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AUSTIN, Texas — As the Army expands efforts to shape and modernize the future force, it is coordinating with experts across the U.S. government to ensure breakthrough advances in future warfighting equipment and strategies are protected from adversaries.

Army Futures Command leaders recently met with Dr. Stacey Dixon, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, at the command’s Austin headquarters to discuss Army-led modernization activities and technological innovations. The visit included a trip to the nearby Army Software Factory, where Soldiers shared with Dr. Dixon their motivations for wanting to contribute directly to the creation of new tech solutions for the Army.

“Deep partnerships across government are essential to maintaining a competitive technological advantage for the U.S., and I enjoyed meeting firsthand the talented Soldiers who are equipping warfighters with modern, tech-enabled solutions to advance our national security,” said Dr. Dixon. Dr. Dixon’s visit also underscored the critical importance of safeguarding development in future tools and concepts — an aim shared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. Army.

Through its Tech Protect initiative and rigorous information review process, the Army is actively minimizing the risk of compromising sensitive or proprietary information to ensure the U.S. maintains substantial technological advantages.

“We’re putting in a tremendous amount of effort at AFC to develop state-of-the art systems, equipment and strategies that will provide us with technological overmatch on future battlefields,” said Ed Mornston, Director of Intelligence and Security at Army Futures Command.

“Protecting these advances from compromise by those who seek to do us harm is a central part of our planning,” Mornston said.

The Army estimates that in recent years, 80 percent of compromised information has been obtained through unclassified or improperly secured controlled unclassified information.

With the implementation of Tech Protect, however, the Army, working with the Intelligence Community, has established additional protections to prevent foreign interests from stealing valuable intellectual property and repurposing if for their own military advances.

This enhanced protection posture, which includes reducing unprotected information exchange, ensures that Army modernization activities are able to proceed uninterrupted and ultimately deliver unrivaled operational capabilities to the future force.

By Maureena Thompson, Army Futures Command

FORT KNOX, Ky. — The Army Geospatial Center has assisted in further modernizing the 412th Theater Engineer Command’s Engineer-Focused Intelligence Training, or ENFIT, geospatial intelligence procedures with two portable high speed imagery servers.

The OPTIA-produced “ammo can” and smaller-sized portable imagery server from TerraMaster provide Engineers with rapid access global map data without reliance on network speeds or bandwidth limitations. The unit connects a laptop to either device and pulls what they need directly from it, cutting down research and product development by as much as 50 percent.

Jorge Morales, Team Lead Geographer with the AGC Warfighter Support Directorate, stated that the AGC integrated both portable systems into the ENFIT program as of the third quarter of 2021, so the AGC anticipated units to send in results of their use shortly.

“The ‘ammo can’ has about 25 terabytes in storage,” he said. “That fits all of the geospatial maps with space to spare for more.”

Morales explained that the maps already on the devices varied depending on what engineers needed, but each were as detailed down to as much as half a meter. He said they provided a “hybrid solution” with both three dimensional and simulation capabilities.

Armed with comprehensive imagery of the entire world, regardless of depth or height, Army Engineers can precisely direct and reinforce U.S. military efforts for assured mission success. Further, at an estimated five pounds each, the servers prove an easy, more than acceptable burden for any unit.

ENFIT is a specialized course where Soldiers use updated geospatial analytic tools with rapid terrain analysis — geospatial data being facts about occurrences, objects and events that are associated with a particular location on Earth’s surface. These give engineer commanders proper foundational, geographical knowledge to make the right decisions as to where operations should take place.

Maj. Gen. Stephen Strand, 412th TEC Commander, emphasized that ENFIT provides new methods to improve top-tier planning for the Army Reserve.

“The ENFIT program significantly enhances the geospatial engineering capabilities of the [412th Theater Engineer Command],” said Strand. “It’s a great program to develop the bench needed to maintain proficiency for years to come.”

Col. Steven Hayden, 412th Theater Engineer Command Chief of Staff, concurred on Strand’s assessment, adding that ENFIT allows Soldiers to use geospatial analytic tools to provide commanders with terrain analysis that shape the battlefield and drive decision.

ENFIT continues in Alexandria, Virginia throughout 2022 with more classes that include these and more modernizing devices.

By MAJ William Allred and SFC Tony Foster, 412th Theater Engineer Command