Unit Set Fielding
This synchronized approach fields a vast range
of capabilities that span Army Team C4ISR.
by Josh Davidson and Jason Bock
The Army and the organizations of the CECOM Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) simultaneously provide warfighters with each capability they need to perform their mission in combat through the phases of USF. This means providing the Army Battle Command Systems (ABCS 6.4), the communications systems, power, network and enablers —all at the same time.
General Benjamin S. Griffin, commanding general, Army Materiel Command (AMC), has credited Major General Dennis Via, commanding general, CECOM LCMC, Brigadier General Nick Justice, PEO for C3T, and their staffs for the impact they have made toward smoothing out the fielding process.
“C4ISR is a continuous process, and whether it’s at the individual soldier level, the unit level, the platform level, air or ground, we’ve made tremendous strides since I gave up division command of the 4th Division,” said Griffin, who commanded the division from 1999 to 2001.
The Army has made great improvements toward fielding C4ISR systems expediently, but challenges will always remain in joint and coalition interoperability, Griffin said.
“If you go into a battalion TAC [tactical assault command post] or TOC [tactical operations center] or a division task force TOC or TAC today in Iraq or Afghanistan, they’re significantly further than when I was as division commander,” he said. “But again, the challenges will always be there to improve in the process and the interoperability. We always have a tremendous demand for more information, and then how you do that both line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight will be a challenge. But, are we doing better than we have in the past? Certainly.”
Originally, USF was managed solely by project managers from the PEO C3T. Today, the PEO C3T’s Project Manager, Command Posts (CP) leads Phases I-III, while the CECOM Life Cycle Management Command’s (LCMC) Logistics and Readiness Center manages Phases IV and V.
The USF process has been embraced by Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) G3/G8, TRADOC and Army Forces Command (FORSCOM). Further Armywide representation exists in the HQDA USF planning integrated process team, which was stood up this year.
FIVE-PHASED APPROACH
Since its inception, USF has become a process that spans a vast range of organizations located throughout the world.
The five phases of USF and the operations they support are:
• Phase I (planning): During detailed fielding and New Equipment Training (NET) planning.
• Phase II (execution): During fielding and training operations.
• Phase III (Reset, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration): While deploying or at an Army combat training center where units receive their training prior to deployment.
• Phase IV (deployment): For support of units when they are deployed.
• Phase V (Reset): During the unit’s reset upon return from deployment.
One major role of the Phase I representatives is to develop a comprehensive Battle Command USF schedule and program. During Phase I, a synchronization conference is instrumental in assisting the unit as it develops and assesses the battle roster it is using at the time.
The most common issue that can arise with ABCS 6.4 operation is a lack of user, crew or collective training. Through the ABCS 6.4 Resource Distribution Plan, members of the PM Command Post’s synchronization team can readily identify the number of systems assigned to a unit and place soldiers and associated time frames on each system to ensure 24/7 operation.
ABCS 6.4 is a suite of digital systems that provide separate capabilities that allow warfighters to plan logistics, track one another’s whereabouts on a topographical map using GPS technology, plan fires, access weather information, share intelligence, predict IED threats and manage the airspace.
The training standards for the conferences specify 2.5 soldiers trained per system and way-ahead work to plan changeovers and replacements and to forecast fills through the unit’s S1, or administrative, officer.
“The conferences and the support chains that are established take the burden off of the unit by providing one-stop shopping for education, scheduling, fielding, fielding support, and exercise and troubleshooting support to the unit,” said Richard Stoverink, USF Phase I lead.
Once the planning and schedule for training are established, the unit moves into Phase II. During that phase, the Battle Command System of Systems Integration Training Team (BC SoS ITT) trains the unit on how to establish the command post and integrate its individual systems into a system of systems.
“The whole premise is that you show the unit how to set up the command post, network the command post and integrate all the systems in the command post,” said James Hall, director of the command post and staff integration team.
The 60- to 90-day process includes three events:
• The CP Integration Training, which is focused on establishing the CP, performing setup tasks, networking and getting to a point where the staff can pass voice and data.
• The staff integration training, which is instruction that explains the manner in which to use the CP and the capabilities, which exist inside.
• The CP integration exercise, during which the BC SoS ITT returns to support a unit’s predetermined training event.
The first event brings the unit’s entire battle staff out to the command post for the first time. “No one really gets to see the unit as a whole staff until Battle Command System of Systems Integration Training,” Hall said.
As part of Phase V, Reset, a unit has to conduct several significant actions beginning six months prior to redeployment. This process was formerly briefed to the unit by several different organizations in the Army. Now, through Phase IV and V processes, the Logistics and Readiness Center coordinates this effort by gathering each of the different organizations that touch a unit into a coordinated effort.
“It’s an excellent team,” said Bob Wines, Battle Command Network and Sensors Division (BCNSD), Operations. “It’s a team that cuts across PEO C3T, CECOM, AMCOM [Aviation and Missile Command] and TACOM [Tactical Army Command].”
The Phase V Synchronization conference occurs after redeployment and is a process through which PM Command Posts and the LRC gather the information to assist a unit with Reset activities and new fieldings, refurbishing and the upgrade of equipment.
“It’s a more efficient process and one that the units love,” Wines said, “because they can come to one place and receive the information they need from several different sources.”
TROOP SURGE
“A centralized scheduling method has greatly increased the efficiency of fielding Army Team C4ISR systems to each unit,” said Mike Callahan, product manager, Command Posts Standardization and Integration. Having the process in place proved beneficial during the troop surge announced by President Bush in January 2007.
“The process has allowed for the presentation of systems based on personnel availability and created a method of fielding where separate capabilities are provided to a unit in a sequenced fashion until a complete set is received,” he said.
According to Callahan, the USF process was well-defined at the point of surge. “Though adjustments were made, a firm process made for easy work-arounds, and reacting to the surge was possible without a major overall impact.”
“USF put a little sharper focus on the issues of personnel arrivals, unit rotation, National Training Center [NTC] or Combat Training Center [CTC] timeframes or those kinds of issues that I don’t think we focused on before,” Callahan said. “Unit Set Fielding forced us to drive for fitting in the units’ time frames.” He explained that the Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) process, to which USF is aligned, alerted the USF team to aspects of fielding outside of its normal scope.
“The USF phases are nested in the ARFORGEN process,” said Major Jonathon Shepard, BCNSD. “This was the logical way to field, train, reset and sustain C4ISR systems. The main benefit is that we maintain contact with the unit throughout all five phases.”
The incorporation of field support liaisons from each of the processes’ five phases has shifted the warfighter’s focus from logistical challenges of the past to their present missions. Today, Army Field Support Brigades (AFSBs) have served to ease the burden for those phase leads and their support staff.
“In the old days, that phase lead was kind of on its own to go out to a region, meet with the brigade commander and work out everything from that perspective,” said Jay Herod, chief of the PEO C3T Future Operations Office. “Now, he’s got an advocate at the AFSB level that is really the honest broker between the unit and the provider—in this case, CECOM LCMC. This allows the AFSB commander to take all the units that region needs into account, as well as ours, to schedule fielding and Reset.”
The AFSBs serve as liaisons between the units and the fielding personnel who support them. By providing support in various regions, the AFSBs have greatly enhanced the USF team’s ability to perform its mission, Herod explained. Consequently, this provides a regional focus from a soldier on the ground who is familiar with the needs of that region. The AFSB maintains an awareness of which units are deployed and returning from theater, which diminishes the workload and planning for the USF team. “We view the AFSBs as not just an advocate for the unit, but rather the honest broker—the middle man,” Herod said.
AFSBs provide logistics support and connect the acquisition, contracting, research and industrial capabilities to the field Army. Seven deployable AFSBs are assigned to the Army Sustainment Command (ASC). Both organizations were stood up by AMC. The AFSBs provide the ASC with a single command structure in strategic locations around the world including Iraq, Kuwait, Korea and Europe as well as in the United States at Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Lewis, Wash.; and Fort Hood, Texas. The AFSBs existed prior to the ASC’s activation.
The ASC became the AMC’s newest major subordinate command in 2006, marking the deactivation of the Army Field Support Command.
The AFSBs have been woven into the USF battle rhythm, as they are now included in the fragmentary orders (FRAGOs) cut for each unit. AFSB leaders relay input during the biweekly USF battle update briefings, where the phase leads provide status updates for the units they support. The FRAGOs detail the USF team’s training and fielding approach for each unit once they are pinpointed to receive Team C4ISR equipment. The FRAGO indicates each date and quantity of the equipment they will receive.
“So, by having them included first in the planning and secondly in the management oversight process, I think they become once again our advocate to make sure everything goes smoothly between ourselves and the unit,” Herod said.
“I think [standing up AFSBs] is one of the best things that I’ve seen the Army do in many years,” Griffin said. “It’s focused on the customer. They are involved with unit fielding support, they’re involved with resetting, they’re involved with database support to soldiers, sailors, and the Marines around the world,” he said.
SUPPORTING MODULARIZATION
Numerous process improvements have streamlined the USF team’s operations, allowing it to make significant progress toward the objective of a completely modularized Army. Modularity is a major restructuring of the entire Army, involving the creation of Brigade Combat Teams that will have a common design and will increase the pool of available units for deployment.
The USF team has completed modularity upgrades for about 100 of the Army’s nearly 300 brigade-sized equivalent units. Each has been provided Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment One, ABCS 6.4 and Tactical Operation Center functionality. In 2008 alone, the team gave full USF operations to 48 units.
Playing a key role in USF has allowed Shepard to witness firsthand its ability to address some of the issues he ran across during his Army career.
“One of the main complaints from units in the past was that PMs were doing ‘drive-by fieldings,’” said Shepard. “USF has fixed that problem.” Units are now approached collectively in a method consistent with their USF stage.
“C4ISR systems operate in an integrated manner so the PM community must be able to field, conduct individual NET [new equipment training] and then progress to systems of systems integration training,” he said. “As the unit conducts their Mission Readiness Exercise or Combat Training Center exercise [during phase two], Team C4ISR is there with them supporting and providing additional over-theshoulder training.”
Those processes might include the fielding of new equipment or Reset. Through PM Command Posts, Unit Set Fielding has allowed the PEO C3T to synchronize its presentation of individual project managers’ systems to the unit. “Essentially we are fielding a system of systems command post capability to the unit,” he said.
Since its inception, USF has evolved to include organizations throughout Army Team C4ISR, such as the Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S).
USF allows the Army Team C4ISR community to coordinate its efforts of interfacing with units, according to Brigadier General Thomas Cole, PEO for IEW&S. This prevents disjointed efforts among PMs, especially during reset or upgrade of a unit, he said. PEO IEW&S has aligned itself with the ASC structure and synchronized its fielding processes with the Army community.
“CECOM has a parallel structure that has senior command representatives, regional support representatives and digital systems engineers—all oriented toward capturing the problems that are taking place in the field and then solving those problems,” Cole said. “They interface with the PMs, so rather than having PMs put out their own contact teams, if you will, we are integrating what we do into that structure so it’s a one face to the warfighter, and then through that structure, we determine how best to solve problems and how best to respond.”
SINGLE POINT FOR REACHBACK
The Support and Operations Center (SOC) at Fort Hood provides tiered support, which is similar to that of companies such as Dell. But it is required to adhere to military standards, as Jose Torres, a senior DSE with the center, explained.
The round-the-clock center, established in January 2007 under Justice’s direction, provides a single point of support for issues with hardware, software, interoperability, systems architecture, training and field support across Army Team C4ISR.
Tier zero begins when the actual issue arises in the field. Critical issues reported at tier one must be resolved in 60 minutes, or they will be passed up to tier two. If an issue is sent to tier three, it is a strong indicator that design issues exist, according to Torres.
Considered the first line of defense, tier one occurs when all service and support calls are received. All relevant information is gathered to either resolve the issue with the user or escalate it to tier two. During tier two, broad-based subject-matter experts attempt to resolve the issues with their in-depth detailed knowledge and understanding. If they are not able to address the issue, it is escalated to tier three, where seasoned product experts ensure timely resolution to problems that might require code changes or other development-related solutions.
Torres explained that an SOC control manager is tasked with reviewing each ticket as it arrives to examine it for inconsistencies or for a rare occurrence of duplicate tickets. Users can report issues through the incident reporting module of the Single Interface to the Field (SIF) portal, telephone, e-mail or fax machine.
The SIF process provides the warfighter with an entry point for support of any system managed by the Army Team C4ISR. It not only guides them to the assistance they need; it links them to mission essential information pertaining to areas such as fielding and training. The SOC presently averages 52 trouble tickets per day. That average experienced a spike of nearly 34 tickets per day during the three months leading to October due to an increase of Army Team C4ISR systems integrated into the process.
Aside from streamlining the support process, the SOC has helped identify fielding issues such as faulty hard drives or hardware lots. In one instance, the SOC was able to assist in the replacement of a WIN-T Increment One system in Afghanistan two hours after its predecessor was deemed unable to function. Processes put in place throughout Army Team C4ISR have allowed the SOC staff to stay very aware of occurrences in theater. The process has provided warfighters with a single point of reachback.
“In the past, they didn’t have any reachback to say I have 30 different systems from 30 different companies from 10 different PMs,” Torres said. “Who do I have to call to fix my Command Post of the Future? Who do I have to call to fix my Maneuver Control System computer? Who do I have to call to fix my Tactical Airspace Integration System computer?”
The round-the-clock service provided by the SOC proved beneficial as the center’s workload increased during the surge. As increased calls came in, the SOC’s established method of maintaining a rotating list of system engineers available at any hour allowed it to respond efficiently, according to Torres. Members of a DSE pool served as reserves for members of the center’s staff who were in the field due to the surge.
Synchronization conferences, where members of the USF team travel to unit locations to explain and train Army Team C4ISR capabilities, consolidate multiple activities into one, Callahan explained. Units are provided with a single representative for scheduling separate fielding facets at times that fit them best.
“Through the synchronization conferences and the fielding, training and support that follow, the civilians working as part of Team C4ISR are able to interface directly with the warfighter,” Shepard said. “This interface allows the civilians to better understand the warfighter’s perspective and reinforces the importance of the systems and support they provide.”
USF has increased the amount of capabilities that Army Team C4ISR can field to the warfighter at once. “Rather than having individual PMs fielding different units across the Army on different schedules, USF allows the Army to field Battle Command capability to the warfighter in a coordinated effort in accordance with the priorities and funding from DA G3 and G8,” he said. ♦
Josh Davidson and Jason Bock are with the PEO C3T Chief Knowledge Office.
