Army Digitization Operational Impacts
Abstract
This paper analyzes the current and near-term state of digitization within the United States Army. The author discusses the overall effort the Army is making to coordinate the introduction of new and radically different Information Age material into its Doctrine, Organization, Training, Logistics, Leadership, and Personnel. The Army has committed to changing its basic command and control (C2) process though the introduction of Information Age technologies. These technologies will enable vastly better Situational Awareness (SA). The future battlefield will be one in which SA will spell the difference between a war of attrition and one that is determined very quickly, perhaps without bloodshed. The Army has already begun to change the basic organizational structure of its current active duty divisions and its combat service support structures. The Army will field over 70 new systems in direct support of the first digitized division, the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, by 1 January 2000. The four major systems that make up the digitization effort are as follows: the new Abrams weapon system, the new Bradley weapon system, Future Battlefield Command and Control Brigade and Below (FBCB2), and the Army Battlefield Command System (ABCS). New communications systems and weapon systems will support these C2 systems. The Army created a Digital Force Coordination Cell (DFCC) at Fort Hood to ensure that the new weapon systems and information systems were coordinated with Doctrine, Training, Leader Development, Organization, Materiel, and Soldiers (DTLOM-S). This paper provides brief descriptions of these systems and discusses their impact on the operational and tactical levels of war. The discussion includes lessons learned from real-life applications of the new technologies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA468423
Entities
People
- Fred P. Stein
Organizations
- MITRE Corporation