Transforming in Contact: 3rd Brigade Pioneers Army Tech in Active Theater
The U.S. Army’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, was tasked with integrating technological advancements into equipment and force structure during its nine-month rotational deployment in Europe, where the team served as the Army’s only transformation in contact (TiC) 1.0 unit in an active theater.
“When our deployment began nine months ago, the Army asked us to do two things: become more mobile and become more lethal,” said Col. Josh Glonek, commander of the brigade.
Glonek conducted a media roundtable on May 2 as a part of the Army Current Operations Engagement Tour, where he shared the unit’s new advancements and lessons learned.
Unique to the soldiers' experience was that they were the first Army brigade to “transform in contact” while forward deployed. Transforming in contact is how the Army is adapting its organization and delivering new technologies into the hands of soldiers so they can experiment, innovate and be ready to fight on a modern battlefield. It accelerates fielding of necessary capabilities and leverages commercial off-the-shelf products to get new capabilities to the force fast.
As a TiC unit, the soldiers were prioritized to receive the newest warfighting capabilities, including more than 150 unmanned aerial systems and upgraded communications equipment.
“We also tested, for the first time, a prototype of the ISB-heavy, a hybrid power truck that contained enough onboard battery power to run our brigade command post for 24 hours without having to run external generators,” Glonek said.
They also reorganized the brigade's design to enhance their ability to employ these systems most effectively.
“We prototyped the creation of new companies that contain everything needed to sense, see and strike enemy targets, and we modified our logistical formations to facilitate decentralized and dispersed resupply on the battlefield,” Glonek stated.
The unit’s applied lessons learned from the war in Ukraine also enhanced readiness by advancing Army efforts, including ground mobility, command control and electronic warfare.
“From our observations, one thing is crystal clear,” Glonek said. “The battlefield is rapidly evolving. The mass use of drones coupled with artillery and precision strike munitions is changing the character of war. Sensors have become ubiquitous, making it extremely hard for military forces to hide, and the Army certainly recognizes that we must rapidly adopt new technologies and optimize our force structure to succeed on this new battlefield.”
When our deployment began nine months ago, the Army asked us to do two things: become more mobile and become more lethal.
The team was faced with some challenges while incorporating these new technologies, including facing below-freezing weather conditions in Germany, which affected the flight time and ability to employ some of the drones.
Having technology that is powered by rechargeable batteries also created a challenge. The team recommended that the Army explore additional power generation capabilities, specifically those that can be brought forward, closer to the front lines.
“Every time a drone comes out of the sky, the first thing we need to do is to detach the batteries and put them on a charger so we can get the drone back up,” Glonek said. “There’s a need for more power generation out on the battlefield, and that's one of the takeaways that the Army is going to continue to explore as we look to increase battery and power technology in the future.”
“The outcomes and lessons from this exercise, as well as feedback from the other two transformation in contact 1.0 brigades, have contributed to an ongoing process that will significantly change how our infantry brigades are equipped in how they fight,” Glonek said.
“The Army will convert all infantry brigade combat teams to mobile brigade combat teams to improve mobility and enhance lethality,” he said.
