By Ann Roosevelt
FT. BLISS, Texas–In 2012, the first Army brigade combat team will deploy to Afghanistan with new equipment under the Army Brigade Combat Team Modernization plan to make it more effective and safer. But first, the new equipment faces stringent tests and evaluation, a service official said.
“We’re hopeful that the soldiers get the best equipment that they need; we’re not going to give them anything that doesn’t work,” Maj. Gen. Keith Walker, director of the Future Force Integration Directorate (FFID), part of Army Training and Doctrine Command’s (TRADOC) Capabilities Integration Center, told visiting reporters. “If it doesn’t work, we’re not going to buy it.”
The FFID and the 5th Brigade, 1st Armor Div. Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF) are working to integrate, train and evaluate the new capabilities, called Increment 1.
The Increment 1 effort is managed by prime contractor Boeing [BA], and is part of the Army Capability Package 11-12.
Leading up to the 2012 deployment, Increment 1 equipment faces technical field tests by Army engineers and product developers supported by AETF soldiers, examining improved equipment and checking on issues identified and corrected. Then, soldiers will receive and train on the latest equipment, and conduct Limited User Tests (LUT) and an Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E).
The culmination of current FFID and AETF work comes in 2012 when the first brigade to be equipped with the new capabilities–designated the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armor Div.–deploys to Afghanistan, taking with it the first Capability Package 11-12.
FFID and AETF will move on and continue to integrate, train and evaluate other new equipment for future capability packages and potentially would work with the forthcoming Ground Combat Vehicle, Walker said.
“2011 is a big year. There are two big parallel efforts going on,” Walker said, FFID and AETF continue Increment 1 work, and 3/1 receives its new equipment and begins its effort.
At the beginning of 2011, 3/1 starts training on the new equipment, Walker said. A good deal of the training will be virtual on something like an iPhone, developing under the Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications project, that goes with them aiming toward “what TRADOC calls a persistent learning environment.”
Then 3/1 conducts hands-on training with the equipment.
Once new equipment training is complete, comes the last part of the acquisition process, the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E), conducted by 3/1 because they will deploy with it.
Part of the IOT&E will be a comparative evaluation that looks at how a brigade that has the new equipment perform compared to a brigade that doesn’t.
This comparative evaluation was directed by the late December acquisition decision memorandum from the Defense Department’s chief acquisition officer.
After that, 3/1 has a mission rehearsal exercise, and prepares to deploy in 2012.
FFID and AETF continue to conduct tests and another limited user test, and begin to integrate, train and evaluate other new equipment for potential fielding.
This year, FFID and AETF conduct a LUT, using a similar sequence as the 2009 LUT. There will be platoon and company training with the equipment, and technical tests. Also, there will be a force development test and evaluation, a specific exercise to ensure the unit is properly trained, before the LUT, Walker said.
“Last year, it was really a small company test…it was very focused on materiel, which was appropriate for where the technology was and the amount of equipment that we had,” Walker said. “This year a battalion will be involved in the test and we’re very much trying to replicate the environment that the 3/1 will experience when it gets to Afghanistan.”
Instead of using one training site, Adobe Village, as did LUT 2009, two more training sites are being built, he said. Additionally, the maneuver space greatly expands.
“We’ll be able to get in the caves for the (small unmanned ground vehicle) SUGV and other sensors in that type terrain,” Walker said.
Also, the Class 1 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be able to fly in the canyons to “see how that works and bring all those pieces together,” Walker said.
Other differences from LUT 2009 include operating with the Shadow and Raven UAVs used by current brigades. Shadow is built by AAI Corp. [TXT]; Raven by AeroVironment.
“We have all these systems, so we need to figure out if this makes sense,” Walker said. “If it does make sense, how does it work? I think that’s significantly different as we try to replicate the environment.”
The 2010 effort also will incorporate other equipment used in Afghanistan that was not used in last year’s test, such as Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.
The tests move up in complexity, from the 2009 company level LUT, to this year’s battalion level LUT to next year’s brigade level exercise.
All that “is central to what we do,” trying to integrate the pieces, do the training…and then actually evaluate” new capabilities as part of Army Brigade Combat Team Modernization, Walker said.