TRANSFORMING IN CONTACT


Futures Command and other stakehold- ers are participating in these assessments to quickly translate operational feedback into action.


“The Soldier feedback process is not linear, so we rely on operational exercises, targeted experimentation and formal pilots to obtain the feedback the Army needs to make informed decisions,” said Program Executive Officer Mark Kitz, with the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications – Tacti- cal (PEO C3T), which leads the Army’s network and C2 portfolio.


To jump-start the new transformation effort from a network perspective, the Army chose the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to experiment with multiple networked communications technolo- gies. Te unit used these systems before and during its third annual Operation Lethal Eagle exercise. Held in April 2024, it was designed to build Soldier and unit lethality and to assess the 2nd Brigade’s transformation from an infantry brigade combat team to a mobile brigade combat team. Te brigade will continue to employ the systems at a Joint Readiness Training Center rotation later this year.


Te 101st continues to provide compre- hensive feedback on technology and organizational changes that may be needed to ensure the right skill set is at the right echelon to conduct the fight. At the division command post, for example, the unit is handling network architecture that was previously relegated to the brigade level. Additionally, aircraft pilots and dismounted Soldiers are find- ing new ways to communicate and share information during long-range air assaults.


“Te division just completed the first comprehensive field assessment of the


38 Army AL&T Magazine Summer 2024


Army’s transformation in contact efforts by capitalizing on its unique training glide path to experiment with organizational change and inject modern capabilities at scale and under load,” said Maj. Paul Bingham, maneuver planner for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).


“Te timing was perfect, just based on where we were in our training, to take the newest thing and incorporate it,” said Col. Clinton Cody, Combat Aviation Brigade commander for the 101st. “We’ve been pushing the limits when it comes to large-scale combat operations … [and] we bring a unique perspective to the ground force and giving them that asymmetrical advantage.”


COMMS ON-THE-MOVE Army leaders have identified C2 on-the- move (OTM) as a critical enabler to increase survivability and provide commanders with the flexibility to fight and win against near-peer adversar- ies during multidomain and large-scale combat operations. (See “Command and Control On-Te-Move” in the Spring 2024 issue of Army AL&T).


Te critical first step to achieve C2 OTM has been aligned under the Command Post Integrated Infrastructure (CPI2) experimentation and limited user test, conducted with the 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington.


Te CPI2 capability provides modular command post capability that integrates network and communications technol- ogies, including the Integrated Tactical Network (ITN), into the family of medium tactical vehicle platforms, replacing exist- ing tent-based command post capability.


“The conf lict taking place in Europe continues to validate the need for mobile


command posts,” said Lt. Col. Herb Gamble, CPI2 product manager within PEO C3T. “Mobility


signif icantly


increases survivability and it also provides the commander with the flexibility to command from anywhere in the fight.”


In 2023, the 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team experimented with various vehi- cle types and sizes, from the smaller Humvees, which were used as a tactical command post, up to Mobile Command Platform Vehicles, which were used for more comprehensive command post func- tions such as intelligence and network operations.


Te limited user test pushed the brigade combat team further onto the range, generating additional feedback on the need for onboard power versus a micro- grid, which required platforms to be tethered to a power source. Te network program integration team installed gener- ators on each vehicle platform in just two months. As a result, the unit now has more mobility to quickly emplace and displace vehicle-based command posts, which would increase survivability in a real-world operation.


Army leaders are now pushing for even greater mobility and less complexity at brigade level and below, citing the need to move the command post quickly and “hide in plain sight” from an electromag- netic signature perspective.


“We must have high-throughput, low- latency bandwidth and the ability to function in a dispersed environment, while minimizing electromagnetic signa- ture,” Gamble said. “In addition to speed, we need to understand how our signatures appear in the electromagnetic spectrum to ensure we can’t be targeted.”


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