Katie Cain
Army Acquisition leaders are implementing a new approach to equipment modernization—a comprehensive 30-year strategic planning process designed to harvest key lessons learned from more than a decade of war, identify current and anticipated capability gaps, recognize emerging threats and provide a detailed analysis of the service’s investments in science and technology (S&T) and material development.
As part of the 30-year plan, the Army is re-assessing S&T across all portfolios to create a detailed road map of our future capabilities, linking S&T investments with Programs of Record (PORs) and long-term sustainment strategy. This approach seeks to harness near-term capability and identify emerging technologies for the future in order to sustain an agile, deployable, technologically superior force able to keep pace with rapid technological change.
The Army is working to lay out current and planned capabilities across a 30-year time span and aligning not only processes to support the plan but, but also aligning organizations in order to employ better business practices. As a result, in January, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)) consolidated two directorates – the Office of the Chief Systems Engineer (OCSE) and the System of Systems Integration (SoSI) Directorate – into the Systems of Systems Engineering and Integration (SoSE&I) Directorate.
The reorganization was the result of a directive to merge from Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, ASA(ALT) Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management (DASM), in an effort to continue to advance the Army’s agile acquisition process, improve efficiencies, enhance long-term strategic needs planning and lower overall acquisition costs.
A Soldier from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division (2/1 AD) uses a Nett Warrior handheld connected to a Rifleman Radio to pass information during operations at the Army’s Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 13.1 on Nov. 9, 2012. The Rifleman Radio and Nett Warrior are key to connecting dismounted leaders into the tactical communications network through voice and data. (Photo credit: Claire Heininger, U.S. Army)
A System of SoS
SoSE&I provides coordinated system-of-systems (SoS) analysis, engineering, and architectural and integration products to facilitate how the Army efficiently shapes, manages, validates and synchronizes the fielding of integrated materiel capabilities. Comprising two directorates – SoS Integration (SoSI) and SoS Engineering (SoSE) – SoSE&I combines the systems integration and engineering offices into one organization, allowing for more efficient and effective cooperation to enhance the Army’s long-term planning objectives.
“Bringing engineering and integration together gives us the ability to look at a system of systems across the Army and incorporate it into our long-term strategic planning,” said Terry Edwards, Executive Director, SOSE&I. “We’re able to look out at how we shape the Army’s architecture to be more capable, but also how we deliver that capability in a more efficient manner.”
The office now shapes and analyzes near-term and long-term systems integration and architecture engineering across Army program portfolios. This will allow the Army to better communicate to industry and the research and development community how portfolios align and integrate over time, allowing for better planning of independent research and development (IR&D) resourcing.
Using the SoS approach, SoSI is charged with synchronizing integration and interoperability across Program Executive Offices (PEOs) and Army PORs, current force systems and other doctrine, organization, training, leadership, personnel and facilities (DOTLPF) elements to achieve integrated capabilities for a full-spectrum force. SoSE plans, analyzes, organizes and integrates the capabilities of both new and existing systems into a SoS capability to achieve necessary end-to-end coordination and performance. The third major component of the organization, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) coordinates across PEOs and serves as conduit to G-6 in the transformation to deliver timely, trusted, and shared information across the ASA(ALT) community. The result is better collaboration and more efficient and effective cooperation to enhance our long-term planning objectives.
Soldiers, engineers, trail bosses and other personnel prepare for the Army’s Network Integration Evaluation (NIEs) at the Integration Motor Pool, located at Fort Bliss, Texas. At the Motor Pool, the Army’s System of Systems Integration (SoSI) Directorate leads integration of network equipment onto various vehicle platforms, and validates system performance prior to the start of the evaluations. NIE 13.2, the service’s fifth NIE slated for May 2013, will focus on continued solidification of the network baseline and be used to execute the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 Follow-on Operational Test and Evaluation (FOT&E). (Photo credit: Travis McNiel, System of Systems Engineering & Integration (SoSE&I) Directorate)
Combining Engineering and Execution
“You have SoSE, which is the engineering side, and you have SoSI, which is the execution side,” said Col. Rob Carpenter, SoSI Director. “SoSI implements the plans and architecture that have been put together by SoSE. We do everything from lab-based risk reduction, all the way to capability set fielding. SoSI did this before the organizations merged, but now our starting point is an architecture that’s been produced by SoSE. The biggest benefit is having a direct connection between a handoff of products between the engineering side and the integration side so we’re not duplicating any efforts.”
By eliminating the duplication of requirements for PEOs, SoSE&I is reducing duplicate budget requirements, and creating efficiencies in design, operations, and sustainment that will result in lower costs to the Army, and creating specifications/standards to simplify integration.
Consolidating the organizations created an optimum balance of personnel and resources, which in turn is enabling more effective communication with industry partners, both small and large, who participate in the Army’s Network Integration Evaluations (NIEs). SoSI is the Army’s materiel integrator and synchronizer in support of all phases of the Agile Process and the NIE. NIEs are now helping to shape “agile” capability integration by assessing Soldier provided and technical operational test data to influence not only how the Army procures capability, but also how integrated network capability requirements are validated and refined.
In April/May, the Army will conduct its fifth NIE, known as NIE 13.2, to execute the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 Follow-on Operational Test and Evaluation (FOT&E). WIN-T Increment 2 is the backbone of the Army’s tactical network, providing key Mission Command On-the-Move capability beyond what is available in today’s operational force. A positive FOT&E will solidify the network baseline and allow additional industry and government solutions to be integrated and evaluated as part of the Army tactical network.
