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Focus task force 'jump starting' future

Army News Service

Release Date: 1/7/2004

By Gary Sheftick

Editor's note: This is the third in a series of articles on Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker's focus areas. WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Jan. 27, 2004) -- The "Current to Future Force" initiative is about more than accelerating futuristic technology for use in today's Army, according to a leader of the task force.

"We're creating a new way of doing business," said Ed Mazzanti, deputy of the Capabilities Development Directorate at the Training and Doctrine Command's 'Future Center.'

Mazzanti and his focus area task force identify promising capabilities under development and attempt to "rapidly spiral" them for use in the current force. They are looking closely at certain aspects of the Future Combat Systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and robotics.

The UAVs and robots brought into use today may not have the "threshold capabilities" intended for 2010, Mazzanti said, but they will provide current leaders an opportunity to experience application of the technologies while research continues.

"It really gives us a jump-start toward bringing that future to being," Mazzanti said.

His task force also examines "lessons learned" from Iraq, Afghanistan and other operations to help steer development of future capabilities to what is needed.

"It's really a continuation of Army transformation," Mazzanti said. "It embraces the notion of adjusting the Army's transformation to what has occurred in the operational environment," especially after Sept. 11, 2001.

This is something Mazzanti's task force calls "current to future," which differs in principle from the "future to current" acceleration of technology.

"Today's Army is very capable, well proven," Mazzanti said, explaining that proven capabilities deserve to stay around for the future. For instance, he said the M-1 Abrams tank will be around for "decades into the future."

The third function of his task force is to look at "current to current" capabilities, Mazzanti said. This means finding capabilities being used successfully in one corner of the Army and adapting them for wider application. Mazzanti said this includes some battle command initiatives fielded to forces in Iraq.

Every six months, his task force -- with members from the Pentagon, Army Materiel Command, Joint Forces Command, Army Testing and Evaluation Command, TRADOC and elsewhere - will team up to conduct a "capabilities assessment" and determine what technologies are ripe for fielding. "We're casting a very wide net," Mazzanti said, explaining that his group not only has "tentacles across the Army," but is also looking at academia and foreign armies, such as a South African mine detection capability.

The task force is also looking at a Counter Mine Change Detection Work Station which would process information collected by infra-red imagery, cameras and other sensors and analyze the terrain to determine if it has been disturbed. The software will alert forces to the probability of land mines being present.

They are looking at a lightweight mortar radar that can be disassembled and carried by two soldiers.

Active Protective Systems for combat vehicles are being examined, but not necessarily for near-term fielding, Mazzanti said. APS could sense incoming rounds or missiles and enable countermeasures, Mazzanti said. He said this type of capability could eventually be added to current combat vehicles, once it is developed further.

One way Mazzanti's task force aims to accelerate the fielding of technology is to "team early" the research and development folks with the acquisition corps.

"The intent is to accelerate," Mazzanti said, "but there are certain statutory requirements in acquisition."

"We still have to operate within the statutory requirements," Mazzanti said. He also stressed that change is never recommended for the sake of change itself.

"You have to be careful about the pace of change," Mazzanti said. He said that the task force weighs the added capability of a change to ensure it merits the turbulance it will create.

Change affects materiel, doctrine and the way units conduct business, Mazzanti said. He said the task force constantly balances risk between today and tomorrow.

"It's a mindset," Mazzanti said, "a continuum of activity that pushes the Army toward the future."

(Editor's note: The 16 focus areas include: The Soldier; The Bench; Combat Training Centers/Battle Command Training Program; Leader Development and Education; Army Aviation; Current to Future Force; The Network; Modularity; Active Component/Reserve Component Balance; Force Stabilization; Actionable Intelligence; Installations as Flagships; Authorities, Responsibilities, and Accountability; Resource Processes; and Strategic Communications. To view a brief synopsis of each area, visit The Way Ahead.)