efforts with multiple organizations work- ing on different aspects of modernization created more confusion than progress. Real-time systems engineering would happen up front, only to stop later in the life cycle. Equipment issues were coming to light far down the line instead of in the early prototyping stages.
Te NIE aimed to solve these challenges, while also offering a structured process for industry to demonstrate promising technologies that targeted specific capa- bility gaps identified by the Army. But as several events passed, vendors who had invested their own resources to partici- pate grew restless with the Army’s initial lack of a formal mechanism to purchase non-POR systems that performed well, and with the events’ growing emphasis on POR tests at the expense of reduced industry participation. Te Army took steps to address their concerns and ulti- mately decided the best course was to split the construct into two events: an annual NIE focused on operational testing for PORs, and an annual AWA focused on joint and multinational interoperability, readiness and industry solutions.
LOOKING AHEAD I have been closely involved with the NIE and AWA process since 2014. Te following recommendations, which we call “modernization by the numbers,” are derived from that experience.
1. Continue to broaden the perspective of the NIEs and AWAs, facilitating an all-encompassing capabilities objective.
As the Army continues to protect and serve here and abroad, the need to evolve our network will always exist. While the NIEs are associated with delivering the Mission Command Network of 2020, there is no definitive end state as tech- nology will continue to advance across
the globe. But we realize that Soldiers’ requests for innovative, user-friendly technology reach beyond just the net- work. As the NIEs and AWAs evolve, we must shift their focus from being solely “network centric” to evaluating a broader
FIGURE 1
NIE/AWA 16.1 BY THE 5,000+
PERSONNEL ACROSS THE COUNTRY SUPPORTING THE NIE/AWA
GOLDEN VEHICLES (PROTOTYPES)
32 78 12 COMMAND POST PLATFORMS ADDING IT UP
The Army’s Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 16.1, held in September-October 2015, was the Army’s largest such exercise since the NIE events began in 2011. Held in conjunction with the Bold Quest exercise led by the Joint Staff J-6, NIE 16.1 included broad joint and coalition participation and served as the Army’s final proof of concept for the Army Warfighting Assessment (AWA) events. AWA 17 will kick off in October 2016. (U.S. Army graphic by Vanessa Flores, SoSE&I Capability Package Directorate)
1,590 239
SOLDIERS TRAINED ON NEW EQUIPMENT
TOTAL VEHICLES INTEGRATED
19 CONCEPTS/CAPABILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH EXPEDITIONARY BASE CAMP
CONCEPT/CAPABILITIES UNDER ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION
22 CONCEPTS/CAPABILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH MANNED-UNMANNED TEAMING
43
OF THE AGILE PROCESS INCLUDING, LAB-BASED RISK REDUCTION AT ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MARYLAND
2 & 3
range of capabilities, with non-network capabilities having a larger role.
Today, as the CSA recently stated, DOD is rarely driving new technologies. Instead, commercial industry is in the
NUMBERS
UNITS INVOLVED, INCLUDING 14 COALITION NATIONS SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED MODULES
ASC.ARMY.MIL
141
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