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Staying Connected in Challenging Environments

Army leaders are utilizing a new, more convenient way to communicate and transfer data in a safer and more effective manner, even in places where it is difficult to access networks.

Military and industry officials share their insights during a panel discussion at TechNet Pacific Northwest 2025 on February 26, 2025.

U.S. Army officials are in the process of employing more movable “edge node” devices across their services to help soldiers stay connected and up to date no matter the environment.

This tool gives warfighters the ability to access their network, SharePoint, email, etc., even in places where they cannot connect to the cloud, according to Col. Rett Burroughs, chief information officer and G6, I Corps. More specifically, this capability allows for soldiers in two different areas to access the same, updated data even if someone changed the information, all while not being connected to the cloud, Burroughs explained during an interview at TechNet Pacific Northwest 2025.

“If I lose connectivity, anything I have in the cloud is gone,” Burroughs said. “I’m not going to be on this island—the second island chain, first island chain—and be able to receive any of my data or do any of the work that I need to do. That’s why I have edge nodes. So now, I can continue to work with my edge nodes that have all of my cop, voice, video, data storage in their SharePoint, email, chat, etc.”

“When that breaks, and I’m over here and you’re over there, I’m not going to be able to talk to you, but what I can do is I can still send you some emails, still send you some documents,” Burroughs added. “My SharePoint is replicated, just like your SharePoint; your edge node is here, my edge node is here. And then I make changes to some stuff; you make some changes to the same stuff. How do we make sure that data synchrony happens in harmony? And so kind of working through those [details].”

With the immense help of industry partners like Core Systems (ATMOS series), HP and Dell, Army personnel are getting these tools into the hands of the warfighters as quickly as possible.

The new devices are offering warfighters a much more convenient option. Military personnel can communicate with their fellow comrades via edge node even if the one they are using is not made by the same company. Additionally, the devices are smaller, more easily transported and more powerful than the tools that were used before this development, according to Burroughs.

“I need to be pretty mobile, so I don’t need 650-pound stacks,” Burroughs said. “I don’t need big Humvees. I need something that I can quickly carry; I can set it down, I can plug it in, and then I can connect.”

“Now I have stuff I can check in my luggage, and it has more compute power than 650 pounds of servers from the old days that’s been issued to us,” Burroughs added.

Prior to this development, isolated and secluded environments pertaining to connectivity would prevent soldiers from accessing any information, leaving them uninformed and unprepared.

Meanwhile, crews are also taking measures on the safety and security side. Edge node users shut down their devices when they do not need them to hide their tools and data from adversarial threats, according to Burroughs.