Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sorenson, USA, chief information officer (CIO)/G-6 policy, and Maj. Gen. Nickolas Justice, USA, program executive officer, Command, Control and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), had a lot to say about innovation in the U.S. Army at the Gov 2.0 Summit last week.

Panel moderator Dr. Linton Wells, Transformation Chair and distinguished research professor at National Defense University, asked them why pursue innovation on the edge. Gen. Sorenson took the opportunity to explain challenges faced by the military in today’s enviroment. “If you look at warfare today, it has dramatically changed from when your father or grandfather fought it,” he said. “We have to function in environments that are asymmetrical, where the enemy is not in uniform and may be in front, behind, around you.” He made a distinction between strategic operations and tactical operations but noted that the two are no longer separate. “You now have tactical forces doing strategic operations,” he explained. “They have to have the best situational awareness at that front edge. The only way to do that is to make sure that data [they need to complete the mission] is available accessible and accurate.”

Gen. Justice had a different perspective on why innovation matters most on the front line. “It’s all about money,” he said. “If I can get my warfighters to solve my problems for me, then I don’t have to go back to the Pentagon to ask for the money to address these capabilities.”

Gen. Sorenson said that in his experience, he’d run across soldiers with intuitions or experience to discern what was needed. When that happens, he continued, “You get some magic.” He is always astonished to find that warfighters are “using systems in ways that were never imagined when we wrote the requirements for it.”

The generals acknowledged that security remains the stumbling block. “We have to ensure that soldiers can trust their network and that the information they are getting is verifiable,” said Gen. Sorenson. Warfighters must be able to trust in the information they get before they can engage, especially if hackers can tap in and change coordinates or instructions.

But, he added, AFRICOM sets a good example. Africa is not networked like Europe, Iraq, etc. “Social networking sites are a way to get messages out from an operational standpoint.”

And these platforms are changing the way military branches recruit. Facebook and Twitter in particular help potential recruits see that the Army is relevant as more people tell their stories using these media. Gen. Justice mentioned that chat rooms and other tools enabled by Army Knowledge Online (AKO) are popular as well.

In the meantime, Gen. Sorenson said, the Army is working together with the Office of the Secretary of Defense to put together a policy for the Defense Department that will establish how social networks will be used.

As if the past eight years weren’t enough, the U.S. Army is undergoing even greater changes as it retools to fight conventional and unconventional conflicts. Its Future Combat Systems program, which was to define the Army for the coming decades, is going back to the drawing board. The use of kinetic force is yielding some quarters to digital operations, and new specialties are changing the way soldiers prepare for new missions.

The August issue of SIGNAL Magazine examines some of these new technologies. Leading off is Information Technology Drives Army Acquisition Changes, an article that looks at the challenges the Army faces as it tries to procure the latest information technologies for its warfighters on the battlefield. This article taps the expertise of Maj. Gen. Nick Justice, USA, program executive officer–command, control, communications tactical (PEO–C3T).

Many changes already have taken place within Army programs, and perhaps none is greater than the dismantling of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. Business Editor Henry S. Kenyon gives a good accounting of where the information technology elements of the FCS effort are headed in Army Modernization Takes Three Paths. He follows that piece with Army Readies for Electronic Warriors, an article about the Army’s new professional path for electronic warriors. And, News Editor Rita Boland steps up with Guidelines for Battle Preparation Become Virtual, an article on how the Army training community can find a Web 2.0 welcome wagon online.

All military operations depend on proper intelligence, and the Army is striving to improve its forces’ access to that vital asset. Sharing the Wealth Key to Army Intelligence describes two key Army programs that are designed to improve both access to intelligence data and processing by analysts.

Combating improvised explosive devices (IEDs) requires leaving no stone unturned in finding new solutions. In Scientists Search for Soldiers’ Sixth Sense, Boland writes how some researchers are looking at the human factor—why some people just seem to know where IEDs are hidden without benefit of any technology.

The U.S. Army Program Executive Office Soldier delivered 300 sets of the AN/PSQ-20 Enhanced Night Vision Goggles (ENVG) to the 10th Mountain Division, the first unit other than special forces to receive them. The ENVG incorporates image intensification and long-wave infrared sensors into a single integrated system. It has a thermal camera that increases mobility and situational awareness regardless of light, weather or battlefield conditions, and it offers faster threat recognition. The ENVG’s compatibility with current aiming lasers enables a fully integrated system of thermal, laser and image intensification. A digital update for the ENVG is in development. With that, soldiers will be able to import and export digital files.

U.S. Army attack helicopters operating in Southwest Asia now can receive video and data from unmanned aerial platforms, enhancing situational awareness and reducing sensor-to-shooter times. The Video from Unmanned Aerial Systems for Interoperability Teaming-Level 2 (VUITTM-2) capability provides the crews of AH-64 Apache attack helicopters with real-time streaming video and metadata shown on multipurpose displays.

The VUITTM-2 can transmit both Apache and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) video via a mini-tactical
common datalink to troops equipped with One System Remote Video Terminals. Army officials explain that the capability enables Apache aircrews to stream imagery to ground units such as Stryker vehicles on combat patrols. The real-time video provides immediate intelligence so that commanders can plan safer alternate routes.

The live UAS data also allows Apache crews to locate and engage time-critical targets quickly. Manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation, the VUITTM-2 was designed and fielded in less than seven months as part of a rapid fielding request from the U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff.

The U.S. Army is enhancing its mobile ground-based radars designed to detect incoming enemy artillery rounds. The AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder weapon-locating radar is a long-range system that is being deployed across the service to locate the sources of enemy mortar, artillery and rocket fire, and to relay that data for counterfire by friendly units.

As part of the Army’s Reliability Maintainability Improvement (RMI) program, the entire inventory of AN/TPQ-37 and AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder systems will be modified with a modular, air-cooled transmitter and new common radar processors.

ThalesRaytheonSystems officials, the company that is contracted for the modifications, note that the upgrades will significantly reduce life-cycle costs, provide higher operational availability and extend the radar’s expected operational life to the year 2030. The modifications are part of a $285 million production contract.

A U.S. Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) is part of the joint mission of the U.S. Air Force 380th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia. The new role marks the first operational mission for the BAMS UAS—a maritime derivative of the RQ-4 Global Hawk—although the aircraft has been used in noncombat roles.

BAMS’ arrival in Southwest Asia is the culmination of more than five months of a joint effort to stand up a maritime surveillance presence in the region. The move came when Navy officials responded to a Defense Department request for more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets in the area.

Air Force personnel will control the system at the forward operating location, and Air Force instructors will train naval aviators. Experts from both military services have come together to create a process to ensure that differences in operational and maintenance rules and standards are identified and resolved quickly.

The U.S. Army is establishing an Electronic Warfare (EW) 29-series career field for officers, warrant officers and enlisted personnel that will cover topics ranging from information operations to improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Approximately 1,600 EW personnel will be added to the Army during the next three years. The service is considering expanding the career field by as many as 2,300 in the near future.

Personnel in this career field will be considered experts in fighting the threat of IEDs. In addition, they will guide commanders in the effects of the electromagnetic spectrum on operations as well as counsel them about how friendly EW can support tactical and operational objectives.

Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, USA, former commander of Multinational Corps–Iraq, identified the urgent need for EW specialists and capability in 2006 when he placed U.S. Navy EW officers with ground combat units in Iraq to manage electromagnetic spectrum. Creating the new Army career field enables more
efficient soldier preparation to help mitigate ways enemies use electromagnetic spectrum against U.S. troops, Gen. Chiarelli says.

The U.S. Army has halted the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program because development costs have almost tripled to $942 million from $359 million. In addition, deliveries were scheduled to begin in 2009 but had been pushed back to 2013. Army officials say they need helicopters now and will re-evaluate the requirements for a reconnaissance helicopter. In the meantime, the service branch will put more effort into the existing Kiowa Warrior fleet. The Army will implement a safety enhancement program to standardize that fleet and improve its effectiveness in combat. The upgrades include improved sensors, weapons systems and survivability equipment.

The U.S. Army has taken delivery of equipment of the first increment of the Warfighter Information Network–Tactical (WIN-T). This phase of the program builds on the former Joint Network Node network and offers high-capacity secure communications when warfighters are not in transit. Devices include network hubs, management suites and nodes. The 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team is training with the equipment to prepare for operational tests and evaluations. The second increment of the program will include an initial on-the-move broadband networking capability using satellite and radio links. Fielding of phase-two equipment is scheduled to occur next year.