< Previouswww.ausa.org10 AUSA Extra | March 29, 2024 ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY Precise, timely logistics must occur at ‘speed of relevance’ Subject-matter experts discuss solutions for precision sustainment efforts during AU- SA’s 2024 Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama. (AUSA PHOTO) B uilding a lean, agile and resil- ient sustainment enterprise capable of delivering preci- sion logistics across a dispersed, con- tested battlefield remains a top Army priority, a panel of subject-matter ex- perts said Tuesday. “We have to develop solutions at the speed of relevance, and our ad- versaries are not on our timeline,” said Col. Shane Upton, director of Army Futures Command’s Contest- ed Logistics Cross-Functional Team. “Precision logistics is an Army effort. It is a priority to bring readiness to our combat formations, and precision is a must.” Speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2024 Global Force Sym- posium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama, Maj. Gen. Michelle Dona- hue, commanding general of Army Combined Arms Support Command, agreed, adding that gaps in the ser- vice’s ability to deliver precision lo- gistics are a “threat to the Army’s ability to open and set theaters at the speed of relevance.” As the Army prepares for large- scale combat operations, “the battle- field is no longer local,” said Lt. Gen. Christopher Mohan, deputy com- manding general of Army Materiel Command. The rise in technologies such as artificial intelligence and the evolu- tion of drones and other technologies have “already transformed how we will fight the next large-scale com- bat operation,” Mohan said during the panel titled “Delivering Precision Sustainment in Support of Ready Combat Formations.” After enjoying the ability to move to theater “almost unopposed,” the Army likely will have to fight to get to the future fight, from the joint strategic support area to the foxhole, Mohan said. “No matter what, this is going to be a contested environment, … and it’s going to be contested in every do- main,” he said. “How do we remain successful in such an environment? That means we have to transform the sustainment warfighting function.” The challenge is particularly acute in the Indo-Pacific, where troops could be “dispersed by thousands of miles,” Upton said. “It’s going to be contested from the homeland to the foxhole, or in reverse, from the fox- hole to the factory,” he said. The cross-functional team is look- ing to reduce the Army’s logistics tail, Upton said, with fuel and am- munition among the key areas the team is studying. As an example, Upton said, “we were still putting wood sticks in fuel tanks in Europe not too long ago.” Instead, the Army should be looking for sensors that can more quickly and accurately tell commanders how much fuel they’re consuming and how much they need, Upton said. “We need products that will let us see ourselves better,” he said. Integrating machines is anoth- er area the cross-function team is studying, Upton said. This means “offsetting risks to machines to en- able humans to do what humans do best,” he said. The Army also must take lessons from the fighting in Ukraine and Gaza and turn them into “actionable innovation now,” Mohan said. This includes working with the Army’s in- dustry partners. “We’ve come a long way, but we’ve got a long way to go,” Mohan said. A soldier assigned to the 1st Armored Divi- sion fills a fuel tank March 13 at Fort Bliss, Texas, during the installation’s Black Start Exercise, which tested contingencies for field facilities and fuel distribution after a power outage. (U.S. ARMY/DAVID POE)www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY March 29, 2024 | AUSA Extra 11 ‘Mindset shift’ essential to human-machine integration A s robots are integrated into the operational environ- ment, soldiers will need to shift from a mindset of doing it all to trusting the new technology and understanding its potential, accord- ing to senior Army leaders. Maj. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, com- mander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Moore, Georgia, formerly known as Fort Benning, said he observed the human dynamic at play in a recent training scenario involving robotic platforms. “Interestingly, I think the com- mander, if he were to tell you what he thought at the beginning and what he thought at the end, or how he was employing the capability, he was reti- cent to lose it, he was worried about the quadruped dog. It looks like a dog. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it, but he didn’t want to put it in harm’s way” Buzzard said of the company-minus experimentation force that’s been using the technology at Fort Moore for about nine months. “It really is a mindset shift,” he said Wednesday during a panel dis- cussion on human-machine integra- tion at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama. A mental shift will become part of a new decision-making process that could see commanders and soldiers assessing whether they should send a robot or a soldier into harm’s way. As they work more frequently with robotics, soldiers will better under - stand other capabilities that could be useful on the battlefield. Buzzard pointed to the value of demonstrations during the recent Project Convergence experiment at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. “It really helps a whole lot of other people visualize how this capability can make our formations better,” he said. Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch, director of the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, said that as Proj- ect Convergence progressed, soldiers began to find ways to integrate ro- botic platforms into their maneuvers. “The confidence in the system grew tremendously … because soldiers understood the capabilities and, just as important, the limitations, of the technologies they had,” Rasch said. Soldiers adapted their techniques for using robots after seeing what they are capable of, Rasch said. Confi- dence in the technology will be gained through training and multiple repeti- tions, he said. “I think that’s an im- portant thing that we do early on in this effort, is involve those soldiers, to continue to involve them through this development, so they build confidence over time,” Rasch said. Panelist John Brennan, a general manager with Scale AI, said the Army must examine its cultural bias toward the status quo as it integrates robotics on the battlefield. The Army must “fundamentally rethink” in- grained assumptions that humans will do everything, he said. “It’s not soldier touch points, it’s robot touch points,” Brennan said, noting that robots will affect net- work capacity, use more electrons than humans and be the subject of heavy resistance from a bureaucracy that doesn’t change easily. “It’s going to take extremely high persistent degrees of leadership at every level to overcome that status quo bias,” Brennan said. Soldiers with the 29th Infantry Regiment participate in a human-machine integra- tion demonstration using a Ghost robotic dog March 15 during a Project Conver- gence experiment at Fort Irwin, California. (U.S. ARMY/SPC. SAMARION HICKS) Soldiers assigned to the 10th Mountain Division conduct tactical resupply vehicle train- ing March 5 at Fort Drum, New York. (U.S. ARMY/SGT. 1ST CLASS NEYSA CANFIELD)www.ausa.org12 AUSA Extra | March 29, 2024 ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY Army explores food, barracks improvements for troops A soldier with the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade receives lunch March 20 from a mobile culinary outpost food truck at Fort Bliss, Texas. (U.S. ARMY/SGT. JASON GREAVES) B etter food options and bar- racks with internet connectiv- ity are among the priorities for Army leaders seeking to improve and maintain quality of life for soldiers. At a Warriors Corner discussion during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama, Sgt. Maj. Michael Perry outlined some of the initiatives under consid- eration to improve food options for enlisted soldiers, as well as some of the challenges with giving soldiers what they want. “Every installation is different, and we cannot have a one-size-fits- all solution,” said Perry, the senior enlisted adviser to the Army deputy chief of staff for installations, G-9, who explained that his office and Army Materiel Command are consid- ering a variety of solutions. “Soldiers want choices.” Solutions being considered include food trucks, kiosks, commissary shopping privileges, better dining facility atmospherics and even kitch- ens and community cooking options in barracks that create “collision points” where soldiers can be togeth- er, Perry said. At Fort Story, Virginia, “we added kitchens where soldiers can come down and cook and prepare their meals,” said Sgt. Maj. Kelvin Wind- ham, senior enlisted adviser to the Army Materiel Command deputy chief of staff for facilities, logistics and environment, G-4. “What we’re looking at in the fu- ture with barracks is to have a ki- osk inside of the barracks, where a soldier can come down and get food, because we’re trying to cause those collision points,” Windham said, ex- plaining that it’s about getting sol- diers out of their rooms so “they can talk to other soldiers.” At Fort Cavazos, Texas, formerly known as Fort Hood, a mass transit pilot is underway that is “basically a shuttle service,” Perry said. Soldiers request rides with an Uber-like app to get to the dining facilities and other outlets. “One of the other challenges that we have in some installations is a lot of our soldiers don’t drive, so when you have a barracks or a motor pool or a working area that is a significant distance from wherever that dining facility is” it’s difficult to move to where food is, he said. In addition to food choices, the Army is thinking about a standard- ized template for barracks rooms and providing free Wi-Fi. “I am very much concerned, like with all of us, if we don’t have qual- ity barracks and we don’t have qual- ity work spaces, our soldiers are not going to feel good about wearing our uniform, and we want them to feel good about joining the Army,” said Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, deputy Army chief of staff for installations, G-9. “We want them to feel good about where they work and where they live.” New barracks construction will replace the worst facilities, but the work will take time. “It’s just a fact of life,” Vereen said. He added that he’s talking with the Army’s sister ser- vices to learn how they’ve been able to install free Wi-Fi in the barracks and plans for that are in the works. “If we don’t take care of our fami- lies and our soldiers and have qual- ity infrastructure, then we won’t be able to man the equipment that we’re trying to acquire or trying to build,” Vereen said. “At the end of the day, it’s really about our soldiers and fam- ilies in order to still have the Army that made us strong.” Senior leaders discuss quality-of-life initiatives for soldiers and families at the Warriors Corner during AUSA’s 2024 Global Force Symposium and Exposition. (AUSA PHOTO)www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY March 29, 2024 | AUSA Extra 13 New maintenance standards aim to unburden soldiers Mission: Connect Anything, Anywhere With Mesh Rider Radios from Doodle Labs, you can create your own resilient mesh network for tactical teams, drones, ground robotics and vehicles, even in contested or disconnected environments. A resilient, reliable network can increase situational awareness for ground soldiers and allow units to successfully complete missions in comms-challenged settings. Create a powerful MANET to share high-bandwidth data like real-time team comms or a video feed from a drone. Upgrade Your Connectivity with Mesh Rider Radios www.doodlelabs.com WEARABLE NANOOEMMINI Available in Federal and Unlicensed Frequency Bands Armed with Anti-jamming features FIPS-140 compliant NDAA compliant Developed with sponsorship by DIU C hanges in vehicle mainte- nance standards are under- way across the Army as part of an effort to reduce excess equip- ment and unburden soldiers, said Lt. Gen. Heidi Hoyle, deputy Army chief of staff for logistics, G-4. These new standards are a change to decades-old processes that govern when vehicles receive maintenance. The goal is to gain effi ciency with- out sacrifi cing the quality of main- tenance. Instead of time-based intervals for selected vehicles, maintainers are fo- cusing on readiness by troubleshoot- ing, performing unscheduled mainte- nance when needed and leaving rote maintenance such as replacing fi lters for a regular schedule. “We trace it all the way back to, I think the date is 1938, when we set our standards for how we service equipment. That is an interesting fl ow of information, right? Almost 90 years,” Hoyle said Wednesday at a Warriors Corner presentation during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Expo- sition in Huntsville, Alabama. In June 2023, she said, the Army assembled a group of senior chief warrant offi cers “from all of the life cycle management commands,” who were “locked into a room at the Pen- tagon” and given the task of fi guring out how the Army could unburden soldiers and create true readiness. Recommendations emerged by the end of the day addressing issues such as service intervals, high and low us- age rates for different fl eets and op- tions to achieve effi ciency. “We have always done the semi- annual and the annual services just because that’s what we have always done,” Sgt. Maj. Petra Casarez, se- nior enlisted adviser to the Army G-4 said. “So, instead of really focusing on those conditions- and needs-based services, we have focused on just do- ing services when we think that the time told us.” Casarez explained that the changes are underway with four platforms— the Humvee, the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck, the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles and the Palletized Load System. Casarez emphasized that there is no plan to reduce the number of maintainers. Instead, the shift refo- cuses their efforts into readiness. Soldiers “have to be unburdened from the equipment that is excess, the stuff we accumulated over 20 years of confl ict for all the right reasons” that is no longer required, Hoyle said.www.ausa.org14 AUSA Extra | March 29, 2024 ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY AUSA hosts Generation Next Forum for emerging leaders Retired Brig. Gen. Jen Buckner, an AUSA leadership fellow, speaks during the Generation Next Forum at AUSA’s 2024 Global Force Symposium and Exposition. (AUSA PHOTO) M ore than 60 emerging lead- ers took part in the inaugu- ral Generation Next Forum at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposi- tion in Huntsville, Alabama. Hosted by AUSA’s Center for Lead- ership, the workshop opened with an interactive session with Sarah Draper, a former FBI supervisory special agent and owner of Leading Well Strategies, who encouraged the young leaders to think about the ele- ments and life skills that contribute to effective leadership. In addition to discussing charac- teristics such as resiliency and the importance of sleep, relationships, being in nature, mindfulness and exercise and nutrition, Draper urged them to share their own habits and experiences during a lively exchange. Participating in the forum “was a good dive into yourself and discover- ing what your mantra should be as a leader,” said Walker Brown, a cadet at Auburn University, Alabama, who aims to be a signal officer when he is commissioned in December. Brown said he learned that taking care of people and taking an inter- est in their lives is critical because those “are precious relationships that should be cherished. People will al- ways remember how you made them feel.” The forum on Tuesday was an ex- tension of the Young Professionals program launched at AUSA’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in October by the association’s Center for Lead- ership. In a closing keynote address, re- tired Brig. Gen. Jen Buckner told the young leaders that while she built a successful career in the Army, it wasn’t always easy and involved many moments of uncertainty. “I like to say that rejection is my superpower, because it didn’t just turn out that way, there was a lot of hard work,” she said, explaining that her title and rank often lead people to believe she cruised to suc- cess. “There’s a lot of failure in that, there’s a lot of ‘Oh, I’d better reset and try again.’” Buckner, an AUSA leadership fel- low, served as the Army’s director of cyber, where she led governance and oversight of cyber capabilities and championed emerging technologies to enable detection and disruption of significant cyber threats. She retired in 2019 and now leads Mastercard’s Technology Risk Management Global Governance and Operations team. Kyle Green, who works for a soft- ware company in Atlanta, said it was “probably the best leadership event I’ve ever been to,” and because of what he learned, he’s now consider- ing ways he can serve others. “Both speakers were so inspira- tional,” said Green, who was able to attend Global Force at no charge by signing up for the program. “Leaders tend to puff themselves up, but they didn’t do that at all. I loved learn- ing how leadership is not nine-to-five alone, it’s an entire holistic approach to life that enables you to be the best leader.” Retired Lt. Gen. Leslie Smith, center, AUSA vice president for Leadership and Education, speaks with attendees at the association’s Generation Next Forum. (AUSA PHOTO)www.pts-inc.com Expeditionary Communications DEPLOYABLE. LIGHTWEIGHT. RELIABLE. EXPEDITIONARY COMMS SIMPLIFIED. 162 DOCKING STATION NOW AVAILABLEwww.ausa.org16 AUSA Extra | March 29, 2024 ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY Best products, partners needed for robotic combat vehicles Army recognizes logistics leaders at Global Force 2024 I n its pursuit of robotic combat vehicles, the Army is prioritiz- ing speed, ease of use and the best products and industry partners it can find, two senior leaders said Wednesday. “The winner is the soldier, at the end of the day,” said Lt. Gen. Rob- ert Rasch, director of the Rapid Ca- pabilities and Critical Technologies Office. “The goal is I want the best that we can get. If I can have compa- ny A and company B bring their best thing, instead of company A trying to do what company B does, I’d rather have every company doing what they do best.” Lt. Gen. Ross Coffman, deputy commanding general of Army Fu- tures Command, agreed. “If you look at how many companies build heli- copters for the military, how many build trucks, [the number] dwindles,” he said. “But we have an opportunity here to keep everyone involved so the best companies, the best technology can get implemented.” Speed is another imperative, Rasch said. “Technology is not static. It’s going to evolve,” he said. Rasch and Coffman spoke during a fireside chat at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Ala- bama, on the Army’s rapid innova- tion efforts, particularly in robotics. The work the Army is undertak- ing isn’t just about trucks or drones, Coffman said. It also is looking at the user interface, communications sys- tems and operating systems, he said. It also is studying how it can protect its robotic vehicles. “As you move around the battlefield, all of that has to happen securely so our adversar- ies can’t hack into it,” Coffman said. Any additional vehicles also must reduce complexity for soldiers. “We’re at two humans operating one robot right now,” Coffman said. “What we’ve got to get to, is 12 robots to one human.” One key to moving this effort for- ward is soldier feedback, Coffman and Rasch said. Soldier feedback is critical to informing requirements and helping the Army shape what troops need and want, they said. “We’ll know we got it right when that first sergeant, that company com- mander, says, ‘That equipment you gave me is worth the pain in the butt to make it work,’” Rasch said. Lt. Gen. Ross Coffman, deputy command- ing general of Army Futures Command, speaks during AUSA’s 2024 Global Force Symposium and Exposition. (AUSA PHOTO) T hree Army logistics leaders were honored Thursday with the Lieutenant General Ar- thur J. Gregg Sustainment Leader- ship Award. The awards were presented on the last day of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama. Established in 2015 by the deputy Army chief of staff for logistics, G-4, and first awarded in 2016, the award recognizes individuals who have made “significant and measurable contributions to Army sustainment operations,” officials said during the ceremony. The 2024 recipients are: • Sgt. Maj. Maximo Nunez, op- erations sergeant major for the 8th Theater Sustainment Command. “Sgt. Maj. Nunez epitomizes what a senior logistician NCO is in today’s Army,” officials said during the cer- emony. “He supported over 100,000 joint warfighters executing opera- tions across the Indo-Pacific the- ater. Sgt. Maj. Nunez also provided oversight for the distribution of all classes of supply, mortuary affairs support and aviation ground mainte- nance for more than 40 exercises as part of Operation Pathways.” • Jeffrey Martin, deputy director of the fielded force integration direc- torate in the Army Combined Arms Support Command. A retired Army warrant officer, Martin “now provides unbiased and sound advice on logistics and strate- gic decisions for the Combined Arms Support Command,” officials said. “His foresight and influence in the development of future logistics sys- tems are shaping the future of sus- tainment for the Army of 2030 and beyond.” • Retired Gen. Ann Dunwoody, former commander of Army Materiel Command and the first woman in U.S. military history to achieve the rank of four-star general. Dunwoody “holds the honor of pav- ing the way for women in the Army,” officials said. In addition to being the first woman to earn the rank of general, Dunwoody was the first woman to serve as deputy Army chief of staff for logistics, G-4, command Combined Arms Support Command and lead a battalion in the 82nd Air- borne Division. “Not only do these milestones highlight her personal achievements but also her impact on increasing opportunities for women in the armed forces,” officials said.www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY March 29, 2024 | AUSA Extra 17 Cooperation key to solving contested logistics challenges Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly, center, director of the Defense Logistics Agency, and Maj. Gen. Eric Shirley, right, commander of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command, discuss chal- lenges of contested logistics during AUSA’s 2024 Global Force Symposium. (AUSA PHOTO) A s the Army confronts an in- creasingly volatile operation- al environment, industry so- lutions will be critical to anticipating capabilities and shaping survivabil- ity in contested logistics, two senior logistics officers said. During a fireside chat at the As- sociation of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama, Maj. Gen. Eric Shirley, commander of the 1st The- ater Sustainment Command, and Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly, director of the Defense Logistics Agency, discussed the need to anticipate the challenges of operating forward. Responding to an audience mem- ber seeking guidance on how indus- try should anticipate the Army’s needs in the coming five years, Shir- ley pointed to the Jan. 28 attack on Tower 22, a logistics base in Jordan near the Syrian border. The drone at- tack killed three Army Reserve sol- diers and underscored the need to be vigilant at every echelon. “Force protection has always been a priority, but now it’s just picked up the pace,” Shirley said. He called on industry partners to focus on “everything that deals with counter [unmanned aerial] systems and hardening positions in the joint expeditionary environment.” He encouraged Global Force attend- ees to consider testing their capabili- ties in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, where the 1st Theater Sustainment Command has its forward headquarters at Camp Ar- ifjan, Kuwait. The region, he said, “is an ideal place to innovate and experi- ment with these new technologies.” “Us being able to see what industry has to offer through forums like this allows us to reach out, partner with industries that might have some- thing unique, and … get it into an exercise,” Shirley said. Citing Deputy Secretary of De- fense Kathleen Hicks, who in a March 20 speech said “production is deterrence,” Simerly added that “we know from our history that the only way America can prepare for wars is through American private industry, so our reliance on private industry is profound.” Simerly, who has led the Defense Logistics Agency since Feb. 2, recom- mended that as members of industry develop and shape solutions for the fu- ture battlefield, they should promote within their organizations an embed- ded understanding of the meaning of combat and contested logistics. He also pointed to interoperability as a key to developing capabilities that can fit within a joint environ- ment. “As you design solutions, we really need solutions that can part- ner with other solutions and other capabilities, not ones that are exclu- sive, that are isolated, but ones that can be employed from open architec- ture,” Simerly said. Sgt. Britney Lozano, a movement specialist with the 21st Theater Sustainment Com- mand, directs Humvees belonging to the 1st Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade into a staging area at the port of Vlissingen, Netherlands. (U.S. ARMY/NATALIE WEAVER)www.ausa.org18 AUSA Extra | March 29, 2024 ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY Soldiers and civilians interact on the exhibit floor during the AUSA Global Force Symposium and Exposition. (AUSA PHOTO) Scenes from Global Force 2024 Attendees at AUSA’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama, including soldiers, defense industry represen- tatives, AUSA members and more, explore new technologies and networking opportunities in the exhibit hall. (AUSA PHOTO) Thea Green, left, AUSA’s deputy director of Family Readiness, speaks with a conference attendee at the inaugural Global Force Family Readiness pavilion. (AUSA PHOTO)SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE AnnualExhibits@ausa.org | Sponsorships@ausa.org POWERED BY: 33,000 ATTENDEES 650+ EXHIBITORS 150+ SESSIONS 80 COUNTRIESNext >