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FIELDING THE PROTOTYPE


I


t happens in nearly every Hollywood action movie: “Tis is only the proto- type. It will outgun [insert bad guy name], but it still has some bugs to


work out.”


Te movie’s hero inevitably takes the prototype system and uses the new(er) technology to defeat the enemy. Is this just Hollywood fiction, or does the U.S. Army have similar programs that put the newest technology into the hands of Soldiers in the field?


It does. In addition to its nine inter- national technology centers, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Devel- opment Command (CCDC) has seven Field Assistance in Science and Technology (FAST) teams world- wide, managed by CCDC’s Global Technology Office. With stand- ing positions on the general staffs of U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Forces Korea (among others), these teams offer uniquely direct feedback from Soldiers in the field on developmental systems and technology. Te Soldiers and defense acquisition civil- ians who make up the FAST teams have a two-way mission: Get technology to the field faster, and apprise the Army’s scien- tists, engineers and requirements writers on what the field commands need.


FAST taps directly into the acquisition cycle, essentially expediting the rela- tionship between the warfighter and the materiel developer while supporting the requirements development process. Te result is that program managers can put their newest technology into the hands of Soldiers for developmental feedback, or, optimally, provide insight into emerg- ing requirements even before they reach the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s (TRADOC) centers of excel- lence, where many program offices have embedded staff members.


36 Army AL&T Magazine Summer 2020


FAST is a critical tool in ensuring relevance and effective development of systems for the Army’s future.


to get the most out of the opportunity to put technology directly into the hands of Soldiers:


• Have a plan. • Build consensus. • Be a part of the bigger picture. • State the costs and benefits up front.


The following real-life examples illustrate each of these four lessons.


PLAN TO MEET THE NEED: ENHANCED CAMERA When CCDC chemical and biological engineers approached the FAST team at U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) in April 2016, they were already working with the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemi- cal, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) to develop low-cost alternatives to existing stand- off detection systems. CCDC’s Chemical Biological Center knew about the persis- tent threat of nonconventional weapons


Program offices and CCDC engineers have leveraged FAST effectively. Te teams that were most successful learned through experience to follow these four guidelines


from North Korea, and standoff detection systems were of great interest to USFK.


What the engineers needed was an opera- tional test to move their work toward transition and integration under JPEO-CBRND’s portfolio. Treat imaging dual-use aerosol monitoring alarms/security represented a low- cost, multicomponent camera that provided infrared and thermal detec- tion. While these capabilities are not new on the battlefield, the subcom- ponents and algorithms built into the camera system gave it a superpower: the ability to detect chemical agents at a distance.


After developing three prototype systems, the next step was to test the threat-imaging technology in a realistic environment that would challenge its capabilities. Coinciden-


tally, the USFK FAST Office had just received a call from the United Nations multinational battalion at the Demilita- rized Zone, seeking assistance in repairing their aging camera system, which was used to provide U.S. and South Korean troops with situational awareness on one of the most fortified borders in the world.


The threat-imaging system would fill this niche requirement perfectly, provid- ing U.S. Soldiers on the front lines with enhanced cameras while allowing a team of engineers to gather valuable data on the system’s operation in a field environ- ment, with complications such as extreme weather, Asia’s famed “yellow dust” and even enemy spoofing attempts. Te FAST team took the reins and sought concur- rence from USFK’s J-3 (operations), J-8 (budget, requirements, analysis and modernization) and legal offices, as well as the U.N.’s Command Military Armistice Commission. Te commission, estab- lished in July 1953 at the conclusion of


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