Special Operations International May 2016

May 2016 • Volume 14 • Issue 4

The most widely distributed special operations magazine in the world

Inside ...

This Issue 2106 USSOCOM Program Management Updates Page 17

• Introduction • PEO C4 • PEO Fixed Wing • PEO Maritime • PEO Rotary Wing • PEO Services • PEO SOF Support Activity • PEO SOF Warrior • PEO Special Reconnaissance, Surveillance, & Exploitation

• Joint Acquisition Task Force-TALOS • Directorate of S&T • Directorate of Acquisition • J4/Directorate of Logistics • Directorate of Procurement • Acquisition Operations Office

Airborne Gear Page 44

SOCOM S&T Innovation Page 47

SOF for Life Page 49

Evolving the SOF Network Page 50

International Vector Major General M.N. Rouleau, OMM, MSC, CD Commander, Canadian Special Operations Forces Commands

Q&A With

Lieutenant General Thomas J. Trask Vice Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command

DEFENCE

&

SECURIT Y

INTERNATIONAL

EXHIBITION

THE LAND & AIRLAND SOLUTION

www.eurosatory.com

Special Operations International Features

17

2106 USSOCOM Program Management Updates • Introduction • Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications and Computers • Program Executive Office for Fixed Wing • Program Executive Office for Maritime • Program Executive Office for Rotary Wing • Program Executive Office for Services • Program Executive Office for Special Operations Forces Support Activity • Program Executive Office for Special Operations Forces Warrior • Program Executive Office for Special Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Exploitation • Joint Acquisition Task Force-Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit • Directorate of Science and Technology • Directorate of Acquisition Comptroller • J4/Directorate of Logistics • Directorate of Procurement • Acquisition Operations Office

44 47

Hitting the Drop Zone Airborne insertions have always had a role in SOF entry operations. New technologies are driving better precision and more stealth.

By Andrew White

2016 SOCOM Science and Technology Innovation Creating the opportunity for innovation and collaboration, SOCOM’s Directorate of Science and Technology is changing the paradigm.

By Tony Davis

49 50

SOF for Life Going Beyond TAP, the Global SOF Foundation seeks to help SOF personnel transition from the military.

By Stu Bradin

Evolving the Network to Counter Emerging Threats Today, there is no such thing as a localized security problem. Since leadership from USSOCOM expressed this truth at the International Special Operations Forces Conference in 2012 and echoed a similar refrain to representatives from 84 nations at the ISOF Conference 2014, it has become even more pertinent today.

By Colonel Matthew M. McHale

May 2016 • Volume 14 Issue 4

Table of Contents Departments

Cover/Q&A with Lieutenant General Thomas J. Trask Vice Commander U.S. Special Operations Command

2 6 52

BlackWatch People Resource Center

11

International Vector

Exclusive interview with: Major General M.N. Rouleau, OMM, MSC, CD Commander, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command

Don’t miss the

EUROSATORY ISSUE Exclusive Interviews with

U.S. Special Operations Command-Europe French Special Operations Command Plus features on ground mobility vehicles, navigation in denied space, breaching, operator protection systems, and more.

Ron Mayne • ronm@defense-house.com • 240-813-5654

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Department

Stopping Airborne Drones

Every day there are new reports of rogue drones, nuisance drones and potentially dangerous drones as the market explodes.

Nearly as often, we hear about ways to thwart them.

Battelle’s DroneDefender has piqued the interest of authorities around the world. The technology is restricted to use by federal authorities under a strict permitting process, but sales are taking off with nearly 100 units sold to the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

DroneDefender is the first man-portable, accurate and easy-to-use system to provide critical security protection in a world where these commercially available unmanned aircraft systems are showing up at important government buildings, large gatherings of people and other sensitive sites.

The Battelle DroneDefender uses radio control frequency disruption to safely stop drones in the air before they can pose a threat to military or civilian safety. It is an inexpensive, lightweight point-and-shoot system with a demonstrated range of 400 meters. When the DroneDefender takes aim at the drone, most drones revert to one of three pre-programmed protocols: hover in place, slowly descend and land, or return to its flight origin point.

“The idea is to quickly halt the drone and to stop it from being a threat,” said Dan Stamm, a researcher who helped develop it along with fellow scientist Alex Morrow. “While there are other more elaborate and expensive systems on the market, clearly we have tapped into a need for this style of anti-drone device judging from the overwhelming interest shown in the DroneDefender,” he said.

Battelle is continually refining the technology to help ensure its continued value in securing U.S. assets. The newest version currently in development has added technical capabilities, is reduced in size and weight, has an improved user interface, and is less expensive.

2 | SPECOPS 14.4

Non-Standard Ammo Contract On April 18, Orbital ATK, Inc., announced that it had been awarded an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract award with the U.S. government to supply non-U.S. standard ammunition (NSA) and mortar weapons systems for the Department of Defense in support of international allies. According to the company, the selection of Orbital ATK as a provider to the NSA program demonstrates the company’s expertise in program, technical and supply chain management, and is complemented by a worldwide team of proven suppliers.

Orbital ATK received orders of approximately $300 million under the previous threeyear NSA IDIQ contract, which expired in December 2015. The company has been the leading supplier to the NSA program since its inception in 2008, providing 600 million units of NSA products to U.S. allies. This new IDIQ contract comes with an initial award of approximately $20 million.

“Winning this award validates our standing as a professional maintenance team,” said Chief Master Sergeant Patrick Faulkner, superintendent with the 1st SOAMXS. “It shows that we are capable of projecting combat airpower to multiple combatant commanders, while juggling the home station demands of keeping our special operations aircrew combat trained and ready.”

Faulkner stated that the members of the unit have consistently provided safe, reliable and effective combat airpower to meet special operations taskings “anytime, anyplace,” while staying true to Air Force Special Operations Command priorities.

As reported by Krystal Garrett

USSOCOM Awards Mini-Gun Contract

Special Ops Aircraft Maintenance Units Win Awards The Air Force Maintenance Effectiveness Awards (MEA) recognizes maintenance units who have effectively managed resources in three separate areas: mission accomplishment, innovative and effective use of maintenance resources, and personnel quality of life programs. The award is the highest level of squadron recognition in the Air Force aircraft maintenance career field. It recognizes the unit that has best met the objective of providing safe, serviceable and available equipment for sustained use during peacetime and wartime.

The 801st Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (SOAMXS) won the MEA for a small aircraft maintenance unit, which consists of 25-300 authorized personnel.

“Winning this award shows that the squadron’s hard work is being noticed,” said Major Matthew Baber, operations officer with the 801st SOAMXS. The 801st supports the 8th Special Operations Squadron, combatant commanders, operational and developmental testing, and special operations forces.

The 1st SOAMXS won the MEA for a medium sized aircraft maintenance unit.

The medium sized aircraft maintenance unit category is for squadrons with 301-999 authorized personnel.

The M134 mini-gun was originally designed and produced by General Electric in the 1960s.

Upon conclusion of the U.S. participation in the Vietnam War, GE ceased production of both new weapons and parts. Until 2002, all M134s in inventory and use were of 1960s and 1970 manufacture. As the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) began use of the M134, it encountered reliability problems due to the weapon’s age—in most cases more than 20 years, and a lack of available spare parts.

In the 1990s, Dillon Aero acquired a number of M134s. Dillon Aero encountered similar reliability problems with the M134 and decided to fix the problems they encountered. Their design efforts to address failure problems resulted in improving the mini-gun’s overall design. The design efforts included introduction of titanium components that led to both a significant reduction in weight (from 62 pounds to 41 pounds) and increased component life. By 2002, virtually every component of the mini-gun had been improved so Dillon began producing entire weapons with its improved components. www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

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Dillon Aero’s design improvements included: the delinker used to separate cartridges from ammunition belts and feed them into the gun housing; the bolt, housing and barrel. These efforts were self-funded and have demonstrated a continuing effort to improve safety, reliability and operational effectiveness of the system. The Dillon Aero variant of the M134 is designated the M134D-T. As such, on April 12, USSOCOM award Dillon Aero a contract (not to exceed $15 million) for the M134T mini-gun system and support.

Sentinel II Airbeam

Deployed Resources recently introduced the Sentinel II Airbeam. This tented structure erects in less than six minutes with no major tools and minimal labor.

The Sentinel II is available in five sizes and four colors, including sand, forest green, white, and orange. The shelter’s rapid deployment configuration is ideal for military training—it is modular and scalable and can be complexed together to establish larger facilities to fit site and customer-specific requirements.

Deployed Resources is a veteran owned business specializing in concise, relevant, and adaptable temporary life support facilities and equipment. Their products and services range from full service turn-key TTB/COB/COL/LSAs to the provision of separate components providing cost effective solutions for resource and budget challenged customers. Comprised of experts from the military, engineering, construction and logistics fields, they are an agile and flexible provider of expeditionary, campaign focused training capabilities. The company’s focus on safety, quality and environment enables their customers to build readiness while they handle the unconventional and unpredictable.

New High-Performance Uncooled Thermal Camera On April 18, FLIR Systems, Inc. announced Boson, its smallest, lightest, and least powerconsuming, high-performance uncooled thermal 4 | SPECOPS 14.4

camera for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Sized between FLIR’s Tau and Lepton camera cores, Boson is the first thermal camera core to incorporate a sophisticated, low-power multi-core vision processor running FLIR XIR expandable infrared video processing architecture.

Boson features a high sensitivity 12-micron pixel pitch detector that provides high-resolution thermal imaging in a small, low power, lightweight, turnkey package. It also offers several levels of video processing with inputs and processing for other sensors including visible CMOS imaging sensors, Global Positioning Systems, and inertial measurement units. Additionally, FLIR XIR provides OEM customers with a suite of advanced image processing features including, super resolution algorithms, sophisticated noise reduction filters, local area contrast enhancement and image blending.

Offered in 320 x 256 and 640 x 512 formats with 15 field-of-view options, Boson offers the widest range of features and lens choices for FLIR’s OEM customers. Boson also supports common interfaces for displays, storage devices and data communication. OEMs can also leverage FLIR’s Solution Accelerator to develop product solutions for key market verticals including firefighting, automotive, maritime, hunting, UAS and military.

“Boson represents a significant advancement in size, weight, power and cost for small high-performance microbolometer-based cameras,” said Andy Teich, president and CEO of FLIR.

Innovative Amplifiers Lighten Load, Increase Power Troops in the field need to maintain constant communications. They need to exchange information and access streaming video in real-time. But they also need to be able to move quickly and easily. It’s critical that they have powerful, dependable amplifiers that are also lightweight and mobile. “That’s just what they get with AR Modular RF,” said the company.

AR Modular RF’s military amplifier systems and accessories—including booster amplifiers and embeddable modules for tactical military radios covering the HF, VHF and UHF bands, and SHF networking bands—have been tested on the front lines in the toughest battle conditions. “Durable and dependable, yet they’re simple to operate,” proclaimed the company.

AR-20 •• 20 watts •• 30-512 MHz •• Lighter package •• Lower profile •• Internal LNA •• Co-site filtering •• Supports legacy plus modern networking waveforms Airborne Flight Certified AR-20H •• 20 watts •• 30-512 MHz •• Lighter package •• Lower Profile •• MIL-STD 810G (including gun ship) •• MIL-STD 461F, MIL-STD 464C, MIL-STD 704F AR-20R •• Rifleman amplifier •• 20 Watts •• 225-450 MHz / 1.2-1.9 GHz L-band •• Supports legacy plus modern networking waveforms AR-20KT-DUAL •• Dual antenna man-pack kit •• LOS and SATCOM antennas with RF switch •• Includes cables, antennas and mounting pouches •• Lightest kit on the market •• 20 Watts, 30-512 MHz •• Single battery operation •• Compatible with Thales PRC-148, Harris PRC152 plus others AR-20KT •• Man-pack kit •• Includes cables, antenna and mounting pouches •• Lightest kit on the market •• 20 Watts, 30-512 MHz •• Single battery operation •• Compatible with Thales PRC-148, Harris PRC152 plus others

SOCEUR and SOCAFRICA Support On April 18, MacAulay-Brown, Inc. (MacB), a national security company delivering advanced engineering services and product solutions, announced it was awarded a task order contract supporting Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) and Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA). Total contract value is $14 million over five years.

SOCEUR and SOCAFRICA are subordinate commands of U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFICOM), www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

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SPECOPS 14.4 | 5

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Department

respectively. SOCEUR and SOCAFRICA have operational control of special operations forces in their geographical areas, and are responsible for force readiness, targeting, executing and assessing and SOF military strategy. They are actively engaged in irregular warfare missions, counterterrorism and overseas operations as part of approved plans from the Secretary of Defense.

MacB will research, analyze and deliver studies and assessments to advance defense

system-related scientific and technical information through the application of resources needed to achieve mission requirements.

Research and analytical support will contribute to the planning, programming and assessment of SOCEUR and SOCAFRICA to ensure that resources are applied effectively to create the desired outcomes.

“We are honored to have been selected to support and contribute to this very important mission,” said Fred Norman, senior vice

president and general manager of the Mission Systems Group at MacB. “This win expands MacB into two theater special operations commands (TSOCs), and showcases our ability to analyze and provide theater technical expertise to meet their unique special operations requirements.

This TSOC contract directly compliments our recent USSOCOM Wide Mission Support award, and MacB’s focus to support global SOF requirements. We’re now poised to grow our European footprint” 

PEOPLE Major General Christopher K. Haas, director, force management and development, U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., has been assigned as deputy chief of staff, operations, Resolute Support Mission, North Atlantic Treaty Organization/U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Afghanistan.

Brigadier General Edwin J. Deedrick Jr., commander, Special Operations Command-Korea, Republic of Korea, has been assigned to deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Special Forces Command (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.

Air Force Lieutenant General Bradley A. Heithold has been nominated for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general and for assignment

6 | SPECOPS 14.4

as principal deputy director of cost assessment and program evaluation, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Heithold is currently serving as commander, Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Rear Admiral (lower half) Brian J. Brakke will be assigned as commander, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, Virginia Beach, Va. Brakke is currently serving as deputy director, operations and intelligence integration, Joint ImprovisedThreat Defeat Agency, Washington, D.C. Rear Admiral (lower half) Hugh W. Howard will be assigned as assistant commander, Joint Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C. Howard is currently

serving as director of military operations and military deputy, National GeospatialIntelligence Agency, Springfield, Va. Brigadier General (Promotable) Michael E. Kurilla, deputy director for special operations and counter-terrorism, J-3, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C., has been assigned commanding general, 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Brigadier General John R. Evans Jr., deputy commanding general, support, 2d Infantry Division, Combined, Eighth Army, Republic of Korea, has been assigned as commanding general, U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command, Fort Bragg, N.C. Brigadier General Erik C. Peterson, commanding general, U.S. Army Special

Operations Aviation Command, Fort Bragg, N.C., has been assigned as director, Army Aviation, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.

Brigadier General Brian E. Winski, deputy commanding general, 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C., has been assigned as director, operations, readiness and mobilization, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C. Marine Corps Brigadier General Daniel D. Yoo has been nominated for appointment to the rank of major general. Yoo is currently serving as director of operations, J-3, U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Fla. Brigadier General Albert M. Elton II, who has been

selected to the grade of major general, from deputy commanding general, Joint Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C., has been assigned as deputy director for special operations, counterterrorism, J-37, Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Major General Gregory J. Lengyel, commander, Special Operations Command Europe; and director, Special Operations Directorate, U.S. European Command, StuttgartVaihingen, Germany, has been assigned as deputy commanding general, Joint Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C. Brigadier General Kirk W. Smith, director, plans, requirements and programs, Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla., has been assigned as director, force management and development, Headquarters U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

Q&A As vice commander, Headquarters U.S. Special Operations Command, Washington, D.C. Lieutenant General Thomas Trask is responsible for planning, coordinating and executing actions with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the services and other government agencies in the National Capital Region on behalf of the Commander USSOCOM. Trask entered the Air Force in 1984 as a Reserve Officer Training Corps graduate. He is a command pilot with more than 3,000 flying hours, including 51 combat missions supporting operations in Panama, Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo. He has previously commanded the 20th Special Operations Squadron, 347th Rescue Operations Group, 58th Special Operations Wing, Squadron Officer College and 23rd Air Force. His staff assignments have included the Joint Staff; Headquarters U.S. Special Operations Command; U.S. Central Command; Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command; and NATO AIRSOUTH Trask’s major awards and decorations include: the Silver Star; Defense Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters; Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Joint Service Commendation Medal; and the Air Force Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters.

Another achievement is the 1991 Mackay Trophy.

Q: What is your office’s role in communicating with the Pentagon and Congressional leadership? Do you think the reasons for its establishment of the office are equally as valid today as when the office opened?

A: SOCOM is the only combatant command that has two 3-stars—one serving as the deputy and the second as the vice commander. As the vice commander, I focus on SOCOM’s service responsibilities; Title 10 train, organize and equip responsibilities. The deputy deals with operational matters and relations with the geographic combatant commands and our theater special operations commands (TSOCs).

In the Pentagon I represent the command at senior leader meetings and forums, such as Deputy’s Management Action Group (DMAG) chaired by the Deputy Secretary of Defense. In this and similar venues in the Pentagon, I address issues of training, manning and requirements for the entire special operations enterprise.

With Congressional leadership, I actively engage in strategic-level discussions with key members and staffers to articulate the commander’s vision, our resourcing requirements, and command programs. Concurrently, I work with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Staff to represent the command’s equities with respect to Congress.

I believe this unique “dual deputy” construct has proven extremely useful in the execution of SOCOM’s unique global mission.

Q: How has the position and office of USSOCOM vice commander evolved since first standing up?

A: In 2006, the Deputy Secretary of Defense formed the Deputies Advisory Working Group (DAWG) with the senior representatives of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, service vice chiefs and the deputy commander of USSOCOM. Its initial www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

Lieutenant General Thomas J. Trask

Vice Commander U.S. Special Operations Command

mandate was to oversee execution of Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) 2006 strategic priorities and cross cutting issues.

In October of 2011, this body was renamed the Deputy’s Management Action Group. It continues to be the Deputy Secretary’s management tool to address cross-cutting departmental management decisions. Since the DMAGs were held weekly, SOCOM sent the deputy commander to the Pentagon every week.

As the command grew, from 45,000 in 2001 to our current strength of 70,000, our responsibilities for management of the force similarly grew. In 2010, SOCOM established the position of vice commander to address our service-like Title 10 responsibilities and detailed the vice commander position here in the National Capital Region. This placement better positioned SOCOM to address these issues and routinely attend the DMAG and other strategic forums that directly impact the resourcing of SOFs capabilities and capacity.

Through daily video teleconferences, I also remain fully integrated into the headquarters in Tampa and chair our strategic planning process and SPECOPS 14.4 | 7

our requirements boards. I also oversee the command’s Pentagon Washington Office, Legislative Affairs Office, Interagency Partnership Program and other command activities in the National Capital Region.

Q: We commonly talk about capacity building in relation to our international allies. How successful has USSOCOM been in strengthening its capacity by engaging with other federal government agencies to build out a broader team?

A: USSOCOM maintains strong relationships with our interagency partners that are focused on collaboration and identifying areas of mutual interest.

It’s not about building our capacity as much as finding ways where USSOCOM can contribute to the broader team. In fact, SOF most commonly provides support to improve the capacity of our inter-agency partners, whether in the form of situational awareness provided through our global engagements or through information sharing at the tactical and operational level.

These relationships have become more important over the years, especially as we’ve seen more trans-regional threats arise. USSOCOM works closely with the Department of State, the country teams, law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community to exchange information and ideas about how to deal with issues in some of the most challenging regions of the world. We’ve come a long way in contributing to the broader team, but we continue to look for new ways to strengthen our inter-agency relationships.

Only via a strong inter-agency team will we succeed in degrading and defeating those wishing us harm.

Q: What is the relationship, lines of communication and responsibilities between your office and the ASD SO/LIC? How do you coordinate efforts?

A: ASD (SO/LIC) represents for SOCOM much of what the service secretary does for the services. They provide oversight and advocacy when appropriate, for the entirety of special operations issues.

I meet at least weekly with the ASD to discuss important developments in the SOF community. Similarly, my staff here in the National Capital Region meets and coordinates with the ASD staff on a daily basis.

Besides providing policy oversight of USSOCOM’s mission planning and coordinating SOF deployment authorities within the DoD and the interagency, ASD(SO/LIC) provides oversight for the preparation and presentation of our program and budget.

For example, when issues arise between USSOCOM and the services, ASD(SO/LIC) has convening authority for the Special Operations Policy and Oversight Council (SOPOC), in order to lead a collaborative effort with stakeholders toward finding an appropriate resolution. One of our SOF truths is that “Most Special Operations Require Non-SOF assistance.”

ASD(SO/LIC) plays an important role in ensuring that support whenever it is needed.

Q: Tell me about the 1208 programs and their funding? What was the intent behind 1208 initially and how has that grown?

A: Section 1208 of the FY 2005 NDAA—Support of Special Operations to Combat Terrorism—authorized the SECDEF to expend funds for enabling support and training to foreign forces, both regular (government) and irregular (non-government), that are supporting U.S. combating terrorism operations. 1208 authority has become a critical tool for our deployed SOF as they leverage the unique attributes of these foreign forces—their local8 | SPECOPS 14.4

area knowledge, access, language and other skills—to achieve effects that are vital to overall mission success.

Working by, with, and through 1208-supported foreign forces reduces the risk to our forces and increases the capability and capacity of our partners. This results in the interdiction of hundreds of terrorist operatives, disruption of terrorist networks, and denial of terrain in Afghanistan, Iraq, East Africa and other areas.

1208 expenditures have nearly doubled over the past five years, and there is continuing demand for new programs to address the expansion of the terrorist threat.

Q: USSOCOM leadership is always acknowledging the support it receives from the services in terms of non-SOF specific equipment, systems and services. Is there an estimate of how much that is on an annual basis and how does that factor into planning the USSOCOM base budget? What role does your office have in coordinating those negotiations or conversations at the senior service level?

A: As I mentioned earlier, our fifth SOF Truth is “Most Special Operations Require Non-SOF assistance.” The operational effectiveness of our forces cannot be, and never has been, achieved without the enablers from our joint service partners. The USSOCOM team wears our service uniforms proudly, and each of us brings an element of our service culture to special operations.

Generally, service common items provided to conventional forces remain funded by the services to their special operations components. This includes well over $6 billion a year in support of USSOCOM requirements.

The largest portion is $5.5 billion a year on military pay and Medicare contributions, to support USSOCOM’s military personnel.

The services also resource essential items such as recruitment, inprocessing, basic training, initial flight training, tactics and key functional skills. likewise, standard service issue, organizational clothing, and individual equipment (OCIE) for SOF military manpower comes from service dollars. USSOCOM also receives approximately $600 million per year in aircraft procurement from the Air Force (fixed-wing aircraft) and Army (rotary-wing aircraft).

Since we depend on all of the above items, I work hand in hand with the services to ensure resource alignment. For example, we must ensure USSOCOM plans for SOF modifications on a specific aircraft are aligned with the number of aircraft the services are procuring each year.

In an era of fiscal austerity, we work hand in hand with the services as they cut their budgets. Very often, these cuts often have the same impact on USSOCOM that they do on conventional forces, and therefore, our partnership with the service staffs at the highest levels is critical to protecting SOF investments. Budgets may be shrinking, but the demand for SOF is not and the President has directed that the investment in SOF over the past decade and a half will be maintained.

Q: Do you have routine contact with the foreign embassy military staffs in Washington and why are those relationships important?

A: I have routine contact with the foreign defense and military attaché community in Washington, D.C., through SOCOM’s Strategic Engagement Program called Sovereign Challenge. The program’s activities have significantly enhanced our relationship with foreign embassies and military staffs, as well as SOCOM’s ability to communicate with key foreign defense officials on matters of mutual concern.

Sovereign Challenge focus areas include sovereignty issues such as militant extremism, territorial integrity, terror finance networks, internal www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

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conflict, transnational crime, and security implications.

USSOCOM holds an annual conference and many smaller seminars and engagements. These efforts collectively advance relationships and understanding toward security programs within the foreign defense, legal attaché, and diplomatic communities.

As mentioned previously, USSOCOM believes in the power of networks to degrade and defeat those who wish the U.S. harm. Our relationship to foreign powers enables this key piece of the networks and expands the credibility of our team.

Q: Does the current special operations organizational structure adequately address the trans-regional nature of the current threats?

A: As you know, the nation’s current threat picture features conflict across state borders and amongst diverse populations. To meet these trans-regional challenges, USSOCOM is uniquely postured to provide a global perspective that spans regional boundaries.

With a presence in over 90 countries and covering all geographic combatant commands, SOF is organized to quickly react when global threats emerge.

The 2013 transition of the TSOCs to USSOCOM has only increased the effectiveness of our organization. Operational control still belongs to the geographic combatant commanders and TSOCs are a tool at their disposal, but USSOCOM is now responsible for ensuring the these commands are trained and organized to accomplish any and all of their assigned missions. Previously, we had no responsibility for them and each geographical command struggled to resource their TSOC independently.

In addition, USSOCOM recently established a Trans-regional Synchronization Cell within its Operations Directorate. This office aggregates data across all regions, develops assessments and produces feasible, acceptable, and suitable strategic recommendations to the CJCS and SECDEF. This allows us to take advantage of our global posture and look at a problem set without worrying about regional combatant command boundaries.

Q: Although it does not seem within the original mandate, with so many defense contractors having a presence in the D.C., area, do you have much interface with industry?

A: Since innovation and the integration of cutting edge technology is so important for USSOCOM to fulfill its mission, our partnership with industry is of paramount importance, and we constantly develop new opportunities for interface.

Our focus at USSOCOM is to remove barriers between the command and our industry/academic partners, to ensure a vibrant ‎competitive environment, and to develop new models, networks, and methods to improve our ability to solicit, collaborate, co-invent, and ultimately improve our ability to support our operators in the field. Ideally, these efforts now allow anyone with an idea or product to “walk them in” to get immediate exposure to the SOF network and its partners.

Many of our industry partners maintain offices in the D.C., area and my presence in the NCR offers the opportunity for these partners to meet with a senior USSOCOM officer. I routinely meet with industry representatives, 10 | SPECOPS 14.4

and try to attend defense industry events whenever available. Our most important conduit for industry to interface with the command resides in Tampa with our Technology and Industry Liaison Office (TILO). This office works to match industry capabilities to the appropriate USSOCOM representatives for further exploration, and all my interaction with industry is coordinated with them.

Along with industry contacts, we also benefit from the proximity of our non-commercial partners in the area such as the Johns Hopkins University-Applied Physics Lab (JHU/APL). USSOCOM has requirements to develop, maintain, and provide essential, government-defined research, development, and/or engineering capabilities. One of the methods we use to support these requirements is through a long-term strategic relationship with JHU/APL. As a university affiliated research center, JHU/APL is a collaborative partner with deep technical expertise that has no vested interest or ownership in technologies or systems.

Q: Any closing thoughts?

A: Special operations have become an increasingly important element of the nation’s defense enterprise over the last 15 years, and that is reflected clearly in the National Military Strategy and National Security Strategy. The variety of SOF options provides our civilian leaders a scalable instrument against many of the nation’s most critical challenges.

The nation has built a robust special operations force that will continue to be important to our security in the future, and we must protect the investment we’ve made to build this unique capability. And we must continue to recruit the best and brightest young people that have the unique skill sets we require. We have developed partnerships with the international SOF, with the defense industry, and with other government agencies that are focused on the same problems.

USSOCOM will continue to put significant effort into maintaining those relationships and guaranteeing forums for open and honest communication to ensure we find the best solutions, wherever they may come from.

The talented men and women of USSOCOM continually amaze me with their creativity and innovation. I am incredibly proud of what they accomplish every day, and I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to continue to serve next to them.  www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

International Vector

An Exclusive Special Operations International Q&A with Major General M.N. Rouleau, OMM, MSC, CD Commander, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command

Q: What challenges does Canadian Special Operations Forces Command face in today’s budget constrained environment?

Rouleau: I don’t feel that we have a particularly acute budget challenge.

Defense budgets are always to some extent constrained and so CANSOFCOM, like any other organization of the Canadian Armed Forces, has a role to play with a certain amount of belt-tightening. What that forces us to do is, as Churchill said when you’re out of money you have to think. While we’re by no means out of money but we do have to think and we do have to maximize the utility of every dollar we have.

I’m very comfortable with my funding levels but we do take very strong measures to make sure that we are lean across the board and are very careful not to have capability overlap. For example, between my units we are very careful to put a lot of discipline into the equipment procurement process. We eschew the sort of unobtainium-type projects—things that are particularly exquisite and expensive and do very niche things.

To the extent that we put a premium on being lean and disciplined, we do very well with the money we have and that includes money into things like science and technology so we’re investing into tomorrow not just servicing our needs today.

Q: What is CANSOFCOM’s relationship with the other services? How would you characterize the understanding of what special operations can—and cannot do—within the other services and within the Canadian government? You have both domestic and international missions, correct?

Rouleau: Let me start with the second part first.

I joined Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2) in 1994—my formative years—and it was a very tightly OPSEC-compartmented environment. It had a domestic counter-terrorism mandate and that’s where it took its cultural cues from in terms of information management. www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

When I became the commander in 2014 the one thing I said to my folks was that we need to think very strongly about opening up the aperture a little bit so people can better understand what CANSOF is, what CANSOF does, how we do it. Frankly to gain stakeholders support.

When you tell nothing to people about your organization—or virtually nothing—they create the narrative and they will fill that information vacuum.

My concern was that we needed to get our narrative out there. There’s always going to be parts of our counter terrorism (CT) mission set that we don’t discuss but there are vast parts of my Enterprise at CANSOFCOM that we have to bring out.

These are good news stories! I have soldiers that have won decorations for valor and meritorious service in Afghanistan—absolutely heroic acts—and we were keeping those completely suppressed. As a result, we have changed our information management culture to some extent to one of where the reflex was to compartmentalize everything and the exception was to share to now where the reflex within CANSOFCOM is to share and the exception is compartmentalize. In a macro sense, we’ve made some pretty big strides in the past couple of years opening up to some degree.

The first part of the question is do people understand us. I think because we’ve embarked on this road—and I don’t want to diminish my predecessor’s work because this has been a journey—because of opening up I am very comfortable that senior leadership in the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence have a solid understanding of what we do.

This is especially true for my Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) General [Jonathan] Vance. As a one-star he commanded our task force in Afghanistan on two occasions so he had a role in the command structure of our special operations in Afghanistan. So my boss, the Chief of the Defence Staff, has a particularly well-developed understanding of CANSOFCOM. He pays very close attention to what we do and is intimately involved.

From a wider government perspective it’s good. I think we still have more work to do there. Key individuals are certainly aware but I think we can thicken that understanding more going forward.

SPECOPS 14.4 | 11

Q: What is the relationship that CANSOFCOM has with the other Canadian services?

Rouleau: Every organization, my own included, will have organizational self-interest as a factor in every discussion and deliberation.

I wear a couple hats as commander of CANSOFCOM. Number one is I am the operational commander for special forces on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff. Second, I am a strategic steward of the CANSOF Enterprise.

Third, I am a Canadian Armed Forces general officer who sits in certain fora, like the Armed Forces Council with other general officers and service commanders, and help the CDS arrived at the best possible decisions.

To the extent that we all wear different hats, the relationships with the services I think are very good.

The Canadian Navy and Air Force have a direct role in enabling our mission sets. The use of gray hulls and fixed-wing aircraft, for example, are key to CANSOFCOM being able to do its missions. There is less of a direct correlation to our operational outcomes in relation to the Army but interestingly about 90 percent of my force on the operator side comes from the Army.

They have a huge stake in providing us the talent pool so you can see their interests are necessarily different than those of the Navy and the Air Force.

What that means is that each relationship has its own context and I think one of the things that general officers have to do is get together often and discuss the issues and the friction points. We need to see beyond our own silos and make sure we are generating a set of joint capabilities that the government needs.

One example of the close relationship we have with the other services is the recent NATO Trident Juncture exercise off the coast of Spain. What CANSOFCOM did was force projected an element from Canada in Canadian C-130J aircraft that parachuted into blue water, linked up with a Canadian submarine and went over the beach in a clandestine manner. A very useful capability set and is part of our push our global force projection capability and this is one very good joint example of us doing that.

Q: How about partnerships with international coalition nations? How do you go about exchanging ideas and innovations that allow for quicker synergies when different countries come together in operational areas?

Rouleau: There is no question that under the stewardship of Admiral (William) McRaven, when he took over from Admiral (Eric) Olson at USSOCOM, that he rightly put a premium on establishing the Global SOF Network.

I tell people this in Ottawa every day that when CANSOFCOM goes to work we take the Global SOF Network with us—which make the whole much greater than the sum of its parts.

From a special forces perspective we never look at any particular job in isolation. When doing capacity building whether it’s in the Americas, in the Sahel or in the Middle East we are doing virtually every one of those missions with some form of collaboration with an allied special forces organization. Chief among them are the Americans and so there is no question that USSOCOM and it’s subordinate organizations are our most important ally—and they are incredibly generous in terms of their support and willingness to help us out when we need it.

Our international relationships extend also to the Fives Eyes (United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK) plus France and the 28 NATO member nations. In the NATO context we are one of the bigger SOCOMs and I feel we have an obligation to give back to some of the smaller, more emerging SOF communities. We take this responsibility seriously.

Our relationship with the Americans was recognized with a Presidential Unit Citation that was awarded to Joint Task Force 2 after the initial 12 | SPECOPS 14.4

Members of CANSOFCOM rappel from a Royal Canadian Air Force CH-146 Griffon helicopter on to a Royal Canadian Navy submarine off the east coast of Canada.

(CANSOFCOM photo)

operations in Afghanistan—that was a particularly poignant moment for the unit and one that still resonates today.

We have a very strong liaison officer (LNO) network that is distributed globally with upwards of 20 mostly officers and some senior enlisted located in key special forces headquarters around the world.

We also have some special forces representations in my own headquarters from allies. The LNO network really lubricates the issues and make sure that the commander’s intent is being passed on.

Then of course there are symposia like the Global SOF Symposium that are important. They’re not always easy to get to because of time but invariably when I come to things like this I always have very productive sidebar conversations with my colleagues. While the main content of the symposium is very good, it’s the sidebar, bilateral discussions that really are the value proposition of these sorts of meetings Q: With a headquarters and the five permanent units, is that the optimum structure to meet your mission requirements? Have there been, or do you plan any kind of force structure review?

Have more missions been designated for special operations and has the force structure kept pace?

Rouleau: In a macro sense we always need to have in our mind at CANSOFCOM that evolution is necessary. The world is changing, the threat sets are changing, the nature of operations themselves are changing. We need to maintain an evergreen mentality, we are always adapting to some level. Now, you do have to be careful not to over saturate the change because that becomes counterproductive.

Two years ago we initiated a wholesale bottom-up review of CANSOFCOM—we called the process our context and strategy sessions.

Over the course of about seven months we identified about 10 major issues across the 5F functions—force employment, force generation, www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

force development, force sustainment and force management. This was an effort to really define what is the load that CANSOFCOM has to carry.

One of the first things we had to do was define the load which could be things like where do capability overlaps between units start and stop or what are the specific roles, missions and tasks of different units.

Once we defined the load then the question became what structure do we need to carry that load.

Those context and strategy sessions were very useful and they spun off things like zero-based reviews. For example our helicopter squadron and headquarters were zero-based reviewed which meant starting with a blank sheet of paper—as opposed to just adjusting the org chart—and build the organization from the ground up as if you were starting it today.

We also looked at our enterprise enabler situation and did a complete estimate on that.

So, where does that leave us? I believe moving forward we will stay with five units and headquarters. I don’t want to stand up another unit if we don’t have to. I don’t want to pay the overhead for additional units. We have five very differentiated units within CANSOFCOM and that is our real value proposition.

In terms of our structure, we’re about 66 percent grown today.

So with about 10 years of CANSOFCOM history—keep in mind that JTF 2 was created in 1993—we are about two-thirds along in our growth path.

In May I’m going to brief the Chief of Defence Staff at the Armed Forces Council, with differentiated options for getting CANSOFCOM to its final operational capability structure. Our end state will no doubt be more than we are today but exactly how far it will grow beyond where we are today will be a subject of some discussion.

We have to be disciplined during this process. The pure science analysis might suggest that we need X but when you overlay the art on top of that and understand the pressures to build other joint capabilities—cyber, space, intelligence, etc.—we need to realize that we are part of that wider growth demand signal.

There is an optimum size and then there is less than an optimum size. I like being less than optimum because I want my force to be busy. There’s a sweet spot, you want OPTEMPO to be high enough that the troops are engaged and you obviously don’t want it to be so high that it’s counterproductive. You also don’t want to be structured at peak load where your OPTEMPO is very low because you will have huge dwell times. Special forces soldiers don’t want long dwell times.

That’s the art of leadership, to find that sweet spot We recognize that there is always going to be a certain tension between a CT mission set and a special forces assistance mission set and that’s just a fact of life.

We subscribe to the idea of a balanced force.

We ascribe to the idea of the right leaders with the right professional development, the right professional military education because this is what gives us our tactical agility. These young men and women that have the right stuff between your ears invariably make the right decisions and are invariably operating very far from adult supervision which is unique to special forces.

The last thing is very important is that we subscribe to the ideal that we create a culture of context not control. That is the expression of mission command. We tell our people that we will give you the context, were going to give you some pretty broad direction and guidance and then you’re going to get out there and make it happen. www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

Born on the July 4, 1967 into a military family, Brigadier General M.N. Rouleau (left in photo) grew up in various locations including Montreal, Quebec City, Quetta Pakistan and Ottawa before joining the military in 1985.

Rouleau’s career is roughly evenly split between duty in the Canadian Army, Special Forces and strategic staff portfolios at defence headquarters. He has commanded Canada’s Special Operations Forces Command since February, 2014; responsible to the Chief of the Defence Staff for the provision of kinetic and non-kinetic counter terrorism and special forces effects domestically and around the globe.

Rouleau’s service in SOF began in 1994 with Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2). A badged Special Operations Assaulter, he has commanded from troop to unit including deployed task forces and teams (Afghanistan, Balkans, Africa).

Rouleau retired from CAF serving as an Ottawa Police Service emergency response officer from 1999-2002, re-enrolling as a result of the events of 9-11. His decorations include the Governor General’s Commendation (Sarajevo 1992) and Meritorious Service Cross (Afghanistan, 2007) and he was inducted as an Officer in the Order of Military Merit in 2013. He has a Bachelor of Arts (political science), a Masters in Defence Studies and a Master of Arts Degree in Security, Defence Policy and Management. He is also a graduate of the Senior Executives in National and International Security program at Harvard University (2015).

This gives us an empowered individual who puts part of the organization on their back every day and really goes that extra mile to make the right calls.

Q: Your mentioned two zero-based reviews. Were there others and what is the status of those reviews?

Rouleau: Much to the chagrin of my staff we said we were going to do these and do them relatively quickly. As they always do they came through.

The enterprise enabler estimate is done, the headquarters and helicopter squadron zero-based reviews are also done. We have made decisions on the changes that are going to be made and an implementing those now.

SPECOPS 14.4 | 13

Q: What are your acquisition requirements over the next 12 months?

Rouleau: We do invest a considerable amount of money on the science and technology side of things. On that front, the Assistant Deputy Minister of Science and Technology has some of his people permanently assigned to my headquarters which is a bit unusual but it allows for a seamless connection between the requirements and our S&T programs.

I’m also very well supported from the Assistant Deputy Minister of Materiel in terms of more rapidly prototyping ideas from project to procurement to delivery. This is a unique characteristic of CANSOFCOM that has helped us with an accelerated acquisition loop.

One example is a project that the Canadian Navy came to us and said they needed a better rigid hull inflatable boat and they wanted our expertise to help them out. From a blank sheet of paper to having the first rib in the water being crewed by Royal Canadian naval personnel was just one year An astronomical fast process and one that leveraged a Canadian company out of Kingston, Ontario. We helped the Canadian Navy acquire the new rib and have since turned over the life cycle materiel management of the project to them.

CANSOFCOM is fortunate that we don’t have to buy big tanks and big airplanes so my procurement needs are relatively less complicated but to the issue of my priorities I would say my first priority is ISR and C4ISR space.

We have a project for manned airborne ISR to acquire a number of small manned airborne ISR platforms with multiple capabilities to be able to extend our ability to see in the battle space and prosecute targets.

Hand-in-hand with that is special operations task force commandand-control project that would look at the Enterprise backbone to allow the systems to communicate.

I would just point out that these capabilities have as their first touch point of relevance our domestic counter-terrorism responsibility. These tools are to make us better able to respond to domestic counter-terrorism threats in Canada because my force is mandated to be the force of last resort in the counter terrorism context After ISR, my priority would be in the mobility space. We have to recapitalize are HMMWV fleet that has done yeoman’s service but it’s

getting old. We also just recently went into the acquisition process for some ultra light combat vehicles that we’re very excited about.

Then we have both our CBRN and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment enhancement programs that will bring the capabilities of those units up to speed in 2016 as we roll more people into those areas.

Q: CANSOFCOM has its own aviation element—the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron. What are the advantages to having your own air mobility in-house? Are their equipment requirements handled by the Royal Canadian Air Force or by you?

Rouleau: It’s a great question and it really is one of the things that make us unique. A lot of my international counterparts are very envious of CANSOF because we have organic rotary-wing capability. It’s a point of pride for us.

The decision to detach a helicopter squadron from the Royal Canadian Air Force to CANSOF was made in 2006 and was considered a revolutionary decision. In fact, I was a major on the transformation team that studied the decision along with a then Major Kevin Morton and Lieutenant Colonel Mike Day—a former CANSOFCOM commander. It was a tremendous decision with a lot of foresight because having our own organic rotarywing really allows us to have that seminal precision lift capability that works regularly routinely and often with our operators so that their air mission planning is absolutely nested into the mission set requirements.

Perhaps more importantly is that the cultures are meshed which means the trust is assured We deploy elements of this helicopter squadron around the world at least once a year. These are domestic aviators who are exceptionally good at what they do they are well-connected into the allied rotary-wing organizations.

The commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force retains responsibility of what I would consider the big blue issues—airworthiness, aircrew standards, flight safety for example. However they are OPCOM to CANSOFCOM. In reality the helicopter squadron is working for two bosses—one, the helicopter force commander within the Canadian Royal Air Force and the CANSOF commander. This really places a significant load on the helicopter squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Orr, but he is doing a great job and we are delighted with that relationship Two members of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment

(CSOR) mentor soldiers during a field-firing range during Exercise Flintlock 13, held in Mauritania, Africa. (CANSOFCOM photo)

Q: You mentioned your CBRN unit. First, why is that capability under CANSOFCOM and second tell me more about its mission and capabilities.

Rouleau: It is a very unique unit!

Early on the CBRN unit was a joint nuclear, biological, chemical company under the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff. It was almost like an orphan with no natural home within the services.

When we looked at what the unit was doing there was a correlation between the WMD threat and some of the CANSOFCOM mission sets. CT and CT WMD in some cases look very similar so having the CBRN unit as part of CANSOFCOM assures a much tighter synergy around these really high consequence, lowprobability missions.

14 | SPECOPS 14.4

www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

people who make it through the various gates and are ultimately badged as operators. It’s a question of sustainability.

In our context we don’t recruit from the streets. You have to be a serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces for several years before you can apply for service within CANSOFCOM. That applies whether you want to be an operator or in any of the support functions.

We do have proactive engagement recruiting and we do recruiting drives but the individual has to want to come in.

From there, each unit has its own tailored selection and assessment process and each is in various stages of maturity but they all share the absolute requirement to be scientifically validated and based on a bona fide occupational requirement. We are careful not to allow mission creep, creeping excellence, or creeping difficulty. We are very careful to ensure that we have the most objective process possible.

I would like to see more officers come in and that is one dynamic that is of particular concern—not a grave concern—but something we’re keeping an eye on. We’re also actively exploring ways to actively increase our use of social media as a recruiting tool. MARSOC has given us some great ideas in this space; we need to move past wall posters and recruiting briefings into the digital space, and fast.

Maritime counter terrorism training off the east coast of Canada.

(CANSOFCOM photo)

This is a very unique unit. The members of this unit are special operators in their own right. These CBRN special operators are unbelievably smart and talented people. I have corporals who have master’s degrees in chemical engineering I have a master corporal who is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto.

These men and women are unbelievably talented. I’ll give you an example. We had the Ebola crisis about a year ago and the Canadian Armed Forces was looking for a better strategic MEDEVAC capability for Canadian citizens who had Ebola and needed to be transported. I challenged the CBRN unit to have a look at this. A few months later I was called down to have a look at what they have put together a couple of months later and I walked in and saw three aircraft pallets, aircraftgrade aluminum Plexiglas, three litters with all the right zero positive pressure so as not to contaminate the inside of the aircraft, and capable of accepting the 18 liters of effluent from the Ebola patient. I was talking with the master corporal who, with some of his colleagues, supervised the design and build with some of his colleagues they put this thing together in a vehicle bay and asked him why he was working here for what a corporal gets paid. He told me he had worked in a lab as a scientist in civilian industry for many years but was there because he was allowed to be creative do just this kind of work.

We unleash the potential of these potential of these talented people at this level. That’s part of who we are as an organization. When you create this kind of climate and culture I’m never disappointed with the ingenuity of our people.

We’re looking now at what else can that unit do that draws on its baseline, highly-technical, highly precise training that will add capability to CANSOFCOM. I’m thinking about things like data fusion, is there an exploitation piece, what about very small UAVs and a host of other options.

Q: How do you do recruiting in CANSOFCOM? How is your selection processed tailored to find the qualities you want?

Rouleau: This is something that does concerns me. In a previous life I was the chief instructor at Joint Task Force 2 and I was always working this piece.

I think the leader in any special forces organization is always concerned about the number of people who come out and the number of www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

Q: With a relatively small pool of candidates to draw from, is there every concern form the services that you may be cherry-picking candidates for SOF? Rouleau: The unsophisticated argument is that we poach from the services and they never see them again. That’s a very non-nuanced perspective to take but you still hear it out there.

By and large I continue to be very pleased with the levels of cooperation between the services. I have a director of special operations forces who is the central point of contact for communications with the various branches and regiments to negotiate who gets what access to what individuals. And it is very much a negotiation.

When you become a badged officer with CANSOFCOM, you are much more considered to be a special forces entity than whatever the parent regiment you came from.

Within our ranks we have all flavor of officers who are not operators and for those there is a little more tugging in the negotiations for them.

But it’s all very constructive and no one pushes back on the need to have a strong CANSOFCOM. Now, that doesn’t mean that we win every case that we make nor should we, but I am very happy with the proportion of wins that we get.

People understand that CANSOFCOM is a great organization not because of the equipment we buy. You can dress any one up in the equipment we have and they will look like an operator but what makes someone an operator is what’s between their ears and the decisions they make with the tools we give them.

This whole subject is the kind of thing that as a senior leader requires constant care and feeding. There is a certain level of messaging that has to go back into the system to reinforce of what we as a command give back that might not always be apparent to people. Highlighting the things that we give back so people make sure they understand that SPECOPS 14.4 | 15

there is a return on investment that is much broader than what they’re seeing an individual officer go back to battalion. And the truth is that when a young warrior in the field force makes up his mind to want to be a SOF operator, if he is unfairly stymied in applying to us, the CAF will probably lose him regardless, so we both lose.

Q: What is the right mix of classroom, simulation and live fire training for special operations forces? What simulators doe you own or make great use of?

Rouleau: I honestly come at this from an old-school perspective which I do have to be aware of.

My view is that special forces organizations need to be on their rucks, on their gun trucks, on their crew-served weapons, firing their mortars, in the close quarter battle range making those precise shots.

I believe there is virtually no surrogate for the risks associated with live fire training. Whether you’re talking about flying, driving, parachuting, being in the water, or shooting doing those things in an antiseptic environment where the consequences of error are reduced might be a good play, might be an efficient play but I’m not sure it’s a war winning play in the long run.

I am a huge fan of training like you fight so I’m not a huge fan of simulation in the SOF context.

That said, however, there are certain boutique areas where it has high value, for example with JTACs—joint tactical attack controllers. That is one area where I absolutely see the value of simulation. It is hard to get the platforms together necessary to drop bombs, to get the right weather, etcetera.

So I’m not suggesting that I have no time for simulations I’m just suggesting that as the commander of CANSOFCOM I put a premium on real training as opposed to simulation-based training.

Q: Within USSOCOM there has been a high emphasis on caring for the warfighter not just while they are deployed but once they return home and with their family. Does CANSOFCOM have similar issues and how are you approaching this?

Rouleau: When I became the commander of CANSOFCOM in February 2014 I stated the care for a force and their families was one of the priority areas I wanted us to pay more attention to resiliency matters. I mandated that we do some analysis on where we were and what we needed to do to better up armor the individual before we put them into the next fight or to just deal with the stresses of everyday life in our force.

We needed to do this with better training, better awareness and more education to be able to withstand the rigors of whatever the next conflict would be. I’m really delighted with the work that the multidisciplinary caregivers working group is doing. They brief me every three months on the progress and I am delighted with the work they’re doing.

This group includes padres, psychologists, medical officers, psychiatrists, sports physiologists, all coming together and giving us their ideas and responding to our direction in terms of how do we prepare the not just the operator but all members of the force and their families.

In the military we are always talking about complete life cycle management of our equipment from cradle-to-grave. I don’t think we necessarily took that view with our people. In the military we always say that people are our most important asset doing things like this allows us to walk that walk.

We are putting into place these courses to help the operator, the force writ large and the family members over the next few months.

16 | SPECOPS 14.4

While I’m hopeful that it will have good results it’s never going to be perfect. We will always have to deal with the consequence management of people who put up their hand. And that doesn’t mean just on deployment. We always say that we never leave a soldier on the battlefield and we have been reinforcing that also means here at garrison. We need to have a climate where a trooper can feel absolutely comfortable coming forward and saying I have a bit of an issue. If we do that, there is a greater chance that they will come back and that’s ultimately what we want. It’s a healthy, more mature approach.

I would also like to add that the services, especially the Army, have been very helpful. They are all working their own projects and we cross collaborate to make sure that best practices are being shared between all of us.

Q: Can you talk about CANSOFCOM’s capacity building efforts, especially in some of the areas of conflict?

Rouleau: I’ll focus on Iraq but as a backdrop but we’ve been undertaking a number of capacity building missions whether in Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Sahel, or East Africa. We have been doing solid work in fragile and sometimes failing states as an executive arm if you will of our Global Affairs Canada department.

This work has been really tailored towards my Special Operations Regiment in many ways because that special forces assistance type mission set is critical and is a long-term value proposition. The direct action mission is OK in a local context but special forces assistance piece has a longer term payoff.

We’ve been in northern Iraq since September of 2014 when Prime Minister Harper’s government put us in there with an advise and assist mandate with the Kurdish Peshmerga. With some close collaboration with the American, French and to some extent the British we did some very useful work there to help them shore up the line during a very challenging time against a very capable foe in ISIS. We assumed responsibility for certain parts of the Kurdish Peshmerga sector, conducting a lot of programs of instruction helping them become more proficient with their weapons systems and tactics. The Peshmerga have proven to be exceptionally brave and spirited warfighters.

The advise and assist mandate has also put my troops in harm’s way. In a defensive context that advice and assistance mandate can put you in very close proximity to the fight or at the front lines. We have made this clear to our leadership that that’s part of the package.

Prime Minister Trudeau’s government recently gave us refreshed marching orders, through the Chief of the Defence Staff, on the Generation 2 of this mission. We will be increasing the CANSOF footprint in Iraq to some extent—still squarely within an advise and assist mandate. This is a testament to the good work the men and women have done and that there is value in this and it is yielding results. I hear it every time I go into theater every couple months from very senior Kurdish officials about how much our contributions have helped. I say all the time that it feels good to be going to work and doing something that matters.

It’s also important to understand that the situation over there is constantly evolving. We are always trying to stay ahead of that evolution and making sure that I’m giving the Chief of the Defence Staff telegraphing options forward. If we think the theater may evolve into A, B or C, I want to make sure that the CDS has a palette of options that he is prepared to consider so that we can try and stay ahead of the changes as opposed to just reacting to them  www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

USSOCOM 2016 Program Management Updates

All equipment discussed in this article is for the intended use of U.S. Special Operations Command.

The open nature of this article does not infer that this equipment will be made available for conventional or international procurement. All International requests for equipment must be made through proper channels and in compliance with the Arms Export Control Act, the International Traffic in Arms Regulation and all other applicable laws/regulations/requirements.

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates

James F. Geurts Acquisition Executive U.S. Special Operations Command

The Special Operations Forces Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (SOF AT&L) team continued to supply and support the warfighter while handling the ever-changing mission environment and budget uncertainty. The team met hurdles head on and quickly adjusted to the dynamic environment we faced in 2015 and, continue to face, in 2016. As the Acquisition Executive, I am honored to lead such an exceptional team of professionals.

In fiscal year 2015 (FY15), the SOF AT&L team managed more than 500 programs and projects, oversaw $7.8 billion in funds, and awarded over $3.4 billion in contracts with over 11,500 contract actions. We ensured the best value for our customers by exceeding our demanding competition goals, competing 76 percent of our efforts in FY15. SOF AT&L supplied more than 1,500 field service representatives at CONUS and OCONUS locations and oversaw nine mobile technology and repair complexes down range. We fielded 115 fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft systems; 12 maritime undersea and surface vessels; 2,754 visual augmentation system mounts; 4,389 operator and medical kits; 2,455 ISR kits; 4,909 radios, SATCOM terminals and ancillary equipment; 28,590 IT automation devices and systems; and 16 tactical MISO systems, to name a few of our FY15 deliverables. We supported numerous high profile partner train and equip missions in multiple areas of responsibility, rapidly leveraging acquisition, technology and logistics capabilities to deliver integrated capabilities at the speed of SOF. Our logistics team supported numerous operational missions and continued our campaign plan for global SOF sustainment, while our D-cell team supported multiple missions worldwide spending more than 2,340 days TDY in FY15 to support deployments, training requirements and contingency missions. Our science and technology team identified and experimented with numerous leading-edge technologies to support operations of today and tomorrow, winning the top Small Business Innovation Research transition rate in the Department of Defense yet again. JATF-TALOS continued to make great strides in meeting the command’s vision of providing an advanced combat suit with technologies to give our operators superior protection and enhanced strength.

These achievements reflect SOF AT&L’s pride in ensuring special operations forces are outfitted with the finest kit, technology and equipment, and none of this would have been possible without the superb support and collaboration with the services and our industry partners.

18 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

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2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates

Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications and Computers Deborah J. Woods leads the Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications and Computers (PEO-C4). PEO-C4 manages the research, development, acquisition, fielding and sustainment of C4 systems that collectively form the SOF information environment (SIE). The SIE is an extension of the DoD network that provides additional special operations-peculiar capabilities and extends those capabilities to remote, austere locations. It allows garrison and tactical users to reach back to access national assets, allowing SOF elements to operate with any force combination in multiple environments.

PEO-C4’s portfolio consists of 14 programs with a budget of $2.8 billion across the Future Years Defense Plan. It includes three primary capability areas: 1) enterprise networks and military information support operations (MISO) systems, 2) network transport systems, and 3) tactical communications.

PEO-C4 will continue to focus on the integration of state-of-the-art technologies and standardization across the enterprise. An additional priority includes ensuring voice, video and data—regardless of the source—can be properly accessed, processed and stored and made available immediately to SOF users across the globe. PEO-C4’s efforts emphasize the utilization of commercial off-the-shelf products and the leveraging of DoD and other government agency programs to supplement SOF capabilities.

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Enterprise Networks and MISO Systems The Program Management Office for Enterprise Networks and MISO Systems is responsible for designing, acquiring, fielding and sustaining the garrison and tactical network automation infrastructure systems.

The division manages nine programs: 1) Special Operations Command Research, Analysis and Threat Evaluation System (SOCRATES), 2) Command, Control, Communications and Computers Intelligence Automated Systems (C4IAS), 3) Tactical Local Area Network (TACLAN), 4) Media Production Center (MPC), 5) MISO-Print (MISOP), 6) Fly-Away Broadcast System (FABS), 7) Next Generation Loudspeaker System (NGLS), 8) Long Range Broadcast System (LRBS) and 9) Civil Information Management Data Processing System (CIMDPS).

The SOCRATES program is the SOF extension of the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System network and is used to develop, acquire and support garrison automated intelligence system requirements for SOF organizations worldwide. It provides the capabilities to exercise command and control, planning, collection, collaboration, data processing, video mapping, a wide-range of automated intelligence analysis, direction, intelligence dissemination, imagery tools and applications—to include secondary imagery dissemination—and news and message traffic. The system ensures intelligence support to mission planning and the intelligence preparation of the battlespace by connecting numerous data repositories while maintaining information assurance. The system supports Headquarters SOCOM, its component commands, theater special operations commands (TSOCs) and forward-based SOF units.

SOCRATES is composed of state-of-the-art networking devices (e.g., firewalls, routers, switches, hubs and modems), servers, storage devices, workstations, associated peripherals and government off-the-shelf/commercial offthe-shelf software.

C4IAS provides garrison infrastructure for unclassified and classified (secret) networks and services. It also provides a seamless and interoperable interface with SOF, DoD and service information systems. The systems provide the capabilities to exercise command

and control and collaboration, process and share data and facilitate mission planning and operational planning of the battlespace connecting numerous data repositories. C4IAS evolutionary technology insertions consist of software-centric infrastructures that tightly integrate computing, storage and networking onto one hardware platform. It is also developing alternatives for cloud computing initiatives that enable ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management.

The TACLAN program provides SOF operational commanders and forward-deployed forces advanced automated data processing and display capabilities to support situational awareness, mission planning and execution and command and control of forces via a common deployed network infrastructure. It also supports remote computing services to interconnect liaison elements and tactical teams to the main network including the fielding of automation devices for tactical teams.

The program consists of network hardware suites, mission planning kits (MPKs) and field computing devices (FCDs). Each suite consists of easily transportable integrated networks, general use laptops and high performance laptops. MPKs consist of general use laptops and ancillary equipment used by SOF teams for detailed mission planning support. FCDs are small, handheld computing devices used by the most forward-deployed SOF teams to interface with the suite via tactical communications.

The MPC program is a family of systems consisting of a fixed installation (MPC-H) at Fort Bragg, N.C., with worldwide deployable subsystems (MPC-M and MPC-L). MPC is a set of independent but inter-related multimedia production and editing capabilities providing MISO forces and other select organizations with options for imagery, audio, animation and audio/ video products of varying degrees of technical complexity and operational responsiveness. Its output is multimedia products that are compatible with foreign country, commercially available and/or contracted electronic dissemination systems and with U.S. Army MISO organic dissemination assets.

Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 19

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates The MISOP program is a family of print systems designed to support the MISO print requirements of a geographic combatant command using the latest commercial digital press technologies. This family of systems (FoS) supports small units up to an entire theater of operations. The MISOP FoS consists of four variants: 1) tactical MISOP-Light, 2) MISOP-Medium (Fixed) installed at a fixed site OCONUS supporting CENTCOM operations, 3)Â deployable MISOP-Medium version and 4) strategic MISOP-Heavy at Fort Bragg.

The FABS program provides a modular and highly deployable radio, television and cellular broadcasting system able to transmit on a wide range of frequencies and spectrums, including AM, FM, SW, VHF, UHF and Global System for Mobile Communications cellular in both digital and analog formats.

The NGLS program provides a family of loudspeaker variants, each optimized for a specific operational environment that can transmit live or recorded audio messages to diverse sets of target audiences in a variety of tactical environments.

The LRBS is a modular MISO broadcast asset capable of providing AM, FM, TV UHF/ VHF and cellular MISO broadcasts to foreign target audiences in permissive, semi-permissive and denied environments with broadcast systems integrated into long-loiter UAVs. The CIMDPS program provides an automation capability to assist active civil affairs and others engaged in civil-military operations to collect, process, analyze, maintain, mine and deliver civil information and analysis products in support of military operations.

The Program Management Office for Enterprise Networks and MISO Systems is an important contributor to realizing some of the SOCOM chief information officer’s key initiatives for efficient and effective delivery of enterprise services to all SOF users worldwide, including consolidation of services to reduce total ownership costs. The programs operate in an evolutionary technology insertion mode through incremental development, acquisition and implementation of next generation technology solutions.

Network Transport Systems The Network Transport division is responsible for developing, acquiring, fielding and sustaining the SIE transport systems.

It manages two programs: SOF Deployable 20 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

JTAC calibrates equipment during training exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Node (SDN) and SCAMPI (which is not an acronym).

SDN is a family of deployable, super high frequency, multiband, satellite communications (SATCOM) systems providing deployed SOF users with the transport path for access to the SIE for high-capacity voice, data, video teleconference and video at all levels of classification. It consists of SDN subprograms, transport for intelligence variants, technology insertions and capital equipment replacement.

The SCAMPI program provides the backbone infrastructure for the SIE and is the telecommunications system that provides real-time voice, data and video teleconferencing capabilities at various classification levels to worldwide deployed and garrison SOF locations. SCAMPI includes support to airborne ISR data transports efforts.

Tactical Communications The Tactical Communications division is responsible for acquiring, fielding and sustaining the tactical communications segment of the SIE. The division manages three programs: 1) Joint Tactical C4I Transceiver System (JTCITS), 2) Radio Integration System (RIS) and 3) SOF Tactical Communications (STC).

The JTCITS provides portable video receive terminals for receipt of tactical full motion video from unmanned aerial systems. JTCITS Increment II expands transceiver capability with Type-1 encryption and internet protocol

for video and telemetry data in dismounted form factor for handheld or manpack use.

The RIS is an evolutionary acquisition program that procures cutting edge government and commercial tactical command and control communication integration systems for SOF components and TSOCs. The RIS FoS provides deployable, self-contained and modular communications capabilities to SOF units. Currently fielded solutions include a full-scaled transit case variant, a downsized transit case variant and a fixed base station variant. Variants provide rapid deployment of secure and non-secure voice, data and remote communications capable of integrating existing and future HF/VHF/UHF DAMA/ SATCOM radios into a single command and control suite.

The STC procures the next generation SOF tactical communication system and replaces most of the currently fielded SOF suite of radios. The new capability will consist of three basic form factors: 1) a manpack device that will be a multiband device capable of being carried by an individual or being mounted on various SOF platforms, 2) a high frequency device in a manpack configuration that will be capable of being mounted on various SOF platforms and 3) a handheld device that will include both an urban and a maritime variant to provide intra-team communications capability of voice, data and video; the system will introduce additional capabilities to SOF to improve current situational awareness capabilities and performance on SOF platforms. www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates

Program Executive Office for Fixed Wing Air Force Colonel Eric N. Forsyth leads the Program Executive Office for Fixed Wing (PEOFW) with the mission to deliver special operations-peculiar (SO-P) manned and unmanned fixed wing airpower capabilities. To execute this mission, PEO-FW partners with development and support organizations across the United States to deliver manned and unmanned capabilities that include advanced technology sensors, defensive countermeasures, advanced avionics and their associated mission training systems.

The PEO is closely aligned to the mission objectives of all supported components to ensure mission success of these systems in likely threat environments despite the challenges of supportability of an aging legacy fleet.

SOCOM’s manned and unmanned fixed wing aircraft provide the backbone for SOF airborne mobility, aerial refueling support, airborne precision engagement and aerial surveillance capabilities. They provide critical infiltration and exfiltration, and they resupply capabilities for SOF in and out of hostile territory through weapon systems such as the MC-130H Combat Talon II, MC-130J Commando II, and CV-22 Osprey aircraft. The AC-130U Spooky and AC-130W Stinger II are all providing critical precision engagement and close-air support with the AC-130J Ghost Rider in development and test.

The low-density, high-demand nature of the SOF fixed wing fleet is a key driver in the acquisition approach used by PEO-FW for continual system improvements while sustaining the force. The high operational tempo of these aircraft systems requires innovative methods to incorporate capability enhancements and sustainment improvements while maintaining full on-site mission capability for the warfighters.

MALET MQ-9

The Medium Altitude Long Endurance Tactical (MALET) program equips MQ-9s with SOF modifications that increases platform performance, adds to the ISR tool bag and improves precision strike capabilities. MALET has modified more than 40 aircraft and their associated ground control stations with capability kits to meet evolving SOF mission performance requirements. SOF has transitioned from a mixed Predator and Reaper fleet to exclusively an MQ-9 fleet.

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) range from the small hand-launched aircraft to large remotely piloted aircraft and carry sensors providing real-time ISR capabilities for many different requirements across the SOF component commands.

The Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS) program utilizes the RQ20A Puma all environment, hand launched and controlled by SOF ground forces providing local real-time reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition capabilities.

The Medium Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System (MEUAS) program is a contractor owned contractor operated solution that provides ISR hours to multiple locations overseas. The material solutions are the Scan Eagle and Aerosonde systems providing intermediate range ISR for SOF. The MEUAS team is working toward an estimated July date for award of MEUAS III, which will be the mechanism that will allow for continued tactical ISR support to forces deployed.

The Multimission Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (MTUAS) is an FY16 new start program that transitions existing Scan Eagle equipment procured from a joint urgent operational needs statement to a program of record in support of the Naval Special Warfare Command. SOCOM PMUAS is the program manager in support of PEO-FW as the Milestone Decision Authority.

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Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 21

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates U-28A SOCOM previously procured six Pilatus PC-12 aircraft for their versatile performance and ability to operate from short and unimproved runway surfaces. The command then modified these aircraft with a suite of military communications and sensor equipment and fielded them as U-28A aircraft. To further meet operational demands, SOCOM procured an additional 15 aircraft, began to standardize the entire fleet and received the final aircraft. Subsequently, as part of an Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) force restructure, SOCOM converted seven non-standard aviation (NSAV) PC-12 aircraft into the U-28 configuration. AFSOC has received four of the seven aircraft. More recently, SOCOM provided funding to upgrade all full motion video sensors from a standard definition to a high definition format.

MC-12W In 2015, the Air Force transferred ownership of 13 MC-12W Project Liberty aircraft to SOCOM. These aircraft are completing a previously approved Air Force modification and will be delivered to SOCOM. The aircraft contain a suite of military communications and sensor equipment. To date, SOCOM has received nine of the 13 aircraft and expect delivery of the remaining aircraft in 2016. The 137th Special Operations Wing at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base at Oklahoma City, Okla. will fly these aircraft in support of special operations missions.

Non-Standard Aviation The NSAV mission provides dedicated intra-theater airlift and contractor logistics support for the geographic combatant commander’s theater special operations commands. The program currently consists of five C-145As and 18 medium aircraft C-146As. The C-145s are stationed at Duke Field, Fla., for training AFSOC combat aviation advisors in the 6th and 711th Special Operations Squadrons.

The C-146As are stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., at the 524th Special Operations Squadron. In 2016, SOCOM began a cockpit obsolescence management effort, replacing outdated equipment and implementing mandatory communication, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management systems such as automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast out. Additionally, in 2016, SOCOM will procure two more C-146s.

22 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

AC-130W Block 20

AC-130J Ghostrider—AFSOC’s Next Generation Gunship The AC-130J Ghostrider will completely replace the AFSOC aging gunship fleet over the next decade. The AC-130J is an ACAT II program that integrates the precision strike package (PSP) on MC-130J aircraft provided by the Air Force. PSP includes a medium and large caliber gun, electro-optical/infrared sensors, crew workstations, fire control system, mission management software, precision guided munitions and a communications suite. The AC-130J program concluded developmental testing (DT) in 2015 and operational utility evaluation (OUE) in early 2016.

The program produced three AC-130Js to date for DT/OUE and, in the process, reduced modification time from 12 to 6 months. The AC-130J added one primary crew position in 2015 to decrease crew workload and increase operational effectiveness. This capability was tested during the successful FY16 OUE. The program office will satisfy the objective direct fire capability by adding the 105mm cannon beginning with AC4. This enhancement follows the acquisition strategy of leveraging AC-130W capability upgrades as a risk reduction measure for AC-130J. The 105mm cannon capability is currently in DT onboard AC-130W. AC4 is anticipated to complete post-production modifications in late FY16. AC-130J will also add another primary crew stations in 2016 as part of the 105mm capability. The program will conduct DT of the 105mm capability in 2016 and is currently on track to complete initial operational testing and evaluation in 2017 and reach initial operational capability by the end of 2017.

The program office continues to evaluate innovative contracting and logistics strategies to accelerate aircraft delivery while ensuring the system is safe, suitable, sustainable and effective throughout its useful service life. A renewed emphasis on evaluating alternatives to contractor logistics services and competitive acquisition strategies are areas of specific concentration. The team is working diligently with contracting and logistics experts to ensure AFSOC’s next generation gunship provides the best possible value for years to come.

AC-130W Stinger II—SOF’s Precision Strike Aircraft The Stinger II is equipped with a modular PSP using enhanced electro-optical/infrared sensors, a trainable 30mm cannon, the StandOff Precision Guided Munition (SOPGM) family of missiles and a networked battle management system. These modifications provide the Stinger II with the capability to execute close-air support and air interdiction missions for deployed SOF operations. In addition to supporting immediate combat operations, the Stinger II’s modular PSP provides a risk reduction platform for SOCOM’s AC-130J program. The PSP Configuration Release IV (CR IV) that is now being incorporated on the AC-130W is the same configuration that will be providing initial combat capability onboard the AC-130J. In addition to the current array of PSP capabilities, the CR IV upgrade adds the 105mm large caliber gun, Hellfire missile and full laser small diameter bomb (LSDB) capabilities against maneuvering targets along with enhanced pilot situational www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates awareness by incorporating a helmet mounted display capability. AC-130W CR IV equipped aircraft is currently undergoing DT and will enter an OUE in the 3QFY16 with fielding on track for 4QFY16.

PEO-FW is also responsible for the procurement and integration of SOPGM variants for use on the AC-130W, AC-130J and other SOF aircraft. The SOPGM provides a small, lightweight precision guided weapon for irregular warfare.

The Griffin missile is a SOPGM that utilizes the common launch tube and governmentdeveloped battle management system. Another SOPGM, the LSDB, was fielded on the AC-130W in 2014 and has seen extensive operational use providing the SOF warfighter greater explosive effects in a lighter precision package than conventional bombs. The LSDB is a modified small diameter bomb that utilizes a semi-active laser seeker to allow for more precise engagements of both static and moving targets. It is released from modified wing pylons. PEO-FW has fielded two different Enhanced Paveway II 500-pound bombs incorporating precision targeting with a height of burst detonation capability for enhanced lethality on larger targets.

Integration efforts to incorporate Hellfire missiles, the Small Diameter Bomb II and precision glide weapons continue to enhance the special operations SOPGM portfolio.

C-130 – Backbone of the SOF Fixed Wing Fleet PEO-FW continues to face the mounting challenges of sustaining the low-density, highdemand legacy SOF C-130 fleet while simultaneously satisfying roadmaps for modernization.

PEO-FW manages numerous SOF C-130 sustainment, modification and modernization programs.

SOCOM, in conjunction with the Air Force, is procuring 37 new MC-130J aircraft through a joint program with Air Combat Command’s combat search and rescue community to recapitalize the retired MC-130E/P tanker fleet. Through 4QFY15, a total of 29 MC-130J aircraft have been delivered. In 2015, the PEO approved entering the engineering and manufacturing development phase for the MC-130J terrain following/ terrain avoidance system program. This system includes the SOF-common APQ-187 Silent Knight Radar.

Ongoing operations continue to stress the legacy SOF C-130 fleet. In 2015, SOCOM invested in replacing the SOF C-130 unique avionics system across the fleet, successfully completing the Mission Computer Replacement Program software development and preparing for MC-130H aircraft flight testing. Additionally, the MC-130H terrain following radar service life extension program completed flight test and has begun production of replacement hardware. Additionally, the Robins Air Force Base depot is continuing to monitor life expectancy on the C-130 outer wings, with replacements as necessary.

The consolidated, low-cost modification program continues to address ongoing minor modifications to SO-P equipment to improve reliability and maintainability, correct deficiencies, address obsolescence and incorporate mission enhancements. Low-cost modification during 2015 included installing a permanent Air Force Tactical Receiver System-Ruggedized Integrated Broadcast Receiver, enhanced situational awareness, high definition digital video recorders, GPS upgrades and additional Ku-Spread Spectrum antennas.

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Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 23

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates CV-22 Osprey—SOF’s LongRange Insertion Platform The CV-22 fulfills the requirement for highspeed, long-range insertion and extraction of SOF in hostile or denied territory in a single period of darkness. The range, altitude and speed of the CV-22 provide flexibility, unpredictability and less dependency on staging bases or refueling assets. As a result, the CV-22 can self-deploy worldwide to satisfy current combat operations and higher authority taskings. CV22s have deployed to multiple locations around the globe and have been actively supporting special operations infiltration, exfiltration and

resupply missions. SOCOM has delivered 46 of the programmed fleet of 50 CV-22s. The 50th production buy of CV-22s was completed in 2014, with a scheduled delivery of 2016.

Technology Insertion— Driving Innovation and Capability PEO-FW has centralized efforts to evaluate game-changing capabilities into a new technology insertion division. The group’s efforts are grouped into three main areas: 1) emerging technology, 2) operation of a demonstration aircraft and 3) directed energy.

As the primary interface with science and technology groups and research laboratories, emerging technology coordinates new capabilities with industry vendors and manages the Fixed Wing technology insertion roadmaps. PEO-FW also operates a dedicated Dornier-328 demonstration aircraft. The Do328 is outfitted with dedication instrumentation, hardware pylons and operator stations and is used to evaluate communications, weapons, ISR and survivability equipment for SOF use. The directed energy team is developing the strategy to outfit an AC-130 aircraft with an offensive air-to-ground high energy laser for operational use by 2020.

Program Executive Office for Maritime Navy Captain Katherine M. Dolloff leads the Program Executive Office for Maritime (PEO-M) responsible for providing SOF operators with operationally effective and sustainable surface and subsurface maritime mobility platforms. The PEO is composed of three program offices in the undersea portfolio, a single multiproduct program office for the surface portfolio and a new SOF Combat Diving program of record. PEO-M partners with Naval Special Warfare Command and their subordinate operational commands to meet the requirements for SOF maritime mobility throughout the world. PEO-M manages over $925.0 million of Major Force Program-11 dollars over the Future Years Defense Plan and coordinates Navy activities in the execution

of 18 surface and subsurface acquisition programs and subprograms.

Undersea Programs Undersea programs include a variety of in-service, in production and developmental platforms and are further categorized as wet and dry boats. The wet fleet consists of the in-service SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) and the in-production Shallow Water Combat Submersible (SWCS). The dry fleet consists of the developmental Dry Combat Submersible (DCS). The Dry Deck Shelter (DDS) program is an in-service program with significant modifications and pre-planned improvements in progress.

In late 2015, the SWCS program completed manufacturing and initial testing of an engineering developmental model (EDM) supporting the performance specifications leading to the execution of a production option on the original contract.

The SWCS EDM continues with follow-on testing and supports operator/maintenance training during production of the first two low rate initial production items. The SWCS will operate from the DDS and will replace the legacy SDV. The primary method of launch and recovery will be from a DDS on board a host submarine, but alternative methods are available such as future large ocean interfaces or surface ships.

During FY15, the DCS program successfully validated testing, training and logistics processes using a leased commercially classed submersible, the S301i. The S301i was also used to validate required technologies, such as sensors and batteries, prior to the lease expiration. The DCS program continues development of two prototype submersibles, the Button 5.60 and S351, and recently took acceptance of the S351. The S351 continues with characterization testing, and the Button 5.60 prototype continues with developmental testing.

Of note, these prototype vessels were not used as a down-select for DCS, but provided SOCOM insight and validation of technologies relevant to SOF mission requirements and enabled a recent DCS milestone B decision. The DCS program is currently in source selection with projected award in late summer 2016.

Surface Mobility Programs SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV)

24 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

The Surface Systems Program Office is responsible for the acquisition of special operations-peculiar maritime craft and subsystems in www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates support of Naval Special Warfare Command. The program office instituted an aggressive plan to recapitalize the fleet with Combatant Craft–Assault (CCA), Combatant Craft–Medium (CCM) and the Combatant Craft–Heavy (CCH) mobility platforms. Additionally, Surface Systems instituted RDT&E programs to identify and develop the mission equipment required by the surface mobility platforms to maintain a comparative advantage.

Surface Systems continued fielding CCA to the operational community at Naval Special Warfare Group 4. The CCA takes a highly capable product off an existing production line and sends it through post-production modifications to better meet the identified operational requirements. The CCA is becoming well known in the fleet as possessing unique characteristics ideal for conducting full spectrum SOF maritime operations.

During FY15, Surface Systems started delivery of CCM Mk1 craft and reached initial operating capability. CCM Mk 1 is a surface mobility craft with a mission to insert and extract SOF in medium threat environments. The craft will incorporate enhanced capabilities, such as

Combatant Craft-Medium

Neutralization (SEALION), to an operational configuration. The SEALION has been successful in the operational environment and has significantly enhanced the capabilities of the SOF warfighter. The planning for next generation CCH to replace SEALION has been initiated.

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The CCH requirement has been initially met by the transition of a technology demonstration, the SEAL Insertion Observation and

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2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates Surface Systems also provides acquisition and program management support for various legacy and in-service craft and systems such as the special operations craft riverine (SOC-R), the security force assistance craft, patrol boat-light, the maritime craft air delivery system and the Combatant Craft Forward Looking Infrared (CCFLIR) system. The legacy CCFLIR provides SOF surface

craft with a day/night, high resolution and infrared imaging capability. The next generation replacement of the CCFLIR system has been initiated.

Looking forward, one of the greatest challenges to the Surface portfolio is the standardization of integrated logistics support in an effort to control costs while increasing effectiveness. Several contracts within the

Surface portfolio have been re-aligned to take advantage of the strengths of original equipment manufacturers while building efficiencies in the common aspects of sustainment through SOCOM’s Special Operations Forces Support Activity. This approach attempts to streamline and standardize the processes and methods by which users obtain sustainment support for the craft.

Program Executive Office for Rotary Wing Army Colonel John M. Vannoy leads the Program Executive Office for Rotary Wing (PEO-RW) systems, which is responsible to provide the U.S. Army’s only Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) with the most advanced rotary wing aircraft, mission equipment and training systems available to the U.S. military. To accomplish this critical mission, PEO-RW continues to focus on technologies that ensure SOF RW maintains a comparative advantage against all potential threats and supports its three-part acquisition strategy of recapitalization, modernization and the future of SOF vertical lift.

Along with the Technology Applications Program Office, Product Manager Mission Enhanced Little Bird, Product Manager Silent Knight Radar and Product Manager SOF Training Systems, PEO-RW strategizes and resources for the support and integration of special operations-peculiar (SO-P) mission equipment packages onto proven U.S. Army helicopter platforms. This acquisition strategy supports the SOF operator while providing SOCOM with a cost-effective method of supplying a rotary wing platform capable of completing worldwide SOF missions.

Both the U.S. Army and SOCOM benefit from

the partnership of merging Army and SO-P components and technologies. Additionally, PEO-RW is always looking to future rotary wing capabilities, including supporting future vertical lift development.

Rotary Wing Aircraft PEO-RW continues to modernize and recapitalize the rotary wing fleet by focusing on commonality of platforms. The rotary wing fleet consists of the MH-47G Chinook, MH-60M Black Hawk and A/MH-6M Little Bird.

The MH-47G Chinook is a heavy assault helicopter with a maximum gross weight of 54,000 pounds and the ability to travel at speeds of more than 150 knots. The aircraft provides SOF with a proven, durable workhorse that fulfills a variety of SOF missions around the world.

The MH-47G program team has delivered eight new-build aircraft consisting of a zero-time monolithic-machined airframe and new dynamic components. The new-build Chinook has extended range fuel tanks, improved transportability provisions, advanced aircraft survivability equipment and a new cockpit structure with the common avionics architecture systems.

Recently, the MH-47G Renew program of record

MH-60M

26 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

was authorized as a SOF recapitalization/ modernization initiative to address the aging fleet. In collaboration with the Army, SOCOM will replace 61 MH-47G legacy sheet metal airframes with newly built monolithic-machined airframes, closing the gap by making the Army and SOF aircraft more common. At the completion of the Renew program, the MH-47G Chinook fleet will consist of 69 recapitalized/modernized aircraft.

The MH-60M Black Hawk is a medium assault helicopter with a maximum gross weight of 24,000 pounds supporting two configurations: a troop transport/assault configuration and a defensive armed penetrator configuration. The MH-60M modernization program achieved initial operational capability in 2012 and achieved full operational capability in 2015.

Since the replacement of the aging MH-60L/K aircraft has been completed, the 160th SOAR now has a pure-fleet of 72 MH-60M Black Hawks. The MH-60M modernization program took Sikorsky’s new-build UH-60M aircraft from the U.S. Army and modified them with SO-P mission equipment. The MH-60M aircraft features common avionics architecture systems, suite of integrated radio frequency countermeasures, wide-chord rotor blades, active vibration reduction and an improved electro-optical sensor system. The most significant modification, however, was the incorporation of two 2,500 shaft horsepower engines, which gives the aircraft a high/hot capability unmatched by any H-60 variant currently fielded. Recently, the MH60M Block 1.0 upgrade program was initiated to further increase the aircraft’s operational capabilities to even more extreme high/hot conditions and to add various mission equipment enhancements, including secure real-time video and other technology insertions.

The A/MH-6M Little Bird program transforms a civilian aircraft into the Mission Enhanced Little Bird through a series of SO-P modifications, including an improved tail boom and tail rotor drive system, a full complement of www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates weapon systems, an enlarged aft cargo door, an increase of the maximum gross weight to 4,700 pounds and Mark IV rails. The Little Bird supports multiple mission configurations and is capable of serving in an attack or assault role.

The aircraft is currently undergoing an upgrade to a Block 2.2 configuration, which provides an improved mission processor, transponder, Ethernet data bus, embedded global inertial navigation system and new ergonomic crashworthy seats. The Block 3.0 induction will begin in FY17 with deliveries in FY19. The upgrade introduces advanced new cockpit avionics, airframe structures and rotor systems and keeps the Little Bird in the fight for the foreseeable future.

Mission Equipment The Mission Equipment program focuses on a variety of rotary wing mission equipment improvements, including continued fielding of the suite of integrated radio frequency countermeasures, hostile fire indicating system, secure real-time video, infrared countermeasures enhancements and mission processor upgrades.

Additionally, PEO-RW has strong ties to the SOF AT&L Directorate of Science and Technology to manage pre-program science and technology efforts, concentrating on future requirements for software, sensors and electronic equipment.

These efforts provide a jump-start for new programs and often allow them to start at a more mature level of development.

In addition to the focus on aircraft survivability equipment upgrades, PEO-RW has addressed critical avionics systems and continues to upgrade the mission processors for each aircraft’s control display units and multifunction displays. This effort supports the common avionics architecture systems by upgrading system processing power, providing flexibility to add complex software programs that will aid enroute selection and flight in degraded visual environments. The program continues to focus on critical technologies that will provide gamechanging capabilities to SOF RW, including the Degraded Visual Environment Pilotage System (DVEPS) and Silent Knight Radar (SKR).

The revolutionary DVEPS program builds upon science and technology efforts to address aircraft operations and obstacle avoidance under reduced situational awareness conditions.

The program develops a technical solution to one of the most pressing issues in rotary wing aviation. It will address critical aspects of reduced situational awareness common to all rotary wing aircraft operations, providing www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

MH-47G

MH-47 and MH-60 aircrews with visual cues for obstacle avoidance and aircraft control during all phases of flight and significantly increase crew and passenger survivability.

The AN/APQ-187 SKR program provides SOCOM with capability improvement and obsolescence replacement for today’s aging AN/APQ174B terrain following/terrain avoidance (TF/TA) multimode radar. The SKR capabilities include TF/TA with a low probability of interception and detection features, color displays of weather and weather intensity, high-resolution displays of prominent terrain features and detection and location of other aircraft and ships. Through the use of digital components and scalable software, the SKR program addresses issues of increased performance requirements, commonality across the SOF aviation community and legacy system obsolescence. This system will allow rotary wing and fixed wing platforms to conduct low-level flight over mountainous terrain in poor weather, successfully delivering operators and supplies to seemingly inaccessible locations.

This capability also provides unique options as the aircrews and air mission commanders plan and execute the enroute portions of their infil/exfil, tactical re-supply and direct action missions. Crews will interact with the radar, using the integrated interfaces provided by the onboard avionics system. Based on the tactical situation, the crew can select altitude settings as low as 100 feet while interleaving additional modes provided by the system (modes include weather, windshear, turbulence and maritime and airborne target detection). The program completed successful developmental flight testing on MH-47G and MH-60M helicopters, accepted delivery of six low rate initial production

radar systems and is currently in qualification flight testing with initial operational test and evaluation scheduled to occur summer of 2016.

Training Systems Rounding out the PEO-RW portfolio is the family of simulators and training devices that support SOF platforms and missions. PEO-RW, along with the SOF Training Systems Product Manager, provides the 160th SOAR with highfidelity, full-motion combat mission simulators, desktop trainers and cockpit procedural trainers for the MH-47G, MH-60M and A/MH-6M aircraft. The combat mission simulators provide aircrews a real-world capability to practice, validate and verify tactics, techniques and procedures to support training and mission rehearsals.

The simulators and training devices are continuously updated to reflect the latest aircraft modifications and to ensure SOF aircrews are provided training systems that are reliable, technically advanced and concurrent with the operational aircraft on the flight line. The combat mission simulators are located at Fort Campbell, Ky., and support a 192 aircraft fleet, providing training for newly assigned aviators to the 160th SOAR (i.e., “Green Platoon”) and currency training to the assigned aviators in the unit.

The legacy H-47 and H-60 combat mission simulators continue to upgrade into the MH-47G and MH-60M. The upgrades will run concurrently with the induction of newer model aircraft into the fleet, and they will accommodate increased training requirements while taking advantage of the latest simulation technology and processor advancements.

Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 27

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates

Program Executive Office for Services Theodore W. Koufas leads the Program Executive Office for Services (PEO-SV) and provides the SOCOM commander and acquisition executive with the acquisition leadership to improve the efficiency and oversight in the administration of all SOCOM service acquisition actions. Additionally, the office supports SOCOM, component commands and theater special operations commands with services acquisition training, requirements documentation, cost estimating, policy and process oversight and contract administration support to requiring activities.

PEO-SV is focused on the effective and efficient management of more than $2.0 billion spent each year in contracted services in support of the SOF enterprise.

The acquisition professionals in the office coordinate with requiring activities throughout the enterprise to ensure scarce special operations resources are used in the most effective manner to acquire contracted services in support of the warfighting mission.

PEO-SV personnel work side by side with the requiring activities’ points of contact to ensure contracted services requirements

are clearly articulated to support the most optimal acquisition strategy.

By exercising the services acquisition senior manager’s responsibilities for governance in planning, execution, strategic sourcing and management of service contracts, PEO-SV collects, addresses and reports on all data required to provide visibility of services contracts and resource execution to SOCOM’s commander and acquisition executive, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and, ultimately, to Congress as required under public law.

Program Executive Office for Special Operations Forces Support Activity Army Colonel Samuel L. (“Luke”) Peterson leads the Program Executive Office for Special Operations Forces Support Activity (PEO-SOFSA) based out of Bluegrass Station in Lexington, Ky. PEO-SOFSA is responsible for executing SOCOM’s largest service contract vehicle, which provides a wide range of tailored contractor logistics support services to the command’s SOF service components and operators worldwide. The PEO-SOFSA mission is to support the SOF community through the execution of contracting, financial management and operations oversight to ensure dedicated, responsive and cost-effective contractor logistics support services. The PEO partners with both the SOF operator and the PEO-SOFSA prime contractor to provide the most cost-effective, flexible and responsive logistics support services available to meet the mission-critical and time-sensitive needs of the SOF community.

PEO-SOFSA’s 10-year, $5.0 billion dollar indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract offers the full spectrum of services recognized under the elements of life cycle sustainment management and includes design interface; sustaining engineering; supply support; maintenance planning and management; packaging, handling, storage and transportation; technical data; support equipment; training and training support; manpower and personnel; facilities and infrastructure and computer resources. PEOSOFSA manages 2.1 million square feet of administrative, production and storage space with 4.2 million units of property valued in 28 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

excess of $3.1 billion. As part of a significant enterprise initiative and facility upgrades in partnership with the state of Kentucky, PEO-SOFSA took delivery of three warehouse facilities and two storages lots in 2014 at Bluegrass Station, adding nearly 700,000 square feet of storage space to the PEOSOFSA enterprise. The PEO is also scheduled to open a new 200,000-square-foot climate controlled warehouse in 2016, with a targeted ground breaking for the final building in its updated facility plan, a 67,000-squarefoot maintenance, training, and repair facility, planned in 2016.

PEO-SOFSA is focused on the effective and efficient management of approximately $500 to $700 million awarded each year in contracted logistics support services in support of the SOF enterprise. PEO-SOFSA oversees the contractor’s support in meeting all the contractual small business goals, all of which were met or exceeded in 2015.

The acquisition professionals in PEO-SOFSA work side by side with USSOCOM SOF AT&L program executive offices, components and subordinate commands and the theatre special operations commands to ensure all contracted services requirements are clearly articulated to support the most optimal acquisition strategy to meet SOF’s global mission. To better support its customers, the program support division provides dedicated project officers to assists customers with pre-award activities and oversight of cost, schedule and performance throughout the life cycle of their task orders.

The PEO’s primary core competencies focus on rapid prototyping and design, production and modifications and logistics support activities and include key focus on work awarded in support of aviation repair/modification, logistics teams, life cycle sustainment management and supply/warehousing.

The office performs critical fixed wing and rotary aviation support, including AC-130J production and subsystem integrations, C-130 refurbishments and isochronal inspections, C-27J new equipment training and maintenance sustainment, HH-60G depot level repair, A/MH-6 crash damaged repairs and modifications, MH-47G modifications and logistics, maintenance and reset in support of the 160th SOAR fleet of helicopters at Fort Campbell, Ky. PEO-SOFSA also provides a broad spectrum of life cycle sustainment management support, such as modifications, maintenance and supply support, and deployment of logistics support teams worldwide for all other SOF systems, including weapons, C4, special reconnaissance, ground platforms for the family of special operations vehicles, maritime platforms support for SEAL Insertion Observation and Neutralization, Special Operations Craft Riverine, Combatant CraftAssault, Combatant Craft-Medium and SOF Personal Equipment Advanced Requirements supply operations. The PEO also supports critical logistics support teams and capabilities through the Joint Operational Stock program, SOFSA Forward Support and the Mobile Technology Repair Complex. www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates

Program Executive Office for Special Operations Forces Warrior PEO-SW Better Buying Power Initiatives Embracing DoD AT&L’s Better Buying Power (BBP) 3.0, PEO-SW continuously leverages best practices identified within the PEO-SW team, SOF AT&L, and across DoD. The BBP focus areas make SOF programs affordable throughout the life cycle, incentivize contractor innovation and competition, streamline processes and bureaucracy, improve acquisition of services and professionalize the acquisition workforce. In FY15, PEO-SW implemented 28 BBP initiatives and saved over $255.0 million across the Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP). PEO-SW looks forward to another successful year of providing for SOF operators in a timely and responsible manner.

Army Colonel John T. Reim leads the Program Executive Office for Special Operations Forces Warrior (PEO-SW). The PEO is composed of 10 program management offices that are trusted providers and recognized experts.

The PEO-SW team provides provide rapid and focused acquisition of SOF-unique capabilities to SOCOM operators conducting decisive SOF activities and global operations against terrorist networks. These capabilities directly enable the SOCOM team to assist the geographic combatant commanders in solving problems and helping our nation win the fight. These capabilities span a wide spectrum of warfighting capabilities, including ground mobility, visual augmentation systems, weapon systems, ammunition, demolition and survival and tactical combat casualty care systems.

As both a resource and program objective memorandum (POM) sponsor, the PEO provided execution oversight for more than $2 billion in active appropriations, executing 134 programs and projects along with more than 271 pre-program efforts (e.g., combat evaluations and studies). In preparation for the future, PEO-SW continues to partner with industry for innovative ways to develop and field game-changing capabilities.

PEO-SW also looks to improve linkages with the Directorate of Science and Technology/Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit to ensure seamless technology transition to the warfighter. www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

Ground Mobility The Program Management Office for the Family of Special Operations Vehicles (PM-FSOV) is the recognized expert and trusted provider to acquire, innovate and sustain the most capable tactical ground mobility fleet for our nation’s SOF. SOCOM operates a fleet of wheeled combat vehicles in four distinct categories: Light, Medium, Non-Standard Commercial Vehicles and Heavy.

Today’s challenging fiscal environment, the availability of research and development funds to pivot quickly and continued focus on a new technology to improve ground mobility systems remains scarce. The need to reduce vehicle weight for increased durability, provide lighter weight armor without sacrificing protection, provide wide-band, low-profile antennas, reduce visual and noise signatures, transition to diesel engines and improve/standardize vehicle chassis and suspension components that help to extend the service of SOCOM’s family of special operations vehicles remains constant.

Whenever possible, PM-FSOV leverages service-common or non-developmental vehicles and modifies them with special operations-peculiar (SO-P) components. If there is no servicecommon platform available to modify, PM-FSOV establishes efforts to develop, produce, test, train, deploy and sustain a SO-P ground mobility platform. Carefully managing its programmed total obligation authority of $1 billion and a fleet of 4,800-plus combat vehicles, PM-FSOV ensures every dollar spent provides the operator’s

needs at the tip of the spear or to penetrate the shadows in denied areas.

Ground Mobility – Light The Lightweight Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle (LTATV) is an extremely agile vehicle that incorporates a side-by-side seat design providing SOF operators with a ruggedized highly reliable combat vehicle. This platform enables SOF to operate across a wide variety of topography throughout worldwide deployments. SOCOM acquires both two- and four-seat variants. These configurations provide for operational flexibility as operators perform in a multitude of tactical scenarios from reconnaissance to casualty evacuation to air field seizures. The Army 82nd Airborne Division soldiers have evaluated SOCOM’s LTATV for increased mobility during airfield seizure operations; the vehicle would provide a rifle company with an air-droppable maneuver and small arms platform as part of the Army Global Response Force. This SOCOM vehicle fills an important gap by eliminating the need for dismounted infantry to carry extreme loads crossing long distances. The Marine Corps leveraged the SOCOM contract to purchase 33 LTATVs for extended combat evaluations. The Army and Marine Corps continue to collaborate with SOCOM as they assess their combat needs for a portfolio of tactical vehicles. The LTATV is internally air transportable within the CH-47, CH-53 and CV-22 platforms. SOCOM has a fleet of 780 LTATVs, with requirements and funding to replace approximately 260 annually as part of its life cycle sustainment strategy. The command expects in the near future to replace mogas burning LTATVs with diesel power systems in the fall of 2016.

Ground Mobility – Medium The Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.0 (GMV 1.0) is a medium class High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) with SO-P modifications. Several variants have supported special operations operators reliably for more than 12 years in contingency and combat operations.

Currently, there are three variants that make up the enduring GMV 1.0 fleet: M1165A1 with B3 armor, M1165A1 Ultralight, and M1113. The M1165A1 with B3 armor is designed for maximum protection, while the M1165A1 Ultralight provides maximum range and mobility; these variants comprise the majority of the GMV 1.0 Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 29

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates fleet. The M1113 is exclusively used by U.S. Army Ranger Regiment for its maximum transportability and is MH-60 airlift capable. All models are designed to carry the latest C4ISR packages to support operations across the battlespace.

SOCOM is currently transforming battle worn GMVs through a detailed reset at Letterkenny Army Depot. Based on the current fight, these vehicles are reset to either ultra-light or uparmored variants to support a variety of SOF missions, especially desert mobility operations.

As the GMV 1.0 transitions out of production reset, GMV 1.1 will be replacing the GMV fleet as the future baseline. The GMV 1.1 vehicle is a nondevelopmental item, purpose-built, lightweight vehicle designed to meet complex mission sets.

The GMV 1.1 is a highly mobile platform with a payload capacity over 5,000 pounds and can be configured to multiple crew sizes (up to nine). It’s capable of being fully operational in under a minute after exiting the aircraft and can carry a variety of armaments. Its adaptable communications suite provides increased range and provides the SOF operator real-time access to critical battlefield information. Operationally tested, this vehicle offers safe and moderate operating speeds with superior levels of mobility and maneuverability. It is highly adaptable and has demonstrated an ability to negotiate severe, rugged and restrictive terrains while providing off-road, cross-country mobility in all types of weather conditions. PEO-SW approved a milestone C request for low rate initial production in June 2015. An initial operational test and evaluation was completed in November 2015. The program management office is heavily engaged in documentation preparations and logistics planning to support a fielding deployment and release decision in March 2016 and an anticipated first unit equipped to the 75th Ranger Regiment in April. At 72 inches wide, this tactical vehicle received air-worthiness certification for internal transport in the CH-47 and C-130 platforms. A recent foreign military sales case for Italian Special Forces was approved to deliver nine vehicles. The office is also working hard to ensure the logistics concept and provisioning can be rapidly transitioned to the broader DoD should they choose to adopt this vehicle.

Ground Mobility – Non-Standard Commercial Vehicle The Non-Standard Commercial Vehicle (NSCV) is a vehicle that is ubiquitous in many global settings that has been specially modified in terms of performance and occupant 30 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

SOF Warrior MRZR

protection levels. The use of NSCVs not only provides forces with the opportunity to conduct operations where there is no established U.S. logistical presence but also in tactical situations where “low profile” is preferably best.

These performance attributes allow SOF to conduct low profile operations in support of a multitude of SOF global missions that preclude the use of service or SOCOM-unique tactical ground vehicles. For a competitive follow-on contract process, SOCOM recently issued a request for information to industry. Based on information from industry responses, the Program Management Office and the Directorate for Procurement conducted an industry day followed by a request for proposal release for a seven-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity competitive contract award.

SOCOM is seeking the latest model vehicles typically found in central Asia, armored against ballistic threats, 4x4 wheel drive with heavy duty brakes and suspension to accommodate increased curb weight, full skid plates, running boards, diesel and gas engines, left hand drive and right hand drive.

Currently, source selection is underway, expected to complete during June. To date, PM-FSOV has fielded 395 NSCVs with funding to obtain full operational capability in May. The office will then continue life cycle replacements throughout the FYDP.

Ground Mobility – Heavy The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) is a SO-P modified MRAP managed by PM-FSOV. The program office has developed and implemented

an Inspect Repair Only as Necessary Reset (IROAN) project that will result in resetting battle worn M-ATVs back to operational standards in an efficient, cost-effective manner. PM-FSOV, while working closely with PEO-SOFSA and its prime contractor, recently completed the IROAN project where a total of 66 vehicles were successfully reset. For OCONUS vehicle reset, SOCOM has formed a strategic partnership with Tank and Automotive Command and is gearing up to reset 168 M-ATVs that will be stored and ready for worldwide deployment. This relationship will ensure all SOF M-ATVs receive the latest updates/upgrades and be managed in parallel with the U.S. Army MRAP fleet. Team MRAP is looking forward to continuing these partnerships to ensure SOF operators will have access to updated, fully mission capable, mine resistant vehicles ready for worldwide deployment at a moment’s notice.

Visual Augmentation Systems The Program Manager for Ammunition and Weapons (PM-AW) is responsible for the development, fielding and life cycle sustainment of visual augmentation systems (VAS).

This product area provides operators with the ability to conduct missions while operating at night, during periods of low visibility and in battlefield obscurants or bad weather.

PM-AW focuses on materiel solutions for head-mounted goggles, weapon-mounted night vision sights, day scopes, handheld imagers, ground vehicle-mounted vision www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates systems, laser range finders and targeting designators.

As part of the lethality technology insertion roadmap, the VAS development efforts include multispectral, out-of-band capability and converting analog to fused digital technology. The goal of these efforts is to add multiband flexibility for both viewing and pointing/targeting devices and improving the operator’s situational awareness of the battlespace. The PM continues to focus on reducing size, weight and power. In 2016, PM-AW will continue working on an out-ofband, rifle-mounted aiming/handoff solution for sniper rifle requirements.

Weapon Systems PM-AW is responsible for the development, fielding and life cycle sustainment of weapon systems. These SO-P weapons have high reliability and increased accuracy and effectiveness essential to support direct action and sniper missions. The lethality technology insertion roadmap focuses on future developments to improve signature reduction of flash and sound for sniper, carbine, assault rifle and machine gun weapons.

Other development efforts include improving MK17 combat assault rifle ergonomics and SO-P machine gun capabilities.

In 2015, PM-AW conducted developmental testing on an improved machine gun suppressor that led to advancements in suppressor materials. PM-AW also kicked off a new effort to replace current M4 upper receiver groups with a new fully suppressed upper receiver group that will provide better accuracy, durability, reliability and safety over the currently fielded systems.

PM-AW also conducted an improvement program on the MK20 Sniper Support Rifle that replaced the original trigger with a more reliable and enhanced sniper trigger. There are currently ongoing efforts to improve the ergonomics and safety of the MK17 and MK 20 systems. These efforts include upgrading the MK20 suppressor and retrofitting a nonreciprocating charging handle to the MK17 and MK20.

Ammunition/Demolition PM-AW also develops, fields and manages SO-P ammunition, demolition and breaching devices and leverages DoD ammunition efforts. Last year, PM-AW procured www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

approximately 24 million rounds of various types of munitions. Procurements included domestic and foreign small caliber ammo, shoulder fired Multirole Anti-armor Anti-personnel Weapon System, Lightweight Assault Weapon, cannon caliber ammo for the AC-130 aircraft, demolition items, pyrotechnics, flares and hand grenades.

PM-AW has development goals to provide SOF operators greater precision and accuracy at greater stand-off ranges against high value targets (personnel and material).

The munitions lethality technology insertion roadmap is focused on sensitive munitions improvements and small caliber light-weight polymer cased ammunition and on reducing lead and carcinogens in projectiles and propellants (which impact U.S. SOF operators’ health during training).

Soldier Protection, Survival, and Tactical Combat Casualty Care The Program Manager for SOF Survival, Support and Equipment Systems (PMSOF-SSES) is responsible for the research, development, testing, fielding, sustainment and product improvement efforts for SOF operator protection, individual equipment and tactical combat casualty care and medical requirements.

During FY15, PM-SOF-SSES fielded/issued 1,607 sets of body armor plates; 975 sets of soft armor inserts; 1,278 modular supplemental armor kits; 38 clandestine body armor systems; 576 MICH helmets; 3,888 OpsCore helmets; 2,754 VAS mounts; 1,488 special operations eyewear protection kits; 7,633 body armor vests; 2,573 load carriage systems; 2,075 back packs; 30,650 protective combat uniform components; 24,128 Level-9 combat unit components; 1,085 modular glove systems in various camouflage patterns; 1,058 MICH communications systems; 4,163 tactical combat casualty care (TCCC) operator kits; 226 TCCC medic kits; 12 casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) extraction kits; 12 CASEVAC mobility kits; 24 CASEVAC transport kits and five CASEVAC sustainment kits.

The SOF Personal Equipment Advanced Requirements (SPEAR) program provides operators with survival and individual protective equipment to conduct special operations. The program designs, develops, adapts, fields and sustains SOF operator equipment to increase their survivability,

mobility and effectiveness. The operator, as a platform, must be extremely adaptive and agile in reacting to the ever-changing battlefield environment and threats. SPEAR provides greater force protection to ensure survivability across a wide range of threat and climatic conditions. As part of the individual equipment and survival technology insertion roadmap, PM-SOF-SSES strives to decrease weight and volume to increase maneuverability and sustain a high operational tempo. Without increasing weight and volume, the PM looks to increase SOF survivability, lethality, mobility and hearing protection.

As part of the survival technology insertion roadmap, the SPEAR program also seeks to advance ballistic protection technology (e.g., body armor, helmets and eyewear) to provide equal or better ballistic protection at a reduced weight. The SPEAR program is interested in novel laser eye protection technologies that provide a higher visible light transmission. The team strives to improve environmental protection garments by evaluating advanced materials that improve performance while reducing bulk and weight found in current systems. Signature management and concealment are other areas of interest.

PM-SOF-SSES also manages the SOF Tactical Combat Casualty Care program. This program provides SOF with critical, field operable medical equipment. The tactical medical technology insertion roadmap focuses on advancing medical materials and equipment, including improving medical monitoring, water resistance, medical training aids, miniaturization, packaging and enhanced extended care capabilities. The casualty evacuation set provides advanced materiel capabilities required to rescue, recover, sustain and transport trauma casualties from point of wounding through all phases of casualty evacuation until transfer to a definitive care facility. The medic kit provides the SOF medic with an increased capability for providing advanced airway intervention, IV medications, hypothermia prevention, advanced monitoring, junctional hemorrhage control, intraosseous infusions and diagnostic capabilities. The operator kit enables the operator to administer self-aid or buddy-aid for controlling life-threatening external hemorrhage, maintaining airways, providing fluid resuscitation and administering medications for pain and infection prevention.

Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 31

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates

Program Executive Office for Special Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Exploitation The Program Executive Office for Special Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Exploitation (PEO-SRSE) is responsible for the acquisition, fielding and sustainment of intelligence systems for SOF that contribute directly to SOCOM priorities to deter, disrupt and defeat terrorist threats and sustain and modernize the force in persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

PEO-SRSE’s acquisition strategies continue to evolve in response to the commander’s lines of operation, with an emphasis on leveraging commercial technologies to maintain leading edge capabilities and minimize cycle time.

PEO-SRSE’s broadly scoped system acquisition responsibilities include technical collection, intelligence support and identity operations supported by a uniquely organic and focused R&D program. Responsiveness, with technical depth and program management excellence, is accomplished through product line expert matrix support of PEOSRSE program managers.

Tagging, Tracking and Locating Systems Tagging, Tracking and Locating systems and enabling technologies provide SOF with critical tools to enhance situational awareness for the planning and execution of SOF missions.

These capabilities allow SOF to find, fix, exploit and analyze targets, such as enemy personnel and mobility platforms, through the emplacement of sophisticated tagging and tracking devices that feed into an integrated command and control architecture. The fielded portfolio of tagging/tracking, close-target audio and video tracking, optical tracking and close-target reconnaissance systems is continuously adapted and updated to meet dynamic SOF operational requirements across all theaters of operation.

Biometrics and Forensics Systems Biometrics and forensics system equipment provide SOF with the capability to efficiently collect, examine and exploit data collected on sensitive sites and to perform timely laboratory analysis of evidence in the theater of operation.

Biometric tools are also used to gather and store 32 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

information on captured combatants and other persons of interest and to verify the identities of local nationals seeking employment or access to foreign and domestic installations. The collection of forensic evidence with the identity verification of personnel detained onsite produce actionable intelligence that expedites SOF decision-making processes on the ground. Exploitation analysis centers are an in-theater mobile forensic capability that provides advanced forensic analysis of evidence collected onsite.

Blue Force Tracking The Blue Force Tracking program provides a family of devices used to remotely track and monitor blue forces and enhance command and control, threat warning, force protection and situational awareness.

Sensor Systems The Tactical Video System/Reconnaissance Surveillance Target Acquisition (TVS/RSTA) program provides systems in support of ground ISR that equip SOF with enhanced stand-off capabilities for both manned and unmanned special reconnaissance missions. Capabilities within the portfolio range from man-in-theloop still/video cameras and data transmission devices to fully automated, programmable unattended and remote ground sensors and observation posts emplaced by SOF operators that support information and intelligence-gathering operations. The Austere Location Force Protection Kit is a suite of integrated capabilities that provide a mobile, scalable and modular solution in support of small unit operations and static facility protection, increasing situational awareness of surrounding areas and providing early indications and warning. Operations planning and decision-making capabilities are further enhanced with real-time and near realtime capture and transfer of imagery and data and state-of-the-art information display and processing to support rapid, seamless transition from “find” to “fix” within a mission cycle.

Joint Threat Warning System The Joint Threat Warning System (JTWS) system of systems (SoS) is principally a signals intelligence (SIGINT) system; however, it can

be used under electronic warfare and/or cyber authorities if required. JTWS enables the collection, processing and exploiting of threat signals of interest to provide timely, relevant and responsive intelligence, cross-cueing and threat avoidance information directly to SOF commanders.

The JTWS SoS is assembled in four variants (level 1): Ground SIGINT Kit (GSK) variant, Maritime variant, Air variant (AVS) and Unmanned Air System (UAS) variant. Each kit is further subdivided into a functional layer (level 2): Communications Intelligence, Electronic Intelligence, and Precision Geo-location (PGL) Kits and an implementation layer (level 3) designed around the SCO mission environment and SOF platform specific requirements. The contracting strategy uses a mixture of indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity for commercial off-the-shelf procurement contracts and new development only when necessary.

JTWS uses an evolutionary acquisition strategy with spiral development based on the latest improvements in technology while leveraging the capacity of commercial and government partners to address the challenges of an evolving technological landscape. The program provides systems that are integrated using common technologies and interfaces allowing operators to task, organize and scale equipment based on anticipated environments and areas of operations. Variants are modular and lightweight with minimal power requirements, enabled by unique antenna designs, supporting highly mobile operations across a variety of specialized platforms. Due to the inherent flexibility of these systems, JTWS is able to rapidly develop and deliver new software and hardware capabilities in support of SOF mission needs.

Distributed Common Ground/Surface SystemSpecial Operations Forces Distributed Common Ground/Surface System-SOF (DCGS-SOF) provides a globally responsive, broad set of end-to-end fixed site command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) and mobile/tactical tasking, processing, exploitation and dissemination (TPED) capabilities for SOF-collected ISR data. DCGS-SOF is SoS integrated across the www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates SOF information environment and with DoD DCGS. It is focused on developing solutions that will satisfy both current and future special operations-peculiar capability gaps and provide essential organic net-centric, collaborative and distributed ISR TPED capabilities for SOF. DCGSSOF will enable SOF to take full advantage of all available strategic, theater and tactical ISR data and exploitation support systems. It is being developed and implemented as part of the DoD DCGS family of systems and evolving joint network-centric enterprise. DoD DCGS is the processing and exploitation component of the ISR enterprise. Key to this capability is the mandated DCGS integration backbone, which provides a common standard technical infrastructure to enable required joint integration and interoperability across the DoD. DCGS-SOF consists of four deployed tactical and garrison components. The enterprise provides data and services while leveraging Inter-Agency data and connectivity. FMV-PED provides garrison and deployable full motion imagery processing, exploitation and dissemination. Silent Dagger provides garrison and deployed SIGINT capability. All-Source Information Fusion will provide advanced analytical software across the enterprise and deployable infrastructures.

Integrated Survey Program The Integrated Survey Program (ISP) supports Joint Chiefs of Staff contingency planning by collecting and producing detailed tactical planning data to support military operations to counter threats against U.S. citizens, interests and property located both domestically and overseas. ISP products are specifically tailored packages that provide operational information as well as intelligence data for use by the DoD and the Department of State to support operational planners for counter-terrorism operations, evacuations and other rescue missions. The program supports short-notice, quick turnaround of critical operational planning data during ongoing crises and contingency operations. ISP leverages an end-to-end geospatial information system for collection, processing

and dissemination of survey products and data.

Mobile handheld equipment consists of advanced GPS cameras, indoor mapping systems and measuring devices for collection of highly accurate 3D BIM, CAD and GIS data.

Special Operations Forces Planning, Rehearsal and Execution Preparation Special Operations Forces Planning, Rehearsal and Execution Preparation (SOFPREP) serves as the intelligence focal point for production of enhanced geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) data (e.g., maps, imagery and terrain data) and 3D scene visualization databases in support of SOF operators worldwide. The SOFPREP mission is to help SOF units set the course with superior knowledge of the battlespace they will be operating in before they arrive. SOFPREP generates SOF specific high resolution foundation data and manages the authoritative database of SOF common GEOINT data. SOFPREP generates visual, sensor and semi-automated forces databases for SOF training and rehearsal, command and control and mission execution systems. The program uses state-of-the-art software tools and high performance cluster computing to extract, exploit and correlate elevation, manmade and natural cultural features, maps, imagery and other intelligence source data required for database production. Systems validate the geospatial accuracy and certify the use of data in the completed products. Products are also archived for use in contingency planning, accident investigations, humanitarian assistance and response to natural disasters.

Focused Research, Development, Test and Evaluation The Rapid Capability Insertion (RCI) office oversees various research, development, test and evaluation efforts that directly align to programs of record within PEO-SRSE’s portfolio.

RCI provides enabling capabilities through three focus areas: 1) Tactical Exploitation of National

Capabilities (TENCAP), 2) ISR Payload and 3) Clandestine Tagging, Tracking and Locating (CTTL). The key to PEO-SRSE’s success in this area is continuous interaction with the user and acquisition communities of interest, including their involvement in project selection and transition planning.

The TENCAP program is an intelligence systems R&D rapid prototyping effort focused on national and commercial space systems. TENCAP seeks to improve the combat effectiveness of SOF operators by leveraging service and national agency development efforts relating to space-based intelligence and communications technologies and systems.

The ISR Payload program identifies, integrates and operationalizes new capabilities by reducing the size, weight, power and cost of ISR sensors fielded on larger non-SOF and SOF ISR platforms to make them useable by smaller SOF ISR platforms. ISR Payload develops and delivers sensors to satisfy SOF operator-defined capability gaps.

The CTTL program exploits emerging technologies to locate and track targets or items of interest. CTTL is a science and technology development and prototyping program that is unique in its focus on SOF operatordefined capability gaps and selection of highly promising technology solutions.

TENCAP, ISR Payload, and CTTL resource the foundation of future capabilities that will transition into PEO-SRSE managed programs of record as evolutionary technology insertions. Some recent examples of capabilities developed in the RCI portfolio include SOFfocused CubeSats, advanced electronic miniaturization/packaging, long-duration/range sensors and improved targeting capability for small unmanned aircraft systems.

PEO-SRSE’s special communications enterprise provides SOF users with continuously improving special communications capabilities and services with global, ondemand connectivity between elements (field-tofield, field-to-base and base-to-field) within an enterprise architecture.

Joint Acquisition Task ForceTactical Assault Light Operator Suit SOF AT&L’s Joint Acquisition Task ForceTactical Assault Light Operator Suit (JATF-TALOS) www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

was established in November 2013 and chartered to explore and catalyze a revolutionary

integration of advanced technologies to provide comprehensive ballistic protection, peerless Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 33

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates tactical capabilities and situational awareness advantages for the SOF operator of the future.

JATF-TALOS continues driving toward the embodiment of that mission—a next generation, technologically advanced combat operator suit—while pioneering innovative acquisition processes.

The current TALOS roadmap consists of iterative exoskeleton prototypes with increased levels of subsystem integration leading to a first article prototype delivery by August 2018.

To maintain that timeline, the priorities for JATF-TALOS are developing a combat suit and enabling technologies, accelerating technology development and transitions, pioneering innovative processes and maintaining consistent collaboration with users and the extended TALOS network.

Priority 1: Developing a Combat Suit and Enabling Technologies The development of the TALOS 2018 deliverable is the primary mission of the JATF, which continued to make progress with exoskeleton prototypes, an integrated armor mosaic design, novel antenna prototypes and thermal management baselayer integration.

JATF-TALOS developed the first-ever tactical powered exoskeleton prototypes to offset the load of additional body armor and push the boundaries of human performance augmentation. These prototypes pursued enhanced dynamic motion capabilities for SOF operators with a lightweight mobile system, which was used to baseline achievable performance augmentation and inform future spiral development of the integrated combat suit.

In 2015, the JATF conducted an initial user assessment on the three exoskeleton prototypes at the U.S. Marshal Service Special Operations Group in Camp Beauregard, La. TALOS engineers, operators and an extended technical team assessed the systems and provided critical qualitative and quantitative feedback on each prototype.

The JATF team gathered operator physiological and motion data, gauging the metabolic cost of the exoskeletons to the operator and relaying the state of development of the systems. Using lessons learned from each of these efforts, the JATF is leading the integration effort by taking the strengths of multiple vendors and subject matter experts.

A TALOS exoskeleton is necessary to support the weight of the armor added to the 34 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

Joint Terminal Attack Controllers

suit for maximized operator survivability. This increased armor volume creates limitations to operator mobility and requires a design that strikes a balance between operator protection and mobility. Since the summer of 2015, significant progress has been made in the design of the body armor mosaic. Through the support of the extended Integrated Survivability Design Network, the TALOS survivability team conducted the integration-focused Armor Mosaic Prototyping Series at SOFWERX in Tampa, Fla., as well as offsite fabrication and testing laboratories. This series focused on developing weight and volume representative armor shapes and attaching them to a passive exoskeleton to further explore the threat protection versus mobility trade space.

By characterizing this trade-off area, the Armored Passive Exoskeleton has informed MK V exoskeleton requirements, including initial armor design, regional payloads and armor facilitation and attachment points. Equally important was the further reinforcement of the extended TALOS Survivability Design Network and the cyclical, cross-collaborative design process that was used to develop the TALOS armor mosaic—a process that will be replicated in future integration efforts with other TALOS subsystems.

The first of those integration efforts will begin in spring of 2016, with the Baselayer Integration Prototyping Series. This event will focus on integrating an initial baselayer concept with the Armored Passive Exoskeleton to further explore TALOS operator thermal management, physiological status monitoring and junctional fragmentation protection. The resultant,

integrated prototype will provide an improved mechanism to drive MK V system requirements based on quantitative and qualitative operator assessment data.

An element of the integrated baselayer, the cooling unit, is also progressing as one of the JATF’s first spin-off technologies, which feeds into the second TALOS priority—technology transitions.

Priority 2: Accelerating Technology Development and Transitions The first two years of the effort shed light on promising technology transitions for the SOF enterprise. The JATF has already passed off a novel armor material solution to PEO-SOF Warrior for use on non-standard commercial vehicles, which is currently in a testing phase.

Coming out of the 2015 Rapid Prototyping Event, the JATF team developed the Assaulter Target Acquisition System, a small arms-fire control system that provides the operator with the ability to rapidly engage targets at night with increased surgical lethality. This is being further refined and optimized as a promising technology transition. Another is the cooling system for the TALOS baselayer, which uses active water cooling in combination with next generation passive cooling textiles to help maintain the core body temperature of the wearer.

The TALOS communications team has three potential technologies for transition. They are the Future Interoperable Radio Enclosure, which will provide the operator with current www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates and future battle field interoperability; the Integrated Communication Element, which brings four bands together into a single form factor antenna and the Small Form Factor SATCOM antenna, which leverages an advanced dipole design that is tuned for that specific band.

Additionally, some of the SOF components are in the process of testing passive exoskeleton prototypes.

JATF-TALOS continuous to make the transition and development of these and other advanced technologies a key priority to push these capabilities to forces today and give them unparalleled advantages on the battlefield.

Priority 3: Pioneering Innovative Processes The TALOS business model and acquisition approach is unique—even within the DoD. TALOS aims to have flexible acquisition strategies and agile processes, allowing the team to discover, innovate and implement rapidly. Streamlining the overall effort allows for driving down costs while increasing the JATF’s ability to meet aggressive timelines. With this new approach comes risk, but also the prospect for great rewards in technology breakthroughs. Specific processes that the JATF has used include prize challenges and rapid prototyping events and the use of a partnership intermediary agreement.

Government organizations are increasingly using prize challenges to reach a broad spectrum of non-traditional solution providers and accelerate innovative problem solving.

Prize challenges are distinct from traditional contracted efforts in many ways, including the concept of “pay-for-performance,” where much of the investment risk is transferred to the candidate solvers.

An Armor Design challenge, which was co-sponsored by the Combatting Terrorism Technology Support Office, launched in April 2015. Unfortunately, there was limited success as the majority of submissions were focused on material solutions. The next TALOS challenge is focused on Real-Time Parallax Correction, seeking to reduce the latency in pursuit of full digital night vision capabilities.

JATF-TALOS is also involved in a Wearable Sensors Challenge that is cosponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and seeks to demonstrate the utility of integrated wearable sensors for first responders and operators.

Rapid prototyping events were a trademark of TALOS’s first two years. They focused on solving very complex design and engineering problems through collaboration with industry, academia and government to develop future combat suit concepts and technology feasibility assessments. Through the use of various forms of modeling, which can include foam cutting, clay, 3D printing, fiber glassing and computer-based modeling, the team was able to rapidly iterate on fundamental TALOS design ideas.

TALOS has conducted two extended duration rapid prototyping events, one in the summer of 2014 and one in June 2015, but is moving toward a more steady state of rapid prototyping capability through collaboration within SOFWERX. The SOFWERX facility is a capability provided for use by SOCOM through a Partnership Intermediary Agreement with the Doolittle Institute. SOFWERX provides an environment that fosters innovation and collaboration with space to freely explore problems and potential solutions, providing state-of-the-art data, communications and visualization capability.

The unique meeting and collaboration areas are ideal for small teams, meetings and forums and provide areas for participants to protect property and information. The facility is intended to create an innovative environment for bringing together the best minds to collaborate and find solutions to tough problems, making TALOS an ideal problem set to work out of SOFWERX. In addition to providing a venue for TALOS’s move toward steady-state prototyping, SOFWERX has enabled TALOS presentations to many senior leaders within the DoD, including Deputy Secretary of Defense, Robert O. Work and then SOCOM commander, General Joseph Votel. In his last TALOS update, Votel said, “This is very impressive. It’s very satisfying to see how far [TALOS] has come in the past several months.”

Priority 4: Maintaining Persistent Collaboration

JATF-TALOS continues to maintain an extended network that includes regular end-user engagement and relationships with relevant partners in academia, industry and government. The JATF leverages the expertise of leading minds throughout the country as no one company, university or individual has the answer to TALOS. The JATF is currently teamed with corporations, government agencies, universities and national laboratories.

The use of unconventional development methods has resulted in numerous non-traditional partnerships, ranging from costume designers in Hollywood to a company that designs protective suits through biomimicry (studying insects and other creatures with hard shells).

The TALOS extended network has become essential to the team’s cyclical design process.

The JATF reaches out to partners and SOF components during the design process for modeling tools. The prototyping phase requires the use of fabricators and armor materials scientists from industry, and the assessment phase has been supported by organizations like NHRC. The analysis phase uses the expertise of the extended network, but is ultimately conducted by the JATF and the suit’s end-user community.

Utilizing partners decreases the development costs and timelines to bring in new technologies. This unique level of collaboration is essential to accelerating technology development to support an August 2018 prototype deliverable.

Directorate of Science and Technology Anthony J. Davis leads the SOF AT&L Directorate of Science and Technology (SOF AT&L-ST).

Its vision is to “discover, enable and transition www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

technologies to provide an asymmetric advantage for special operations forces.” Davis’s decision to target “asymmetric advantage” focuses

the directorate’s efforts more on the outcome rather than on specific technologies or capabilities. SOF AT&L-ST continues to pursue concepts Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 35

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates and technologies that energize approaches to deliver new or improved capabilities to SOF through coordination with SOCOM program executive offices (PEOs), component commands, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), theater special operations commands (TSOCs), the SOF user community, and R&D collaboration with other government agencies.

S&T—Supporting the SOF Operator SOF AT&L-ST has aligned itself to provide better linkage between technology discovery, full spectrum science and technology (S&T) support and SOF material acquisition efforts.

SOF AT&L-ST’s strategy supports its major lines of operation: discover, enable and transition technologies. SOF AT&L-ST’s primary emphasis areas across these lines of operation are to involve the warfighter and increase speed while managing inherent risk.

Discover—broken down into technology scouting, technology insertion roadmap (TIR) development and red teaming efforts. S&T is now working more closely with SOCOM PEOs to identify technology risk and red teams to inform threat-related gaps. In addition, SOF AT&L-ST Technology Development Working Group (TDWG) leads are tasked to perform technology scouting in support of their respective technology focus areas.

Enable—enable recognizes the majority of investment in SOCOM technology gaps comes from industry, academia and other government organizations. To increase SOF AT&L-ST’s focus on leveraging this investment, items are broken down into internal projects, external projects and studies. These are broad categories, but intended to capture S&T direct investment, influence of indirect investment on SOF AT&LST’s behalf and conceptual work with industry, government laboratories and others to further understand technologies or their application (studies).

Transition—added as a focus area for S&T to recognize SOF AT&L-ST’s desire to ensure limited resources support command validated requirements. SOCOM PEOs have approximately 78 percent of the command’s research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) funds ($443 million of Budget Activity 7) and more than $1.7 billion annually of procurement funding—SOCOM’s primary capability to purchase and deliver capability to the SOF warfighter.

In recognition of this, SOF AT&L-ST has one dedicated S&T representative per PEO who is 36 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

the focal point for communication and understanding of each office’s TIRs, technology gaps and potential transition points. SOF AT&L-ST is working closely with the SOF user community, PEOs, components and TSOCs to provide a more rapid, successful transition of technologies into acquisition programs of record.

SOF AT&L-ST uses TDWGs to better address SOF current and emerging needs.

TDWGs have been formed for the following S&T focus areas: biomedical/human performance/ biometrics; classified; C4 and cyber; fires and scalable effects weapons; mobility; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and optics; protection and power and energy. TDWGs are composed of representatives from SOCOM component commands, TSOCs, PEOs, other headquarters directorates and other invited subject matter experts. TDWGs meet at least monthly to discuss, evaluate, plan and monitor technologies. These TDWGs are the primary mechanism to: (1) understand technology gaps, (2) document and prioritize gaps and (3) evaluate industry broad agency announcement (BAA) proposals and recommend final candidates for investment.

SOF AT&L-ST has increased its focus on SOCOM PEO TIRs gaps. TDWGs facilitate transition paths between S&T and acquisition programs of record. The SOCOM Acquisition Executive directed each of the PEOs to develop TIRs, roadmaps that decompose their capability (platform) roadmaps into individual technologies, outline when they are needed, and identify areas for potential investment of RDT&E to burn down the risk in a particular technology. Each of the TDWGs has been tasked with analyzing these roadmaps and developing specific plans for guiding S&T investment in their portfolio technology area to meet the roadmap gaps. In addition, SOF AT&L-ST has added a portal page that identifies the planned transition strategy (including receiving PEO/PM name, funding and schedule) for each S&T project.

SOF AT&L-ST has also renewed its focus on threat-related gaps. This effort is focused on a red team type understanding of the technology focus and investment of current and future adversaries to target SOF technology development for areas where they may be reducing our asymmetric advantage.

S&T Broad Agency Announcement Appendices SOCOM component commands, JSOC, and TSOCs provide a list of their prioritized S&T

gaps that the TDWGs combine with PEO technology insertion roadmap gaps.

SOF AT&L uses a consolidated and persistent five-year SOCOM S&T BAA to publish S&T appendices that communicate specific technology areas of interest for requesting white papers, typically four to five times each year. Each TDWG conducts S&T capability gap socialization and prioritization, develops language for use in SOF AT&L-ST BAA appendices and provides recommendations for prioritization and vetting of proposed S&T initiatives. SOF AT&L-ST BAA appendices are released by SOF AT&L’s Directorate of Procurement to Federal Business Opportunities (www.fbo.gov). White papers submitted against the SOF AT&L-ST BAA appendices are reviewed and prioritized by the TDWGs according to SOF capability gap applicability, unique, innovative or revolutionary approach, ability to achieve technical maturity and relevance and affordability. Full proposals are then requested and prioritized for potential funding.

SOF AT&L-ST reviews TDWG prioritized projects to produce a composite prioritized project list that can be funded with available Major Force Program-11 (MFP-11) RDT&E resources or, if below the MFP-11 funded “cut-line,” provided to components and other services and agencies looking for leverage opportunities.

SOF AT&L-ST continues to strengthen coordination and collaboration with external organizations. SOF AT&L-ST aligns SOF priority needs with technology enablers and developers, focuses ongoing efforts across the S&T enterprise and identifies additional innovation required to address these needs. Many organizations’ R&D activities often overlap SOF interests; through increased collaboration, SOF AT&L-ST has vastly improved coordination among various research organizations to www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates more efficiently deliver technology to overcome SOCOM’s technology challenges.

Biomedical Research, Development, Test and Evaluation/Broad Agency Announcement SOF AT&L-ST also focuses robust efforts in the biomedical R&D arena to discover new life-saving technologies that can benefit our SOF operators at the point of injury, often in remote, denied areas. SOF AT&L-ST provides program management and funding for biomedical R&D initiatives. SOF AT&L-ST closely coordinates with SOCOM’s command and component surgeons for SOF biomedical needs and project selection to close these needs through SOCOM’s Biomedical RDT&E Advisory Group and Board of Command Surgeons (BOCS). SOF AT&LST, in coordination with the SOCOM Command Surgeon’s office, develops and releases an annual Biomedical R&D BAA, typically in February, which allows the BOCS to select and prioritize special operations-peculiar biomedical R&D initiatives for funding and execution.

Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer SOF AT&L-ST manages SOCOM’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs that support the full spectrum of the directorate’s high priority commodity areas. The SBIR/ STTR programs stimulate technology innovation in small businesses, awarding contracts to discover, develop and rapidly insert new capabilities to solve SOF needs. The SOCOM SBIR/ STTR program office awarded eight Phase II contracts in FY15 and two in FY16, with at least 12 more anticipated in FY16. In addition, the SBIR program office anticipates approximately 15 SBIR Phase I awards as a result of the SOCOM topics published in the now closed DoD FY16.1 solicitation. The next SOCOM call for topics for inclusion in the DoD FY17.1 SBIR/STTR solicitation is scheduled for June 2016.

Technical Experimentation and Demonstrations SOF AT&L-ST conducts three to four Technical Experimentation (TE) events throughout the year. TE offers multiple venues to rapidly www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

assess, develop, counter and exploit emerging capabilities to address immediate SOF needs.

Participants include private industry, SOF operators, numerous government research and development agencies and academia. A typical TE event features approximately 65 separate experiments.

Each of the TE events is based on a theme nominated by SOCOM components, JSOC, TSOCs, PEOs and the directorate’s Science and Technology Council. Continental U.S. locations for the TE events are chosen based on the ability of the venue to offer the ranges, facilities and conditions conducive to evaluating the technologies in a relevant environment. The payoff for participating technology developers is the ability to interact with SOF operators in the field, identify solutions to high-priority SOF needs and assess the maturity and utility of potential military application of a wide variety of innovative technologies.

For more information on upcoming TE events and links to TE social media sites visit the SOCOM TE public webpage: http://www.socom. mil/sordac/pages/expwithus.aspx.

Demonstrations showcase SOF-related technologies, assess military utility and help develop complementary concepts of operations. Demonstrations often leverage resources from different sponsors and serve to accelerate technology insertions into acquisition programs. SOF AT&L-ST also supports the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense’s Emerging Capability and Prototyping

program and conducts independent advanced technology demonstrations.

Achieving the S&T Vision For SOCOM, the future operating environment will be characterized by an increasingly complex set of challenges in every part of the world. Beyond the employment of improved technology, adversaries will continue to blend traditional and irregular techniques, capabilities and resources to execute hybrid approaches in the “gray zone,” the space between peaceful competition and war. The operational challenge for SOF will be to deter gray zone emerging security challenges rather than responding to them once a crisis erupts.

Ultimately, preparing for the future is about ensuring the command matches the right people and capabilities with the very best ideas to address SOCOM’s most pressing technical challenges. Improving SOCOM’s ability to perform in the future requires SOF AT&L-ST to find innovative ways to invest in programs that enhance existing capabilities and create new advantages for SOF operators. SOF AT&L-ST serves as a key enabler of the SOF AT&L team to fulfill future SOF operator needs, and the directorate is well positioned to support the command’s strategic vision by enabling development efforts with technologies that provide an asymmetric advantage for SOF. Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 37

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates

Directorate of Acquisition Comptroller David M. Nuchols leads the Directorate of Acquisition Comptroller (SOF AT&L-AC), a flexible, surge-capable organization dedicated to supporting the procurement, delivery and sustainment of special operations-peculiar equipment from cradle to grave. The directorate processes all funding actions, prepares all acquisition budget submissions, analyzes the organization’s financial health and reports trends and recommends fundingrelated courses of action to the acquisition executive, program executive officers and directors. SOF AT&L-AC also oversees the development, integration and presentation of briefings to congressional staffers and reviews all congressional requests for information to ensure financial aspects and programmatic impacts are considered.

In FY15, the directorate managed $7.8 billion, processed more than 6,100 financial documents in support of the day-to-day mission, supported the development, submission and defense of SOCOM’s FY16 president’s budget request and guided the SOF AT&L development and submission for the program objective memorandum for FY17–21. The

Cost of Doing Business (CODB) module of the Acquisition Management System 3.0 is undergoing a major re-write to automate the manual collection of CODB data. Program executive officers and directors will be able to input their personnel data and other costs. The system will automatically track costs versus total obligation authority (TOA) to calculate the programs’ CODB. The directorate is also updating the Other People’s Money module to track funds coming into the center for execution from outside sources. This module will interface with the CODB module to calculate all TOA executed and will track obligations against incoming funds. These tools assist in accomplishing the mission and seek to improve SOF AT&L’s financial processes, controls and information as the team works to achieve compliance with the requirements of financial improvement and audit readiness objectives. Other tools in use include a congressional request for information tool, a financial execution module, an automated funds distribution and tracking system and an automated calculation and reporting of travel and services

caps. Portal-based financial management tools provide transparency to all stakeholders through visibility into financial management processes, which enable SOF AT&L to accomplish its mission of providing special operations-peculiar equipment and materials to the SOF operator.

SOF AT&L is diligently working to become audit-ready in Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) as mandated by Congress by identifying areas for improvement and creating plans to bring those areas in line with generally accepted accounting principles. SOF AT&L-AC has reviewed financial processes to ensure there is appropriate segregation of duties and proper accountability. The accounting system was access appraised to ensure it is properly controlled, and the center conducted mock audits and had an examination by an independent audit firm to test the ability to respond to audit requests. SOF AT&L-AC has assembled working groups to work out solutions to significant challenges in the area of asset accountability and is confident these efforts will produce positive results.

J4/Directorate of Logistics Army Colonel Steven L. Allen leads the J4/Directorate of Logistics in planning, coordinating, synchronizing and integrating operational and strategic logistics and sustainment strategy in coordination with and in support of the unified commands, services, components, theater special operations commands (TSOCs), joint staff and other government agencies.

The key J4 logistics functions routinely performed for SOF include: Develop, coordinate and implement special operations-peculiar (SO-P) logistics plans, policy and strategy •• Coordinate planning and execution of logistics support to SOF exercises and operations •• Maximize use of service-provided logistics capability to enable SOF superiority •• Provide comprehensive materiel management of SO-peculiar equipment •• Provide joint property book asset accountability, asset visibility, availability and acquisition life cycle systems management •• Rapidly deploy materiel/equipment, 38 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

including bare base construction •• Support rapid acquisition of SO-P equipment/materiel and approve sustainment plan/cataloging strategy in the fielding and deployment releases •• Monitor equipment readiness/preparedness in the defense readiness reporting system •• Provide multinational planning and coordination for equipment/logistics support with allies and partner nations through the acquisition cross-servicing agreements program •• Maximize value of Major Force Program-11 (MFP-11) by offering logistics solutions from the SOCOM enterprise perspective (all SOF assets available) •• Explore opportunities to transition SO-P equipment to service-common.

Sustainment Division Materiel Branch The J4, in conjunction with PEO-SOFSA and other activities, is in the process of developing a SOF inventory control point (ICP) construct

to perform wholesale management of SO-P materiel with a source of supply of H9D. This ICP construct allow SOF item managers to right-size their inventory to support customer requirements while minimizing their investment.

The systems integration section, in conjunction with the cataloging section, implemented the catalog request tool with the Defense Logistics Agency Logistics Information Services for the establishment and maintenance of national stock numbers. The cataloging request tool reduced the cataloging turnaround time from 96 hours to 24 hours.

The authorizations section, in conjunction with the U.S. Army Force Management Support Activity, implemented processes for the establishment and maintenance of supplemental unit identification codes and equipment-only tables of distribution allowances for U.S. Army Special Operations Command. The implementation allows for SOCOM acquired equipment to be visible within standard U.S. Army systems and increases asset visibility for the warfighter. www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates The munitions section provided preProgram Objective Memorandum (POM) 17 and post-POM 17 Munitions Sufficiency Assessment reports to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Under Secretary of Defense Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, and the Under Secretary of Defense Special Operations Low Intensity Conflict. The assessment reports identified out-year munitions shortfalls and mitigation plans.

The J4 Retrograde Working Group, SOF Equipment Recovery Team and Joint Property Management Cell (JPMC), with assistance from key enablers at Army Materiel Command, Army Sustainment Command and CENTCOM Materiel Recovery Element, facilitated the turn-in of over $1.3 billion of excess SOCOM equipment. Over 60 percent of this was turned into Defense Logistics Agency-Disposition Services in Afghanistan for disposal. Additionally, the JPMC held the first property management and maintenance workshop which assembled all TSOC and component representatives to discuss enterprise issues associated with the Management of Authorizations, Property and Maintenance. The JPMC also implemented tools designed to establish asset visibility for over $1.3 billion of SO-P materiel.

The headquarters support section continued with establishing a baseline inventory for SOCOM. This baseline also included the implementation of an automated information technology tool to facilitate materiel identification and establish accountability for $170 million of HQ SOCOM property. The headquarters support section is in the process of migrating the oversight and management of headquarters materiel from J4 to the HQ SOCOM commandant.

The program support section completed a comprehensive review of the Joint Operational Stocks (JOS) portfolio with SOF operators. The results of the comprehensive review led to the establishment of requirements via the SOF Capabilities Integrations Development System process. Consequently, the JOS program manager replaced legacy equipment with current technology, introduced new capabilities, eliminated technology that is no longer required and set the depth of the inventory based on documented demands. Within the next calendar year, the same process will be implemented on the environmental preparation sets.

SOF Joint Sustainment Enterprise In an era of zero personnel growth and constrained budgets, SOF AT&L must enable better enterprise visibility of sustainment functions and the ability to make informed decisions www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

across the sustainment enterprise. The center must strive to become more effective and/ or efficient without impacting responsiveness to the warfighter; the center must also meet financial improvement and audit readiness goals established by the Secretary of Defense and required by Congress to become fully audit ready by September 30, 2017.

The SOF Joint Sustainment Enterprise (SJSE) is a multiyear initiative consisting of numerous mutually supporting projects. The SJSE integrated planning team will provide SOCOM and SOF AT&L with an improved, information enabled, transparent, enterprise view of SOF logistics without impacting readiness to achieve two main goals/business opportunities: Establish and maintain comprehensive enterprise logistics stewardship of SOF assets to enable better decision making and improve SOF logistics effectiveness Improve SOF logistics efficiency and reduce total cost of ownership without negatively impacting the warfighter in an uncertain and evolving fiscal future.

Acquisition and Sustainment Branch The Acquisition and Sustainment Branch (J4-SA) is responsible for providing SOF AT&L with subject matter expertise on life cycle logistics. J4-SA teams acquisition logisticians with program executive offices to provide required support through direct interface with program management offices, other SOCOM organizations, components and TSOCs to field, support, sustain and modernize SOF equipment worldwide. Logisticians diligently support existing acquisition programs while also providing rapid response to emergent warfighter requirements as identified through combat mission needs statements and urgent deployment actions.

J4-SA assists in the preparation and staffing of several important documents relevant to acquisition activities, including life cycle sustainment plans, material fielding plans and fielding and deployment releases.

Further, logisticians ensure the product support elements are adequately addressed during system development and supportability and sustainability are integrated throughout the acquisition life cycle. They collect and submit required logistics information to catalog SO-P equipment and enable initial and end item accountability.

Additionally, acquisition logisticians perform independent logistics assessments for SO-P equipment and systems procured with MFP-11

funds to determine viability of support strategies necessary to meet operational requirements. Lastly, J4-SA provides subject matter experts in direct support of SOCOM’s flying hour program office to track and report U.S. Army Special Operations Command and Air Force Special Operations Command aircraft inventories and flying hour rates.

Operations, Plans, Strategy and Equipment Readiness Division The J4 Operations, Plans, Strategy and Equipment Readiness division (J4-O) serves as the nexus for internal and external logistics planning, coordination and execution of the J4/Directorate of Logistics’ logistics sustainment efforts. The primary focus is on operations planning, strategy, doctrine development and equipment readiness assessments by leveraging the capabilities of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the joint staff, global combatant commands, services, components, TSOCs, SOCOM directorates and other government agencies.

The division’s mission is to synchronize and coordinate worldwide logistics support for approximately 66,000 SOF personnel executing worldwide contingency operations.

J4-O assigns matrixed logistics officers to the J33 regionally-focused global support group and J3-AFG within the SOCOM J3 Directorate of Operations; J5/Directorate of Strategy, Plans and Policy; Global Mission Support Center and the J3-International, as required. These embedded logistics officers maintain situational awareness of theaterspecific requirements and, when required, deploy to assist TSOC and Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan missions. They actively coordinate logistical solution sets, including leveraging the combat mission needs statement, 1208 program and other similar processes.

Across the board, J4-O has supported classified combat operations in multiple theaters. A key effort during the year was implementation of the Secretary of Defense’s “Forces For Memorandum” where SOCOM assumed new combatant command responsibilities, including equipment readiness reporting of the TSOCs. J4-O has been a key contributor to development of the draft campaign plan for global special operations, ultimately to enable persistent presence of SOF in support of global geographic combatant commanders’ requirements. J4-O’s Afghanistan SOF Equipment Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 39

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates Retrograde Team (SERT) provided disposition instructions and a successful retrograde strategy of more than $1 billion of SO-P equipment in Afghanistan through various options with the appropriate SOF AT&L PEO/PM disposition instructions to the SERT teams while maintaining total asset visibility and joint property accountability.

Other J4-O initiatives included support to the 1208

program, acquisition cross-servicing agreements with partner nations, Africa Command basing strategies, forward-positioned activity sets for SOF and improvements in operational contracting support to SOF. J4 also coordinated with the Army Corps of Engineers to provide an engineer liaison officer team to assist the command in evaluation of strategic engineering issues and to help create

an operational engineering cell within the SOCOM Command Engineer. Finally, J4-O worked with PEO-SOFSA to identify operational requirements for the Mobile Technology Repair Complex to provide rapid repair of equipment/materiel from forward locations on the battlefield and to transition the complex to an approved POM-funded program of record.

Directorate of Procurement Air Force Colonel Christopher T. Daniels leads the Directorate of Procurement (SOF AT&L-K). Its mission is to rapidly deploy contracting expertise resulting in superior technologies, equipment and services for SOF. To meet this challenging mission, SOF AT&L-K’s postures itself to be DoD’s “gold standard” and the trusted contracting enterprise for providing agile and innovative mission support to SOF. The directorate directly supports SOCOM, its components, and the theater special operations commands. SOF AT&L-K awards command-wide, large-dollar special operations equipment and performance-based service contracts. It fulfills its mission through 22 contracting offices located throughout the continental U.S.; each office is geographically situated to provide support to a particular SOCOM program executive office, directorate or service SOF component or unit. Additionally, SOF AT&L-K manages contingency contracting operations in support of overseas contingency operations.

In 2015, SOF AT&L-K awarded a number of crucial contracts including the competitively awarded task order for the multimode biometric collection

device that will replace the legacy SEEK II with a more capable, reliable and lighter system with projected cost savings greater than $6.8 million (38 percent); multiple contracts valued over $100.0 million in the execution of the train and equip mission for the New Syrian Forces for vital weapons, ammunition and unmanned aerial vehicles; a $20.0 million, two-year, R&D multiple award contract for the second phase of the Degraded Visual Environmental Pilotage System; a five-year, $8.0 million contract to provide a broad range of psychological assessment services; a multiple award manpower augmentation contract valued at $9.4 million over five years in support SOCKOR JOC and Joint Intelligence Center and a $244.0 million contract for IT services/hardware/software supporting the entire SOF enterprise. In FY15, the command competed 76.4 percent of total dollars obligated.

SOF AT&L-K strives to apply innovative and streamlined contracting practices in every acquisition process. Within the DoD and through the military departments, it may take several weeks for a proposed contract award to be approved. In contrast, SOCOM can approve contract awards in

just a few days, or less, if needed. This streamlined process can be attributed to several factors. First, SOCOM has been delegated its own procurement authority. Second, many of SOCOM’s acquisition approval authorities are resident at the same location as the program and contracting teams at the headquarters. Third, contract quality reviewers participate in integrated product team meetings and other early planning meetings to help expedite the approval process and to minimize misunderstandings rather than “inspect quality into the product” in the final phase of the process before contract award. Collectively, these factors effectively minimize the organizational distance between the contracting officer and the approving official, which results in expedited approvals.

By using innovative techniques, sustaining an intentionally flat organizational structure and streamlining procurement processes, SOF AT&L-K is able to execute rapid acquisitions crucial to the success of our SOF warriors participating in overseas contingency operations. Each day, on average, SOF AT&L-K awards 33 contracting actions worth more than $9.9 million.

Acquisition Operations Office Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Tom Doan leads SOF AT&L Acquisition Operations. The office, composed of four divisions, synchronizes operationally focused acquisition activities within SOF AT&L to provide better support for SOF operators and enablers.

Policy and Management Division This division includes co-located subject matter experts for the functional areas of acquisition, procurement, logistics, system safety engineering and developmental testing.

Partnering with SOF AT&L’s Directorate of Acquisition Comptroller to create an integrated team, they synchronize policy and direct 40 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

several SOF AT&L-wide programs. The division staffed countless regulations, implementing instructions and policies while maintaining the core set of SOCOM directives. Additionally, they implemented monumental improvements to the SOF AT&L portal, enabling efficient management and oversight for program executive offices (PEOs) and program managers (PMs) and their respective programs of record.

The team defined, integrated and implemented an updated automated Better Buying Power (BBP) “all-in-one” portal-based solution for the SOF AT&L enterprise. They furnished BBP training, references, reporting and metrics to reduce PEO and PM data entry workload. This continuous improvement process effort increases BBP information

standardization, facilitates efficient program management and automates efficient tracking and reporting.

The system safety engineering and developmental test team members continue to support the joint services weapon and laser system safety review process, standardizing non-platform level engineering and safety tests, the fielding and deployment release process and multiple other efforts in support of PEOs, PMs and the SOF components. Their work accelerates the fielding of SOF equipment while maintaining adherence to pertinent regulations and best practices. The team also supports the Office of the Secretary of Defense joint nonlethal weapons test and evaluation working integrated product team. www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates During FY15, the policy and management team continued to develop and implement innovative, portal-based comprehensive processes and sets of tools to provide and educate users and customers a consistent, accurate and easily used set of pictures (portal page views) of policy requirements, reference documents, training aids, metrics and programs. Their updated milestone document identification (MDID) tool identifies all statutory and regulatory actions and associated documents required for all program types and specific decision points within any program as well as the source of the specific requirement. MDID provides easily applied filters allowing tailoring of requirements based on specific program needs and specific decision points.

The filtered set of requirements establishes the program’s set of required key documents, which are tracked via a document compliancy tool. MDID provides users the single, authoritative source of all requirements. The tool is linked to the updated policy vault (the single authoritative source for resource documents) containing or linking to all of the different policy documents so users can easily—with just a few clicks—access reference documents. The team’s updated policy roadmap provides a single view of required documents and actions grouped by functional area with links to pertinent SOCOMspecific policy documents. The roadmap links the required documents identified in MDID to the most current templates, instructions, guidance, training, videos and examples of that required document; it also provides links to external sources of additional information. Maintaining and updating roadmap and vault allowed for the creation of additional interactive portal pages as well as updating the existing pages for programs such as BBP, Management Internal Control Program and Quarterly Management Reviews managed by the team. These portal pages provide near real-time portal based execution, management and metrics. The roadmap links to portal pages for those programs.

Strategic Operations Division This division connects the joint staff, components, theater special operations commands and national mission force to the SOF AT&L enterprise in support of 1208 and combat mission needs statement requirements for current and emerging operations.

In FY15, Strategic Operations synchronized the execution of $325.0 million of 1209 funds for the Syrian Train and Equip mission and www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

Syria Train and Equip Effort

continues to execute an additional $98.0 million of FY16 funds for supplying Former Soviet Bloc weapons, ammunition and associated logistics.

In addition, the division will play a significant role in supporting CENTCOM with the remaining $298.0 million of FY16 1209 Syria Train and Equip funds.

Finally, Strategic Operations executed $20.0 million in acquisition efforts, equipping 19 named operations in the Central Command, Africa Command, European Command and Pacific Command areas of responsibility. These efforts directly supported the SOCOM commander’s vision for winning the current fight and enhancing the global SOF network.

International Operations Division SOF AT&L International Operations promotes enhancement of partner nation SOF through collaborative capability development and interoperability initiatives.

Capability Development Agreements—Utilizing international armament agreements with various SOF partner nations, International Operations provides day-to-day management of various SOF-specific capability development through working groups established and co-chaired by SOCOM and counterpart SOF partner organizations. The broad scope of these SOF-unique capability development agreements includes information sharing and development of technical studies; collaboration in research, development, testing and

evaluation; identification and prioritization of common SOF capability needs; joint development of SOF operational requirements; tactics, techniques and procedures; concepts of operation for SOF activities; experimentation; equipment exchanges and evaluations; and system design, prototyping and advanced component development.

These initiatives leverage the collective science and technology (S&T) and operator expertise of partnering nations, enables efforts that could not have been accomplished individually and enhances inoperability.

OSD Research & Development Programs— International Operations manages SOF AT&L participation in three Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) level R&D programs. The Coalition Warfare program funds collaborative R&D projects with SOF allies and foreign partners. The Foreign Comparative Testing program funds test and evaluation of foreign systems that demonstrate a potential to satisfy SOF current and future requirements.

Last, Rapid Innovation Fund provides R&D resources that facilitate the rapid insertion of innovative technologies into SOF systems or programs that meet critical national security needs.

Security Cooperation—SOF AT&L collaborates with SOF partner nation scientific communities on enabling technologies through coordination with embedded S&T foreign liaison officers. Two liaison officers are fully integrated in SOF AT&L spaces, with a third arriving during the summer of 2016. Coordinating with the Program Management Updates | SPECOPS 14.4 | 41

2016 USSOCOM Program Management Updates SOCOM J55 special operations liaison officers at partner SOF headquarters as well as SOCOM J3-International and their locally embedded foreign liaison officers, International Operations also provides insight into materiel capabilities, including overview briefs to visiting foreign SOF leaders, to identify potential capability development opportunities with multiple SOF partner nations.

Foreign Military Sales—International Operations also supports the services’ implementing agencies in building partner capacity through foreign military sales of SOF-unique, service- provided capabilities, including working in concert with SOCOM security cooperation coordination contacts and the existing OSD security assistance infrastructure. International Operations facilitates appropriate subject matter expertise from within the SOF enterprise to assess and recommend best materiel solutions in support of SOF-related foreign military sales requests by partner nations. Efforts benefit materiel program BBP economies and maintains production lines while ensuring equipment commonality for partnered operations.

Foreign Disclosure Officer Functions—International Operations provides Foreign Disclosure Office (FDO) support as the designated SOF AT&L FDO with delegated authority from SOCOM FDO to conduct review, disclosure and release of SOF AT&L-generated Category 2 (hardware, software and weapons-related information) and Category 3 (applied research and development) classified military information and critical unclassified information. As part of the SOCOM technology transfer team, International Operations also coordinates appropriate SOF technical recommendations to Department of State and Department of Commerce export license reviews involving direct commercial sales of export-restricted items.

Plans and Programs Division This division successfully represented SOF AT&L in FY16–20 POM ICTs and IPTs and continued to do so for the FY17–21 POM, protecting SOF AT&L equities and improving overall POM preparation instructions and schedule for all stakeholders. They also proactively drafted and coordinated the first acquisition update to the commander’s decision roundtable in September 2014 and secured a standing briefing slot, on behalf of SOF AT&L, as the liaison to the vice commander’s process man42 | SPECOPS 14.4 | Program Management Updates

agement team. The division brought SOF AT&L more visibility and connectivity to SOCOM’s strategic planning process (SPP) as a regular attendee and contributor to J5’s understanding and analysis integrated product team, vice commander’s SPP, and SOCOM’s monthly SPP group and councils meetings.

Plans and Programs continued to focus on improving SOF AT&L’s SPP by engaging the program executive offices in development of their first-ever technology insertion roadmaps to drive focused, long-range projections for R&D funding for all years in the POM17 cycle.

Additionally, Plans and Programs initiated concept, drafted and published the first-ever acquisition executive programming guidance to strengthen SOF AT&L’s role as POM sponsor for acquisition, technology and logistics programs in the SOCOM SPP. With the technology insertion roadmaps and acquisition executive program guidance in place, SOF AT&L expects to submit more focused and balanced inputs to POM17, resulting in optimized AT&L programs providing the best capability at the lowest price possible to our deployed SOF operators.

Acquisition Support Office Technology and Industry Liaison Office Shelvin D. Watts leads the Technology and Industry Liaison Office (TILO). SOCOM established the TILO to assist industry representatives and the command with communications, collaboration and connections that facilitate business opportunities and a better understanding of the command’s capability needs.

The TILO serves as industry’s primary point of contact for the submission of white papers on areas of interest that are relevant to SOCOM and connects industry’s best ideas and capabilities to the right organizations within the command. Because partnerships with industry have a direct impact on the success of the SOF warfighter, SOCOM is committed to ensuring industry has the information necessary to determine which opportunities best suit their business and where to find more information.

The TILO publishes SOCOM’s capability areas of interest on its website, and industry’s large and small businesses, entrepreneurs, research companies, labs and academia may access the information and submit their ideas directly to the command. The TILO team provides direct communication with

submitters regarding subject matter expert interest in the capabilities submitted, and they assist with the possible application of those ideas and capabilities to solutions for warfighters.

The TILO educates, trains, informs and assists the command and industry with communications and events that strengthen government and industry ties. They work closely with the Directorate of Science and Technology, program executive offices and various SOCOM personnel who provide the scientific, technical and engineering assistance to help assess all submitted information. The TILO also organizes, maintains and archives the capabilities information for collaboration within SOCOM. To contact the TILO with questions, you may call (813) 826-9482 or email the office at TILO@socom.mil.

Office of Small Business Programs Christopher A. Harrington serves as the director of the Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) for SOF AT&L. The OSBP is designated to advocate on behalf of small businesses; it strives to meet the goals mandated by Congress and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, ensuring equal opportunities to conduct business with the command. The OSBP provides information and guidance on defense procurement policies and procedures as well as methods for identifying prime contracting and subcontracting opportunities. SOCOM continually strives to increase the number of contract awards to small businesses, service-disabled veteranowned small businesses, woman-owned small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses and historically underutilized business zones.

SOCOM did extraordinarily well supporting small businesses in FY15. The command exceeded all of its small business goals for the first time in history. The command awarded 33.1 percent of all prime dollars to small businesses, which represented over $905.0 million in prime award dollars. FY15 was also the command’s best year ever in supporting service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB), exceeding its 3.0 percent goal by awarding 10.8 percent, or $294.9 million, to SDVOSB primes. Overall, FY15 was a tremendous year for the OSBP. To contact the OSBP with questions, you may call (813) 826-9475 or email the office at christopher.harrington@socom.mil.  www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

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Airborne insertions have always had a role in SOF entry operations. New technologies are driving better precision and more stealth.

By Andrew White, SpecOps Correspondent

Parachuting remains a primary insertion method for special operations forces seeking a capability to covertly enter an area of operation (AO) ahead of direct action and for surveillance/reconnaissance (SR) missions.

During more than a decade of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, where U.S. and NATO special forces partners concentrated on the tactical delivery of ground assault forces and helicopter assault forces, both of which relied heavily on protected patrol vehicles and rotary-wing assets, parachute infiltration took somewhat of a backseat during these large-scale campaigns.

Military sources associated with NATO’s Special Operations Headquarters (NSHQ), based in Mons, Belgium, described to Special Operations International how certain Tier 1 SOF units operating in Iraq and Afghanistan during this period had used the capability sparingly in order to insert strike teams under the cover of darkness.

However, the contemporary operating environment (COE) has triggered a resurgence of interest in parachute insertion capabilities with multiple forces and industry partners positioning themselves to satisfy future requirements for so-called “next-generation parachute operations”.

Continued counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations are being conducted worldwide by the international SOF community, examples of which include French Special Forces executing regular parachute insertions from C-160 and C-130 transport aircraft into AOs before proceeding on foot to carry out direct action and SR missions against indigenous insurgent combatants.

One NSHQ source explained: “This gives units the element of surprisecritical when launching strike teams into urban, suburban and rural environments.”

44 | SPECOPS 14.4

Capabilities Currently supplying U.S. Special Operations Command force elements with the latest in its range of parachute solutions—the Ram Air-1 (RA-1)—is Airborne Systems North America, with James Hart, international business unit manager for the company explaining to Special Operations International how such an insertion capability remains highly applicable to SOF in the COE. “For special operations, [parachute insertion] allows a small team to insert behind enemy lines to provide eyes on a target to gain valuable human intelligence. It also provides the ability to get a team on the ground without being compromised. Again, allowing the team to perform follow on missions, such as close air support for bombing missions taking out key targets,” he explained.

Highlighting the latest major requirements in this field, Hart explained how SOF force elements were requiring capabilities to conduct higher altitude descents and landings across a wide range of environmental conditions; associated oxygen technology to allow operators to conduct higher altitude missions; extended glide ratios for increased stand-off distances of aircraft; and requirements for higher weight capacity for operators carrying specialist equipment.

Hart explained: “The biggest gain the RA-1 has over its successor is the ability to carry additional equipment and have a much further offset from the intended target. U.S. SOF have an increased need for weight. This is mainly due to body armor that was not traditionally used in the past and for specialized equipment that did not exist in the past. www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

“Having a further standoff can allow operators to exit the aircraft inside controlled airspace and fly their parachutes into denied airspace with little to no chance of being compromised. This allows for the signature in the area to remain unchanged but gives us the ability to put boots on the ground.

“With future technological advances in parachutes, it would be a viable option to have a team perform an offset of over 50 miles. Keeping the aircraft and all signature well out of hearing or visual distance from the enemy,” Hart continued.

Developing solutions for higher altitude operations, Florida-based Complete Parachute Solutions (CPS) continues to conduct evaluation of its series of parachutes in extreme environments with one of its latest iterations comprising descents and landings at altitudes as high at 16,850 feet above sea level (ASL).

According to CPS officials, such research projects continue to demonstrate parachute landings with equipment at these higher altitudes, with the company’s customer base now especially considering such conditions. The company has already proven the concept to successfully conduct higher altitude landings at Leadville, Colo., at 9,927 feet ASL, the highest airport in North America.

“We continue to develop our equipment and address our customer needs which are constantly changing. We continue to test our parachutes as customers like to use them with the same operational parameters. We know for sure our canopies will do what they want them to do,” a company source explained.

Tests, which have also been conducted in the vicinity of Mount Everest in the Himalayas, centered around testing of CPS’s Military Silhouette (MS) 360

M3/M4 family of systems which have been designed to be versatile enough to retain control authority when flown at higher altitudes and carrying heavy weights.

Comparing this particular parachute to its commercial counterparts, CPS explained how it was more heavily reinforced with larger rigging lines, bartacks and line attachments made “beefier” in order to withstand higher forces at higher altitude. “The MS is the most common parachute our customers have,” it was added while alluding to the special operations community.

The parachute itself comprises a medium aspect ratio, nine-cell tactical main canopy providing “consistent openings, exceptional stability, easy maneuverability and increased offset capability,” according to company literature.

“The MS-Series M1/M2 models are also currently used by special mission units worldwide with a capability of landing in tight areas using braked approaches,” company sources added while explaining how the M1 and M3 solutions comprising freefall-only models and M2 and M4 systems remained compatible with freefall and double bag static line operations. The latter options are used for lower level insertion, CPS explained.

“The freefall and static line capable MS-M4 is the improved glide version of the MS-M2. Glide performance has been substantially improved, by more than 33 percent, resulting in a lift-over-drag ratio [glide ratio] between 3.5:1 and 4:1, depending on configuration and load.

According to the company, the main characteristics of MS-series parachutes are defined by consistent openings, stability, maneuverability and ease of landings, the latter of which was heavily tested at high altitude in the

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SPECOPS 14.4 | 45

Himalayas. Additionally, toggle pressure required to handle the canopy is lighter resulting in less fatigue during high altitude high opening (HAHO) insertions.

“Our developmental program demonstrated that a few subtle design revisions to the existing MS, primarily changes in airfoil shape and line trim, improved the lift-to-drag ratio. The MS-M3 and M4 is built using hybrid construction, and by retaining polyester suspension lines, unwanted trim line variations due to line trim creep was eliminated which can potentially affect glide performance.

In addition, polyester line also provides suitable elasticity which helps to reduce the transmission of excessive shock loads to the jumper and canopy that are often associated with the more unyielding low-drag line types,” CPS described.

The MS-360 M3 and M4 models comprise a 360 square foot canopy area, spanning 30.1 feet with maximum payload of 450 pounds; maximum deployment altitude of 35,000 feet and minimum deployment altitude of 3,000 feet.

Rate of descent in full flight measures anywhere between 9.5 and 12 feet per second with forward speed ranging from 24.9 to 31.6 miles per hour. The technology also includes an anti-stall capability.

CPS has continued to test its parachutes in “operational” conditions with rucksack loads up to 70 pounds designed to mimic the amount of specialist equipment carried by SOF operators into a mission, including oxygen tanks and masks required for high altitude jumps where the threat of hypoxia remains prevalent.

On 25th January 2016, a U.S. Navy investigation into the death of a member of SEAL Team 6 in a military freefall parachute accident in Florida on 10th January 2015, found that he had been unable to open his main canopy during a jump because he might have been unconscious. However, the investigation board was unable to confirm why this was the case.

Specifically referring to higher altitude insertions in mountainous environments, CPS explained how such conditions risked operators missing a designated drop zone (DZ): “If you miss it, there are not a lot of ‘outs’ so you have to be on your ‘A’-game,” it was explained.

Additional requirements call for a slightly higher flaring of the parachute to initiate a brake with the added consideration of carrying a container or rucksack strapped to the legs or lowered below the jumper on a guideline.

“Customers utilize both methods and it is important to test and evaluate equipment in both conditions. If lowered, a parachute tips over and glides steeper and faster due to the drag of the rucksack being exposed as well as causing a jumper to drag upon landing.”

CPS has proven the capability to land its parachutes at altitudes up to 16,850 feet, while progressively testing at 12,400 feet and 15,500 feet.

“Only two parachutes have ever landed at that altitude before,” a company official claimed. “Our equipment is built to take any soldier in the world to the highest elevation in parachute insertion. This is a huge milestone to take to our customers and share with them the tactics, techniques and procedures [TTPs] to perform at this altitude.”

TTPs associated with such high altitudes include quickly changing wind and turbulence conditions as well as difficulties associated with landing in 12 inches of snow, particularly when the rucksack is lowered.

In March, CPS acquired GlideLine Systems in order to extend its interests into parachutist navigation technology. The company will now be positioned to provide ‘mission planning and live mission navigation applications’ to customers including force elements from USSOCOM for HAHO and high altitude low opening (HALO) missions. Technology is capable of calculating optimal release points for DZs based on windage and opening altitude while also tracking jumpers’ progress to a DZ under canopy.

46 | SPECOPS 14.4

On 15th April, the U.S. Army continued its procurement of the RA-1 Advanced Ram Air Parachute System (ARAPS) from Airborne Systems, with parachutes due to be delivered to multiple customers across USSOCOM including the Air Force and Navy.

Issued by the U.S. Army Contracting Command, this particular contract comprises $99 million in the form of a five-year indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity deal is expected to be confirmed by June 30 with an initial delivery of around 7,000 systems.

According to Airborne Systems, the RA-1 has been designed to allow SOF teams to execute parachute insertions at high altitudes up to 25,000 feet and medium altitudes between 12,000 feet and 15,000 feet.

The RA-1 features a 4:1 glide ratio allowing operators exiting an aircraft at 25,000 feet to travel a comparable ground distance of about 19.9 miles towards a DZ. Additional improvements include an enhanced steering system with anti-stall capability; improved canopy control via pressurized stabilizers; and anti-vibration technology of the main canopy itself allowing for more covert entry onto target with the integration of collapsible slide and ram air insertions extended into the canopy stabilizers.

Additionally, the parachute is capable of carrying 450 pounds of payload, compared to 360 pound limits associated with the legacy MC-4, also manufactured by Airborne Systems.

Referring to future roadmap developments for the company’s SOF parachute solutions, James Hart continued to explain to Special Operations International how advances in parachute technology need to ensure the safety of the soldiers remains a top priority.

“As jumpers perform jumps at higher altitudes they must have oxygen to allow them to survive the elements. What we have done is taken technological advances to increase the oxygen volume without increasing the overall weight or size of the equipment,” he explained while referring to the company’s special operations long range (SOLR) oxygen solutions.

“With SOF, we also look at the need to remove all signature from aircraft that it was ever used as a jump aircraft. With this we have developed small man portable pre-breathing systems. This will allow the jumpers the ability to pre-breath on an aircraft and jump from the aircraft taken all equipment leaving nothing behind that could compromise a sensitive mission,” he concluded.

The company is also offering up its jTrax navigation aid to SOF units, allowing operators to conduct accurate insertion from HAHO and HALO jumps. An end user device can be carried on the wrist or chest, indicating to an operator which direction to steer and for how long.

“The jTrax NAVAID allows military jumpers to conduct missions with long offsets and guide them towards their intended landing area in a reliable and precise way,” company literatures explains. The jTrax can also be monitored by a jumpmaster who holds responsibility to safely deploy parachutists and continue to track their progress onto a target with the added capability of diverting personnel to an alternative DZ if necessary.

Next Generation Following the drawdown of the main body of SOF force elements from lengthy campaigns in the Afghanistan and Iraq, it appears the COE is now looking favorably at parachute insertion capabilities, providing a relatively low cost and covert means of infiltration.

As technology continues to drive forward, the next generation of parachute technology will be capable of almost assuring aircraft safety against most threats with sufficient stand off range, while operators will benefit from increased safety levels across a range of extreme environments.  www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

Creating the opportunity for innovation and collaboration, SOCOM’s Directorate of Science and Technology is changing the paradigm.

By Tony Davis, Director, U.S. SOCOM Science & Technology Directorate The U.S. Special Operations Command Directorate of Science and Technology (SOF AT&L-ST) actively works to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the command’s technology development program by continually innovating methods and activities. SOF AT&L-ST’s approach to innovation includes (1) building the network, (2) providing the venues and (3) supporting with tools and processes.

Building the Network SOCOM has always had an extensive network of external partners from government, industry and academia. This effort builds on that concept in several ways, with the goal of broadening and thickening our existing network while adding new and non-traditional partners.

The command has also been adding events that are designed to draw potential partners together in Tampa and allow one message to be transmitted simultaneously to many participants.

In October 2015, SOCOM held an S&T collaborative planning session (CPS), the first session in a bi-annual series designed to provide insight into all SOF AT&L-ST’s technology needs to the government and academic labs looked at for partnering opportunities. The CPS was a two- day event, with the full first day dedicated to various parts of the command providing indepth briefings on their respective technology needs. The second day was dedicated to the attendees identifying specific projects that were planned or ongoing in their labs that would meet at least a portion one of SOCOM’s technology gaps. By the end of the CPS, the nearly 100 attendees from more than 50 government and academic labs had identified 300-plus projects for the command to consider for collaboration.

In a similar vein, SOF AT&L is encouraging and supporting industry internal research and development (IRAD) expositions in the Tampa area. These are designed for the companies to pick the best of their IRAD portfolio and bring www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

the engineers and other technical experts to Tampa to showcase their projects. In return, SOCOM brings a large number of government program managers and engineers who are interested in the technologies for a day of direct discussion and feedback with the company subject matter experts. SOF AT&L has had two of these events already this year, and the feedback from both sides on the increased communication and identification of potential opportunities for partnerships has been very promising.

SOF AT&L-ST is also working hard to develop a network with a variety of different academic organizations. The command already had an established relationship with several university affiliated research centers (UARC).

UARCs are Department of Defense sponsored laboratories that conduct science, technology and engineering work on the department’s behalf. The team is building on this by adding relationships with the local Florida universities, a positive addition since Florida ranks fourth on the list of U.S. states for total research and development investment. SOF AT&L-ST is also developing relationships with several of the U.S. land grant universities to create a consortium that will meet frequently, discuss SOCOM technology shortfalls and identify for us the member(s) who are performing the most promising research in each technology area.

Providing the Venues SOCOM recently created a venue called SOFWERX that is an open, unclassified, collaboration site outside the normal military reservation.

SOFWERX is located in a historic building, close to local universities and provides a variety of tailorable spaces for unclassified collaboration events from hackathons to rapid prototyping events. It is acting as a kind of “bug light” to attract non-traditional partners from the Tampa academic, maker, business accelerator and startup communities as well as government and

economic development organizations, among others.

SOCOM’s primary measure of success for venues is the return on collisions: how well the command draws people from a variety of fields and backgrounds from across the area and gets them engaged and interested in the command’s technology challenges.

An example of this includes SOF AT&L-ST’s recent hackathon successes and introductions to numerous non-traditional partners.

SOF AT&L-ST had a series of hackathons at SOFWERX in coordination with local organizations like the Military-Open Source Software (MilOSS) chapter. MilOSS is designed to bring government employees with technology needs together with experts in open source software to better inform both parties of potential partnership opportunities. The hackathons have provided numerous challenging and real military problem sets, and they have brought in teams from across academia, industry and government organizations to work on them in a non-traditional environment.

The solutions produced after 48-72 hours of development work have been amazingly creative and, because they were developed with open source software, tremendously easy for the sponsoring government activities to take advantage of. One government customer said the winning team in his challenge had accomplished more than the government had been able to in more than six months of prior work. This successful track record is greatly increasing the number of government challenges identified for each hackathon.

The hackathons and other events have had several unexpected byproducts, including serving as venues for identification of promising talent to hire into government internships.

The events have been so popular with the local development community that SOCOM has added monthly “mini-hacks” for the previous competitors to get together and continue collaborating and iterating on the government problem sets.

SPECOPS 14.4 | 47

The next hackathon with MilOSS was scheduled the weekend prior to the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC). In addition to a new series of challenging government problems, MilOSS will also be hosting their 7th Annual MilOSS Working Group Open Technology Sessions (WG7) at SOFWERX on May 23 and 24. WG7 will feature two days of sessions led by national and local subject matter experts well versed in development and implementation of open technologies.

In addition to hackathons, SOFWERX is also frequently used as a venue for various technology accelerator events such as rapid prototyping and technology sprints. These events provide a unique and collaborative environment that combines subject matter experts from industry, academia and government and combine them with SOF operators to tackle hard problem sets and accelerate technology development.

Last, but equally important, SOFWERX is now home to several other “battle rhythm” events designed to increase communication and collaboration with industry and other partners.

Every Thursday, SOCOM’s Office of Small Business Programs and Technology & Industry Liaison Office have scheduled hours at SOFWERX. These office hours are designed to provide industry an opportunity to meet with government representatives and discuss how to conduct business with SOCOM.

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Companies are encouraged to ask questions and communicate any company specific issues for which they are concerned.

Another important addition will be Program Executive Office (PEO) Capability Collaboration Events (CCEs). These new features of industry outreach will be held on a rolling monthly schedule and will be used to gather all the players involved in a particular capability area together in a PEOsynchronized effort. The first CCE was April 19 and focused on sensor miniaturization for small unmanned aircraft systems. Monthly events after SOFIC are being planned, beginning with such subjects as biometrics, aircraft survivability and diver equipment.

Supporting with Tools and Processes These tools and processes cover a wide spectrum, but basically all meet SOCOM’s intent of facilitating creativity, ideation, and iteration throughout the entire organization and as far toward the tactical edge as possible. For instance, SOFWERX is also the central node in the command’s advanced manufacturing (AM) enterprise, an enterprise that is expanding rapidly as SOCOM provides centralized training and support for unit-funded AM capability across the command.

SOFWERX provides substantial capabilities in terms of equipment and expertise to support rapid prototyping and other events, but is also the command’s central repository of reach-back expertise and manages the command’s distributed training efforts.

Tampa is also the home of one of the command’s 20-plus mobile technology repair centers (MTRC), a “shop in a box” that is designed to provide significant design, rapid prototyping, manufacturing and repair capability in a small deployable footprint with well-trained government and contractor subject matter experts to operate the equipment and deliver capabilities. These MTRCs have been extraordinarily successful in providing capabilities as a service to the forward deployed operators, and they have completed more than 30,000 projects to date. Now, however, they are also linked to our training pipeline and AM center of expertise to increase information sharing and lessons learned and to provide a central database of successful projects for all the nodes in the network.

Another important tool is reaching final development and was recently beta tested at a SOCOM Technical Experimentation event at Camp Roberts, Calif. This tool is Vulcan, a centralized database and data capture tool supporting the command’s technology scouting efforts. The result of a year-long partnership and technology development effort with the Defense Technical Information Center’s Information Analysis Center, Vulcan is a web-based app that allows all 70,000 members of the command plus an extended network to act as technology sensors for the command.

With Vulcan, any time a member of the command sees a technology of interest, they can capture it by taking a few pictures, making a few notes, and entering it into the common database to be shared across the command.

The tool also facilitates industry engagements by allowing Vulcan users to send the technology provider (e.g., industry and academia) a one-time token that will allow them to upload technology information into the database themselves. This is a real timesaver for the command’s technology scouts, and the tool will be fully operational in time for SOFIC the week of May 23.

It is the command’s hope you’ve enjoyed reading details of SOF AT&L-ST’s innovation efforts and, more importantly, some of them might have resonated with you as a way to partner with SOCOM on science and technology development. Whether you are from government, industry or academia, a long-term partner, newly introduced, or not yet met, SOCOM welcomes your interest and ideas and looks forward to including you in our innovation network.  www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

Going Beyond TAP to help SOF personnel transition from the military.

By Stu Bradin

To don the coveted Green Beret, a U.S. Army soldier endures 18-24 months of assessment, selection, and training. To become a U.S. Navy SEAL, young men must survive the infamously tough Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) school, to say nothing of the additional training before their first deployment. On average, it takes 11 months for a U.S. Marine to earn the Marine Critical Skills Operator or Special Operator Officer distinctions. And U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Officers undergo 12 to 15 months of Special Tactics Advanced Skills Training, at a minimum.

And yet, when these same elite warriors leave the U.S. military, they participate in a five-day transition assistance program (TAP) course. That’s it: five days. This does a tremendous disservice to the American economy.

We are not fully utilizing this great asset to our country.

Before any major operation U.S. special operations forces (SOF) receive the best training and equipment available. They deploy with a sense of confidence because they know they are ready for whatever gets thrown their way—that is why they are the nation’s best. But when it’s time for them to transition out of active duty service—be it after four or 40 years—they do so without being trained or equipped in the same manner in which they entered. The SOF for Life aims to rectify this problem.

“SOF for Life” is a term I heard a lot during my 30+ years in the military. Everyone in the SOF community has a different definition, but the Global SOF Foundation (GSF) is giving this term real substance and providing a framework to support all SOF personnel as they transition from the military to civilian employment.

I retired from the U.S. Army in May 2014 with over 30 years of service, and I served in Special Forces for over 26 years. Despite participating in countless dangerous missions throughout my career, one of the most nerve-racking times was my transition from the military. Finding a job that provided income to sustain my family was the single most stressful aspect of leaving the service. I have found that everyone that retires has a different experience. Why is that? Former SOF possess leadership skills and other traits that businesses seek out. To my knowledge we generally land on our feet, but we do that through initiative and not because of an institutional system designed for transition. As I underwent the process, I could not figure out why it was so hard for people to find work. Something was missing. TAP is well-meaning, but it is not sufficient.

Personally, I realized that I would have to work as hard at changing careers as I worked to get into special operations. I treated my retirement process like an operation, and I gave it the same level of focus and energy as I would a deployment. Twenty-four months prior to my mandatory retirement date I sat down and laid out the entire plan. I knew that planning was critical and getting out in front of the requirements would provide me breathing room in case of unforeseen circumstances—like a government shutdown.

I benefited from having a father and older brother who also retired from the Army. I sought advice from mentors and friends and started fine-tuning old resumes that I did at the staff college. Then I focused www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

on networking because that’s what TAP instructors emphasized. They said that 83 percent of military people leaving the service are hired from LinkedIn. I was told that networking was important, but no one told me how to network other than to get on LinkedIn. I knew that to get my resume seen would require multiple approaches, but none of them reduced my anxiety because they were not institutionalized. It seemed like I would get a job by chance.

Defense contractors are always looking for quality people, and they love SOF due to their training and operational experiences. Many nondefense companies seek former SOF because of their ability to operate in ambiguous situations. Historically, companies seeking SOF personnel go through head hunters or find candidates through word-of-mouth. Neither of these methods is holistic. There was no single platform that allowed SOF veterans to post their resumes in a system that is set up just for SOF and that allows businesses looking for SOF personnel to discover those resumes. The GSF has filled this gap.

In July 2015 the Global SOF Foundation launched SOF for Life, a program to help SOF personnel transition from the military. The Foundation is partnering with two non-profits thus far: The Honor Foundation and AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust. The Honor Foundation runs a 12-week transition course that is unmatched, and its job placement rate for graduates is 100 percent. The Honor Foundation Fellows are prepared for every aspect of life after the military. There is nothing in the world like The Honor Foundation course, and we want to ensure this quality of support is available to these elite warriors that have given so much.

They have two locations: San Diego and Virginia Beach. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust delivers financial planning, investment management and trust services. AWMT is not-for-profit and has a long history (since the Civil War) of helping U.S. military personnel.

For its part, the Global SOF Foundation hosts an online resume database that allows GSF members that meet prescribed requirements to post their resumes. We vet each resume, and only GSF members (it’s free for active duty) that have served in a SOF unit will qualify—regardless of nationality or military skill. All GSF corporate partners have access to the database to recruit as they require. All SOF—including support personnel—can and should be GSF members, and they should take advantage of SOF for Life.

SOF for Life does not solve all of the problems the SOF community will face in transition, but it’s a start. I entered the military and received the best training, education and equipment available. I worked hard to be selected into the special operations community, and I worked hard to stay in it. My experience in leaving the military did not match the standards and ethos of the special operations community I served, and SOF for Life is our attempt at changing that.  Stu Bradin, a retired Army Special Force colonel, is the president and CEO of the Global SOF Foundation. To learn more about SOF for Life, visit www.sofforlife.org.

SPECOPS 14.4 | 49

Evolving the Network to Counter Emerging Threats

By Colonel Matthew M. McHale, Director, U.S. Special Operations Command J3-International Today, there is no such thing as a localized security problem. Since leadership from U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) expressed this truth at the International Special Operations Forces Conference in 2012 and echoed a similar refrain to representatives from 84 nations at the ISOF Conference 2014, it has become even more pertinent today. Current threats and threat networks are globally dispersed, interconnected, and constantly adapting, making it near-impossible to isolate a security challenge to a single geographical area or to separate it from its 2nd and 3rd order effects. People, information, and funding flow unimpeded across national borders in support of non-state and hybrid threats.

Take the threat of violent extremist organizations, like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

ISIS has benefited from an unprecedented flow of foreign recruits, a factor that has figured critical to its staying power and transformed the terrorist organization into a truly trans-regional problem. According to reports, more than 30,000 foreign fighters have travelled to Iraq and Syria from dozens of countries across the globe. In addition to fighters, media articles also recount how ISIS is recruiting those who can perform other functions needed to run a modern state, such as governors, engineers, doctors, etc.

How does it do this? ISIS can reach a global audience through open media platforms that enable recruitment and radicalization. Through social media and sophisticated messaging products disseminated on various virtual platforms, it encourages acts of violence in places outside its territorial control, as seen by recent attacks in Belgium, the United States, France, Tunisia, Kuwait and elsewhere. It has coalesced the energy of other radical extremist groups, like Boko Haram, who pledge it biyat (loyalty).

Meanwhile, another threat that traverses borders and regions is organized criminal elements, such as drug syndicates and human, sex or illicit goods traffickers. Organized crime

also includes organizations that masquerade as political movements, such as Hezbollah and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia (FARC). It’s a win-win for these groups to converge with criminal and terrorist elements mutually supporting each other to fund their respective activities.

In order to strengthen the Department of Defense response to such trans-regional challenges, USSOCOM—as a functional combatant command with global responsibility—looks across regional boundaries in order to counter trans-regional illicit and terrorist organizations. While geographic combatant commanders (GCCs) are responsible for region-specific operations and activities to tackle these threats, USSOCOM, with its extensive interagency and partner-nation, liaison network, can look holistically to identify the gaps or seams where DoD can better address threats and threat networks.

Trans-regional Challenges at ISOF Conference 2016.

However, these global, transnational threats require global, multinational responses. No one nation can tackle these multifaceted challenges alone. The United States recognizes the invaluable contributions and perspectives its international partners bring to the fight.

Every two years, the commander of USSOCOM hosts special operations counterparts from around the globe at an international SOF conference, with the intent of empowering an international networked approach to confront global challenges. The ISOF conference is one of the few conferences that convene the

A French special operations unit use their terminal attack controller skills during operations.

(Photo via USSOCOM)

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broader special operations forces community, bringing together SOF commanders, senior enlisted advisors and international interagency partners from around the world.

The theme for this year’s event is “Evolving the Network to Counter Emerging Threats,” which reflects the vision of a network of interagency, allies and partners able to rapidly respond to and persistently address regional contingencies and threats to international peace and stability.

The 2016 theme focuses on evolving the network, acknowledging that the SOF network is in place, and now must adapt to address present and future threats.

Since current threats are increasingly interconnected and transregional, the network of SOF and interagency partners must be increasingly connected and positioned in order to operate across regions and in the gray zone—outside of specified areas of operations or clearly defined aggressors.

Given that USSOCOM is a combatant command with global responsibilities, topics at the ISOF conference will focus on global security challenges. The topics of the conference are those that have global implications and are relevant to the mission sets and core tasks of SOF worldwide: Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs); Nexus of International Criminal Networks and Terrorism; and Role of SOF within the Future Operating Environment.

Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Lisa Monaco, will open the conference, providing a keynote overview of the global threat of VEOs, an outline the U.S. strategy to counter them, and a progress update on coalition efforts to counter VEOs from the White House perspective. She will be followed by a panel discussion on multinational collaborative efforts to counter VEOs, featuring perspectives of U.S. and international leaders in the field.

On Day 2, Commander Grant Edwards, from Australia’s Federal Police, will describe the nexus between international criminal organizations and terrorism. A follow-on panel comprised of members of the international community, private sector and academia will describe areas of success in derailing this connection. Breakout sessions in the afternoon will frame discussions around the presentations of the panelists from both days, convening participants to discuss the role both U.S. and international SOF do/should play in countering VEOs and the terror-crime nexus.

Day 3 will open with a wrap up discussion to provide the read out from breakout discussions and identify opportunities for follow through.

This will be followed by discussions that move focus from current threats to future threats, the future operating environment, and the role of SOF in the future. It will feature a panel on multiple futurist perspectives to address what the future operating environment will look like, followed by Polish special operations and small boat crewman conduct a waterborne assault during an exercise.

(Photo via USSOCOM)

www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

Evolution of the International Network Approach “We will lead with capable partners. In an interconnected world, there are no global problems that can be solved without the United States, and few that can be solved by the United States alone. American leadership remains essential for mobilizing collective action to address global risks and seize strategic opportunities. Our closest partners and allies will remain the cornerstone of our international engagement. Yet, we will continuously expand the scope of cooperation to encompass other state partners, non-state and private actors, and international institutions.”

- U.S. National Security Strategy 2015 a keynote address on what the relevance of SOF will or should be within this environment and how to develop SOF to the meet requirements of the future.

Partnerships are the backbone of SOF. In today’s world, operating in a coalition context is the default. Engagements such as the ISOF Conference convene the community of SOF partners to reinforce connections and identify opportunities to strengthen the ability of SOF partners to communicate, collaborate, and interoperate. The networked approach to maturing SOF partnerships grows stronger year-by-year, enabling SOF in each nation to provide their leadership with strategic options to address our shared challenges.

Fifteen years ago, SOF representing various countries conducted combined training but had little experience in conducting operations together. This changed with the wars in Afghanistan and, later, in Iraq.

During 13 years of combat operations, the networked approach to SOF partnership has achieved unprecedented levels of interoperability and information sharing to support operations on the battlefield.

USSOCOM has the responsibility to provide strategic options for national leaders and the GCCs it supports. To enhance the ability to do so, USSOCOM’s commander has emphasized the importance in strengthening relationships with our key partners, and does this through a networked approach, integrating our military, interagency and international partners.

In 2012, USSOCOM began a focused effort to build on these battlefield partnerships and raise SOF interoperability to the strategic level.

To do this, USSOCOM pursued a vision that included internationalizing its headquarters to host liaisons, emplacing special operations liaison officers globally and resourcing robust multinational connectivity efforts.

Now, as a result of these efforts, the commander of USSOCOM can either pick up the phone, conduct a secure video teleconference, or have direct access via liaisons to the national leadership of more than two dozen nations. Through the establishment of these relationships, USSOCOM has witnessed bilateral and multilateral achievements in the areas of: crisis response, operational planning, security cooperation, and robust key leader communication.

Recognizing the importance of multinational partnerships to counter current and future threats, and striving to meet national strategic guidance to work closely with partners, USSOCOM intends to work collaboratively with international SOF partners to build on the progress made and continue to strengthen the ability to combat mutual problems that threaten global stability.  SPECOPS 14.4 | 51

Resource Center Calendar Global SOF Foundation Annual SOFIC Reception May 23, 2016 Tampa, Fla. https://globalsoffoundation.org/ annual-sofic-reception

Conference on Intelligence and Special Operations July 6-7, 2016 Tel Aviv, Israel http://intelligence.israeldefense. co.il/en

SOFIC May 23-26, 2016 Tampa, Fla. www.sofic.org

SO/LIC Division Social August 11, 2016 Crystal City, Va. www.ndia.org/meetings/688F

SOMA Scientific Assembly May 23-26, 2016 Charlotte, N.C. www.specialoperationsmedicine. org

International Security Cooperation Summit August 29-31, 2016 Tampa, Fla. www.securitycooperationsummit. com

Multi-Agency Craft Conference June 8-9, 2016 Baltimore, Md. www.navalengineers.org/ Symposia/MACC-2016 Eurosatory June 13-17, 2016 Paris, France www.eurosatory.com

Air & Space Conference & Technology Expo September 19-21, 2016 National Harbor, Md. www.afa.org

Africa Aerospace & Defence September 14-18, 2016 Waterkloof Air Force Base, South Africa www.aadexpo.co.za Sniper Symposium September 21-23, 2016 UK www.omconf.com/eventdetail. asp?EID=102 Modern Day Marine September 27-29, 2016 Quantico, Va. www.marinemilitaryexpos.com/ modern-day-marine.shtml AUSA Annual October 3-4, 2016 Washington, D.C. http://ausameetings. org/2016annualmeeting/

Close Air Support Conference November 2-3, 2016 Reading, UK www.omconf.com SO/LIC February 14-16, 2017 Washington, D.C. www.ndia.org/meetings/7880 IDEX February 19-23, 2017 Abu Dhabi, UAE www.idexuae.com ISDEF June 6-8, 2017 Tel Aviv, Israel www.isdefexpo.com

Global SOF Symposium – Europe October 26-28, 2016 Vilnius, Lithuania www.globalsofsymposium.org/ europe

Advertisers index Africa Aerospace & Defence............................................................................... C3 www.aadexpo.co.za

General Atomics...................................................................................................... 5 www.ga-asi.com

AR Modular RF.......................................................................................................... 3 www.arworld.us/tactical

Global SOF Symposium – Europe...................................................................... 45 www.globalsofsymposium.org/europe

Creative Tent International................................................................................ 23 www.creativetent.us

IDEX........................................................................................................................... 43 www.idexuae.ae

Deployed Resources.............................................................................................. 21 www.deployedresources.com

Insitu........................................................................................................................ C4 www.insitu.com/suntzu

ESRI............................................................................................................................. 9 www.esri.com/sofic2016

Modern Day Marine...............................................................................................25 www.marinemilitaryexpos.com

Eurosatory.............................................................................................................. C2 www.eurosatory.com Editorial Jeff McKaughan • jeffm@defense-house.com Correspondents Peter Buxbaum • Henry Canaday • Andrew Drwiega • Patrick Clarke • ANDREW WHITE Associate Publisher RON mayne • ronm@defense-house.com Publication Design Jennifer Owers • Scott cassidy

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