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LTC T. Sloane Guy IV, Chief of Surgery with the 47th CSH, wears a head-mounted camera, giving stateside specialists a first-person view of the operative field. (U.S. Army photo by MAJ Allan Long, 47th CSH.)
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Craniotomies on 5-year-old kids and repairing ruptured bladders were not run-of-the-mill procedures for LTC T. Sloane Guy IV, M.D. A highly skilled cardiothoracic surgeon, Guy specializes in cracking open chests to conduct bypass surgeries, replacing cardiac valves, and completing lung resections.
Although out of his comfort zone, Guy successfully completed all of these procedures while deployed to Salerno, Afghanistan, as the Chief of Clinical Services with the 249th General Hospital in 2005–2006. At the time, Guy would have been comforted with another specialist or two by his side. “I envisioned that when a case came in, I could place a call to an operating room [in the U.S.] with details of the case,” Guy said. “Then, a specialist, such as a neurosurgeon or urologist, would get on the line and assist with the procedure from afar.”
In August 2009, Guy’s vision advanced a step further with the successful test of a new telesurgery mentor initiative led by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s (MRMC’s) Telemedicine Advanced Technical Research Center (TATRC), headquartered at Fort Detrick, MD.
While deployed as the Chief of Surgery with the 47th Combat Support Hospital (CSH), Guy performed a complex and rare surgical procedure. At the same time of the procedure, LTC(P) William “Chance” Conner, a specialist at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in Fort Sam Houston, TX, peered over his shoulder to view live video footage of the procedure and offered real-time guidance when requested. The Army’s medical recording system—Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4)—enabled the live consult to take place through rugged laptops armed with new technology.
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The overhead camera used with the telesurgery system can be turned and zoomed in for a better view of the procedure. (U.S. Army photo by MAJ Allan Long, 47th CSH.)
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From Concept to Prototype
Guy’s original concept included a camera system configured in the operating room (OR)—one camera worn on the deployed surgeon’s head and another mounted in the overhead light fixture. This configuration would offer different views of the operative field, all connected in real time over the Internet.
In 2007, Guy, now the principal investigator and clinical champion for the project, met with COL Ronald Poropatich, Medical Informatics Consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General, and MRMC’s TATRC leadership for assistance. In 2008, the project received funds, setting the wheels in motion. The next step was to develop the heart of the concept—the software. The project leaned on SRI International to provide the solution, based on the company’s expertise in telesurgical projects.
“My idea was to reach back to stateside doctors and provide the sights and sounds from the OR to receive the greatest assistance possible for difficult procedures or those outside my specialty,” Guy said. While he formulated and refined his concept, all the necessary pieces did not exist. “One component added by SRI is the ability to perform telestration on images,” Poropatich said. “Stateside doctors have the ability to freeze-frame live footage. They can write instructions or details on an image and send it to the deployed OR at the other end of the line. It is something similar to what John Madden made famous during football games.”
The next step meant navigating theater processes and procedures before attacking the technical setup. Information management officers helped the project gain local buy-in from leadership, securing an interim authority to test and operate in Iraq.
MC4 support personnel shouldered the configuration and technical support for Guy. After resolving firewall issues and inserting the technology into the OR in theater, MC4 provided the hardware to BAMC to link Guy with providers stateside.
The Way Ahead
Guy’s telesurgery mentor system vision took years to germinate from an idea formed in a treatment facility in Afghanistan to a working prototype tested on the battlefield in Iraq. While it originated from the need for specialized assistance, the system has the potential to help providers in various trauma settings and may prove to be a valuable educational tool.
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My idea was to reach back to stateside doctors and provide the sights and sounds from the OR to receive the greatest assistance possible for difficult procedures or those outside my specialty.
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“I believe this system could be used in any deployed setting—Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, or Honduras,” Poropatich said. “Surgeons could take advantage of the ‘awake clock’ and reach back to facilities that are awake and open. Calls for assistance could go into a central consult routing system and go to Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, or the 121st CSH in Korea.”
During hurricane season in the United States, the telesurgery mentor system could reveal its benefits should a disaster decimate an area laden with small hospitals. “If a hurricane comes on land in a rural area, smaller civilian hospitals most likely would not have the surgical expertise to handle some of the cases that would come in,” Poropatich said. “The local providers could still handle the workload by using this system and working with specialists at other locations.”
The new system could also better prepare new surgeons for the realities of theater trauma care. Surgeons graduating from military programs and preparing to deploy for the first time could watch live procedures from the battlefield. “Stateside medical personnel just do not see the same types of cases that are handled in theater,” Poropatich said. “This can only make them more insightful and prepared to treat the polytraumatic cases that come in every day.”
For more information about the U.S. military’s tactical electronic medical recording efforts, visit www.mc4.army.mil.
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BILL SNETHEN provides MC4 Program public relations support. He holds a B.A. in communications from William Paterson University. Snethen has more than 15 years of public relations experience.
RAY STEEN is the MC4 Public Affairs Officer. He holds a B.S. in public relations and corporate media communications from James Madison University. Steen has more than 13 years of integrated marketing communications experience. |
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MC4 PM LTC William E. Geesey (center) receives an AAE Team Award from LTG N. Ross Thompson III (left), then-Principal Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASAALT), and Dean G. Popps, Acting ASAALT and Army Acquisition Executive, during the 2009 AAC Annual Awards Ceremony Oct. 4, 2009. (U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center photo by McArthur Newell II, BRTRC.)
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In October 2009, the U.S. Army Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4) program earned two awards: an Army Acquisition Excellence (AAE) Team Award and the MAJ Jonathan Letterman Award for Medical Excellence. The program was honored for improving and expanding the use of electronic medical records (EMRs) on the battlefield and to garrison battalion aid stations.
AAE Award
On Oct. 4, 2009, the U.S. Army Acquisition Corps (AAC) credited MC4 for instituting the Army’s first tactical EMR quality assurance and best business practice programs throughout Southwest Asia. MC4’s ability to fill a gap in medical recording via expanded use to the U.S. Air Force and to garrison battalion aid stations demonstrated the program’s impact on the military’s transition from paper to digital health records. “MC4’s business transformation efforts provide uniformity and stability to system use, training, and support,” said MC4 Product Manager (PM) LTC William E. Geesey. “Our commitment to supporting MC4 users with our ‘train as you fight’ model best prepares units for meeting medical information requirements in the U.S. and abroad.”
Letterman Award
More than 147 years ago, MAJ Jonathan Letterman, Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac, documented the need for detailed medical records for all Soldiers. On Oct. 29, 2009, the National Museum of Civil War Medicine (NMCWM) honored Letterman’s legacy by recognizing MC4 for leading the digitization of patient care on the front lines, enabling better continuity of care and decision making.
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The NMCWM awarded the MC4 team the 2009 MAJ Jonathan Letterman Award for Medical Excellence. From left to right: Museum Executive Director George C. Wunderlich, MC4 Deputy PM Orlando Illi, Museum Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr. Gordon E. Dammann, and President of Museum’s Board of Directors Betsy Estilow. (MC4 photo by Larry Ketron, Good Intent Graphics.)
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“In the past, gaps in service members’ medical histories were a result of incomplete or lost patient records,” Geesey said. “Missing data often led to exploratory surgery, repeated tests, or denial of VA [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs] medical benefits. The use of MC4 prevents these issues from recurring.” With 10 years of experience managing DOD’s first and most comprehensive battlefield medical recording system, MC4 has enabled the capture of more than 12 million electronic patient encounters in the combat zone. MC4 has also trained 42,000 deployable medical staff and commanders, and fielded 33,000 systems to 750 units with medical personnel, including Stryker brigades, U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve, and all active divisional units throughout 14 countries.
MC4 integrates, fields, and supports a comprehensive medical information system, enabling lifelong EMRs, streamlined medical logistics, and enhanced situational awareness for Army tactical forces. The Army’s Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems, Fort Belvoir, VA, oversees the MC4 Product Management Office headquartered at Fort Detrick, MD.
| RAY STEEN is the MC4 Public Affairs Officer. He holds a B.S. in public relations and corporate media communications from James Madison University. Steen has more than 13 years of integrated marketing communications experience. |
Many treatments to limit or reverse the devastating results of SCI have shown promise in the laboratory, yet have never been brought to clinical trials because of the formidable infrastructure required to test and approve them for human use. A unique partnership between the U.S. military and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation is addressing this challenge. The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s (MRMC’s) Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) is supporting the development of the foundation’s North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN), which has created the largest SCI active clinical trial database in the United States and will begin its first trial in early 2010.
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Dr. Robert Grossman (left foreground) is the lead investigator for the NACTN. (Photo courtesy of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.)
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“There are often not enough new cases of SCI at any one site to obtain the number of patients needed to conduct clinical research,” said Dr. Kenneth Curley, a neurotrauma research coordinator with MRMC. NACTN is unique in the United States because of its size, scope, and standards that must be followed by every research site. NACTN investigators are also gathering information on the outcomes for hundreds of patients to compare the efficacy of treatment.
History of NACTN
NACTN was created in 2004 by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation with a consortium of university hospital neurosurgical and neurorehabilitation teams. TATRC has supported NACTN since 2006. More than 330 patients with acute SCIs have been enrolled into the NACTN database, which is open as a resource to all SCI researchers. NACTN is collaborating with a similar network in Europe, which has a database of 1,800 patients.
NACTN’s first clinical trial is a Phase I trial to test the safety of the drug Riluzole in acute SCI. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that Riluzole protects nerve cells from the toxic cascade of events that occur in the minutes and hours after the initial trauma of SCI. The drug must be administered within the first 12 hours after injury. The trial will take place at eight hospitals, seven in the United States and one in Canada.
In preparation for the trial, NACTN is developing more sensitive neurological outcome assessment tools that can detect even small changes in neurological function, which will help determine whether a drug or surgical intervention is having a positive effect. All researchers and clinicians in the group are using one central data facility and the same protocols, assessment, and training. Taken together, these efforts will enable them to conduct stronger studies that could impact service members in the near future.
The Phase I trial, including follow-up of patient outcomes, is expected to take 1 year. If Riluzole is proven safe at this stage, a larger Phase II trial will begin. The drug could possibly be available on the frontlines within 3–5 years.
Looking to the Future
For future trials of new therapy, NACTN is gearing up to serve as the first U.S. site for a clinical trial of an antibody that has improved recovery in experimental studies. The antibody blocks a regeneration-inhibiting molecule in myelin, the wrapping that surrounds nerve fibers. Another goal of NACTN is to characterize the differences between military and civilian injuries and their treatment and outcome.
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NACTN is a test bed for clinicians and biomedical researchers to combine their knowledge and, ultimately, to help patients.
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The lead investigator for NACTN is Dr. Robert G. Grossman, Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery and Director of the Neurological Institute of The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX. “DOD funding has been critical for NACTN to expand,” said Grossman. “We now have nine clinical centers, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and we plan to add additional military, VA [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs], and civilian hospitals. This will increase our capacity to conduct high-quality trials with the statistical power to determine the effectiveness of emerging SCI therapies.” Grossman is hopeful this global network will speed new therapies from the lab to the frontlines.
“Clinical trials are very time-consuming and expensive and must be designed carefully to obtain valid data,” Grossman said. “The key is collaboration. NACTN is a test bed for clinicians and biomedical researchers to combine their knowledge and, ultimately, to help patients.” Added TATRC Chief Scientist Dr. Charles Peterson, “We are proud to support this effort because of the hope and promise it holds.”
| BARB RUPPERT is a science and technology writer for MRMC's TATRC. |
Food safety expert researchers from the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) have been working on solutions to the challenge of protecting consumer health from potential food-borne and related illnesses. One such solution developed by these NSRDEC research scientists is the award-winning technology Disinfectant-sprayer for Foods and ENvironmentally friendly Sanitation (D-FENS). D-FENS is a “green” technology that provides a new way of eliminating bacterial pathogens, such as Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes, from a variety of surfaces, while also working to keep our environment safe. In recent months, D-FENS has been recognized with two major and prestigious awards: a 2009 Department of the Army Research and Development Achievement (RDA) Award for Technical Excellence and a 2010 Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. D-FENS was chosen as the cream of the crop by a broad cross-section of evaluators, another indicator that NSRDEC’s D-FENS research was truly of the highest caliber.
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NSRDEC Research Microbiologist Florence Feeherry and NSRDEC Senior Research Chemist Dr. Christopher Doona (center) played integral roles in the development of D-FENS. Prototypes of D-FENS and PCS are shown (bottom left), and fresh tomatoes are shown against a black-and-white micrograph of Escherichia coli (right). (U.S. Army photo illustration.)
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“The RDA Awards recognize scientists for their proven scientific and technical excellence and the potential to improve the Army’s capability and enhance our national defense,” said NSRDEC Director Dr. Marilyn M. Freeman at the July 2009 ceremony. MG Paul S. Izzo (Ret.), then-Commanding General, U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM), also recognized the significance of these accomplishments and congratulated the 2009 RDA Award winners for supporting the Army and bringing great credit to themselves, management staff, and RDECOM.
“We’re thankful for the recognition of our accomplishments in this way. Chlorine dioxide is a well-known disinfectant in a diverse range of applications,” said Dr. Christopher Doona, Senior Research Chemist, NSRDEC’s Materials and Defense Sciences Division. “With the technology transfer of D-FENS for commercialization, we hope the D-FENS device will become available as a quick and easy solution to ensuring hygiene and safety of warfighters in the field, as well as for the public at home.”
D-FENS Capabilities
Foods and food contact surfaces are examples where D-FENS can be deployed. The military needs to prepare, serve, and clean up food in austere conditions in deployed locations around the world. Many times this is done in battlefield kitchens, where proper food processing and handling equipment is essential to maintain our warfighters’ health. Similarly, good hygiene and sanitation are also important for combat surgical hospitals, deployable medical systems, and in the showers, latrines, and other such facilities of small or shared spaces where many personnel exist in a shared living environment. D-FENS offers a potential solution to meet these needs.
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D-FENS was chosen as the cream of the crop by a broad cross-section of evaluators, another indicator that NSRDEC’s D-FENS research was truly of the highest caliber.
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D-FENS uses a commercially available, hand-held, collapsible spray bottle made of a flexible plastic pouch material to mix small quantities of safe, dry reagents with available water sources. D-FENS generates a safe, user-friendly chlorine dioxide solution within a few minutes that can be sprayed on surfaces to conveniently wipe away bacteria. The bottle’s pouch has a gusseted bottom that opens for the bottle to stand upright when full, and the bottle’s material is chemically resistant for multiple uses. D-FENS is small, compact, and easily transportable to reduce logistics burden. The chlorine dioxide solution is not acidic or reactive, and any excess solution remaining in the D-FENS spray bottle at the end of a work shift can be used to sanitize trash receptacles or purge biofilms that can cling inside drains.
Protecting Warfighters’ Health
Another important way to protect warfighters’ health and prevent the possible spread of food-borne illness involves the Portable Chemical Sterilizer (PCS). Originally developed for medical instrument sterilization, PCS is an energy-independent, portable plastic suitcase that uses the same set of chemicals as D-FENS to generate gaseous chlorine dioxide onsite within minutes. PCS has been used to kill bacteria on tomatoes without degrading appearance or taste and also prevent browning in sliced apples. Results at this time are so promising that further testing is planned under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and NSRDEC.
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We hope the D-FENS device will become available as a quick and easy solution to ensuring hygiene and safety of warfighters in the field, as well as for the public at home.
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The breakthrough nature of the scientific and technical achievements of D-FENS as a novel and innovative technology is seen in the book Microbial Safety of Fresh Produce that was edited by expert scientists from NSRDEC, USDA, and Cornell University. The chapter, “Enhanced Safety and Extended Shelf Life of Fresh Produce for the Military,” was co-written by experts from NSRDEC, Brandeis University, and the University of Connecticut Health Center. In terms of technology transfer, the patent application for D-FENS was licensed by ClorDiSys Solutions Inc., Lebanon, NJ, in May 2009 for commercialization and dual-use applications. Patent license agreements are often considered the “gold standard” of technology transfer, by which a technology developed by a federal laboratory transfers to the commercial marketplace in accordance with the Federal Technology Transfer Act. ClorDiSys Solutions Inc. has developed packaging systems for the chemical reagents and is selling NSRDEC’s chlorine dioxide technology as a commercial product with tremendous savings in time, convenience, and environmental protection compared to conventional sterilants.
Article courtesy of NSRDEC Public Affairs.
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MG Nickolas G. Justice, then-Program Executive Officer PEO C3T, discusses improving U.S. SATCOM at the October 2009 Satellite and Content Delivery Conference and Expo. (U.S. Army photo by Amy Walker.)
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As troops continue to deploy to diverse theaters, such as Afghanistan where existing communications infrastructure is limited, the Army’s demand for connectivity continues to grow. “We are looking for agility for the warfighter,” said MG Nickolas G. Justice, then-Program Executive Officer for Program Executive Office Command, Control, and Communications Tactical (PEO C3T). “Warfighters need connectivity, not bandwidth, more than anything else. If the Soldier has connectivity, then I can know where he or she is, he or she can know where I am, and we can pass very basic information.”
Justice, now Commanding General, U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command, was the keynote speaker at the Satellite and Content Delivery Conference and Expo Oct. 15, 2009, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NY. He encouraged the private sector representatives in the audience to rise to the challenge of improving U.S. satellite communications (SATCOM) to help quench the Army’s thirst for more bandwidth and greater connectivity.
“There are opportunities to grow the body of knowledge of how to do on-the-move communications with satellites and mixtures of satellites and radios,” Justice said. “I’m going to suggest that it’s not my problem alone—that it’s the commercial business’ challenge—because international businesses and corporations are looking to have standard information protection.”
Building the Framework
The military and commercial industry are facing similar needs, Justice said. To begin with, they both want to converge systems and applications and veer away from paying for increasing infrastructure demands.
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A Soldier works with a Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment One Satellite Transportable Terminal during a WIN-T Increment Two Engineering Field Test (EFT) at Fort Huachuca, AZ. (U.S. Army photo by Richard Mattox.)
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Currently, the Army is running a separate network for logistics systems, tactical tracking systems, medical systems, intelligence systems, and so forth. To maximize the Army’s bandwidth and allocate it accordingly, the networks must converge onto a single warfighter information network. With this in mind, the Army is building a worldwide communication framework, the Global Network Enterprise Construct, an Armywide strategy that will transform LandWarNet from many loosely affiliated independent networks to a single global network. “Communication is part of our weapon systems,” Justice said. “We want an infrastructure where we can move bandwidth around and deal with challenges. We are trying to collapse those multiple networks down onto our global network.”
Many of the commercial industry’s business customers, such as banks, are demanding some of the same capabilities for which the military is striving. Bandwidth, connectivity, and information protection reign high on the list. The fast pace of changing technology in both sectors is adding to the increase in SATCOM demand, and current SATCOM capabilities are having trouble keeping up.
“Do we have enough launchers to put up all the satellites we have?” Justice asked. “Do the satellites have the bandwidth, the focus, and all the features that we need?” He suggested that these challenges should be solved as a community. “We are challenged to bring military satellites online, and when you start looking at the age of some of the current satellites as they start decaying, we have a real requirement that surpasses the commercial world, unless the commercial world adopts some new concerns of its own,” he said.
In earlier years, the military dominated communications technology advancement. Now, with the onset of the Internet, the tables are quickly turning. Demand in the commercial world is growing at lightning speed, which has driven the telecommunications industry to overtake the military in wireless communication technology already. “I think today’s telecommunications industry is going to force us to go to cell phone technology on the battlefield—maybe in a different spectrum,” Justice said.
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Soldiers discuss the direction of a satellite dish during the WIN-T Increment Two EFT at Fort Huachuca. (U.S. Army photo by Richard Mattox.)
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Increasing Connectivity
However, even with mobile cellular communications, the Soldier needs enough points of presence to be able to drive long distances while maintaining connectivity, a feat that the military is determined to accomplish. The Army is downsizing its communication devices to get the same stream of information onto smaller vehicles, making them less of a target for enemy combatants. Smaller, less-detectable vehicles will be able to scatter over the battlefield and increase connectivity.
The Army has “radically” changed its operational concept from a fixed infrastructure environment to a modular expeditionary force—where it is able to pack and go wherever it needs on a moment’s notice. The modular aspect allows the Army to tailor systems and applications to meet its changing needs. “The world is a complex place, but there is nothing more complex than a deployed Army unit, constantly moving,” Justice said. “The infrastructure has to move. Soldiers need to be able to maneuver.”
To support the growing requirements of today’s Soldiers for increased bandwidth and better reliability, Justice suggested that both sectors need to tackle the Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) and Mobile Networked Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) environment. A MANET is a collection of wireless nodes that can dynamically form a network to exchange information without using pre-existing fixed network infrastructure. Because the nodes are mobile, either installed in moving vehicles or worn by Soldiers, the network topology constantly changes. MIMO increases Wi-Fi range and performance by using multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver ends. It offers significant increases in data throughput, reliability, and spectrum efficiency without additional bandwidth or power.
“Information requirements are growing, and we have to get our hands around those challenges, not just for my community, but for the commercial community and our Nation’s economy,” Justice said. “That’s where I think you [the private sector] have the most to offer.”
| AMY WALKER works for Symbolic Systems Inc. and is a staff writer supporting the PEO C3T MilTech Solutions Office, Fort Monmouth, NJ. She holds a B.S. in psychology from the College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College). |
The next time the Thunderbirds of the U.S. Army’s 11th Signal Bde deploy, they will be equipped with new Combat Service Support Automated Information Systems Interface (CAISI) 2.0 systems and reset Combat Service Support Very Small Aperture Terminal (CSS VSAT) systems, thanks to Product Manager Defense Wide Transmission Systems (PM DWTS).
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LTC Johnnie Edmonds (left), Director, CSS Communications, PM DWTS, explains the use of the CAISI 2.0 system (on pole in left foreground) to LTC Geoffrey Mangelsdorf, then-11th Signal Bde Deputy Commander, during an OPD training session at Fort Huachuca, Oct. 27, 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Stephen Larsen.)
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On Oct. 27, 2009, at Fort Huachuca, AZ, LTC Johnnie Edmonds, Director, CSS Communications, PM DWTS—who oversees the CAISI and CSS VSAT programs—presented an Officer Professional Development (OPD) training session to 11th Signal Bde officers, giving a broad overview of the CAISI 2.0 and CSS VSAT systems. The session included hands-on demonstrations of the systems by Robert Schmaling, a field support representative with PM DWTS; Rod Harp, a senior systems engineer with the Information Systems Engineering Command; Peter Nesby, Assistant PM CAISI for PM DWTS; and Brian Paden, CAISI support operations manager with PM DWTS. Paden later presented a new materiel introductory briefing to the 11th Signal Bde’s CSS Automation Management Officers (CSSAMOs), to whom PM DWTS fielded CAISI 2.0 systems in early December 2009. PM DWTS is part of the Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems Project Office of Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS).
System Benefits
Edmonds explained how the systems are designed for the transport of logistics data, noting that CAISI 2.0 connects a brigade’s logistics systems in a deployable wireless local area network (LAN). He added that CAISI 2.0 is the Army’s only certified wireless tactical LAN, meeting Wi-Fi protected access security standards and ensuring secure wireless transmissions.
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CAISI 2.0 is the Army’s only certified wireless tactical LAN, meeting Wi-Fi protected access security standards and ensuring secure wireless transmissions.
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CAISI 2.0 systems are deployed down to the company level and tied into CSS VSATs at the battalion or brigade level for Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Network satellite connectivity to transmit their Standard Army Management Information System transactions. “The use of CSS SATCOM [satellite communications], which includes CAISI and CSS VSATs, saves Soldiers’ lives by eliminating ‘sneaker net’—the need for Soldiers to get in convoys and go in harm’s way to place requisitions or deliver other logistics data,” said Edmonds. “Now, Soldiers can stay inside the wire and securely transmit requisitions and logistics data.”
CW2 Jeffrey Collins, CSSAMO for the 86th Signal Battalion (Bn), vouched for CAISI 2.0’s availability and effectiveness. “You turn CAISI 2.0 on and it’s there—it’s like you’re part of the network,” he said. “It’s great.”
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Robert Schmaling, a field support representative with PM DWTS, discusses how to acquire a satellite using the indoor unit of the CSS VSAT system with CW2 Jeffrey Collins, CSSAMO for the 86th Signal Bn, at Fort Huachuca, Oct. 27, 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Stephen Larsen.)
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Major Improvements
Both Edmonds and Paden spoke of vast improvements that PM DWTS included in CAISI 2.0 compared to the previous version, CAISI 1.1:
Collins told about how, after he received CAISI 2.0 training, he went back and had his Soldiers manually reconfigure their CAISI 2.0. “They really appreciate the difference and were glad that CAISI 2.0 makes configuration so easy,” he said.
Edmonds explained that when in garrison, it is beneficial to use the CAISI network as if deployed. “In fact, the Army G-4 has issued a memorandum authorizing the use of CAISI and CSS VSATs in garrison by logisticians to conduct their day-to-day logistics business,” he said.
LTC Frank Gonzales, 86th Signal Bn Commander, and LTC Geoffrey Mangelsdorf, then-11th Signal Bde Deputy Commander, thanked Edmonds and his team for coming to Fort Huachuca to present the training session, which was the first such OPD presentation that PM DWTS personnel had given to a signal brigade. “This is a great opportunity to learn about what have become really great systems for the Army,” said Mangelsdorf.
| STEPHEN LARSEN is the PEO EIS Public Affairs Officer at Fort Monmouth, NJ. He holds a B.A. in American studies from the College of Staten Island of the City University of New York and has more than 20 years’ experience writing about Army systems. |
As warfighters patrol the dangerous streets in theater or secure enemy safe houses, Tactical Ground Reporting’s (TIGR’s) new “Patrol View” function will soon enhance their visual perspective. “The street view function, or Patrol View, has the ability to show Soldiers a particular area and give them the experience of having already been there, based on data input by others who have gone before them,” said John Gillette, TIGR/Tactical Hand-held Digital Device (THDD) Deputy.
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TIGR is particularly suited to counterinsurgency operations and enables collection and distribution of specific intelligence on people, places, and insurgent activity. Here, Soldiers of the 501st Military Police Co. conduct a dismounted foot patrol in Tikrit, Iraq, February 2008. (U.S. Army photo by SPC Alfredo Jimenz Jr.)
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Patrol View is a new TIGR capability that has been enabled through a partnership with the Rapid Equipping Force, which has made ground data captured in Iraq available for visualization in TIGR. Patrol View offers the Soldier a 360-degree view of the surrounding vicinity, similar to Google Maps Street View. With this information and imagery, commanders can view targeted buildings, as well as the surrounding infrastructure, prior to their mission. They now have the ability to foresee possible sniper hideouts or plan their fire support positions in advance.
TIGR is a multimedia reporting system that allows Soldiers at the patrol level to collect and share information to improve SA and to facilitate collaboration and information analysis among junior officers. It is a Web-based software application that runs on the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network.
There are 23,000 TIGR user accounts, and the system is fielded to 15 brigade combat teams in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and three in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The OIF fielding is completed and being sustained, but there is still fielding yet to be completed in OEF, according to MAJ Xaviera Williams, TIGR/THDD lead.
“Today, TIGR is arming Soldiers from 17 combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan with exactly what they need—the best information and knowledge available to them on the ground in real time,” said GEN Peter Chiarelli, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, during his speech at the Association of the United States Army’s Winter Symposium in February 2009.
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Patrol View offers the Soldier a 360-degree view of the surrounding vicinity, similar to Google Maps Street View.
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Currently, TIGR’s Patrol View capability is undergoing a limited user test in Iraq. To coordinate the initial setup of the Patrol View function, the Army needed to go out with contractors to manually map out and download imagery and information throughout Iraq. Eventually, the intent is to have a camera-mounted ball that can be installed onto a patrol vehicle. This will allow patrols to capture data for the TIGR each time they go out.
“The strength of TIGR is to be able to search data that is already in the repository,” said Gillette. “As the Soldier is putting the information in, it is building a database that is connected through servers at the battalion and brigade level.”
How TIGR Works
The ground Soldiers’ preparation for a patrol is similar to that of a flight plan that a pilot creates prior to flight. Soldiers on patrol will first map out routes, taking note of possible obstacles or difficult topography. However, local infrastructure and battlefield terrain is constantly modified. New structures are continually built or torn down, bridges are destroyed, and various obstructions appear and disappear along any given street. To stay updated with these changes, TIGR uses before and after photographs and updated imagery to manage the changing tactical landscape and provide the most current operational environment views.
TIGR’s graphical, map-referenced user interface allows multimedia data, such as voice recordings, digital photos, and Global Positioning System tracks, to be easily collected and searched. The system also uses a state-of-the-art data distribution architecture to minimize load on the tactical networks while allowing digital imagery and other multimedia data to be rapidly exchanged.
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TIGR was first introduced to users during a pre-deployment training exercise at Fort Hood, TX, in spring 2006.
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With its geospatial user interface, TIGR is particularly suited to counterinsurgency operations and enables collection and distribution of very specific intelligence on people, places, and insurgent activity. “It allows Soldiers to use an interface that is very similar to Google Earth and Facebook, which young Soldiers are accustomed to using to both input and retrieve data,” Gillette said. Information from TIGR can also be exported to Google Earth.
TIGR Capabilities
TIGR helps ground Soldiers collect information on key infrastructure, landmarks, and terrain. Photos of key locations can be captured into TIGR, geo-referenced, and displayed as map overlays. Such data also serves as a navigation aid in areas where street names or numbers are nonexistent. Overlays of routes, critical infrastructure, tribal areas, and ethnic maps, and recent attacks and changes in the terrain are each used to support the Soldier’s mission.
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Soldiers on patrol will first map out routes, taking note of possible obstacles or difficult topography, as depicted in this TIGR screen shot. (U.S. Army image.)
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TIGR is also used to capture and share information on the human landscape. The system is used to record and share meetings with religious leaders and encounters with local villagers or business owners.
TIGR can be used to transfer key information to a new unit rotating into an area of operation. Instead of reviewing a stack of Microsoft PowerPoint or Word files, new units can start the rotation process by reviewing past and ongoing activities in their areas of interest. In addition, profiles of Soldiers who have input information are displayed on the system.
Developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), TIGR was first introduced to users during a pre-deployment training exercise at Fort Hood, TX, in spring 2006. It was developed in response to a need to have a capability to capture, retrieve, and report patrol data.
TIGR was conceived and is managed by Dr. Mari Maeda of the DARPA Information Processing Techniques Office. The program is scheduled to transfer to Project Manager Force XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below of the Army’s Program Executive Office Command, Control, and Communications Tactical (PEO C3T) in the first quarter of FY12.
| AMY WALKER works for Symbolic Systems Inc. and is a staff writer supporting the PEO C3T MilTech Solutions Office, Fort Monmouth, NJ. She holds a B.S. in psychology from the College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College). |
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The Army is in the midst of a major overhaul of its business systems and was recently awarded an enterprise contract that will bring it closer to achieving long-sought integration and cost savings goals. The new contract, signed Dec. 31, 2009, is a major shift from previous enterprise resource planning (ERP) product procurements in three ways:
The contract was negotiated through the Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software, and Solutions (CHESS) Program Office and was awarded by the U.S. Army Contracting Command’s Information Technology, Electronic Commerce, and Commercial Contracting Center (ITEC4) to the winning competitor and SAP reseller, Carahsoft.
PEO EIS Program Executive Officer Gary Winkler said the move will leverage the Army’s significant buying power. “In the past, each Army project and product office ordered licenses separately through individual program integrators. Now, there is an easier and less expensive way to procure these licenses without restricting their use to a single program,” he said. PEO EIS oversees the CHESS program, as well as the four project offices implementing SAP-based ERP systems:
Upon full deployment, it is estimated that these systems combined will have more than 230,000 users. The move is the latest in a series that is turning the Army’s vast and complicated business environment into an integrated enterprise for Soldiers and civilians who operate and manage the Army’s business.
The Army anticipates an investment of approximately $6.5 billion for its business modernization effort going forward, but Winkler noted that, “Crucial steps taken now will achieve substantial life-cycle cost savings in coming years. We are incrementally consolidating functions of the separate programs now, with an ultimate goal of combining them in the future to encompass the Army’s entire business mission area.”
CHESS, the Army’s 1-stop shop for IT purchases, provides continuous vendor competition and consolidates requirements to maximize the Army’s buying power, achieve cost savings, and provide best value. CHESS works diligently with other Army Knowledge Management partners, including the Army Chief Information Officer/G-6, Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th Signal Command(A), and ITEC4 to provide architecturally sound, standards- and policy-compliant IT enterprise solutions to Army customers around the world.
| JILL FINNIE provides contract support to PEO EIS through MPRI/L-3 Communications as a Communications Specialist. She holds a B.S. in communications and English from James Madison University and is pursuing an M.A. in humanities from American Military University. Finnie has more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications for government, business, and media organizations. |
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CSM David Bruner, TRADOC Senior NCO, discusses the newly created INCOPD at the AUSA Annual Exposition and Meeting, Oct. 6, 2009. The INCOPD will streamline the NCO educational and training process and house all applicable information in one single system. (U.S. Army photo courtesy of AUSA.) |
As the “Year of the NCO” was coming to an end, CSM David Bruner, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Senior NCO, and John Sparks, retired TRADOC CSM, introduced the Institute for NCO Professional Development (INCOPD) during a panel discussion at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Exposition and Meeting, Oct. 6, 2009.
During the panel discussion, Bruner noted that over the past 3 years much analysis has been done to figure out the way ahead for NCO education. The INCOPD’s goal is to streamline the NCO educational and training processes and house all applicable information in one single system. “If you think about it, for those of you who have been in the business for a long time, you know that NCO professional development was fragmented in many different domains,” Bruner said. “The INCOPD is going to integrate all of the activities associated with NCO development.”
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SSG Matthew Beach, an NCO squad leader for 1st Platoon, Co. C, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, sweeps the mountains during a patrol in the Paktika Province of eastern Afghanistan. When designing the INCOPD, TRADOC reached out to NCOs in the field for their insight on what training would be helpful to support current combat operations. (U.S. Army photo by PFC Andrya Hill.) |
NCOs Taking Control
One initiative of the INCOPD is to allow NCOs the opportunity to take control of their training and have more input regarding what type of training is effective. “NCOs are taking charge of their own training and their own destiny. That’s a huge step forward,” Bruner said. To find out firsthand what areas of training were lacking, TRADOC reached out to NCOs in the field for their feedback. By taking recommendations and listening to Soldier experiences from the field, TRADOC leadership can ensure that our NCOs are receiving the best training possible.
Responding to New Rotational Requirements
Currently, the Army is transitioning to a unit rotational cycle of 15 months deployed followed by 12 months at home. Taking these changes and longer deployments into consideration, TRADOC looked at reducing course lengths, maximizing the use of all available technology, and employing a different approach to distance learning when designing the INCOPD. The goal is to provide Soldiers the opportunity to spend more time with their families during their downtime.
Army Career Tracker (ACT)
A key component of the INCOPD is the ACT, a leadership development tool that will restructure training and education achievements and goals into an interactive online system. Right now, Soldiers’ training, education, and career strategy information is stored in multiple locations, including the Acquisition Career Record Brief, the Senior Rater Potential Evaluation, and Army Knowledge Online. To make it easier for Soldiers to track all career- and training-related information, the ACT will streamline these systems and provide a single point of access.
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The goal is to provide Soldiers the opportunity to spend more time with their families during their downtime.
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The hope is that the ACT will present Soldiers with a big-picture view of their careers, allowing them to strategize and plan for the future. “The ACT will not only tell you what you should be doing now, but also what you should be doing next,” said Sparks. Supervisors will also have access to the ACT so that they can oversee their Soldiers’ career and training requirements and goals. ACT is still in the midst of development and will deploy sometime in FY10, with full capability by FY16.
| WHITNEY F. PYLE provides contract support to the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center through BRTRC Strategy and Communications Group. She holds a B.A. in English from Virginia Tech. |
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MG Mike Milano, CG, USAARMC and Fort Knox and Commandant USAAS, discusses the future of USAARMC and USAAS as they join the Infantry Center and School under the new MCOE at the Infantry Warfighting Conference in Columbus, GA, Sept. 22, 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Brandon McGahee.)
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Since 1918, Fort Benning, GA, has served as the home of the U.S. Army Infantry. Since 1940, Fort Knox, KY, has served as the U.S. Army’s Armor Center (USAARMC). In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission decided to move USAARMC to Fort Benning, combining these critical maneuver forces at the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCOE)—a move that must be completed by Sept. 15, 2011. MG Michael Ferriter, Commanding General (CG), MCOE and Fort Benning, and MG Mike Milano, CG, USAARMC and Fort Knox and Commandant U.S. Army Armor School (USAAS), discussed USAARMC’s move to Fort Benning at the Infantry Warfighting Conference in Columbus, GA, Sept. 22, 2009.
“We’re coming home, and we’re damn excited about doing it,” Milano said in reference to USAARMC's move to Fort Benning, where armor and cavalry troops trained between 1935 and 1937. The historic move has resulted in an immense planning effort. The MCOE groundbreaking ceremony was held February 2008, with the activation ceremony held Oct. 1, 2009, making the transformation official. Construction will continue through 2016.
Soldier Training
With more than 800,000 U.S. Soldiers deployed worldwide, the Infantry and Armor Centers cannot afford to lose sight of their first mission during the “intensive” transformation process—to train ready, adaptive Soldiers for an Army at war, according to Ferriter. When the MCOE is fully operational, more than 50 percent of all Soldiers will take initial training at Fort Benning, and all infantry and armor officers will pass through the Basic Officer Leader Course and the Captain’s Career Course.
“When you take into consideration that in a year or two, every armor and infantry staff sergeant will come through here,” Ferriter said, it’s clear that the MCOE will dramatically “shape, steer, and move the Army.”
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MG Michael Ferriter, CG, MCOE and Fort Benning, discusses how the MCOE will impact the Army at the Infantry Warfighting Conference in Columbus, GA, Sept. 22, 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Brandon McGahee.)
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Despite the “complexity and scope of the transformation,” Milano said, “there will be no degradation of quality or quantity of trained Soldiers during the move.” More than 6,500 troops are bound for Fort Knox, even as USAARMC prepares to ship out 200 tanks, 10,000 small arms, 41 programs of instruction, 50 hands-on training systems, and 4,500 cadre members.
The first of USAAS’s 41 courses will end in October 2010 and resume at Fort Benning in January 2011. The remaining courses will follow with just 90 days to wrap, pack, move, and resume instruction.
Future Plans
Through 2016, Fort Benning is scheduled to complete $3.5 billion in construction, much of it aimed at developing the Harmony Church area of the post to accommodate armor and cavalry Soldiers and hardware in 2011. The area also will be home to an Armed Forces Reserve and Equipment Concentration Site, scheduled for construction this year, as about 1,200 pieces of equipment are relocated from Fort Gillem, GA, under BRAC. Building 4, formerly known as Infantry Hall, is being renovated and expanded to house MCOE headquarters at a future date. Construction on the Armor Museum is expected to begin in 2 years.
Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 Soldiers, family members, civilians, and retirees on a daily basis. The number is forecast to grow by approximately 30,000 before 2011, as the move leads to 11,000 new jobs for Soldiers, civilians, and contractors, according to projections.
| JACLYN PITTS provides contract support to the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center through BRTRC Strategy and Communications Group. She holds a B.S. in journalism from West Virginia University and a B.S. in criminal justice from Kaplan University. |
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The FLS reinforced the importance of enterprise business services and optimized performance so that the acquisition community will realize high-value, enterprise-level business capabilities to enhance performance and efficiency. (Image courtesy of PEO EIS.)
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Held in Orlando, FL, at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center Feb. 8–11, 2010, the FLS was the first conference to publicize the teaming efforts between the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASAALT) and Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems’ (PEO EIS') Product Manager (PM) AcqBusiness. LTC Maurice Stewart, PM AcqBusiness, and Steve French, ASAALT Chief Information Officer, planned and executed the event to bring functional leaders from PEOs and project management organizations from the acquisition and logistics communities to discuss ongoing initiatives associated with the Acquisition Information Technology Transformation Plan and the evolution of enterprise business tools.
The conference’s purpose was to reinforce the importance of enterprise business services and optimize performance so that the acquisition community will realize high-value, enterprise-level business capabilities to enhance performance and efficiency. The opportunity to convene functional leaders in a forum provided significant opportunities to help determine and shape enterprise-level solutions that are prerequisites to optimizing enterprise performance.
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FLS has addressed the capability gaps that currently exist in the acquisition space.
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The conference sessions focused on leadership expectations and private industry experience. Workshops explored existing capability gaps and areas where there are opportunities to improve efficiency and performance. In addition to leadership input and industry best practices, a host of software demonstrations populated the general session. From business and risk management tools to product data management, FLS has addressed the capability gaps that currently exist in the acquisition space.
The workshops resulted in recommendations for enterprise business solutions that improve process effectiveness, support informed decision making, and provide for data transparency across system life cycles. We will leverage the conference’s outcomes to repair fractured business operations and establish parameters by which we may build in the future. For more information about PM AcqBusiness, go to https://acqbiz.army.mil.
| TRICIA MAY is the PM AcqBusiness public affairs contact. She holds a B.A. in geography and environmental studies from the University of Colorado. |
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The Council of Logistics Engineering Professionals (CLEP) is sponsoring the 2010 Life-Cycle Logistics Tools Workshop, with educational support provided by the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) Logistics Support Activity (LOGSA). The workshop will be held in Huntsville, AL, March 8–11, 2010. Following on the heels of a very successful event that took place May 2009, this year’s workshop will be extended to a 4-day event. Last year, more than 340 attendees gathered to learn about life-cycle logistics tools and current product users provided feedback on the various LOGSA tools.
LOGSA logo.
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Besides seminars and discussions on LOGSA’s tools, several keynote speakers—including Claude M. Bolton Jr., Executive-in-Residence for the Defense Acquisition University; Randy Fowler, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness; and Lane Collie, Principal Deputy G-3 for Operations/Executive Deputy, Supply Chain and Industrial Operations, AMC—will provide attendees with additional information on how these logistics tools are being used or how they plan to be used throughout DOD and industry. This year, due to the popularity of the workshop, the event has moved into the North Hall of the Von Braun Convention Center in downtown Huntsville. Many logistics professionals from all over the world will be in attendance. For more information and registration details, visit http://www.logisticsengineers.org.
Article courtesy of CLEP.
