PULLING TOGETHER
search for and consult with scientists and engineers across the enterprise who have specific skills or experience needed to make a project successful.
• Communities of practice: Technologies increasingly cross legacy commodity barriers. Cybersecurity is no longer just the domain of
communications and
computers, for example, but is vital to a wide variety of systems that rely on computational power for navigation, targeting, robotic systems and more. RDECOM has established technology- based communities of practice across the enterprise that mirror the Army’s portfolio structure. CERDEC leads the effort, but everyone with a stake in cybersecurity—defense or offense—is part of the community and can influ- ence the technology to make sure our research efforts meet the Army’s needs.
• Project-based approach: In this way, the command brings the expertise and experience of multiple organizations to bear on specific needs. For example, five of the command’s six centers have joined to develop the Modular Active Protection Systems (MAPS), a surviv- ability solution for ground vehicles that will address the next generation of emerging threats. Advanced threats currently require armor solutions that push vehicles beyond a practical weight. MAPS enhances survivabil- ity against advanced threats without adding significant weight to ground vehicles, in one of two ways: a soft- kill defeat mechanism that targets the incoming round’s guidance system or a hard-kill defeat mechanism that physi- cally disrupts the threat before it hits the vehicle. Te outcome is the same: keeping the vehicle occupants safe. Te technology also supports leaner brigade combat teams. Leading this enterprise- wide effort is the Tank Automotive
120
Research, Development and Engi- neering Center, with engineering and technical input from the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, Armament Research, Development and Engi- neering Center, CERDEC and ARL.
• External engagement and support: RDECOM has worldwide represen- tation through its civilian scientists, engineers and military uniformed scientists. Trough the efforts of the RDECs and ARL, RDECOM com- pleted two of eight Defense Acquisition Challenge (DAC) Program starts, with six scheduled to close in FY14. DAC, which was created in 2003 to inte- grate mature technologies into the acquisition cycle, allows U.S. vendors to submit proposals for evaluation by the Army. RDECOM also completed seven Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) Program initiatives, with a mis- sion to find and evaluate solutions to meet
the Army’s operational needs,
regardless of the origin of that technol- ogy. FCT funds the testing of foreign non-developmental items, commercial off-the-shelf items or those items in a late stage of development that dem- onstrate potential. Te command also recently deployed 10 new participants and has 22 applicants for the FY14 Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program, which allows midcareer sci- entists and engineers from across the Army an opportunity for temporary assignment with an allied government.
• Field Assistance in Science and Tech- nology: RDECOM science advisers continue to develop and strengthen military-to-military ties with current and potential allies. Tey are also on the staffs of some of the Army’s larg- est commands so that they can help the commands better understand our
Soldiers’ needs. Tey participate in exercises and deploy to the battlefield. Tis is a crucial step in understanding what Soldiers and commanders need, which is what drives smart integration.
CONCLUSION Tis is more than a list of programs and partnerships; it shows that RDECOM is at the nexus of a global science and technology network. In the past, it may have been enough to use RDECOM’s expertise and partners to deliver new technologies. To achieve the chief of staff’s vision, however, the enterprise must deliver a new level of integration to free the Soldier from the burdens of poorly integrated systems.
To do that, it must achieve a new level of collaboration. With thousands of engineers embedded with its acquisition partners and thousands of partnerships and agreements, RDECOM is the natu- ral choice to lead this collaboration on integrating technologies, thus allowing a smaller Army to spend its time defending the nation’s interests instead of pushing information from one disconnected sys- tem to another.
For more information, go to
www.army. mil/rdecom.
MR. DALE A. ORMOND is the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for plans and resources in the Office of the Assistant Secre- tary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Until recently, he was director of RDECOM. He holds an M.S. in environ- mental systems engineering from Clemson University and is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He is Level III cer- tified in acquisition program management. He was selected for the Senior Executive Ser- vice in July 2004.
Army AL&T Magazine
October–December 2014
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
