WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency’s ability to recruit and retain top talent is key to meeting the demands of the future, agency Director Army Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, said today.

Nakasone said the rapid evolution of technology continues to reshape the national security landscape and how his agency responds to new threats, but people remain central to the NSA’s mission.

“A lot of times we think about the incredible technological capabilities and the high-speed computers that are there, but, at the end of the day, what makes us the agency that we are is our talent,” he said during a discussion in Washington hosted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, a trade organization focused on public-private national security partnerships.

Earlier this year, the National Security Agency launched its largest hiring surge in three decades with a goal of hiring more than 3,000 new employees by the end of 2023.

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Nakasone said the NSA is “moving very quickly” to meet that goal, but said numbers are only part of the overall objective.

He said the agency has also focused on improvements to its recruiting and retention practices to ensure it attracts a “future-ready workforce.”

“How do we think about a population that is over 50% today millennials and [Generation Z]?” he said. “Ten years ago, 70% of our workforce was baby boomers. Five years ago, Gen Z and millennials overtook baby boomers. Five years from now, 70% will be Gen Z and millennials.”

“This is the workforce that is coming into our agency, so this is an agency that is looking much differently in how we retain our workforce,” he said.

That approach includes a focus on adapting to work-life balance demands and easing career mobility between the government and private sector.

That workforce will be on the frontlines of significant change as the agency adapts to technologies — such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing — that Nakasone said will have a significant impact on the national security landscape.

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The NSA has been forward-leaning in its approach to game these game changers.

Earlier this year, Nakasone, who also commands U.S. Cyber Command and serves as the chief of the Central Security Service, announced the creation a new entity to oversee the development and integration of artificial intelligence capabilities within U.S. national security systems.

The AI Security Center will become the focal point for developing best practices, evaluation methodology and risk frameworks with the aim of promoting the secure adoption of new AI capabilities across the national security enterprise and the defense industrial base.

The new entity will consolidate the agency’s various artificial intelligence, security-related activities.

Nakasone said on Friday that the AI Security Center has begun bringing together a series of partners to tackle the issues linking AI to national security.

Recently, he said, the group released a report on AI security infrastructure in partnership with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the United Kingdom’s Government Communications Headquarters and other organizations.

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“Artificial intelligence is probably the most transformative things that we’re going to experience in our lifetime,” he said. “We have to ensure that the information, the infrastructure, [and] the ability for AI to operate within this nation [is] secure.”

“That’s where the National Security Agency comes in,” he said.

By Joseph Clark, DOD News

FORT CARSON, Colo. — For an entire month, Ivy Soldiers prepare, practice and perfect more than 40 tasks in order to successfully execute a five-day evaluation. Upon sufficing the tasks, Soldiers are able to earn one of three Army-sponsored badges: the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Expert Soldier Badge and the Expert Field Medical Badge.

1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, recently hosted the three badge evaluations, known as E3B, at Fort Carson from December 4-8, 2023.

“This is a great opportunity for Soldiers to hone and sharpen all of their skills,” said Sgt. 1st Class Julian Pacheco, E3B lane noncommissioned officer in charge assigned to 1st SBCT, 4th Inf. Div. “Whether you get it or not, there is a positive outcome out of this. Soldiers get an opportunity to come out here and train.”

Each testing lane evaluated is a skill level 10, or entry level, task. Pacheco says the badge helps a Soldier’s career progression regardless of their occupational specialty, however, it is no easy feat.

“There is a very high rate of attrition because it’s very methodical and procedural,” said Pacheco. “It asks a lot of the Soldiers throughout the week in order to get their GOs.”

To put the attrition into perspective, 1,100 hundred Soldiers submitted a packet for E3B. By day 3 of the testing, 252 remained in the running for one of the three badges.

Pfc. Angelina Shabelina, a cavalry scout assigned to 2nd battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st SBCT, 4th Inf. Div., felt added pressure to her participation as she aspired to gain her ESB.

“I am nervous about earning my ESB because I am the only female from the battalion who is testing for the ESB,” Shabelina said. “It’s a lot of pressure and work.”

Shabelina says there is a lot of preparation behind E3B testing, which consists of events ranging from land navigation to weapon familiarity. The first event started with the expert physical fitness assessment and then moved onto land navigation.

However, the testing doesn’t end there. Throughout the week, Soldiers must pass 10 different stations that tested their knowledge of tactical combat casualty care, weapons functions checks and basic knowledge of different weapon systems, patrolling and tasks associated specifically to the badge they were testing for.

For example, the EFMB conducts three testing lanes with a varying number of evaluated skills. These lanes test the practical ability and keen eyes of candidates while performing evacuation and warrior skills tasks.

“EFMB is a test of a candidate’s attention to detail,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Bland, flight paramedic, 2nd Battalion, 4th General Support Aviation Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Inf. Div. “All of the grade sheets and standards are published and that is really where the rubber meets the road.”

Soldiers are graded on each task to a strict standard. Participants are eliminated if they receive two no-go’s on a task. Soldiers who complete all the tasks perfectly are recognized as earning their “True Blue” for EIB, “Perfect Edge” for ESB and “No Blood” for those who earned their EFMBs with perfect scores.

Despite a plethora of rigor during the first few days of competition, the remaining Soldiers enter the final event, a 12-mile road march completed within three-hours. After crossing the finish line, Soldiers must disassemble and reassemble their weapon within five minutes.

“If you feel like you are losing yourself when you’re training up, you get everything right, you are in line to test out, and your mind goes completely blank, try to remember the Soldiers who are motivating you,” Shabelina said. “For me it’s my first sergeant and my team leader.”

In the end, 172 out of 924 Soldiers earned one of the E3B awards. Ivy Division alumni were able to pin the respective badges onto the recipients during the award ceremony at the conclusion of the final event.

Story by SPC Jason Klaer

Photos by PVT Cecilia Ochoa and SPC Mark Bowman

FORT LIBERTY, N.C. — Commanders and command sergeants major from across the U.S. Army Forces Command footprint gathered at Fort Liberty for the FORSCOM Commander’s Forum, Nov. 29-30, 2023. The conference brings together senior leaders from all Forces Command corps and divisions as well as the Army National Guard and Army Reserve for focused training and conversations on leading warfighters on the battlefield.

Gen. Andrew Poppas, FORSCOM commanding general, welcomed the group and explained there was much to cover over the two-days. He continued by explaining his “4-Wins:” Win Trust and Empower Leaders; Win the First Fight; Win the Future Fight; and Win as a Balanced Total Army.

“The framework we’ve laid out is the 4-Wins,” said Poppas. “This is the framework in which we move forward. And I will tell you that at every touchpoint within each one of these domains, I feel we’ve made great success. In the way we are building the team, in the way we’ve embraced it … strengthening the relationships we have and engaged leadership.”

He continued by expressing his vision of a warfighting force and professional warriors. Warriors need the mindset of always moving forward; the warrior spirit to hone yourself to be physically and mentally fit; and training methodology focused on building formations to their greatest capability, he said.

“The strength of that formation is that they rely on each other,” Poppas said. “It’s the person to your left that’s carrying the shield that protects you. It’s the strength of the formation that moves forward.”

Poppas explained the number one priority for the Army chief of staff is warfighting and FORSCOM owns warfighting. As he looked around the room, he acknowledged that the leaders sitting there were in the positions they are in due to their strong backgrounds as leaders, warfighters, and Soldiers.

This year, the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Randy George, was the guest speaker for the forum. George has served as the Chief of Staff of the Army since Sept. 21, 2023. He began his discussion by acknowledging that world today is a very complex place. The Middle East, Ukraine, Taiwan and Africa were cited as just a few of today’s global hot spots the U.S. Army has interests. In addition to these topics, George recognized challenges with recruiting efforts, equipment and parts delay and budget stability.

As he continued, George shared with the group the questions he asked to his staff at the Pentagon: what can we stop doing or change; how do we adjust our processes; how can we push down authority and funding; and are we making the right trade-offs?

“I generally don’t talk about 2030 because I don’t think we have that much time,” said George. “2030 is too far down the road. We are going to be a lot different before that, I can guarantee you. We are going to be a lot different in the next four years.”

The Army chief of staff continued the conversations, outlining his some of his priorities — such as warfighting, delivering ready combat formations, adjusting the approach to military construction projects, and production of a new mobile app to help inform Soldiers and families of quality of life programs available to them.

Focusing on continuous transformation, George explained that transformation is more than just purchasing new equipment. Transformation also includes changes to processes, training and how Army formations look.

“I want our leaders to decide what our formations will look like, not a bunch of us sitting inside the [Pentagon],” explained George. “I can certainly do that, I definitely have my own opinions on a lot this, but I want everybody involved in what we’re doing.”

The topic of strengthening the profession was saved until last to emphasize the point. George shared an example from his time as a division commander. Underlining how he and other division commanders would share advice and lessons learned with each other to help increase lethality and warfighting capabilities.

“I remember when I was a captain and pulling the drawer open and Armor Magazine and Infantry Magazine were there, and they were very helpful,” said George. “I’m asking for your help in making sure people are writing about our profession. We should be talking about our profession.”

By Adam Luther

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — The Army has released its first doctrinal publication dedicated to the topic of information and its role in multidomain operations on the Army Publishing Directorate website, Nov. 27, 2023.

Army Doctrine Publication 3-13, Information, codifies the Army’s approach to the military uses of data and information, and recognizes all activities generate informational effects that can contribute to, or hamper, achieving objectives.

“Information is central to everything we do. It is the basis of intelligence, a fundamental component of command and control, and the foundation for communicating thoughts, opinions and ideas,” said Lt. Gen. Milford Beagle, Jr., commanding general, Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth. “As a dynamic of combat power, Army forces fight for, defend, and fight with information to create and exploit information advantages — the use, protection, and exploitation of information to achieve objectives more effectively than enemies and adversaries.”

Authors from CAC’s Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, the organization charged with writing the new manual, acknowledge that changes in the security environment necessitated an update to doctrine. Adversaries are already using informational power to try to gain regional influence and control well ahead of potential armed conflict. These actions make the competition for information and ideas continuous and persistent.

Key to achieving objectives in a contested environment like this means gaining an information advantage, a new term now defined in doctrine. An information advantage is “a condition when a force holds the initiative in terms of situational understanding, decision making, and relevant actor behavior.”

“Our new doctrine makes it clear that everyone plays some role in achieving information advantage,” said retired Army colonel and CADD Director Richard Creed. “And similarly, commanders need to consider information from a combined arms perspective because all Army capabilities create effects in the information dimension of our operational environment. We can’t make it the sole purview of a single staff section or certain specialties and expect success during operations. Operations now require leaders to consider how information enables operations, how to protect friendly information, how to employ information against an enemy or adversary, and how to attack the enemy’s ability to use information effectively.”

To facilitate that process, ADP 3-13 gives leaders a framework for developing information advantages during operations and at home station. It also spells out how commanders can leverage aspects of information that enable command and control; protect data, information, and networks; inform audiences; influence threats and foreign relevant actors; and attack the threat’s ability to use information.

The publication of ADP 3-13 is just the start of a sustained education campaign from CAC. As with the release of FM 3-0, CADD is developing a series of products to help Soldiers understand the new doctrine. Articles, videos and podcasts devoted to ADP 3-13 are in the works and will be announced via CADD’s social media channels. The team will also work closely with the Centers of Excellence, Army University and the combat training centers to ensure this information is incorporated into professional military education and training. In addition, mobile training teams will visit select installations and organizations to further integrate the ideas outlined in the manual.

“ADP 3-13 provides the intellectual underpinnings that describe how Army forces will gain, protect, and exploit information advantages; however, doctrine is only the beginning. The hard work starts when we begin to internalize these ideas into leader development, education, and training,” said Beagle.

To learn more about ADP 3-13 and other doctrine, visit the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate website.

By Randi Stenson, MCCoE Public Affairs

By SPC Jet Cortez

VILSECK, Germany — U.S. Soldiers and NATO partners participated in an event known as ‘E3B’ Nov. 6 to 10.

The 2nd Cavalry Regiment hosted and provided the opportunity, training, and evaluations necessary for candidates to receive the Expert Infantry Badge, Expert Soldier Badge, and Expert Field Medical Badge.

“Being in your own head can be one of the biggest challenges,” said U.S. Army Pfc. Simon Jack, an Infantryman assigned to Apache Troop, 1st Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment. “Just remember to relax, you’ve done it before, and just go through the steps like you did in training.”

Prior to the start of testing for E3B, the candidates went through a training phase for two weeks, sharpening their technical and tactical knowledge to be successful in the numerous tasks ahead.

During evaluation week, Soldiers were required to pass the Expert Physical Fitness Assessment, land navigation, three evaluation lanes with 10 tasks each: the patrol lane, weapons lane, medical lane, and then a 12-mile ruck march.

The amount of candidates narrowed down gradually. Each lane had graders evaluating every candidate, testing their ability to complete tasks correctly with various “go” and “no-go” scenarios.

“You’ve got to put in the hours and the work to make sure that you learn all 30 of these tasks and are able to complete them in a proficient manner, because if you’re not, then this is one of those badges that is going to be very difficult for you to get,” said U.S. Army Capt. Ben Do, a field artillery officer assigned to 3rd Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment.

“It’s definitely one of those things that you have to be fully dedicated to,” said Do.

Regardless of the outcome, Soldiers gained experience that they can use to teach others and become more reliable and capable leaders for their units.

“At the end of the day, we are getting a whole bunch of training that we can bring back to our troops and increase lethality,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Dylan Mecca, a horizontal construction engineer assigned to the 15th Engineer Battalion.

Out of the 1,700 candidates who participated in the E3B event, there were 548 candidates who earned their respective badges at the graduation ceremony.

Specific titles were given to candidates who earned their respective badges without receiving a single no-go in their particular lane, acknowledging the candidates’ efforts to execute every task of each event. These titles include “True Blue” for EIB, “No Blood” for EFMB, and “Perfect Edge” for ESB.

“Once you wear the badge, it doesn’t mean that you can just brain dump it,” said Do. “People are gonna look to you to be the subject matter expert on any of the 30 tasks that you completed.”

With the conclusion of E3B 2023, U.S. Soldiers and NATO partners successfully engaged in the given opportunity to develop lethality, interoperability, and test their skills, which are vital assets for maximizing mission success in real-world environments to deter enemy forces.

To view more photos and videos of this event visit this website.