Army | Soldier Systems Daily Soldier Systems Daily

Archive for the ‘Army’ Category

Summit Predicts Army of 2030, Future Designs for 2040

Sunday, August 6th, 2023

FORT LIBERTY, N.C. — Achieving the Army of 2030 and designing the Army of 2040 will require transformative vision, thoughtful leadership and sound investment, according to speakers at the July 26-27 Association of the U.S. Army Warfighter Summit and Exposition in Fayetteville, N.C.

Senior Army leaders from nearby Fort Liberty, N.C., across the U.S. Army and industry provided details and discussions on “America’s Army: Ready for Today, Modernizing for 2030 and Beyond.” The theme echoes the Army’s three priorities: people, readiness and modernization. This is the second year AUSA hosted the Warfighter Summit.

More than 800 attendees heard about the future of Soldier training and Army doctrine, Army modernization over the next seven to 17 years, the XVIII Airborne Corps’ role as America’s Contingency Force, the role of Army Security Force Assistance Brigades in 2030, insights from recent conflicts in Europe, training units at the Army’s Combat Training Centers and irregular war campaigning for 2030 with U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

The summit’s primary focus is the Soldier and the defense industry professionals who support the Army warfighter. The summit linked Fort Liberty Soldiers and senior leaders with industry partners to increase understanding of the Army’s emerging requirements and strengthen the partnership between Fort Liberty, AUSA and the surrounding community. Over 65 exhibitors highlighted organizations that provide Soldiers with educational and employment opportunities, military equipment and high-tech devices. The audience included active-duty Army, U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers.

In addition to civilian, commercial vendors, the Warfighter Summit featured U.S. Army equipment, including: the Joint Lightweight Tactical Vehicle, the Infantry Squad Vehicle, the Polaris MRZR-D4, the Ground Mobility Vehicle, the MH-6M Light Assault Helicopter and the AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter.

The Army has been consistent and persistent in pursuing modernization initiatives to deliver the Army of 2030 and design the Army of 2040. It is committed to six modernization portfolios: long-range precision fires, next generation combat vehicle, future vertical lift, the network, air and missile defense, and Solider lethality.

Delivering the Army of 2030 and designing the Army of 2040 are priorities of Forces Command, Army Futures Command and Army Training and Doctrine Command. All three commands — as well as the U.S. Army Special Operations Command — were represented at the two-day professional forum.

The Warfighter Summit opened July 26 with a keynote presentation by Gen. Gary Brito, commanding general of Training and Doctrine Command.

“The Army’s most valuable asset is its people,” said Gen. Gary Brito, commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. “This is a big, total-team effort and we will succeed at this,” Brito said. “To deliver the Army of 2030 and get ready for 2040, we are turning today’s recruiting challenge into an opportunity and continuing to innovate our talent management approaches.”

“From an acquisition lens, 2030 is really tomorrow,” he said.

Brito said the Army is at an “inflection point right now,” facing changes like those it made 50 years ago at the start of the all-volunteer force and the creation of TRADOC and FORSCOM.

“I think from a technology perspective, this is probably the most disruptive period of time since World War II,” said Gen. James Rainey, Army Futures Command commanding general.

“War remains a contest of wills between human beings: people,” Rainey said. “You have to be able to impose your will. You have to be willing to pay the cost. Because of that, we are going to need the U.S. Army to be able to dominate the land domain … anywhere against any body as part of a joint force with partners and allies. To do that, we need people ”

FORSCOM Command Sgt. Maj. Todd Sims celebrated his 53rd birthday with a keynote speech at the AUSA Summit.

“Kids these days. I’ve seen you on the job … In training, on deployments and with your teams. I know what you are all about. When I travel around the force, I witness levels of insight and resourcefulness among junior Soldiers.”

“Kids today are smart,” Sims said. “They have unfettered access to all the world’s information. They know how to navigate and apply it in useful ways. Smart young Soldiers have always been one of the Army’s biggest competitive advantages.”

Sims also spoke about “Training the Force of 2030” — to include the Army’s premier Combat Training Centers: the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California and the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, Lousiana.

Fort Liberty leaders emphasized the Army post’s role as America’s Contingency Force during a discussion by Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Liberty, and by XVIII Airborne Corps’ Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas J. “T.J” Holland.

“The XVIII Airborne Corps is really FORSCOM’s and the Army’s contribution to the contingency force,” Donahue said. “It’s made up of four separate divisions, but the ‘critical sauce’ is those separate brigades. That forms the Army’s contribution to any time we have to go anywhere to compete against any adversary across the globe. Fort Liberty is the strategic platform for the U.S. Army. It has every contingency Special Operations Forces; every contingency force on the larger capability is here.”

U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s deputy commanding general, Maj. Gen. Patrick Roberson, also highlighted Fort Liberty’s vital role in irregular warfare.

“USASOC provides all of the Army Special Operations Forces to the Joint Force,” Roberson said. Over the last 20 years, we were focused on irregular warfare campaigning throughout the world.”

Maj. Gen. Donn Hill, commanding general of the Army Security Force Assistance Command, also based at Fort Liberty, said “The adviser teams of today are designed to advise at the tactical level. We were all about counterinsurgency and stability operations, but the world has changed. The Army is changing.”

“We’re in 30 countries on any given day,” Hill said about the six security force assistance brigades. Additionally, the teams are on the ground persistently, spending six months with allied partner armies before they are replaced by another team of Soldiers.

Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, deputy Army chief of staff for installations, G-9, at the Pentagon discussed employment opportunities for Soldiers and spouses. “The G-9 enables readiness through our quality-of-life plans, programs and policies that help the Army recruit, train, fight and win,” he said.

A highlight of the Warfighter Summit was a discussion by Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, who spoke about the key leadership role of the U.S. Army’s Non-Commissioned Officer Corps. He also conducted a panel discussion with Fort Liberty NCOs and Soldiers about the 75th anniversary of the integration of the U.S. Armed Forces.

By FORSCOM Public Affairs

Posted in Army, AUSA, Forces Focus, Guest Post | 6 Comments »

Elbit America to Deliver Bradley Components for U.S. Army

Friday, August 4th, 2023

Gunner hand stations for multiple variants of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle contribute to Soldiers’ lethality and survivability on the battlefield

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – AUG. 2, 2023 – Elbit Systems of America (Elbit America) received a firm-fixed-price delivery order for gunner hand stations for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (Bradley) through the Defense Logistics Agency to support the United States Army. Production of the gunner hand stations will be conducted in Fort Worth, Texas and deliveries will begin in July 2024.

Gunner hand stations are used by Soldiers to position the turret and initiate signals to the fire control systems within multiple Bradley variants. No matter the mission in which the Bradley is used – transport or scouting – the gunner hand station is the same, providing superior capability to the gunner.

“For more than 20 years, Elbit America has designed and manufactured the hand stations for Bradley variants,” said Ridge Sower, Vice President for Ground Combat and Precision Targeting at the company. “Our expertise producing these components have led to modular designs and commonality across vehicle platforms. The end result is a superior, rugged solution that we can produce quickly and get to Soldiers on the battlefield.”

Elbit America currently provides gunner hand stations, commander hand stations, ruggedized tactical displays, the turret processor unit, and the single card turret processor unit for the Bradley Family of Vehicles.

Learn more about Elbit America’s land and C4I solutions at https://www.elbitamerica.com/land.

Posted in Army, Contracts, Press Release | 2 Comments »

Army Accepts Prototypes of the Most Advanced Version of IVAS

Friday, August 4th, 2023

This week, the Army accepted delivery of the first 20 prototypes of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) 1.2 variant. The milestone is the latest step in the process of getting the most advanced version of the situational awareness system in the hands of Soldiers.

Microsoft delivered the 20 prototypes to Project Manager Soldier Warrior (PM SWAR), the program office within Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier responsible for overseeing the development of IVAS.

IVAS is a single platform that features an all-weather fighting goggle and a mixed reality heads-up display that integrates next-generation situational awareness tools and high-resolution simulations to provide Soldiers with improved mobility and lethality, during the day or at night. IVAS provides Soldiers with a single device to fight, rehearse and train.

“This is a really big deal for the program,” said Col. Anthony Gibbs, PM SWAR. “A little over a year ago we did an operational test with version 1.0 of the system. We learned a lot. We got a lot of good Soldier feedback. So last summer we came back and restructured the program. We took those lessons learned and all that Soldier feedback and in less than a year have what we now call version 1.2 of the system.”

Soldiers and squads will use IVAS to gain a fuller understanding of their operational environment. Its enhanced low-light and thermal sensors improve target identification. IVAS integrates with ground and air platform sensors, allowing Soldiers to see outside vehicles before dismounting into a hazardous situation. IVAS provides 3D mapping and navigation capabilities and can ingest data from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

“[IVAS] complements what’s currently in the Army’s inventory while expanding close combat force capabilities by leveraging the digital architecture for shared awareness and computing at the edge,” said Lt. Col. Denny Dresch, Product Manager IVAS. “IVAS provides a first-person augmented reality perspective that enables the integrating of operational data such as routes and control measures into the person’s field of view.”

The system’s embedded training tool, the Squad Immersive Virtual Trainer (SiVT), also provides Soldiers objective-based scenarios and battle drills through holographic and mixed-reality imagery, giving units the flexibility to train their squads with minimal resources.

IVAS 1.2 builds and improves on the capabilities of previous versions of IVAS (IVAS 1.0 and IVAS 1.1). Specifically, IVAS 1.2 incorporates reliability upgrades, features an improved low-light sensor and introduces a new form factor with a lower profile heads-up display (HUD) with a distributed counterweight for improved user interface and comfort.

IVAS 1.2 also has the capability to attach to a combat helmet with a “hinged” device to allow Soldiers to raise and lower the display, similar to traditional night vision goggles.

IVAS 1.0 and IVAS 1.1 will primarily be issued to schoolhouses and operational units for use in training to support the Army’s Campaign of Learning. The close combat force will receive IVAS 1.2.

“Anybody who has had IVAS on, even the early versions, knows that this is a transformative capability and really has the potential to change the way that we fight,” said Gibbs. “This new version, 1.2, we think it’s really going to hit the mark in terms of what we need to put out there for our Soldiers to give them the situational awareness and the leap-ahead capability they need to stay ahead of our peers.”

The 20 prototypes will be featured at a User Assessment in August, during which two squads of Soldiers will use IVAS 1.2 to measure the system’s performance and ensure engineering efforts are on schedule and meeting design objectives.

Story by Frederick Shear, PEO Soldier

Posted in Army, Guest Post, Optics, PEO-Soldier, Sensors | 3 Comments »

Creating The Perfect Pitch

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023

Having a good idea is where you start, but where do you go from there?

The next step is getting buy-in and others involved, and to do that, you need a pitch.

Something that grabs the audience’s attention, conveys the value of your idea, and inspires people to action.

Not sure how to build one? Attend 82nd Innovation’s “Build the Perfect Pitch” class on 09AUG at the Airborne Innovation Lab on Fort Liberty.

RSVP: 82dinnovations@army.mil

Posted in Army, Guest Post | Comments Off on Creating The Perfect Pitch

Pershing Strike Lays the Groundwork for Successful Large-Scale Mobilizations

Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. — If the nation requires a large-scale mobilization of troops, First Army and its enterprise partners must be ready to deliver.

With that in mind, First Army has joined with nearly a dozen of those partners for Pershing Strike 23, a deliberate command post exercise, which began July 25 and runs through August 4. The event incorporates mobilization exercises conducted at mobilization force generation installations and involves more than 3,000 personnel at several installations including: Rock Island Arsenal; Fort Riley, Kansas; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Camp Atterbury, Indiana; and Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.

Also participating are staff members from First Army Division East and First Army Division West, at Fort Knox, Kentucky and Fort Cavazos, Texas, respectively.

Bradley White, chief of the First Army Plans and Mobilization Division, said the exercise serves to “demonstrate First Army’s ability to provide the pre- and post-mobilization training and support that our Reserve component partners will require to successfully prepare for a deployment in support of a combatant commander.”

The process gives insight into the effort, coordination, and cooperation that would be required of First Army and its enterprise partners in event of a large-scale mobilization operation, or LSMO. Such operations are crucial to the nation’s defense, noted Col. Shawn Creamer, First Army director of operations.

“The Reserve component comprises 52 percent of the total Army and many of the key enabler capabilities resident within the Army — engineers, logistics units, military police, etc. — disproportionately reside within the Reserve Component,” he said. “The Army and the joint force rely on the Reserve component, our citizen Soldiers, to sustain our global operations and activities, and to advance U.S. national interests. Without the efficient and effective mobilization of a well-trained Reserve component, the Army cannot deliver land power when asked and the joint force cannot win when called.”

This statement speaks to the importance of holding the exercise. “We use training and exercises like Pershing Strike to both validate our current plans and test out new concepts,” Creamer said. “We press these plans and concepts to the breaking point, to see what works and what doesn’t. Out of this we can not only adjust our plans to correct identified shortfalls, but more importantly, articulate areas of risk to Army senior leaders.”

Being ready to fight is what the Army is all about, noted Rick Fink, First Army director of training and exercises. “LSMO is the reason there is an Army and Pershing Strike stresses our entire system,” he said.

During Pershing Strike 23, units and Soldiers are hit with an array of challenges they must respond to quickly and calmly. Injects, be they related to weather, personnel or logistics, force the participants to react and adapt.

It is a continually improving process, Fink said, adding that First Army and its enterprise partners have taken lessons learned from previous Pershing Strike exercises, refined them and applied them to today’s environment. That momentum will continue as input from this iteration will be applied going forward.

“We’ve seen what works and we see what changes we need to make and asked how can we do this better, more efficiently and quicker,” he said. “All the information we’re collecting, the purpose is to enable leaders to better understand what is happening on the ground. They are empowered with the best information to make the best decisions.”

Along those lines, White said key goals of Pershing Strike include establishing a shared understanding “of the sheer heavy lifting (required) by the entire mobilization enterprise to successfully execute LSMO” and identifying “critical gaps in the enterprises’ capability and capacity to support LSMO and work towards solutions.”

He added that Pershing Strike and its associated mobilization exercises also serve to increase readiness of the involved units: “By bringing together the critical mobilization enterprise partners and providing a representation of the workload and stress on the mobilization enterprise that would be experienced during a LSMO event, each unit, headquarters and the enterprise partners can flesh out their policies, processes and procedures required to execute mobilization operations.”

While most First Army personnel were doing their usual jobs during Pershing Strike, Col. Stew James stepped back from his role as senior advisor to the Army National Guard for Pennsylvania to serve as an observer coach/trainer during the exercise. He explained his responsibility in that capacity was to “observe processes and provide feedback. I take what they said they did well last year and make sure they’re still progressing. We want to expand our knowledge and not take a step back.”

That requires working toward a common goal. “It’s a team effort,” James said. “You have to crosspollinate that knowledge across the enterprise to make it efficient. By getting enterprise partners involved, we’re going to be better at knowing the problem sets that will appear if we have to do a large-scale mobilization. Every commander’s update brief and battle update brief, there is knowledge shared and that’s the benefit of this.”

It’s all geared toward First Army and its partners leaving the exercise better than when they started. “We should see growth,” James said. “Each iteration of Pershing Strike, we are gaining organizational knowledge and experience. Building that mobilization knowledge is critical so that we are solving new problems, not re-learning old problems.”

White emphasized the crucial role played by First Army’s enterprise partners, which include U.S. Army Forces Command, Installation Management Command, the Army National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve, U.S. Army Medical Command, U.S. Army North, U.S. Transportation Command, Army Sustainment Command, Army Materiel Command, U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command and Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command.

“Without the enterprise we will be unable to be successful at our mission of providing trained and validated (Reserve component) forces for the combatant commander,” he said. “Without the enterprise we can’t move our mobilizing units and their equipment to and through the [mobilization force generation installation] to the port. We can’t feed, billet or move our mobilizing units during post-mobilization training and without the enterprise support at our [mobilization force generation installations] our training brigades cannot execute their training and validation mission.”

While the exercise ends next week, the process will continue. Lessons learned will be taken back to respective installations, added to standard operating procedures, drilled on again and integrated into a system that will have First Army ready to deliver trained and ready troops if called upon.

By Warren W. Marlow

Posted in Army, Forces Focus, Guest Post | 1 Comment »

Really Right Stuff – Sniper Tripod Advanced Kit Issued NSNs

Tuesday, August 1st, 2023

While this isn’t exactly a new item, it’s going to be new to many readers. Last May, the US Army issued NSNs for a new tripod kit from Really Right Stuff to update the old sniper kits.

The Sniper Tripod Advanced Kit (NSN: 1005-01-702-7501) consists of tripod, high-performance ball head, versatile clamps, and adaptable mounts as well as a carrying bag.

The core of this Made in the USA Kit is the RRS tripod which features carbon fiber legs which are both light and strong. The tripod can instantly transition from ground level to standing using their pull tabs. It features four leg sections meaning it can be made quite compact for travel, and will sustain a load of up to 80 pounds.

The component NSN list is:

SubA-TFCT-34L Tripod Only (No Anvil-30) 1005-01-702-7382

Anvil-30 ARC Ball Head (only): 1005-01-702-7401

STAK Carrying Bag: 1005-01-702-7517

USR 240mm: 1005-01-702-7494

M-LOK Hardware: 1005-01-702-7494

Harris Bipod Adapter (HBA): 1005-01-702-7507

SC-ARC Bipod Clamp: 1005-01-702-7507

VR-76: 1005-01-702-7489

MPR-73: 1005-01-702-7485

QD Leg Collar: 1005-01-702-7510

Apex QD Mount: 1005-01-702-7510

Foot Spikes: 1005-01-702-7415

Posted in Army, Weapon Accessories | 6 Comments »

US Army Training and Doctrine Command and US Army Forces Command celebrate 50 years

Monday, July 31st, 2023

WASHINGTON — This year marks 50 years since the founding of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and U.S. Army Forces Command.

“TRADOC today is not exactly like the TRADOC established in 1973, but throughout that time, the command has persevered as an organization and fulfilled its numerous missions — especially training” said Britt McCarley, TRADOC chief historian, who has been with the organization since 1988.

TRADOC and FORSCOM were founded during World War II as one organization known as the Army Ground Forces. When formed in 1942, the Army Ground Forces was the largest training organization ever established in the U.S. with 780,000 troops, which peaked at 12.2 million Soldiers by July 1, 1943.

After several reorganizations, Army Ground Forces finally settled into the two organizations they are today: TRADOC and FORSCOM. TRADOC and FORSCOM’s split 50 years ago came from a need to support two separate missions.

“TRADOC recruits and trains the next generation of Soldiers — develops adaptive leaders, helps modernize the force and shapes the culture of the Army. TRADOC was born out of innovation and that is still our mission today,” said Gen. Gary M. Brito, commanding general, TRADOC. Brito added that TRADOC provides institutional training throughout a Soldier’s career.

“TRADOC is improving our Army’s ability to fight and win large scale combat operations through the conduct of multi-domain operations.”

In addition to recruiting, training and education, TRADOC also establishes standards and drives improvement in the Army wherever it can. Whereas FORSCOM’s mission is to train and prepare the force to be globally responsive to build and sustain readiness for commander requirements.

“For me, the most rewarding part [of working for TRADOC] is the chance to be part of an organization that contributes to the common good of the United States,” McCarley said. “Defense of the nation is fundamental to the life of any country, and the opportunity to contribute to the larger American defense mission is the most rewarding part of my civilian service.”

On average, TRADOC trains more than 750,000 Soldiers and service members every year in its 32 Army training centers.

“I could not be more honored to serve with the dedicated team of civilian and military members, who support our Army mission every day,” Brito said. “But this 50-year anniversary isn’t TRADOC’s alone — it carries added significance to the Army as it is also the anniversary of U.S. Army Forces Command and the all-volunteer force. I look forward to our next 50 years and what the future has in store for our great Army.”

By SFC Michael Reinsch

Posted in Army, Guest Post | 3 Comments »

In Memoriam – MG Anthony Potts

Sunday, July 30th, 2023

We are saddened to report that MG Anthony “Tony” Potts, was the only fatality of a single engine plane crash last week in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Commissioning in the Aviation branch in 1986, general Potts was a Master Army Aviator having flown the AH64 Apache helicopter. During his service in the Acquisition Corps he held several posts including four years as Program Executive Officer Soldier where he oversaw multiple initiatives including the Next Generation Squad Weapons program.

Most recently, MG Potts served as Program Executive Office Command, Control & Communications-Tactical and was planning to retire soon.

General Potts will be greatly missed by his colleagues, friends and family.

May He Rest In Peace.

Posted in Army, Memorial, PEO-Soldier | 1 Comment »