ARMY DATA: FROM THE FOXHOLE TO THE PENTAGON
thus far, and we are laying the ground- work to establish this as common practice.
SUSTAINING COMMERCIAL TECHNOLOGY – 5, 3, 1 For the acquisition and technology community, perhaps the most important network sustainment numbers to remem- ber are five, three and one.
Faced with a mandate to modernize, program executive offices often turn to commercial C5ISR technologies and nonstandard equipment to replace legacy program-of-record systems. Te manufac- turers warranty these systems, but there is huge variation in warranty durations, conditions and pathways for Soldiers to secure repairs or replacements. To address this challenge, CECOM is borrowing a model the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces Support Activity uses to rapidly exchange non-mission-capable systems that are under warranty.
Five refers to the five-year warranty the Army will pursue for all new commercial off-the-shelf products and nonstandard equipment. Tree refers to the Year 3 deci- sion point, when the Army will decide if it will sustain the equipment’s use after the initial warranty period. If yes, it will decide what entity will be responsible for sustainment—in most cases, CECOM, and in others, program executive offices— and establish a lasting supply chain. If no, it will divest the system.
One refers to the central warranty exchange: Tobyhanna Army Depot and its more than 40 forward locations around the world. In the future, Soldiers will be able to hand off any C5ISR commer- cial off-the-shelf product or nonstandard equipment that’s still under warranty to any Tobyhanna representative, who will send it through the warranty exchange process. Te five, three, one concept is still
REPLACEMENTS AT THE READY
A Soldier operates a Satellite Transportable Terminal at Camp Roberts, California. CECOM created the Army’s first-ever repair cycle float pool of 36 terminals to make repair turnaround on systems like these nearly immediate. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. W. Chris Clyne, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team)
in the planning stages, but we are excited about its potential.
CONCLUSION This web of connected strategies and initiatives is crucial to sustain the future tactical network in a complex, symmetric combat environment. If we fail to drive innovative reform and plan for tactical network sustainment right now, the risk is threefold.
First, because sustainment is inherent to the network’s design, fielding and oper- ation, the envisioned network of 2028 may not materialize, or it may fail to meet the Army’s warfighting needs. Second, with underequipped units waiting on key C5ISR systems stuck in long repair turnarounds, critical data communica- tions and intelligence would be slowed or prevented from moving where Soldiers need it. And third, the Army would lose opportunities to collect and analyze data and glean insights to make better strate- gic and business decisions.
Ultimately, we owe it to the Soldiers who depend on C5ISR network equipment and reliable data transmissions to succeed in these efforts at all levels. With their mission and lives at stake, we will not rest in pursuing our mission of empowering the Soldier with sustained C5ISR readi- ness, anytime, anywhere.
For more information, go to https://
www.cecom.army.mil.
MAJ. GEN. RANDY S. TAYLOR served as commanding general of CECOM and senior
commander of Aberdeen Proving
Ground, Maryland, from April 2017 to June 2019. In that role, he was the U.S. Army’s C5ISR materiel integrator, responsible for enabling warfighting readiness by providing sustainable global C5ISR support. For his next assignment, he has been selected to serve as chief of staff at U.S. Strategic Command.
https://asc.ar my.mil
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