From the Editor-in-Chief P
ortrayals of technology entwined with daily life in cult favorites such as “Tron,” “Westworld” and, most recently, “Te Peripheral” are quickly coming true. Te future is less and less about hardware and more
and more about software. You only have to follow the ongo- ing war in Ukraine to see that while physical weapons systems such as M777 howitzers, tanks and drones are still the weapons of choice, cyberattacks—including malware, phishing, denial of service and other attacks—that take advantage of software vulnerabilities, are on the rise like never before.
Everything that Army acquisition, logistics and technology does on behalf of the Soldier could—and perhaps should—include digital transformation. From artificial intelligence, augmented reality, hypersonics, cyber and electromagnetic activities to robotics, swarming, advanced materials, bioengineering, quan- tum information sciences, space technologies and biometrics. Everything, it seems, is going digital.
Now, to be sure, it’s not as if Army acquisition just woke up and realized there was a digital transformation. Far from it. Army acquisition is in the lead for creating the very systems I mentioned above. But it’s the speed of this transformation that is now taking over and getting everyone’s attention, and thus the need for Army acquisition to ensure that digital transfor- mation is baked into every aspect of acquisition.
Te Army’s program executive offices are the tip of the spear in this transformation and are addressing the digital aspect in everything they produce. For example, instead of forcing digi- tal solutions onto a program, we should change the culture and inculcate the workforce to think digitally. Tat’s what the new Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Data, Engineering and Software (DASA DES) is developing with its newly established playbook. Making digital engineering a “team sport,” the DASA DES playbook lays out a few key initiatives that are laser focused on driving digital transformation within the acquisition community. Read more about it in the article “Quarterbacking Digital Transformation,” Page 30.
Incorporating unprecedented situational awareness enhanced by augmented reality, sophisticated mesh networking and artificial
intelligence into our systems is the future. Understand how the Army is developing its first artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI and ML) operations pipe- line with “Project Linchpin.” Tis effort will deliver AI and ML capabilities to sensors for faster and more accurate decision-making, marking the future of overmatch in multidomain operations. Learn more about
it in
“Heard it Trough the Pipe- line,” Page 42. And digital transformation is no accident. It takes time, planning and lots and lots of analysis.
Nelson McCouch III @
armyalt@army.mil
Learn how the Army Chief Information Officer, Raj Iyer, Ph.D., is guiding the Army’s digital transformation journey as he discusses successes with digital transformation and provides examples of Army wins with capability portfolio reviews, software acquisition, commercial services, the retirement of NIPRnet and more in “Irreversible Momentum,” Page 10.
Finally, while this magazine focuses extensively on acquisition and its people, our people are more than just acquisition. Take a moment to meet Adina Peyton, a longtime instructor at the U.S. Army Acquisition Center of Excellence in Huntsville, Alabama, in “Mission of Change,” Page 114. After losing her son in a police shooting, she found a new purpose—supporting first responders who experience trauma—through the nonprofit she founded in 2022 called “Getting Real About Mental Illness,” or GRAMI for short.
Tere are many more fascinating articles in this issue, as well as extended content on our website and social media sites, and I encourage you to explore them all at
www.asc.army.mil. If you have an idea for a story, have written one yourself or just want to comment on the magazine, please contact us at
armyalt@army.mil. We look forward to hearing from you.
Nelson McCouch III Editor-in-Chief
https://asc.ar my.mil 3
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