain their assigned equipment, per Army regulations.
July–September 2013
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