The US Army Is Seeking a Few Good Tech Partners

Before armed services top brass and tech-savvy soldiers head to the AFCEA Army Signal Conference in Springfield, Virginia, this week, PCMag spoke with Lt. Gen. John R. (Bob) Wood, EVP of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, to learn more than nigh the US Regular army's latest strategies for emerging It capabilities.

General Forest served equally an officer in the United states of america Army for over 36 years, including tours of duty in Korea, Bosnia, and Desert Storm during the Gulf War. We were curious to detect out how the Regular army is pivoting its tech strategy, what they're looking for in new partners, who will be attending the conference this calendar week, and how bright tech startups tin apply to support the armed services in 2022 and beyond.

Here are edited and condensed excerpts from our conversation.

General Forest, looking back on your long and celebrated career in the military, can you give the states a xxx,000-human foot view on how y'all saw engineering science modify state of war zones?
My best case is the introduction of GPS to the Ground forces forces deploying to Desert Tempest. I commanded a Field Artillery battalion heading for the sands of Saudi Arabia. A field artillery unit depends on accurate geographic information to deliver accurate fires. A desert is a sea of sand with few existent geographic features to use as reference. Traditional survey in the desert is far also slow and too labor intensive to match the speed of movement across vast distances. We had expert all our conventional methods but faced the deployment with a certain amount of dread.

Literally the week before we deployed, they issued central leaders something nosotros called "SLGR," which were beginning generation GPS receivers. Suddenly, if we could see three satellites with our devices—of a possible 4 in the constellation at that fourth dimension—we could accurately plot our locations in the desert with acceptable accuracy to achieve accurate artillery fires.

GPS usage during battle zones in the Saudi desert puts civilian road warrior trips into perspective.
It was a game changer for us. We spent the months of [Operation] Desert Shield learning how to best utilise this new technology to allow speed of movement and massed artillery fires. Needless to say, we successfully used this technology as part of the "Left Hook" portion of the assail into Iraq. When we asked Iraqi prisoners why they were so surprised by our operational movements, we repeatedly heard them say they believed no forces could navigate quickly and successfully across these vast spaces.

Bet you wish you lot could have that level of technology today.
I took my "SLGR" home in my personal baggage and was finally convinced to reluctantly return it to the government. This engineering science was a life saver for my soldiers and my unit.

Permit's cut to your role today, as EVP of AFCEA. Tin can y'all requite united states of america some background on its founding mail-WWII?
Our founder was David Sarnoff, who also helped constitute Radio Corporation of America (RCA). His early interest in radio technologies and communications, along with his work building early US networks, showed him the importance of cooperation betwixt government, manufacture, and academia. During WWII, as a member of Eisenhower's staff, he also saw this synergy benefitting the Usa military in the war attempt. Correct afterward the war, in an effort to keep this relationship strong, agile, and supporting national security, he helped found AFCEA.

What'southward your mission today?
Our mission remains to promote the ethical conversation between manufacture, government, and academia on key subjects in what'south known as C4I: Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, and—now the addition of the "5th C"—Cybersecurity, all important issues to the military, intelligence, and homeland security communities.

What's on the briefing agenda?
Senior Army and other DoD speakers, forth with several industry CEOs will deliver keynotes while multiple panels of both military and business organisation experts will address technical, acquisition, and strategic topics relevant to the Army's modernization of its command and control networks and supporting hardware, software, and procurement methods. Tiptop supporting sponsors include AT&T, Fortinet, and Harris.

Only attendance and participation isn't merely limited to the big tech giants?
Non at all, the small business sponsor is BugCrowd and small business has a primal role in every aspect of the event in presentation of new solutions, in word of acquisition hurdles, in demonstration of existing technologies.

Permit's dig into the purpose backside this week's event. Give us your perspective.
Lt. Gen Bruce T. Crawford, the Army's CIO, came to AFCEA and asked for our help organizing key industry participants in a conversation with his height leaders. This is in keeping with the Ground forces's sincere involvement to involve industry early on and often in the modernization of its network. We have done this in the coming outcome. There is much to talk over. For the last yr, the Army has been intensely reviewing the network and advice systems it has and the 1 it truly needs to run across the demands of a new Regular army strategy. This strategy moves the Regular army abroad from fixed forward bases and returns to austere environments, expeditionary operations, and near peer threats.

Lt. Gen Bruce T. Crawford, the Army's CIO

We reported on Lt. Gen Bruce T. Crawford'due south keynote oral communication in 2022 while writing well-nigh US Army Cyber Command in Augusta, GA. It'southward clear emerging tech is a crucial issue for the military machine.
LTG Bruce Crawford sees the Army's new network structure characterized by apartment compages, speed, mobility, and protection. The Army seeks to incorporate state-of-the fine art capabilities and, to do so, information technology must overhaul its human relationship with engineering providers. General Crawford emphasizes that the Army cannot reach its objective network design without commercial manufacture really agreement what the Army is trying to achieve. He is looking for ways to motility the commercial sector closer to users to gain better understanding of how operators collaborate with products.

As a result, the Army is pivoting on its IT strategy, especially around "adapt and buy" (as opposed to managed services with major providers, bringing capabilities in-business firm)?
The process envisions enhanced experimentation and demonstration on the front end of the acquisition bicycle. There is a movement away from over-prescribing requirements to industry partners replaced by a focus on the problem that needs solving.

This strategy will likely event in less "Lowest Cost Technically Adequate Procurements" (LPTA) procurements and more "best value" acquisition of solutions to become the quality needed. This requires the Army to really call back through what it truly values in solutions. LTG Crawford has stated: "You tin can expect the Army to get-go behaving more like a customer instead of a consumer – the way we accept been approaching delivery of capability in the past."

Do you run into this state of affairs opening upwardly opportunities for new and nimble vendors?
There is obvious interest in new ideas, new approaches, new technologies. This is axiomatic beyond all aspects of Army conquering, non simply modernization of the network. The Regular army is very close to germination of its new "Futures Command" and a variety of "cross functional" teams are looking at how to speed acquisition and integrate efforts across multiple developmental activities.

I believe at that place is no improve time to bring new commercial partners, new technologies, and new solutions into the defence force sector. While there are all the same cultural hurdles and established practices to overcome, senior guidance and intent are articulate to cover change, build speed in procurement, and build new partnerships.

What communication exercise you have for tech startups who want to become military-canonical vendors?
Information technology may be self-serving, simply I sincerely believe a good entry point is to bring together an organisation like AFCEA that focuses on the item sector of interest of a startup. You are immediately in touch with like businesses in a customs securely engaged with nowadays and emergent requirements across the government. Attending one of our events immediately acquaints a visitor with the discussions, the technologies, and the actors important in the sector. Joining AFCEA is inexpensive and the chapters typically focus on the government procurements in local or regional markets. Networking is organic and expansive.

As well, the modest business offices at each war machine activity responsible for procuring technology or other capabilities are charged with enabling startups and any other business organisation possessing solutions to "go in the game." This function tin explain the shortest path forrard, the preparation and certification needed, and the best ways to reach decision makers. It's a difficult path, absolutely, but you need a guide.

What virtually more R&D staging centers within the military? Do you see those equally opening upwardly to external partners?
In that location are a number of new entities in the defense and homeland security sector that focus on speeding up the identification and procurement of promising technologies. The Defense Innovation Unit (DIUx) is, perhaps, the most recent and best-known organisation of this type. Based in Silicon Valley, Boston, and Austin, this organization works to find, endeavour, adapt, and purchase promising solutions. Keywords to search for when looking for such organizations are innovation, rapid acquisition, OTA (other transaction authorities), and disruptive initiatives.

So there you accept information technology. The United states of america Army is looking for a few good geeks. Do you take what it takes?