Guest Editorial - Through Life Capability Management

Through Life Capability Management

Scribe: Colonel Stuart Nassé

Under the recent review of the Army Operating Model, my team has evolved into the catchily named Through Life Capability Management. More than rebranding, this new team has the potential to have a profound impact on not only the new kit and equipment we buy, but how we oversee and optimise the capabilities we already have.

“Through Life” is not a new idea nor is it particularly innovative. However, we have at last won the argument to allocate dedicated workforce, resources, and freedoms to it; this is something new. We have a remit to manage our in-service capabilities throughout their usable life; identifying and delivering opportunities to improve, refresh, or retrofit small change that does not fall naturally to one of the existing programme teams delivering the Army’s change portfolio with the Programmes Directorate.

But what does this actually mean? We have to be better at ensuring that all change is proposed, measured, and balanced against conflicting priorities. We must ensure current capabilities are being upgraded through-life rather than privileging new capabilities 10 years’ hence. Op MOBILISE – the CGS-led prioritization of readiness and relevance – makes this short-term focus even more important. We simply cannot wait for the perfect solution in the future; the threat is now and so is the demand from our soldiers.

All change now is managed through the three elements of capability sponsorship – Field Army representing the current “live” challenges, Futures Directorate ensuring coherence with the longterm ambition, and the Programmes Directorate ensuring fleet coherence, value for money, and most importantly: deliverability. At the simplest level, we now have a routine drumbeat of assessing

Colonel Stuart Nassé (Assistant Head Through Life Capability Management)

Through Life Capability Management, a new team in the Army HQ that delivers change. Working through the night to repair a JACKAL on Op MAKARA – what can we do to make this easier?

those emergent requirements from the Field Army that they need addressing quickly.

We are exploiting the freedoms of delegated spending and buying those things where we can do so appropriately ourselves. This is critical so we do not over-burden our already busy delivery agents unnecessarily; saving their precious capacity for where we genuinely cannot be without their expertise. We are working closer with NATO to explore how we can use their own dedicated procurement agency to benefit from the research of our allies. Finally, and most excitingly, we are maximising the opportunity that experimentation offers us; ensuring that experimentation does not end with the science project but with more modern capabilities in the hands of the user. The previous CGS spoke about prototype warfare – we are now enacting that as a route to delivery: buying small quantities and sending them on operations with our troops to trial them, report back, and inform future procurements. This gets the very best kit in the hands of those most in need, quickly, and hopefully accelerates our wider procurement processes. But what does this mean for the REME? From my experience, the best problem finders, the best problem solvers, and the true innovators inevitably wear our cap badge. If there is something that will make better – today – the equipment that you operate or maintain, then speak up. If there is something that you know would make your job easier were it available, then shout loudly. There is now someone listening.