ARMY AL&T
been executed under an Army Futures Command-mandated requirement with a cross-functional team.
“This is the first equipping that has ”
direct suggestions regarding usability and functionality. Te goal was to ensure that the hardware didn’t merely accomplish the task, but was able to do so in a way that was “Joe proof”—that it worked in a way that was compatible with how Soldiers are trained to approach problems and use equipment.
SOLDIER FEEDBACK INFORMS TRAINING Training that implemented extensive Soldier feedback reinforced the lessons learned during installation.
Every day in September, other members of PM PNT, with assistance from the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, provided extensive new equip- ment training to two squads or half a platoon of Soldiers. Te team’s goal was to train roughly a company’s worth of Soldiers before the team left Germany in early October.
Joan Rousseau, chief of the command’s Army Space Training Program Inte- gration, provided a primer on signal power and effects, and Dan Sweet and Ray Johnson, trainers with PM PNT, explained how MAPS provides protec- tion and bolsters capability in denied or degraded environments. Classroom sessions were followed by hands-on expe- rience and troubleshooting with installed MAPS systems.
“Tis new system is … more flexible than the older DAGR [Defense Advanced GPS Receiver] system,” said Spc. Connor Anderson, an infantryman who took the MAPS GEN I familiarization training.
“Te old DAGR was only able to serve one client system. MAPS can serve up to seven.”
CONCLUSION Kioutas and PM PNT are already prepar- ing for the future of MAPS. GEN II
“upselect”—or advancing a contract to the next stage of development—has just been awarded via an OTA, Kioutas said, and will improve the availability and integrity of the system, including signal availabil- ity and reliable cross-reference information such as atmospherics and elevation.
Te APNT Cross-Functional Team also continues to work on the project, Nelson said, and is leading a modeling and simu- lation effort that will simulate dynamic GPS scenarios to assess current and emerg- ing APNT, space and navigation warfare technologies. “Te primary focus is to baseline how GPS is used for mission thread analyses [complete analyses of an aspect of a mission from start to finish] and assist the Army in determining where complementary PNT sensors will enhance mission effectiveness,” he explained. “Tis will enable GPS- challenged environ- ments to be transitioned into meaningful mission-effectiveness models that can inform commanders, the requirements
community and acquisition managers.” Such models explore how a piece of equip- ment functions to complete a mission, where it can be improved and what doesn’t need to change.
Te information and lessons that the PM PNT team gathered from this equip- ping mission will be applied for years to come. By ensuring that mechanics and technicians can implement the hardware installation quickly, as well as ensur- ing the functionality of and training on that equipment, MAPS GEN I will lay the foundation for hardware upgrades for generations of MAPS systems.
For more information, go to https://
www.pmpnt .army.mi l /, https: //
www.army.mil/futures or https://
www.army.mil/futures#org-about.
JOHN HIGGINS is a public affairs officer with the Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors. He is an Iraq War veteran and former public affairs Soldier. He holds a B.A. in film production from Towson University. He is a frequent contributor to Army AL&T and his last article, “Te Making of a Packard,” appeared in the Spring 2019 edition.
CAITLIN O’NEILL is director for strate- gic communications and public affairs for the APNT Cross-Functional Team and previously served as the public affairs offi- cer for PM PNT. She has a Master of Public Administration from George Mason Univer- sity and a B.S. in criminal justice from Virginia Commonwealth University.
https://asc.ar my.mil
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