The INSIDER

MAY 2013 ISSUE NO. 11

INSIDE THIS ISSUE DIRECTOR’S corner This is what we bring to the fight, Page 2 asa(alt) leader visits Heidi Shyu talks to TARDEC, Page 3 RDECOM G-1 gives furlough update Todd Morris, Page 4 RDECOM senior enlisted advisor talks issues Page 6 u.S. Senator visits APG Maryland’s Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski visits, Page 7 RDECOM Chaplain: May is Family Wellness Month, Page 10 Research leads to optical-scanning discovery Page 11 Natick employees endure Boston Marathon tragedy Page 16 AMRDEC engineering director encourages cost-consciousness Page 23 Jay Leno drives Army’s Original FED Page 40

Secretary of the Army John McHugh takes aim with an M4 rifle equipped with the Virtual Pointer system during an April 18 demonstration by Amanda Skrabut (left) at the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate at Fort Belvoir, Va. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. John G. Martinez)

Secretary of the Army visits RDECOM night vision facility

By Kim Bell CERDEC-NVESD Public Affairs FORT BELVOIR, Va. — Secretary of the Army John McHugh received a demonstration of some of the Army’s current and future technologies during a visit to the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s night vision and electronic sensors facility, April 18.

“We want to ensure that we invest in innovations that continue to give us the technological edge that our forces need to take on whatever tomorrow’s mission might be,” McHugh said.

McHugh saw firsthand the latest in the next generation of Soldier sensor technologies, which included night vision, targeting devices, and long-range surveillance systems. The directorate is part of

RDECOM’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center.

“These technologies show great potential to increase Soldier lethality, survivability and situational awareness,” he said. “Together these developments have changed the way U.S. Soldiers fight.”

Of special interest to the McHugh was Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, or NVESD’s, efforts to continually reduce size, weight, cost and power of night-vision and thermal technologies.

“By reducing the load a Soldier carries, coupled with technology, is the right way to do more with less,” McHugh said.

This is a key focus of the U.S. Army Materiel Command as the provider of ma-

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

Dale Ormond, Research, Development and Engineering Command director (center) and Jill Smith, Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center director (left) speak with Secretary of the Army John McHugh during an April 18 visit to RDECOM’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate at Fort Belvoir, Va. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. John G. Martinez)

Director’s Corner: This is what we bring to the fight

By Dale A. Ormond

Every day, the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command marches forward with our mission to put newer, more capable technologies in the hands of Soldiers so that they can more effectively execute their mission and come home safe.

In April, we hosted a visit from Secretary of the Army, the Honorable John McHugh, at our Night Vision and Electronic Sensors facility at Fort Belvoir. This is not the Secretary’s first visit to an RDECOM center or lab, and each visit reinforces his awareness of the value added by what each of you does.

We were able to highlight your success stories and explain how RDECOM fits in to the Army Materiel Command mission. So, straight from the boss himself, well done and continue to move forward.

On his second visit to Night Vision, as he had toured this same facility three years ago, we were able to show him the progress made on a number of fronts.

We highlighted our strong technical work and told Secretary McHugh of our efforts to

http://twitter.com/rdecom http://facebook.com/USArmyRDECOM http://flickr.com/rdecom

continue to push technology, innovation and manufacturing technologies to develop new capabilities to put in the hands our Soldiers.

He saw new, cutting edge technologies that have reduced the size and weight of current equipment with equal or enhanced capabilities.

“I would like to take this opportunity to applaud the efforts of the Night Vision and Electronic Sensor Directorate team. You are representative of what every scientist and engineer across RDECOM is doing every day.”

— Dale A. Ormond

Our 98 percent civilian workforce is unique, and the secretary saw the difference you are making every day.

I would like to take this opportunity to applaud the efforts of the Night Vision and The INSIDER is an internal information product of RDECOM G5/Public Affairs, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005 at (410) 306-4539 Strategy & Communications Director (G5): Lionel Brown at lionel.l.brown.civ@mail.mil

Electronic Sensor Directorate team. You are representative of every scientist and engineer across RDECOM. This is what we bring to the fight. The fact that the Secretary of the Army said, “Reducing the load a Soldier carries, coupled with technology, is the right way to do more with less,” tells us that Army leadership is on-board with what we do. In my briefing, I had the opportunity to highlight the value of the RDECOM workforce.

We discussed the furlough, sequestration and the impact on our civilian workers. The Army is looking for ways to mitigate the negative effects of the furlough. Army leadership at the highest levels is committed to taking care of our civilians.

My G-1, Todd Morris, has an interview on the furlough in this edition of the INSIDER. Please take a look. We will continue to keep you informed.

Related links Biography: http://go.usa.gov/vK8 Facebook: http://facebook.com/mrdaleormond Twitter: http://twitter.com/DaleOrmond

Public Affairs Officer: Joseph Ferrare at joseph.ferrare.civ@mail.mil Editor: David McNally at david.mcnally@us.army.mil Please send us your feedback!

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

ASA(ALT) leader: Work smarter to fill capability gaps TARDEC Public Affairs DETROIT ARSENAL, Mich. — On an April 9 visit to the Detroit Arsenal, Army Acquisition Executive Heidi Shyu told Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center associates that the Secretary of the Army’s toughest challenge will be balancing priorities while filling capability gaps in an uncertain fiscal environment.

Meeting this challenge involves not only short-term rethinking on how to control costs on existing programs as budgets shrink, but also committing to a long-term, 30-year perspective on providing ongoing technological superiority to forces.

“One of the key things I want to do is make sure we focus on a long-term strategic plan that’s not just driven by the POM [Program Objective Memorandum],” the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology told TARDEC and TACOM Life Cycle Management Command associates in a town hall address here. “You only look at one year at a time and suboptimize your plan based on the budget this year. But what about the POM after that? We need to look at the potential S&T [science and technology] to link us into greater capabilities and make smarter decisions.

“This is why it’s so critically important to link these pieces together into an overall cogent strategy moving ahead.”

To ensure warfighters can carry out their missions and come home safely, the Army has to identify its capability gaps, carefully establish priorities in anticipation of tighter budgets, and think more strategically about how to provide capabilities with new technology and a long-range sustainment plan for each platform. This challenge has prompted everyone in the Department of Defense to reassess programs.

“We’re forcing ourselves to think things through differently,” Shyu said. “What’s the cost associated with each capability?

What are my alternatives? Is that the only solution or is there a lower-cost solution? I’m challenging our folks to think through all that.”

The assistant secretary presented the Army’s top priorities in the short term: Continue to support the current fight in Afghanistan nMeet the Afghanistan retrograde deadline (December 2014) nReset vehicle and equipment as it comes out of Afghanistan nModernize platforms and aging equipment.

Even with the coming strategic shift to the Pacific Region, Shyu stated, the United

Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Heidi Shyu arrives at the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center at Detroit Arsenal, Mich., April 9. (U.S. Army photo)

States has many global interests and allies, and must equip our forces to be flexible and adaptable for a wide range of missions. “The reality is, we are a worldwide Army. We’re in more than 160 nations,” Shyu emphasized.

“Even if we pivot to nations in the Pacific, it doesn’t mean we’re getting out of the other 159 places. Our mission requires a diverse set of capabilities we must develop and sustain to enable us to clearly be the No. 1 land force in the world.”

Shyu reiterated her office’s commitment to a 30-year strategy to equip and sustain that dominant force. The approach involves looking at vehicles and aviation not just as operational assets the Army needs today but as platforms that have to be sustained and modernized to engage future threats.

“We ought to know as programs evolve, there are usually multiple generations of the program with multiple spirals. Look at the Apache helicopter — we are on Apache version E now. You continue to add more capabilities, as we do with combat vehicles.

I know all of you are working very hard to understand the sustainment plan. We need to look into the details to determine the average age of systems and the utilization.”

The Army regards greater mobility, lethality and survivability as the guiding principles for its ground forces. The 30-year plan has prompted TARDEC and the Program Executive Offices to make investments with long-range vision to enable the next generation of capabilities.

Shyu pointed out that all acquisition executives are facing the same budget

challenges. As a result, she noted the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps are seeking more opportunities to develop technology jointly. “For example, we have our own robotics, the Marines have robotics, and the Air Force and Navy have ideas for robotics. We can develop common platforms and a set of common requirements. After all, the JLTV program does that. We have to leverage each other more. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Acquisition executives started meeting monthly to focus on a particular technology solution — beginning with the Position, Navigation and Timing tactics to provide vital information to Soldiers if they’re denied GPS satellite capability — to seek more joint opportunities.

“We have to ask: ‘What are the technologies each service is developing and what is DARPA working on?’ We are sharing that technology across the board when it makes sense. That is the smart thing to do. We’re looking at all these things to drive down cost.

Shyu praised S&T experts who do the research and development that keeps the Army mobile and vehicles survivable.

“I have a world of respect for what you’re doing. You’re doing such an awesome job,” she related. “It’s so important for us to work together toward the same goals — it’s the only way we will be successful. We’re all here to support the Soldier. There is no other reason for us to be here.”

Related links Online: http://1.usa.gov/127f W3f

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

RDECOM personnel chief gives furlough update The INSIDER interviewed U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command personnel chief (G-1) Todd Morris April 24.

What message do you have for the workforce about the proposed furloughs?

I would agree with many in the workforce that the furlough will have a devastating impact on our employees and families. Like much of America, our employees live paycheck-to-paycheck.

The consequences of this are going to be felt at the dinner table and at our families’ homes.

I would also offer that in support of this, I think the Army and the Department of Defense have done a pretty good job at providing resources to help mitigate the impact of this furlough. But, the impacts are still going to be there. I would offer additionally that organizationally there is a tremendous impact to RDECOM. Not only is it a 20-percent reduction in our scientific and engineering output -about a quarter -- when you think through the other financial constraints that have been levied on us of late -- overtime, compensatory time, travel restrictions, hiring freeze -- taken all together, when one considers that RDECOM is an organization that is all about intellectual capital, and what that capital provides for cutting-edge technologies for the warfighter and the Soldier, now and in the future ... levying all of these things on our workforce of scientists and engineers, while we have industry and academia stronger financially every day, waiting in the wings, to scoop up our talent, there is going to be a tremendous secondorder impact to all this in the composition of our workforce. I hope patriotism and dedication carry the day with many of our folks ... as there are offers to entice them away from our organization Is there new furlough?

information

on

the

Remember that RDECOM is a major subordinate command within the Army Materiel Command, which is one of the A- coms - - so AMC has a seat at the table with the Depar tment of the Army at the higher-level discussions. We’ve heard no changes yet, but as soon as there is one AMC will provide us that information.

Todd Morris, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command human resources chief, outlines the impact of the proposed furlough April 24 at his Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., office. (U.S. Army photo

by David McNally)

When will RDECOM employees receive formal notification of furlough?

The furlough period always seems to have been tied to the number of pay periods remaining in the fiscal year. If you recall back to the initial 22-day plan, that was driven by 11 pay periods from proposed implementation to September -- the end of the fiscal year. With the current number that we’re dealing with -14 days -- one would expect that would be accomplished in seven pay periods.

If you count out seven pay periods, that would start with the pay period beginning on June 17 and run through Sept. 20.

If you take that June 17 date and back off 30 days, it gives you the week in the middle of May for a notice of proposed furlough.

Please explain the furlough notification process.

There’s a great deal of work that has to go on because each employee is given a written notification of proposed furlough by their supervisor. The G-1 would end up writing all those notices of proposal -- or all those proposed notices to furlough -- provide them to supervisors and then be issued to the employees.

In the last iteration of this, we didn’t get much time because templates for this are driven from all the way at the top, coming from the Department of the Army, just as a furlough proposal will look.

So you would get that template, put our own employees’ names in the template, provide it to supervisors who would issue it to employees. The RDECOM G-1 would do it for this headquarters only. We’ve been coordinating with the center and lab G-1 offices for some time now on the whole furlough and hiring freeze. They would be doing the letters for their own employees.

The actual process for the proposal to furlough would be done by the first-line supervisors when all the HR shops give supervisors their notices. They will issue [this] to employees 30 days out, so that would be mid-May as we talked about.

The employee and the supervisor would sign the letter. Then that letter would be forwarded to and collected by all the human resources [offices]. The employee has one of two options. The employee can obviously not respond, or agree with the furlough, at which time they will receive a written notice to furlough about 10 days after their initial letter. If an employee chooses to respond to the notice, saying

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER that for some reason they should be exempt from the furlough, or they disagree at some level, they would respond to what the Department of the Army calls a replying official. The replying official is at each of our organizations -- RDECOM has one, each of the centers and lab have one or more. These replying officials would collect response from employees who want to respond -- either written or oral -- and then forward those responses to what they’re calling the deciding official. The deciding official is the appellate authority for the furlough. That is the individual who can grant someone respite from going on the furlough -- the furlough authority. For the Department of the Army, all the deciding officials are the A-com commanders. Remember, our A-com is AMC. For AMC, with a footprint of 70,000 employees, there is no way that Mr. Nerger as the deciding official could collect responses be they oral or written for all those employees if they chose to respond. So, they’ve implemented a process where there is a replying official in each organization to collect these responses and to forward them to the authority, Mr. Nerger.

What about exceptions?

There are a number of published exemptions from DoD and DA. But, the intent is to save money DoD and Army-wide.

So, there’s the ability to reply because it’s an adverse action. It’s called an adverse action not that it’s adverse against any one individual; it has an adverse impact on our employees. By virtue of that, the employee has the ability to respond. But will a response be favorable? I don’t know.

I would certainly call that rare.

What was the RDECOM reaction to the reduction of furlough days?

Absolutely favorable. It’s a great news story for our workforce, for what RDECOM does, for all the work we do, and it gave us some time in the human capital arena to do some more planning for still an anticipated furlough of a shorter time and continue our normal work. The three numbers that I’ve heard, and the official number remains 14 days.

But, the three numbers that I’ve heard are 14 days, seven days and zero days. I think there was a recent article in the Early Bird saying seven days. So, those are the three numbers that I’ve heard bantered about. But, officially from the Department

of the Army, it’s 14 days.

DoD officials are hoping not to repeat furloughs in FY14.

I am absolutely in the same line with all the DoD and DA officials. I hope we never have to go through anything like this again. But, I would offer that through this sequestration period and even before when we were under the Continuing Resolution Authority and we implemented the hiring freeze, over the last couple of months the message has been clear that we are in different times. We’ve been an Army as war for more than 10 years, and now we’re about to come out of that war. In the short term and in the way ahead over the next couple of years is with a tighter belt. We have to change the way we do things -- fiscally. It will be financially a new normal in certainly our organization and the Army.

What is the best way to stay informed?

At a town hall we had a couple of weeks ago we offered a number of slides.

It showed frequently asked questions, resource links ... there’s information available from the Office of Personnel Management, DoD, the Office of the President, from DA ... there are numerous links available. There is no shortage of information on the impact of the furlough, the specifics of the furlough, how it’s conducted, or resources available to mitigate the impact of the furlough. A start point for all that is the RDECOM G-1 SharePoint site. We’ve got all the documents up and the links as well. But, absolutely no shortage of information available to the employee.

Do you have anything else to add?

I would add that this is indicative of times ahead for the Army and our organization -- fiscally. I ask that everyone live through it and endure with the rest of the team because RDECOM performs a vital mission to the defense of our country. We want you to be part of the team. You should stay with the team. We just have to operate under some different conditions, because we’re all tax-paying citizens, and it’s part of something the whole government is doing.

Related links SharePoint: http://go.usa.gov/2A39 RDECOM: http://www.army.mil/RDECOM

Alabama honors AMRDEC directorate

By Heather R. Smith AMRDEC Public Affairs REDSTONE ARSENAL , Ala. — The Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center ’s Engineering Directorate has received an Alabama Per formance Excellence Award.

The award is administered by the AlaQuest Center for Per formance Excellence, which assists organizations to achieve excellence and eff iciency through training and education, workforce de velopment and best practice sharing.

Former ED director Patti Mar tin said the award demonstrates the commitment of the work force to technical excellence and the ef fectiveness of the directorate’s technical processes and par tnerships. Mar tin was director at the time the award application was submitted.

“Recognition for this award demonstrates to ED’s customers our commitment to achieve our vision of maintaining mission excellence and continual focus on the war f ighter,” Mar tin said. “ Because of the comprehensive nature of the Alabama Per formance Excellence Award’s criteria and emphasis on re sults, ED’s recognition for this award means our customers can be assured of receiving best value products and services when they par tner with us.”

The Level 1 Commitment to Excellence Award is granted to organizations that have made a serious commitment to use and implement per formance excellence concepts and principles and have already begun to deploy systematic management and improvement processes.

The directorate is par t of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s aviation and missle center.

Related links AMRDEC: http://bit.ly/TnDs6m Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/Zvhntn

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

RDECOM senior enlisted advisor talks issues The INSIDER inter viewed the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s senior enlisted advisor, Command Sgt. Maj. Leber t Beharie, April 25.

How are we doing at the RDECOM Field Assistance in Science and Technology Center at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan?

It’s a tremendous success. From the warfighter perspective, from the civilians that go over there -- and come back and give us feedback -- it has been a tremendous success. I talk with the leadership over there ... division-level sergeants major, and even the International Security Assistance Force sergeant major. I know him well. He cannot speak more highly about what we’re doing and the capabilities that we provide to the warfighter.

The center consists of Soldiers and civilians from our research centers and labs serving side-by-side with Soldiers in at the front. How does their work impact Soldiers?

It impacts them in a large way. The Rapid Equipping Force and other agencies are looking at what we call the PIF-in-the-box [Prototype Integration Facility] concept where they can take a capability, maybe a reduced capability of something that we have and export it to the warfighter. There is even talk of setting up a reactionary PIF. So, when needed, we would export it to whatever location, and set-up in a moment’s notice.

That’s what we do with our technology and our engineering in RDECOM. We give options. That’s the kind of thinking that goes on within RDECOM. What do Soldiers think of RDECOM’s forward presence in Afghanistan?

Soldiers are excited about this. I had an opportunity about a year ago when I first came onboard to go and talk to Soldiers in combat, using our capabilities that we provide there. What they told me was that RDECOM’s forward presence was extremely successful and was proving to be a great asset to them. They can think of something at any time, and they have a point of contact where they can go and seek a solution. They are very excited about that. They could not be more pleased with what our folks are doing there.

Command Sgt. Maj. Lebert Beharie, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command senior enlisted advisor, talks about recent observations April 25, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. (U.S. Army photo by Conrad Johnson)

Please explain your participation in the 10th annual Soldier Design Competition.

It’s a science, technology, engineering and mathematics outreach program. The Soldier Design Competition focuses on Soldiers’ needs, whether it’s a need that is there today, or a future need.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Institute for Nanotechnology takes the lead for the event. Students from MIT compete against cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

My role was to help decide what areas to pursue and then serve on the competition panel. I believe this event is worthwhile because they’re examining real problems.

The winning project explored a biodegradable, green solution for nuclear, biological and chemical decontamination. They’re looking at enzymes as a solution, as opposed to the corrosive solution we currently have.

It takes a huge amount of effort and assets to decontaminate personnel and equipment under the current system, and it’s not necessarily green. But, it is the best solution we currently have. They’re looking at that as a problem.

The design that they came up with is an enzyme-based design. We’re linking them with

our Edgewood Chemical Biological Center to make sure our folks understand what they’re trying to do.

When we engage them like that, and let them know who we are and what we do, they’re excited. When they find out they’re doing things for Soldiers -- who protect our nation and our Constitution -- they want to help.

We want to engage our students all the way up to the university level. They are who end up in our labs because they feel patriotic, or they feel like they want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They come to our labs to work on things for our Soldiers and our nation. We should continue to engage in STEM events like this.

What’s your take on the proposed DoD furlough?

As you know, we’re a 98 percent civilianbased organization. So a furlough would have a huge impact on RDECOM. Any reduction of finances in this fiscal environment in which we’re operating would have a big impact.

I’ve got family. I understand. People plan how they’re going to make ends meet, how they’re going to pay for their children’s education and how they’re going to put food on the

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER table. Those are real problems. When you talk about taking 20 percent of their pay -- that’s huge.

There will be a solution. We will get to the other side. We want to make sure that no one gets left behind.

RDECOM is looking for ways ... whether it’s financial counseling, or personally counseling someone ... leaders across the organization at each level are looking at these problems and figuring out how we’re going to help the workforce get to the other side. These are our folks.

This affects all of us.

We are deeply concerned. I want to let our workforce know that there are no stones being left unturned in trying to figure out how we can lessen the impact.

There’s always a chance that the DoD and the Army can come back and say that this is not going to happen.

We have to prepare for what we know now.

And what we know now is that there is possibly going to be some furloughs across the command. We have to prepare for it and look at how we’re going to help our civilians.

Again, we’re in this together. This will pass.

May is Family Wellness Month. What is your message?

Wellness is everything. It is total wellness.

It’s not just physically or mentally or financially -- it’s the whole person.

As a young Soldier coming into the Army, it has always been ingrained in us that your total fitness is what’s important.

Because if you cannot function -- if any part of you is not hitting on all cylinders, you’re not as effective as you could be.

It’s the same with our civilians. We have got to make sure that we’re healthy -- physically, financially, spiritually -- the entire person.

Anything else you would like to add?

I would just like to say that I’m extremely proud to be part of this organization. Every day that I interact with our civilian workforce, I see that even in these trying times how excited they are about doing what they do.

Our workforce is all about developing technology solutions for our warfighters -- folks who wear the uniform, like I do.

I am so excited to be a part of that, and a part of this organization.

I wake up every day energized. I want to come to work because of that. You have to want to go to work because you like the people you work with, and you like what you’re doing.

Related links Biography: http://www.army.mil/article/75822

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Maryland’s senior senator, visits APG April 29 for an update. Mikulski spoke with installation leaders and toured RDECOM technology displays.(U.S. Army photo by Conrad Johnson)

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski visits APG, tours RDECOM displays

RDECOM Public Affairs ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Maryland’s senior senator, visited April 29 for an APG update.

Mikulski spoke with senior installation leaders and toured RDECOM technology displays.

“We provided the senator an overview brief highlighting APG’s major commands, APG and CECOM current priorities,” said Maj. Gen. Robert Ferrell, Communications Electronics Command and APG commanding general.

Discussions included the impact of sequestration and the furlough as well as community outreach efforts.

The senator met RDECOM Director Dale Ormond and the RDECOM leadership team for a series of hands-on displays representing key APG programs and research and development efforts.

A key take-away from the visit is the senator’s strong interest and support for science, technology engineering and mathematics, or STEM, education initiatives, Ferrell said.

Mikulski also highlighted a desire to

identify the skills, education and professional development APG’s workforce needs today and for future.

“The senator provided specific recommendations on improving coordination with senior Maryland higher education leaders to determine how we can best match our workforce’s needs with Maryland college and university programs,” Ferrell said.

On the sequestration and furlough, the senator acknowledged the stresses placed on APG and workforce.

“She expressed confidence that the recently passed budget resolution would afford DoD greater certainty and flexibility through the end of the fiscal year, along with her intent to do all she could to further mitigate the impacts of sequestration,” Ferrell said.

Officials said the senator expressed strong praise for the APG workforce, the critical value of the missions performed by APG’s commands, and that the transformation of APG exceeded all of her expectations.

Related links More photos: http://flickr.com/RDECOM Sen. Mikulski: http://www.mikulski.senate.gov/

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

Standing before the new suite of modular appliances for field feeding are (from left) Tony Patti, John Baron and Glenn Doucet, all of whom have contributed to its development at Natick Soldier Systems Center. (U.S. Army photo by David Kamm)

Modular appliances to dramatically improve field feeding

By Bob Reinert USAG-Natick Public Affairs NATICK, Mass. — A versatile new suite of modular appliances promises to make feeding Soldiers in the field a more energyefficient, cleaner, cooler and quieter process.

Product Manager Force Sustainment Systems, or PM FSS, and the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center’s Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate have teamed up to produce prototypes of the new appliances -- powered by JP-8 fuel -- that can be combined, split up and located in any setting from a mobile kitchen to a building.

“We hope to actually be able to utilize these across all our platforms of all sizes,” said Tim Benson, assistant product manager, PM FSS. “Right now, it’s being evaluated in base camp applications.”

The kitchen in a new Force Provider, or FP, 100-person camp will be outfitted with the new appliances, said Benson, “so that they can be directly compared in terms of

what fuel-efficiency gains there are and how that helps operational energy savings.”

The first FP modular kitchen could be completed by May 2013.

“We’re trying to position the Army for a replacement kitchen to completely replace the (Mobile Kitchen Trailer) with what we call the Battlefield Kitchen,” said Benson, “and that would be based around these modular appliances.”

According to Benson, Containerized Kitchens could also be updated with the new appliances.

“These appliances could be used on any kitchen platform,” said Tony Patti, team leader, Equipment and Energy Technology, Combat Feeding. “Their versatility allows you the flexibility to use them in any situation.

“In addition, the modular concept has universal components. That allows you to configure them for different variations.

They’re also able to operate independently, so they can stand on their own for any mission need.”

“You can quickly assemble a kitchen

complete with ventilation inside of a building using these appliances,” said Glenn Doucet, project engineer, Food Service Equipment Team, Combat Feeding. “One of the main reasons we went to this is because they want to bring equipment into buildings.”

Each appliance consists of what Doucet called “the same basic building blocks”: a base, drawer module, cabinet module, heater module, vent hood module, and appliance module. They are easily broken down and moved.

“You can splinter them down off of a kitchen trailer platform and have them all be self-sustaining or self-supporting,” Patti said.

The new appliances would replace the venerable Modern Burner Unit, or MBU, a proven, rugged field appliance. But MBUbased kitchens lack the interchangeability of the modular suite across various platforms, and the current kitchens can produce an average of 85 decibels of noise and reach temperatures of 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

The modular appliances are much quieter

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER and individually vented to pull the heat and exhaust gases out of the kitchen space.

“We have a closed-combustion chamber that transfers the energy to the cook surface more efficiently, and (it) also offers quiet operation, and most importantly, it will take the combustion effluent and duct it out of the kitchen,” Patti said. “It provides clean, quiet combustion that rivals common natural gas or propane appliances typically found in residential homes.”

The goal, said Doucet, is a kitchen that can stay within 10 degrees of the outside temperature.

“In the past, we have tried to cool the kitchens, but there was just too much heat,” Doucet said. “Our new approach is to produce less waste heat and get more of that heat out with an improved ventilation system.”

Sergeant First Class Scott Sickels, the Combat Feeding Research, Development, Technology and Engineering NCO, lauded the inclusion of a “thermal control unit” in the modular appliance suite, the new tilt skillet and the ability of the closed combustion system to vent exhaust gases and heat.

“These modular appliances do not require a cook to stand there and manually turn the dial up and down,” Sickels said. “They automatically sense the temperature and turn the burner on and off as appropriate.

The tilt skillet is a new appliance that is not currently available on any field kitchen platform and is a great addition. These modular appliances will greatly enhance the cook’s ability to perform their mission of feeding today’s war fighters.”

The modular appliances, in development for two years, could use as little as 50 percent of the fuel now needed by appliances that are currently fielded. They require about the same amount of electricity as a light bulb.

“We’ve run these appliances on solar panels in the summertime,” said Patti of the modular suite. “It uses so little power. You can even operate on batteries and let the solar panels do the recharging.”

Reducing weight and cost will be the next goal, if it makes economic and functional sense.

“We’ll probably switch to aluminum on non-structural components someday that not only will reduce weight, but will also reduce cost, as well,” Patti said. “We’re excited to take on those challenges going down the road.”

It’s a road that leads to a future with better, more efficient field feeding.

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/14J424P

U.S. Army announces Federal Virtual Challenge winners ARL Public Affairs ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Army Research Laboratory’s Human Research Engineering Directorate, Simulation and Training Technology Center announced the winners of the 2013 Federal Virtual Challenge at the Defense Users’ GameTech Conference here, April 18.

The challenge featured two distinct focus areas for entries. The first category focused on exploration of how to train critical thinking or adaptability skills in an immersive environment, and measure learners’ progress.

Critical thinking and/or adaptability focus area The winner of the critical thinking and/ or adaptability focus area and $10,000 was Virtual World Activities -- “Compound” from Alice Hayden of H2IT Solutions Inc. and Dr. Filomeno Arenas of the U.S. Air Force Squadron Officer College.

Compound is a virtual team building game developed for the Air University’s Squadron Officer College, Virtual World Activities.

Students learn how to lead a team, how to best delegate and communicate tasks and how to work together to analyze and adapt to the situation; making decisions to accomplish a mission.

Trainees must be able to communicate effectively with one another and to their Navigator who is the only person with access to the map showing the location of mines.

This entry demonstrated both critical thinking and adaptability requiring the learner to reflect, update and work through complex trials.

The game provided a unique team activity that was suspenseful, motivating and challenging while providing a sense of real immersion.

Outbreak: Immersive, Interactive Problem Solving from Tech Wizards, Inc. took home the second place spot with $5,000 and in third place; winning $3,000 was Data Detectives by Dr. Kay McLennan, Tulane University and MOSES Developer/Liaison.

Navigation comprised the second focus area and required entries to examine how to improve user interfaces in virtual environments, specifically for individual and group navigation.

navigation focus area T he w inner of t he navigat i on fo c us area and $10,0 0 0 was VI PE H olo dec k - - N avigat i on Inter fac e by R yan Frost of t he V ir tual Immer sive Training Team at N or t hr up G r umman Tec hnic al Ser vic es.

VI PE H olo dec k ex plore s t he use of t he low c ost , c ommerc ial of t he shelf mot i on c apture system.

T he re sult is a met ho d for t he user to easily move t hrough a vir tual environment t hat feels natural and is easy to lear n and adapt to.

T his ent r y provi ded navigat i on st rate gie s t hat supp o r t a f ir st- per son sho oter t y pe environment .

T he user is able to duc k, jump, do dge, r un, and stop w it h impres sive re sp onse t ime.

User s were out of breat h and f ully engaged in t he ac t ivit y, c ompletely forget t ing t he inter fac e.

Sec ond plac e and $ 5,0 0 0 was awarded to A nalyst Situat i on Ro om

by Rober t Daniel and f inally t he t hird plac e sp ot and $ 3,0 0 0 was sec ured by Immer sive C ollab orat i on - - T hree W ire Systems by A nt hony Cast aneda.

A ll f inalist s were provi ded t ravel ac c ommo dat i ons to demonst rate t heir ent r ie s at t he 2013 D efense G ameTec h User ’s C onferenc e A pr il 17-19.

T he annual event is led by t he U.S. A r my Re searc h, D evelopment and Engineer ing C ommand’s A r my Researc h L ab orator y, Simulat i on and Training Tec hnolo gy C enter.

Related links Army.mil: http://www.fvc.army.mil STTC: http://bit.ly/17vTtzZ

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

RDECOM Chaplain: May is Family Wellness Month Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Juan M. Crockett RDECOM Chaplain Everyone lives for something better to come.

We live by hope. It is what gets us by from one day to the next. Hope is prerequisite to the enjoyment, energy, and endurance which are needed to sustain life.

Author and writer LeRoy Douglas once said, “Hope is one of those things in life you cannot do without.” When hope is gone, courage and life just evaporates. Life starts to fade away.

When hope goes, we begin to die. One of the most profound proverbs states, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled, is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).

Many get training, education and advanced schooling with the hope that one day they will graduate. After graduating, there is the hope of entering a day to enter a great career or new career field. All of us work hard to contribute and on capitalize our skill, trade and professions in hope of helping the organization achieve its mission and goals.

If a person is single, there are dreams and hopes of one day getting married. After marriage, there is the hope of bearing and raising children (most of the time).

For their children, there is the hope to live long enough to get the kids out of the house (lol). After a job well done, Servicemembers and civilians hope to be recognized for promotion and advancement.

Upon completion of a successful career, many hope to retire and receive due benefits from their years of dedicated, devoted and dependable service.

It has been said, that ‘Hope is the anchor of the soul, the stimulus to action, and the incentive to achievement. British author and moralist, Samuel Johnson, once said “Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, sickness and captivity would, without this comfort, be insupportable.”

This ‘belief in a positive outcome regardless of the circumstances in one’s life’ is illustrated in a school project where a high school teacher decided to recognize all of her students. She did this by giving them a blue ribbon and expressed how each one of them makes a difference in her life. She gave each of them three additional ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony. Then, they were to follow up on the results and report back to the class in about a week.

One of the boys in the class went to a junior executive in a nearby organization and honored him for helping him with his career planning.

He gave the executive a blue ribbon; placing it on his shirt. Then he gave him two extra

RDECOM Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Juan M. Crockett speaks with Soldiers and employees at a recent town hall meeting. (U.S. Army photo by Conrad Johnson)

ribbons, and said, “We’re doing a class project on recognition, and we’d like you to go out, find somebody to honor, give them a blue ribbon, and then give them the extra blue ribbons so they can acknowledge two others.”

Later that day the junior executive went in to see his boss, who had been noted, by the way, as being kind of a grouchy fellow. He sat his boss down and he told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius.

The boss seemed very surprised. The junior executive asked him if he would accept the gift of the blue ribbon. His surprised boss said, “Well, sure.”

As he gave him the last extra ribbon, he said, “Would you do me a favor? Would you take this extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody else?”

That night, the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and sat him down. He said, “The most incredible thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of the junior executives came in and told me he admired me.

He gave me a blue ribbon for being a creative genius. Imagine. He also gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to find somebody else to honor. While driving home, I started thinking about whom I would honor and thought about you. I want to honor you.”

He added, “My days are really hectic and when I come home I don’t pay a lot of attention to you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good grades in school; other times, I’m so engulfed and tired that I don’t even acknowledge your presence. Well, I just want to let you know that you do make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. You’re a great kid and I love you!”

The startled boy started to sob and sob, and he couldn’t stop crying. His whole body shook.

He looked up at his father and said through his tears, “I was planning on committing suicide tomorrow, Dad, because I didn’t think you loved me. Now I don’t need to.” What a difference this timely encouragement made in this young boys life. Dr. Karl Menninger, Renown American Psychiatrist and Founder of the Menninger Foundation said, “That hope is a major weapon again the suicide impulse.”

No matter what you are going through in your life, God loves you. He is always looking for an opportunity to encourage you. He may do this in a number in a number of different ways. He may speak to you through Sacred Scriptures, meditation, a song or encouraging words from a friend or loved one.

When his disciples were distressed about the pending death of their leader and friend, Jesus, the LORD took a moment of his time to encourage them and give them hope. He said in John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; Trust also in me.” I have found God to be very trustworthy. He desires that you “prosper and be in good health” (3 John 1:2). When our hope is found in him, we need never lose courage. Regardless of what happens in our world around us, His promises are sure. There is nothing that can keep his Word from coming to pass – no adversity, no pain, no sorrow, no shortage, no furlough, no uncertainty nor any setback. For all God’s promises are “Yes” in him. And so through him we can say “Amen,” to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Once we have received encouragement from God, then we have the responsibility to encourage others. The author of Hebrews urges us to offer hope to one another, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13). Napoleon Bonaparte echoed the same sentiments, when he said, “A leader is a dealer in hope.”

This simple truth gives us comfort and hope in the midst of these tough and challenging times. Politician and Activists, Harvey Milk, once said, “The important thing is not that we can live on hope alone, but that life is not worth living without it”. Let’s make a decision to be proactive in encouraging others. Through our demonstration of encouragement let us support our workforce and community. Our organization will thrive in ways we never imagined.

When we encourage others, we encourage ourselves and the confidence that we have to accomplish the mission increases.

Related links Family Wellness Month: http://bit.ly/11epoRb

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

Research leads to optical-scanning discovery ARL Public Affairs ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The Army’s initial concept of exploring DNA as a tagging and tracking method has led to the discovery of an optical scanning technology that can identify counterfeit electronic components before they are integrated into Army materiel.

Researchers from the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command said the technology provides the capability to identify and track materiel in the absence of external tags or barcodes.

This timely discovery will help address a significant challenge within the Army and DoD: the presence of counterfeit electronic components in military equipment.

A 2011-2012 investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee found overwhelming evidence that international counterfeiters are taking old, sub-standard electronic components and altering them to appear as new, brand-name parts that are then integrated into DoD munitions, aircrafts, sensors, and other electronic devices.

SASC chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, said the “flood of counterfeit parts, overwhelmingly from China, threatens national security, the safety of our troops, and American jobs.”

Although the SASC uncovered the sources of many of these counterfeit parts, an ongoing challenge is to consistently and reliably identify these forgeries and prevent their integration into DoD and Army materiel.

The SASC released a report in May 2012 emphasizing this challenge by documenting “failures by defense contractors and DoD to report counterfeit parts and gaps in DoD’s knowledge of the scope and impact of such parts on defense systems.”

This investigation led to an amendment, signed by President Obama, to stop the integration of counterfeit electronic parts into DoD systems and to address weaknesses in the supply chain.

An Army Research Laboratory-Army Research Office Small Business Innovation Research topic has led to a novel technology that will help address many of the challenges noted in the SASC report.

The SBIR topic, conceived by scientists from ARL-ARO and the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in 2007, called for a study of the properties of DNA to determine if this information-rich natural polymer could be used in a new barcoding system that would provide enhanced security relative to conventional tracking methods.

The DTEK system optically analyzes the surface of an electronic component. (Images courtesy ChromoLogic/Covisus)

The Army partnered with industry by contracting with a California-based company, ChromoLogic, LLC, to explore this SBIR topic.

ChromoLogic developed a tag with a biomimetic barcode that can be aligned in the proper order and decoded by an optical reader, akin to how the sequence of a DNA molecule can be read.

This biomimetic tag and reader system has robust information-storage capabilities that are unambiguous and readily authenticated, with no reagent or material exchange between the tag and reader.

This technology will provide a capability that complements ongoing research led by the Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center, which focuses on embedding DNA in printed barcodes, which can be transferred to a reference test ticket to verify authentic military materiel.

Interestingly, as is often true for high-risk, high-payoff research, this project led to an unexpected discovery that may have an even greater impact than was initially conceived.

The research team, led by principal investigator Dr. Naresh Menon and project manager Leonard Nelson, discovered that the optical scanning technology developed to decode the biomimetic tag is capable of mapping the intrinsic surface of electronic components, providing a type of fingerprint to distinguish authentic or counterfeit circuits.

Nelson said when “illegitimate electronic components’ surfaces are altered, the counterfeiters do it in a way that is very difficult for human observers to detect‚Ķbelieve it or not, the fake ones look better than the real ones.”

Given that counterfeit electronic com-

ponents are forged chiefly by altering their surface layers, this discovery provides a powerful method for screening integrated circuits based on their intrinsic surface patterns, which can be scanned in as little as one second.

ChromoLogic has developed this surfacescanning technology into the DTEK system, which provides quantitative optical inspection of integrated circuits.

Dr. Stephanie McElhinny, ARL-ARO program manager for the ChromoLogic project, noted that the development and use of this optical scanner for detecting surface fingerprints “is an incredible example that illustrates how research discoveries can guide a project to an outcome that would never have been predicted, and serves as a strong argument for the continued support of high-risk research to enable new Army capabilities.”

The DTEK system recently began evaluation through multiple electronics manufacturers, and the technology has already been adopted by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Boeing.

McElhinny and ARO Military Deputy Lt. Col. Timothy Warner attended a site demonstration of the DTEK system at Boeing’s Huntington Beach location in 2012.

The ARL-ARO representatives were shown the quality assurance process at Boeing and the role that the DTEK system will play in authenticating circuits for use in DoD contracts.

According to Warner, the importance of this technology is evident “when one considers the implications of an illegitimate circuit making its way into Army materiel--it could cause a 10-fold reduction in service life, or worse--it could cause the failure of an aircraft or targeting system while in operation, putting lives at risk.”

The DTEK system, used as part of a comprehensive counterfeit-mitigation process, may reduce the influx of forgeries into Army materiel and improve the reliability of mission-essential equipment used by the Soldier.

The DTEK optical scanning technology is also capable of identifying and tracking materiel in the absence of external tags or barcodes.

The research team is working with Picatinny Arsenal and the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center to develop a hand-held scanner that can be used for covert tracking and management of high-value Army commodities.

Related links ARL: http://bit.ly/12J9UH2

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

Field Assistance in Science and Technology personnel attend orientation and reach-back training at RDECOM’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center at Detroit Arsenal, Mich., in September 2010.

Members of the RDECOM Field Assistance in Science and Technology-Center at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in October 2012. (U.S. Army photos)

RFAST-C engineers and technicians discuss prototype integration facility capabilities at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in June 2012.

RDECOM team spans globe for science, technology solutions

By Dan Lafontaine RDECOM Public Affairs ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — U.S. Army science advisors are embedded with major units around the world to speed technology solutions to Soldiers’ needs.

The Field Assistance in Science and Technology program’s 30 science advisors, both uniformed officers and Army civilians, provide a link between Soldiers and the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s thousands of subject matter experts.

Jim Gibson, director of FAST within RDECOM, said the program has assisted Soldiers since 1985 on issues that include weaponry, language translation, night-vision devices, batteries and communications systems.

“The common theme then and now is the need came from Soldiers. The science advisor would go out there and say, ‘What are your problems? What are areas that are cumbersome to deal with?’” Gibson said.

FAST’s footprint reaches five combatant

commands, 10 Army service component commands and major commands, three Corps (I, III, XVIII), and three combat training centers around the world.

DELIVERING RAPID SOLUTIONS Because science advisors are embedded in a single location for an average of three years, they are better able to address a unit’s unique demands, such as cold-weather conditions in Alaska or paratroopers’ needs at Fort Bragg, N.C., Gibson said.

Soldiers of the 59th Signal Battalion with U.S. Army Alaska encountered difficulties in 2011 with a communications system, the SIPR NIPR Access Point. The SNAP terminals’ antenna assembly was not protected from extreme cold during winter.

FAST science advisor Paul Thakur led the effort by fielding radomes, weatherproof structures that protect radar antenna. He worked with RDECOM’s communications and electronics SMEs to evaluate several vendor systems for a solution that enabled the use of the SNAP terminals during field

exercises in all weather conditions.

For the XVIII Airborne Corps, science advisor Dr. Ellen Segan, Maj. William Davis and RDECOM’s Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center helped provide an interim solution to a long-standing paratrooper challenge of rapidly locating designated assembly areas and heavy drop platforms during night operations.

The FAST team implemented a commercial-off-the-shelf product with beacons, detectable by paratroopers’ wristworn devices, providing necessary direction and distance information for the Soldiers to reassemble into a coordinated force.

DEPLOYING TO THEATER Army Materiel Command started FAST with two science advisors -- one in Germany and one in South Korea -- to address the lack of a connection between Soldiers and the Army’s research, development and engineering centers. FAST was formalized under AMC in 1988.

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER At that time, the primary focus was on longer-term projects to reduce maintenance and operational costs with improvements to fielded systems. The program changed significantly in May 2003 to providing quickreaction capabilities as Operation Iraqi Freedom began, Gibson said.

Gen. Paul Kern, then-commanding general of AMC, moved FAST from AMC to the newly created RDECOM. Science and Technology Assistance Teams, composed of an officer, a noncommissioned officer and a civilian engineer, were introduced and began sixmonth deployments in Iraq.

“Hostilities started and within the first couple of months of the war, General Kern said, ‘You have to get science advisors down range.’ That was a new mission, forward deployed with combat units,” Gibson said.

“We’ve never had a shortage of civilian volunteers for these dangerous assignments,” he continued. “I initially thought this was going to be a challenge for us, but it hasn’t been the case. With the Special Forces task force, we had one civilian requirement and 22 volunteers.”

FAST support to OIF continued until December 2011 when the United States withdrew from Iraq. FAST teams entered Afghanistan in 2006.

The command deployed its engineering capability directly to theater in 2011 with the establishment of the RDECOM FAST-Center, known as RFAST-C, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. The team of civilian engineers and technicians from across RDECOM brought a prototype fabrication facility to Soldiers in a combat zone.

Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, deputy for acquisition and systems management for the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, visited RFAST-C Jan. 15. He served as RDECOM’s deputy commanding general from October 2009 to May 2011.

“Visiting the RFAST-C really showed the power of the material enterprise team in action. Great civilian scientists and engineers operating on the forward edge of the battlefield to rapidly provide solutions to our Soldiers,” Greene said. “We saw a number of innovative solutions that provide increased capability to our Soldiers in record time.”

LINKING ARMY S&T COMMUNITY, SOLDIERS FAST’s three elements are the science advisors; quick reaction cells at RDECOM’s seven research, development and engineering centers; and headquarters staff at APG. Before science advisors begin their

assignments, they participate in two weeks of training to become familiar with all facets of RDECOM because they will represent the entire command, not just their home organizations.

Once the science advisors identify a need and collect the problem statements, they submit a request for information to FAST headquarters. RFIs range from a simple question to a major capability gap.

“The quick reaction cells at the RDECs and ARL are a small group of people dedicated to working with science advisors, getting the requirements in, and then working with their people to get the right SMEs,” Gibson said. “After the SMEs come up with the design, the prototyping effort is done at the [prototype integration facilities].”

FAST focuses on technical areas in which RDECOM has a capability to solve the issue.

Because FAST science advisors represent the entire Army’s science and technology community, the program partners with other organizations on issues outside the purview of RDECOM, Gibson said. Common partners are the Rapid Equipping Force, Corps of Engineers and Medical Command.

FAST also supports major training exercises such as Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, a combined effort between South Korea and the United States. Through a team of seven FAST personnel across South Korea, RDECOM’s goals were to identify capability gaps and find viable solutions as well as demonstrate the value of science and technology during a major exercise.

Benét Laboratories leads challenge

By John B. Snyder USAG-Watervliet Public Affairs

RDECOM civilians selected as science advisors gain valuable experience from the assignments, Gibson said. More than 200 civilian engineers and scientists have participated.

“We see these opportunities to be a science advisor as a great developmental opportunity for the civilian scientists and engineers,” he said. “When they come back with these new skill sets from the operational Army, the command can use them in a job with greater responsibility.”

The command also benefits by gaining a better understanding of Soldiers’ diverse needs around the world.

“By being aware of what current requirements are, one of the benefits to RDECOM is tailoring the investment portfolio strategy in R&D,” Gibson said.

WATERVLIET ARSENAL, N.Y. — The Army’s Benét Laboratories announced it is program manager for a $250,000 Defense Department challenge that began earlier this month to harness private sector advance manufacturing and intelligence innovation in hopes to make defense manufacturing, such as at the Watervliet Arsenal, more efficient and competitive.

John P. Snyder, Ph.D., who is a senior mechanical engineer with the Army’s Benét Laboratories at the Watervliet Arsenal and who is also the program manager for the challenge, said that DoD entered the first phase of what is called the MTConnect Challenge, April 12.

“The challenge is essentially a tool for DoD to reach outside of the defense research and development fence line to domestic academia and industry, via MTConnect protocol, to stimulate thought and development of tools and applications that will enhance defense manufacturing capabilities,” Snyder said.

DoD-operated manufacturing centers have hundreds, if not thousands, of machines that for the most part operate independently, Snyder said.

Defense manufacturing does not have a standard communication program and that is where the MTConnect protocol comes in, he said.

“Imagine if we could communicate in real time with every machine, using a common standard, how much clearer a manufacturing center’s common operational picture would be,” Snyder said.

DoD has two main goals for the challenge, Snyder said.

“The first goal is to motivate domestic software and system experts who would develop the applications, using the MTConnect standard, that have the potential to make defense manufacturers more efficient and competitive,” Snyder said. “The second goal is to then take those award winning concepts and to create the tools that could be adopted by DoD, to include the Watervliet Arsenal.”

Benét Laboratories is a Department of the Army research, development and engineering facility. It is a part of the Weapons & Software Engineering Center, Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center, which is located at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/ZvsTVE

Related links More info: http://mtconnect.challenge.gov

BENEFITS TO THE COMMAND, SCIENCE ADVISORS

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

Andy Nichols of ForceProtector Gear and Sarah Ross of the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center take shelter beneath the ThermaShield thermal blanket during recent testing at Natick’s Doriot Climatic Chambers. (U.S. Army photo by David Kamm)

Natick testing beneficial in uncertain climate

By Bob Reinert USAG-Natick Public Affairs

NATICK, Mass. — In an era of budgetary uncertainty, the Doriot Climatic Chambers at Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center recently conducted tests that not only saved taxpayer money, but generated revenue.

According to Josh Bulotsky, Doriot’s manager, a private company came to the chambers to conduct three days of testing on two items, including one being looked at under the Soldier Enhancement Program, or SEP, which seeks to “expedite the fielding of Soldier equipment.” In a mutually beneficial arrangement, the company paid to use the chambers for the testing and made the resulting data available to Natick.

“We (used) almost every component of the chamber, environmentally,” Bulotsky said. “You’ve got the heat, you’ve got the

humidity, you have the wind, you have the (solar) lights.”

ForceProtector Gear, or FPG, of San Fernando, Calif., was testing its ThermaShield and Survivor Blanket against the standard-issue Army poncho and field tarp to measure the heatreflective capabilities of each. Tests were run at 80, 110 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Although the company paid for it, they went to an independent government agency for testing,” said Darren Bean, an equipment specialist with Product Manager Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment at Natick. “Normally, it’s the other way around. They came to us, so Josh brought income into the organization and I can rely on those data. We can trust (Doriot), and we can come watch the testing as it happens.”

Ironically, Bean was planning to do tests on the FPG ThermaShield as part

of the SEP. As he pointed out, more than 6,000 of the items are in the field, bought off the shelf, and Soldiers have already provided positive feedback about them.

“Our goal was to test it to find out if it had any value before we invested the year’s worth of effort and money into doing a full-blown program of record,” Bean said. “The (SEP) concept’s called ‘buy, try, decide’ -- buy a few, try them out, and decide if it was worth it.”

FPG’s testing at Doriot helped streamline the SEP process.

“This is great for us, because this is going to save us tons of money and tons of time,” Bean said. “They have agreed to share their data with us. Everything they did in there, which they paid for, they’re going to share those data with us, which saves us thousands of dollars.”

The chambers have always been available to the military services and to private industry. Bulotsky will continue to

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER encourage their use.

“We definitely like to entertain private companies,” Bulotsky said. “Especially with the addition of the solar lights, we’re going to probably get a lot of private companies that want to come in and do testing that’s like this.”

Bulotsky referred to the 18 1,500watt metal halide vapor lamps that are designed to test the effects of solar load on objects in Doriot’s Tropic Chamber.

At one point, FPG’s ThermaShield was reflecting 230 degrees from those lights.

The temperature below the 6-by-10-foot, three-layer thermal blanket was 100 degrees cooler.

“That’s pretty significant,” Bean said.

“That’s going to reduce the heat strain on (the Soldier), allowing him to work harder, longer, smarter. It was hot enough that we could fry an egg on the top of the tarp.

That’s how hot it was, literally. But below was tolerable -- hot, but tolerable.”

FPG had done the cold-weather portion of its testing last summer at the Cold Regions Test Center at Fort Greely, Alaska. Andy Nichols, FPG’s director of Fielding and Integration and a retired Navy master chief, said that the company’s decision to do its heat testing at Natick was an easy one.

“Natick is basically the last word in testing,” Nichols said. “I couldn’t have asked for better service (and) help. The results were fascinating. The investment in these testing centers verifies our internal testing data from opposite ends of the environmental spectrum and culminates our ten years of ThermaShield development.”

As Bean noted, the ThermaShield isn’t correcting a flaw in the current field tarp.

“This does something we didn’t ask the field tarp to do,” Bean said. “It could be a replacement for the field tarp, or it could be something completely separate. The field tarp was not designed to necessarily reflect heat. It’s more of a waterproof tarp.”

If the ThermaShield ultimately does find its way into the Army’s inventory, the three days of testing at Doriot will have helped ease the transition.

“We save money and we rapidly transition this item into the field and get an approved capability in the hands of the Soldier, that much cheaper, that much quicker,” Bean said. “I don’t see how this could have worked out any better, really.”

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/WZ7anw

New electronic warfare tool offers innovative approach ARL Public Affairs WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. — Army electronic warfare teams recently developed a powerful new tool to investigate survivability, lethality and vulnerability in Defense Department systems.

Scientists from the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s research laboratory came up with the Optimized Modular EW Network, or OMEN. By controlling waveforms, power, timing and digital signal processing capabilities, the teams accurately replicate the electromagnetic environment in which DoD systems must operate.

“In the current environment, with advancements in technology, telecommunications and electronics, we cannot build single-point solutions to test or analyze systems,” said Shane Cunico, Experimental Support Branch chief at White Sands Missile Range. “The technology that we are trying to counter is moving so fast that we cannot play catch-up.”

OMEN represents a paradigm shift away from developing single-point solutions towards creating flexible, upgradable systems. This approach allows systems to be easily adapted for use across a variety of tests and experiments.

The device is made up from a waveform generator and an amplifier, which together occupy roughly two cubic feet, making the system highly portable.

The system is reprogrammable. One moment it can generate a waveform that replicates a complex radar system, then it switches to emitting a waveform that can jam a radio.

Multiple OMEN systems can be linked in the field or hardwired into a lab test or anechoic chamber to produce a highly controllable, dynamic and complex EW environment.

In developing OMEN, The U.S. Army Research Laboratory’s Survivability and Lethality Analysis Directorate adopted what officials called, “a better, faster and easier” approach, which resulted in a modular design that is highly adaptable.

Its systems and subsystems operate within an open-architecture format: all subsystems are independently upgradable and have associated interface control documentation to allow for future modification and growth.

Because the OMEN’s computer and

Shown is a diagram of the OMEN system. (U.S. Army graphic)

receiver can be upgraded individually -- a key first -- OMEN’s functionality can continually increase, which ensures that it will be capable of replicating the electromagnetic environment of the battlefield of tomorrow.

In contrast, the typical approach to building an EW-test system has been to identify the functions required to execute a specific test and then design a system with the sole purpose of performing identified functions.

This approach resulted in single-pointsolution systems that, although highly effective within a specific test, lacked flexibility, breadth of utility and efficiency.

For most systems, adding additional functions requires significant modifications or a redesign--if the system is even capable of such adaptation.

Designing a multifunction-solution system requires a high investment of resources and time, so subsystems are independently upgradable. But the result, officials said, is a flexible and easily adaptable system that, while complex in its development, is necessary for operating in the rapidly changing threat environment.

As one of the first multifunction solutions at ARL, OMEN exemplifies an advanced approach to system design. Developed upon ARL/SLAD’s unrivaled expertise and experience in EW SLV analysis, OMEN’s modular design and open-architecture format ensure that it will remain a fundamental resource for ARL’s EW capability in the future. “We have to have adaptability and be agile enough to develop modular, upgradable systems,” Cunico said. “If we don’t, we will always be behind the power curve and chasing the adversary who will always have the upper hand.”

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/127qGP6

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

Boston Marathon tragedy touches the lives of NSRDEC, Natick employees, families Bob Reinert USAG-Natick Public Affairs NATICK, Mass. — About five minutes earlier, Shivaun Pacitto had crossed the finish line in the 117th Boston Marathon. She was milling about with hundreds of other runners who were waiting to receive their medals and space blankets to ward off the spring chill.

Pacitto, a research psychologist with the Consumer Research Team at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, was a bit disappointed with her time of 4 hours 3 minutes, 37 seconds, but she otherwise was enjoying the atmosphere before that instant when everything changed.

“All of a sudden, I heard a loud boom, and it shook through my body,” Pacitto recalled.

“And I turned back and I said, ‘Oh, my God.’ And then I heard a second one, and I fell to my knees. A runner picked me up and he said, ‘You have to run. There might be another (bomb) at the finish line.’”

Her husband, Gary Pacitto, chief of the engineering division of the Directorate of Public Works for U.S. Army Garrison Natick, also heard the explosions but couldn’t see them from where he was standing. As others ran in the other direction, Gary jumped a fence and sprinted toward the finish line on Boylston Street.

“All I could think of was Shivaun,” Gary said. “When I got there, there was just mayhem. There (were) people coming in wheelchairs without legs. It was devastating to see how many people were injured and how injured they were.”

Gary finally reached the finish line but couldn’t find his wife.

“I walked to the side of the road, and I prayed that she was OK, because I didn’t know where she was,” Gary said. “And then the phone rang, and it was her.”

Pacitto had borrowed a cell phone from another runner and called her husband.

They, their young sons and other family members made it to Boston Common but still didn’t feel safe.

“We got stuck in Boston for hours,” Pacitto said. “We were afraid to take the train home.

We didn’t know what was going on with other bombings. My brother came into the city and picked us up and we got home safely.”

The Pacittos said the day after the marathon was worse for them.

“Families that have lost lives and have

Shivaun Pacitto (center) of the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center is reunited with husband, Gary Pacitto (left) and other members of her family April 15 after the Boston Marathon. Pacitto crossed the finish line just minutes before the bombs detonated. (Courtesy photo by Moira Roach)

injured, you know, how do you pray for them in a way that can reach their families to give them comfort?” Gary said. “That’s the hardest part about today, is realizing that there’s so many people affect by this and so many families that will never be the same.

Today, it was hard realizing there was an 8-year-old boy who died, and others (who) died.”

Lt. Col. Tim Haley, a physician assigned to the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, knows exactly how Gary Pacitto feels. He was helping elite runners who needed medical treatment earlier in the race and was eating at a nearby restaurant when the explosions took place.

In the confusion, first responders wouldn’t allow him back into the medical area.

“I know that an 8-year-old died,” said Haley, a pediatrician by training. “It was sort of frustrating for me.”

At the same time, running between miles 23 and 24 of the race, Mike Nixon came upon spectators on the course and runners walking the opposite way. The ex-Marine wondered what was happening.

“So I was a couple miles away (from the finish line) at that point,” Nixon said. “I had my headphones in. Nobody knew what was going on.”

It soon became all too apparent to Nixon, a program analyst with the Expeditionary Basing and Collective Protection Directorate at NSRDEC.

“I ran into some of my running club friends,” said Nixon, who has run three marathons.

“They flagged me down. They were shouting at me because I had my headphones in, and I stopped. They were like, ‘It’s over. A bomb went off at the finish.’ It was kind of like September 11th in the way you’re getting information from other people but you’re not sure what’s really going on.”

Nixon’s thoughts immediately went to his wife, daughter and other family members, who were planning to meet him after the race.

“And I said, ‘Oh, my God, my family’s at the finish,’” Nixon said. “And then, of course, I started texting and trying to call, frantically, to make sure everybody was OK. And everybody was OK, thankfully. They hadn’t made it down yet to that point.

“The phones weren’t working very well for obvious reasons, but the text messages were pretty quick, so thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as 9/11, because I remember being in South Carolina and trying to call home. I was in the Marines at the time.”

Behind Nixon on the marathon course in Framingham was Wes Long, an equipment specialist at Natick’s Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate. Long was on hand in his capacity as an auxiliary police officer.

“We were able to ensure that marathon ran smoothly and safely through the Framingham section,” Long said. “I am truly

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER saddened by the events that unfolded at the finish line. My thoughts, prayers and support go out to the victims and their families.

“Also, thank you to all the police officers, firemen, EMTs, first responders, military and anyone else who helped and continues to help during these difficult times. We stand together.”

Earlier in the day, Jenna Scisco, a research psychologist for the Military Nutrition Division of USARIEM, had served as one of the volunteers who guided buses from Boston and greeted runners as they arrived at the starting line in Hopkinton.

Fortunately, she wasn’t near the finish line, but she shared some thoughts about the events of the day.

“I am praying for those who lost their lives and were injured, and for their families and friends,” Scisco said. “It is so difficult to understand what happened yesterday, and so hard to imagine the pain and suffering that those directly affected by this tragedy are experiencing.”

Scisco pointed out that more than 20,000 athletes had taken part in the race and raised millions for charity, and that more than 8,000 volunteers had turned out to help them achieve their goals. Then, when tragedy struck, they went the extra mile for each other.

“Race organizers, first responders, spectators, volunteers, and runners risked their own safety and came to the aid of the injured,” Scisco said. “In the midst of this terrible tragedy, we saw the strength and inherent goodness of humanity shine through.”

After enduring minutes that seemed like hours, Mike Nixon used the GPS in his cell phone and was reunited with his family. His third marathon attempt had been cut short, but it became apparent it wouldn’t be his last.

“My reaction to this kind of stuff is, I’m not going to let them control me via fear, you know?” Nixon said. “You gotta stay strong.

You gotta think of the good things. This could have been so much worse.”

Shivaun Pacitto was just as unflinching as Nixon.

“The Boston Marathon means too much to our city or even to our nation,” Pacitto said. “It’s an international event that we’re so proud of, and I just don’t want it to be tarnished like this. You know, I’ve thought about it, and I would (run again) because I don’t want to live in fear. I will not let whoever did this win.”

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/Zvuc71

Under Secretary of the Army Dr. Joseph Westphal gets a tour from Edgewood Chemical Biological Center leaders, March 28 at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. (U.S. Army photo)

Under Secretary of the Army visits chemical, biological center ECBC Communications ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Under Secretary of the Army Joseph W. Westphal visited the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s chemical biological center March 28 as part of a demonstration organized by the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense.

Tim Blades, Edgewood Chemical Biological Center’s Chemical Biological Application and Risk Reduction Business Unit operations director, met with Westphal. The tour included several destruction equipment static displays that have been used around the world for the elimination of chemical agents. The rapid prototype integration facility also displayed recent engineering designs for prototyp elimination systems.

Westphal toured the Prototype Detonation and Test Destruction Facility, showing the Army’s capability to provide field deployable solutions for weapons of mass destruction elimination.

A field site illustrated deployable equipment -- the vapor containment structure, electrical generators, chemical agent filtration systems and the Multiple Power Distribution System --used to support an elimination or remediation mission onsite at home and abroad.

“ECBC’s role was to provide some visibility of our rapid prototyping solutions for weapons of mass destruction elimination,” Blades said.

“We’ve been working with [Advanced Design and Manufacturing Division] for the last two months on a high-priority project and it has really been an excellent learning experience. ADM

has some neat design tools that have worked well with the things that CBARR does.”

CBARR’s partnership with the Advanced Design and Manufacturing Division within ECBC’s Engineering Directorate was part of the reason for Westphal’s visit.

Officials said the center’s highly-skilled workforce has expertise in research and technology and engineering and operations as well as a proven history of successful field remediation missions.

“This is the first time CBARR is working with ADM in this capacity,” Blades said. “It’s a collaborative effort to formulate a concept into a working solution, and they’ve really been a part of that. Working together we can take a problem, figure out the tool that best works for the job, test it ... and then implement it into our missions--and that’s pretty powerful.”

The rapid prototyping capability allows CBARR maintenance technicians, operators and chemists to work with ADM’s engineers to design new solutions for elimination, he said.

During his visit, Westphal met with Soldiers and civilians, and emphasized the role Team CBRNE has in informing the national defense.

Team CBRNE is composed of ECBC, JPEOCBD, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency -Joint Science and Technology Office, the 20th Support Command, the Chemical Materials Activity, Program Executive Office-Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, and the U.S. Army Public Health Command.

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/ZvxpUa

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

U.S., German Army leaders see scientific collaboration crucial to military success T’Jae Gibson U.S. Army Research Laboratory ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The U.S. Army and Germany’s ministry of defence’s senior executives that are responsible for research and technology programs met at Aberdeen Proving Ground, April 9-10, as part of ongoing discussions to expand collaborative research efforts to adopt or develop technological capabilities to meet far-reaching future military needs.

Mary J. Miller, the U.S. Army’s deputy assistant secretary for research and technology, sketched details concerning the pervasive challenges the U.S. Army faces in force protection, tactical intelligence, logistics, training, and maneuverability, and how collaboration with a coalition of industry, U.S. military, universities, and international partners creates opportunities to exploit novel scientific opportunities and access to fundamental science and technology solutions.

She said the Army continues to “face a complicated scenario” of splitting its attention between science and technology capabilities currently in existence, and forecasting warfighter needs for future combat. “Our investments predominately reside in the future force,” and that the U.S. Army’s technology base can solve the urgencies of warfare.

U.S. Army research and technology advisors stationed in Germany facilitate fundamental research grants with European academic, government, and industry representatives, which create American military access to foreign technologies and material solutions. Science and engineering knowledge and technical capabilities in areas relevant to the overall U.S. Army mission are uncovered by the Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command’s, ot RDECOM’s, International Technology Center in Frankfurt.

Beyond the state of the art, Soldier equipment has to be agile and adaptable for different operational scenarios, American and German Army technology leaders agree, but Germany’s approach to technology solutions resides at the defense -- rather than service -- level, unlike in the U.S. Brig. Gen. Thomas Czirwitzky, Ph.D., the research and technology and international affairs division head in Germany’s Ministry of Defence, said his office looks for

Dale Ormond, (center) Research, Development and Engineering Command director, talks with Brig. Gen. Thomas Czirwitkzy, the research and technology and international affairs division head in Germany’s Ministry of Defence April 9 at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. (U.S. Army photos by Conrad Johnson) The U.S. Army and Germany’s ministry of defence’s senior executives that are responsible for research and technology programs met here April 9-10 as part of ongoing discussions to expand collaborative research efforts to adopt or develop technological capabilities to meet farreaching future military needs.

technological capabilities that can be applied across systems and programs to achieve military missions and goals regardless of which service -- German Air Force, Navy, or Army -- created the capability.

But that amalgamation exists in part because of Germany’s smaller military footprint in comparison to America’s. The U.S. diversity of missions and sheer size of budgets and military forces account for differences in the program management of major technology capabilities. At the working level, however, bench scientists and researchers know their counterparts at other services and share intellectual

property to arrive at solutions that can be applied across the Department of Defense.

“PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN OUR ALLIES IMPORTANT” Dale Ormond, RDECOM director, told the group that the more the U.S. Army research and technology community collaborates with U.S. allies, the better served the military will be. He said collaboration to meet modern warfare requirements relies on coalitions, and the more American that can access diverse knowledge to contribute to the achievement of interoperability is a wise investment.

“Common approaches and common equipment means greater combat power.

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER The more we take advantage of technical expertise, the better we will be,” he said.

RDECOM’s U.S. Army Research Laboratory, or ARL, where the majority of the two-day session will occur, has many international agreements with Germany spanning a wide range of technologies and potential future capabilities. These arrangements include sharing of information, as well as specific research, development, technology, and engineering projects to achieve mutual goals and objectives.

Within that framework, ARL is working with Germany on scalable effects of weapons and modeling and simulation of human information processing in networkcentric warfare technologies.

ARL and Germany are also developing robust optical imagers under a hyperspectral imaging program that could lead to advancements in the standoff detection of chemical and biological agents, as well as targets and backgrounds.

The German Liaison Office for Defense Material, located in Reston, Va., maintains a close eye on U.S. and Canadian technology for use in its armed forces. According to the Germany’s Federal Foreign Office website, more than 1,600 members of the armaments section have been deployed for a year with the U.S. armed forces under various exchange programmes since 1964, and more than 160 members of the U.S. armaments section have already assumed responsibilities at Federal Armed Forces facilities. The Federal Foreign Office represents Germany’s interests to the world.

RDECOM is the Army’s technology leader and largest technology developer. It provides the Army with an organic research and development capability. It employs more than 17,000 Soldiers, civilian employees and direct contractors, many of whom are the Army’s leading science and engineering experts in their fields.

A fundamental characteristic of this workforce is the focus on the Soldier.

Whether providing technology solutions to meet current operational needs or developing breakthrough technologies for the next generation, RDECOM stands at the forefront of what the Soldier eats, wears, fires, flies, or drives.

The U.S. Army’s Research and Technology program spans 16 laboratories and centers, with more than 11,000 scientists and engineers and a yearly budget of just over $2 billion dedicated to empowering, unburdening, and protecting Soldiers.

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/ZvziAk

James Nelson, U.S. Army Research Laboratory Simulation and Training Technology Center operations chief, takes a literal Leap of Faith.

STTC operations chief takes leap of faith

Michelle Milliner ARL-STTC Public Affairs ORLANDO, Fla. —Leap of Faith is a three-day seminar and growth experience created by Operation Support Our Troops -America for family members who have lost a loved one while serving on active duty.

It addresses grief and loss and teaches principles of courage, trust, letting go and building community. ” James Nelson, operations chief at the Army Research Laboratory’s Simulation and Training Technology Center and his family are beginning to live the “new normal.” Last June, their lives were turned upside down by the tragic loss of their 20-year-old son, U.S. Army Spc. Brenden Salazar. Just 10 days after Brenden’s unit arrived in Afghanistan, his unit was struck with an improvised explosive device. The attack took the lives of both Brenden and Spc. Justin L. Horsley, and severely wounded two others.

“On day one, Dr. Doug Mckinley led sessions on living life after loss.” Nelson said.

“He focused on teaching us to explore the other side of grief by living life with conviction and passion to honor Brenden.”

The second day attendees assembled at Homestead Air Base to meet up with the World famous U.S. Army Golden Knights to take the “Leap of Faith”; skydiving tandem from 13,000 feet.

The United States Army Parachute Team, nicknamed and commonly known as the Golden Knights, is a demonstration and competition parachute team drawn from U.S. Army paratroopers who have demonstrated excellence.

While not all attendees chose to jump,

they were encouraged to discover their own “Leap of Faith” and commit to taking it.

“Both Jovanna and I jumped, it was the most peaceful time of my life,” Nelson said. “I was the first one in our aircraft to jump out so I had to sit in the door during the ascent up which was very scary.”

Nelson said he was ready to jump by the time they got to 12,000 feet. When jumped, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, he said.

“During our free fall, we glimpsed a small little rainbow in the clouds that we tried to fly through,” he said. “I believe it was Brenden smiling down and showing me he was there and he was ok.

It seems the highlight of the seminar was the final day. Nelson and his family, along with the other families, were given the opportunity to swim with the dolphins at the Key Largo Dolphin Rescue.

“We were in the water for almost an hour with the dolphins,” he said. “We were able to swim with them, give them commands to sing, dance, jump, and clap. Of the three days, we felt that was the best experience.”

“The interaction with the dolphins was very therapeutic, you could see a sense of concern in their eyes, like they knew what we were feeling and they wanted to help.

“For me,” he pauses. “It was the first time in seven months that I did not think of Brenden consistently -- I felt peace.”

Leap of Faith seminars are held twice a year, in Chicago, Ill. in August and Homestead, Fla. in February. For more information on Leap of Faith contact: goldstar@osotamerica.org.

Related links More info: http://bit.ly/12J1wHs

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

Brian Scott, who works at Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, is deploying to Afghanistan as a Reservist with the 344th Military Police Company. During a 2008 deployment to Iraq, Scott’s life was saved by his Advanced Combat Helmet during an improvised explosive device attack.

(U.S. Army photo by David Kamm)

Natick wounded warrior, Reservist deploying to Afghanistan

By Alexandra Foran NSRDEC Public Affairs NATICK, Mass. — Staff Sgt. Brian Scott is getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan as a squad leader with the 344th Military Police Company, an Army Reserve unit out of Massachusetts, after being wounded in Iraq only five years ago.

On Aug. 28, 2008, Scott’s four-vehicle convoy was on a mission to an Iraqi police station. The vehicles were cutting across two main supply routes to get to the station. Scott was in the second vehicle, and an improvised explosive device, known as an IED, went off between his vehicle and the first vehicle.

“We had to stop and set up security and make calls to (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) and get an outer perimeter security out there,” Scott said. Iraqi National Police took care of outer perimeter security, but “they weren’t fully doing the job at the time, so I was in charge of interpreters.”

“The (Advanced Combat Helmet) is something that saved my life,” Scott said.

“It took most of the shrapnel when we got hit.”

— Brian Scott

Scott had an interpreter in his vehicle who had to be moved to the vehicle behind them to speak to the Iraqi National Police and let them know to start tightening up security on the outside. That’s when the unexpected happened.

“As soon as our vehicle backed up, we were hit with another IED,” Scott said. “I was cognizant, it knocked me out for a good thirty seconds, but after that I slowly started coming back to reality again, and that’s when I realized that I had lost my gunner, that my driver was injured, and my vehicle was disabled.”

Scott suffered from a traumatic brain injury, or TBI. He had shrapnel that was embedded in his left temple that is still

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER there, as well as back injuries.

“The (Advanced Combat Helmet) is something that saved my life,” Scott said.

“It took most of the shrapnel when we got hit.

“I was in a wheelchair at first, then a walker, then a cane and then nothing.”

— Brian Scott “After the blast, they tried to take me out first, but I said, ‘No, leave me here take care of my Soldiers first.’ So I had them take my driver out, bring him to a vehicle, and then I waited there with my gunner, and then they took me out of the vehicle and brought me to another vehicle.”

After the initial shock of the IED blast wore off, Scott was in and out of consciousness. His unit performed a casualty evacuation out of that scene, he went to three different hospitals in Iraq, was medically evacuated from Iraq to Landstuhl, Germany, and then from Germany was medevaced to Walter Reed.

“I actually proposed to my wife, Tanya, at Walter Reed,” Scott said. “She was just my girlfriend at the time, and the day I got to Walter Reed she was there, she showed up, and she didn’t leave until the day I left. So I figured, ‘She’s a keeper.’”

While at then Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Scott went through many physical therapy programs. At first, he couldn’t walk very well.

“There was a point where I thought I was definitely out because they weren’t going to let me stay in because of my injuries.”

— Brian Scott “I was in a wheelchair at first, then a walker, then a cane and then nothing,” Scott said.

Scott went through a particularly intensive three-week long physical therapy program while in the Warrior Transition Unit that focused on his back. By the end of that, he was running two miles without problems.

During the year after Scott sustained his injuries, he wasn’t sure if he would be medically discharged from the Army.

“There was a point where I thought I was definitely out because they weren’t going to let me stay in because of my injuries,” Scott said. “But then I started getting better by going through all of the therapies, and it

just started to look a little more positive that I was getting back to more normal health.

After that, I was more motivated to stay in my full 20 (years).”

Scott was cleared for duty in 2010 and went back to Reserve status. Six months later, he started working as an equipment specialist for the Office of the Director at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center; in addition to procurement of equipment, supplies and rations, he does a lot of outreach and takes part in a lot of events, media visits, VIP ration sampling, and has done several offsites.

Talking about rations to civilians and veterans alike is rewarding for Scott, as he can discuss seeing the research and development, and also talk about being a customer with the end product and how it is used in the field.

“I think back to when I first came in and how everything for the individual Soldier has progressed since the day I came in the late 90’s pre-9/11 with the old (Battle Dress Uniform) and old Kevlar helmets and flak jackets and load-bearing vests with just two straps and a pistol belt to what we have now with the (Improved Outer Tactical Vest) and the [Advanced Combat Helmet].”

TARDEC wins environmental award

By Bill Bradner for U.S. Army Environmental Command

Although Scott has been busy training for his upcoming mission, a transitional mission training the Afghan National Army and police, he still finds time to support other Wounded Warriors by attending events and talking to other veterans.

The Army is “like a big family” for Scott.

“That’s the way I look at it,” he said.

“I’ve noticed that and I’ve seen it from the active-duty side, I’ve seen it from the Reserve side, and now I’ve seen it from the civilian side. Ever since I was a private in ‘98, everybody just takes care of each other.”

Scott first enlisted in the Army in 1998, spent four years on active duty, and then joined the Army Reserve. He is a lifetime member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and of the Wounded Warrior Project.

Upon his return from duty next year, he will come back to his civilian “family” at NSRDEC.

The Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center recently won the 2012 Secretary of the Army Environmental Award for Excellence in Weapon System Acquisition for their work in detecting and mitigating the effects of counterfeit refrigerant in Army vehicles.

TARDEC is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, located in Warren, Mich.

The Center formed an integrated process team that alerted the Army that they may have been provided with contaminated counterfeit refrigerant. The refrigerant had been found in the Middle East and Europe and had caused cooling system fires when technicians serviced systems that contained R-40, and not the safer R-134a.

R-40 is also a suspected carcinogen, contains a deadly chemical called methyl chloride, and is flammable when exposed to aluminum.

“There were environmental impacts, as well,” said Andrew Schultz, Lead Engineer in the TARDEC division, “due to refrigerants leaking out of contaminated systems.

Their plan called for determining if Army vehicles or containers contained counterfeit refrigerants, determining the impact and contamination risk if R-40 was present, determining the risks involved in servicing equipment with R-40 and how to mitigate those risks, developing a field testing unit to allow Soldiers to test refrigerant prior to use, and developing disposal procedures for contaminated refrigerants.

The TARDEC-Industry collaboration was instrumental in being able to quickly develop, test and field information products, solutions and testing and mitigation equipment.

“Without industry, it may have taken 21 to 24 months to duplicate the required characteristics,” said Jeffrey Marcinok, a TARDEC Mechanical Engineer, “but there had already been years of technological development in industry.

“The goal of the IPT was to leverage that technology already in place, by modifying it to fit Army and Department of Defense needs,” Marcinok added.

In less than a year, the technology was transferred to the field in the form of an electronic test kit and instructions for use. The field testing kit will also help isolate the source(s) of contaminated refrigerants, allowing officials to ensure contaminated sources are not used in the future.

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/12JeZ25

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/14IEB3g

“Ever since I was a private in ‘98, everybody just takes care of each other.”

— Brian Scott

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

ARL developing models for most survivable combat vehicle

By Joyce M. Conant ARL Public Affairs ADELPHI, Md. — In order to protect Soldiers’ lives, military vehicles in combat must be capable of surviving severe hostile fires. When hit with large hostile fire weapons, internally stowed ammunition may react resulting in catastrophic loss of life and system.

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory, or ARL, then the Ballistics Research Laboratory, or BRL, developed effective ammunition compartments in the past, to include the development of the Abrams bustle compartment back in the 1980’s.

This success was achieved primarily through extensive test and evaluation.

As the Army modernizes its fleet, effective ammunition compartmentation will again be needed to ensure vehicles and crew members survive hostile fires.

Given technology advances, ARL has the opportunity to employ advanced modeling and simulation techniques to reduce test quantities and arrive at effective designs with fewer design iterations.

Greg Mannix, ARL’s technical project lead, is developing modeling and simulation methodologies to improve the survivability of combat fighting vehicles beginning with hypotheses synthesis and phenomenology studies underpinned by experimentation.

“The threat warhead to stowed ammo interaction is very complex, we have decomposed the ballistic interaction into a set of possibilities to guide our research,” said Mannix. “This approach defines the framework for our research allowing us to diagnose the energetic responses, draw correlations among critical parameters and ultimately develop the model architecture.”

Jerry Watson and Thomas Adkins, both from the Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate, also known as SLAD, have been performing experiments and gaining critical insights to the ammunition interaction.

“By doing experiments where the parameters are easily controlled, engineering algorithms are being developed that will predict the results for real-world situations where the area of interest is very complicated and too costly to evaluate experimentally,” said Watson.

Mannix expands on Watson’s contributions.

“Jerry designed and fabricated the ‘Watson Scaled Ammo Compartment

Scientists and technicians recover ammo witness receptors to observe and record fragment patterns.

Pictured here (left to right) are Thomas Adkins, Barrie Homan, Ph.D., and Jerry Watson. (U.S. Army photo

by Joyce Conant)

Test Rig’ for the purpose of exploring the energetic response. In doing so, he brings a new experimental capability to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. I’m grateful to all he has contributed,” Mannix said.

Barrie Homan, Ph.D., and Douglas Kooker, Ph.D., both with the Weapons and Material Research Directorate, or WMRD, have been exploring the physics of the interaction between threat and energetic material contained within the munition by using material equations-of-state models to describe parameter dependencies.

The synergies realized in the coupling of hypotheses, experimentation, and physics enable the development of an ammunition compartment model and simulation methodologies to improve combat vehicle survivability.

“The consequences arising from a ballistic threat interaction with munitions are fundamentally related to the energetic material response behavior. The response is complex and a full understanding of the phenomena continues to be elusive,” said Homan. “A multidisciplinary approach coupling phenomenological experimental results and controlled surrogate experiments with advanced model development are our best approach to develop the ability to predict responses in real systems.”

Mannix indicated their testing is having a significant impact, and the Army is already benefiting from the knowledge received to date from the ammunition compartment test.

“ARL’s ammunition compartmentation research has already had an impact on the larger [test and evaluation] community.

As the research team extracts meaningful information from the experiments, the [ground combat vehicle] program is benefiting, as [Army Test and Evaluation Command] leverages ARL’s early experimental results to determine Live-Fire Test asset quantities and test events for the GCV program,” said Dave Ploskonka, Army Test and Evaluation Command.

This work and related ARL contributions to design of compartmentation systems are also being leveraged by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center in the development of their ground vehicle concepts.

Today, the research team moves forward exploring the unknown, learning a lot on this complex threat-target interaction, and developing model methodology to provide for the world’s most survivable combat vehicle for U.S. Soldiers.

Related links Army.mil: http://bit.ly/14IicmI

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

AMRDEC engineering director encourages cost-consciousness

By Heather R. Smith AMRDEC Public Affairs REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — Former Naval Air Systems Command test project engineer James Lackey has joined the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center as director of the Engineering Directorate.

A native of Maryland, Lackey had a near 25 -year career at the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Md. He was a strike aircraft flight test project engineer for more than a decade, and between 1999 and 2008 held a variety of program management assignments.

Lackey said he is looking forward to applying his background from the Navy to the Army and multiple-service customers supported by AMRDEC. “It’s a new area for me, but it’s very similar in terms of how AMRDEC operates versus what I’m used to at the Naval Air Systems Command. The reimbursable work force customer and supplying skills and experience is very similar to what we did at Pax River,” he said.

Upon his appointment to the Senior Executive Service in 2011, Lackey assumed the role of deputy director for Air Warfare, Strategic and Tactical Systems within the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics in Washington, D.C. The lessons he learned from Undersecretary Frank Kendall on buying better, buying smarter and being costconscious, Lackey wants to implement at AMRDEC. In particular, he said, engineers must be affordable-conscious of everything they do because this translates into the technical world and how they think and make decisions and make recommendations to their customers, Lackey said. “What is the smart costconscious way of doing business? I want to try to infuse that because obviously with the budget challenges that we have it’s going to be incredibly tight for the next couple of years.”

Lackey is enthusiastic about the opportunity for rapid work through the Prototype Integration Facility but also wants the Engineering Directorate to continue focusing on its core mission of providing expertise in work force support to program and project offices.

“Being able to manage rapid response efforts is really exciting in that if you think

James Lackey is the new director of the Engineering Directorate at the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center. (U.S. Army photo)

about the era that we live, in terms of the war fight and the rapid evolution of threats and how to address those threats and the pop-up demands of customers, we can’t afford to necessarily go through a traditional acquisition process because it costs time and money,” he said.

“Our organization is all about people, and if we fail to demonstrate value to our customers, that’s going to cause a lot of challenges not only for how we operate here at AMRDEC (but) for also for getting products to the warfighter.”

— James Lackey

“Do it when it’s smart to make it rapid, and the PIF is a huge element to make that happen. But I also want to make sure that ED is balanced in the viewpoint that it’s not just about the PIF, it’s about our core mission.”

As the joint force increases its reliance on unmanned systems and the integration of manned and unmanned systems, and developing a fleet of vertical lift aircraft, Lackey wants his ED work force ready to support.

“Our organization is all about people, and if we fail to demonstrate value to our customers, that’s going to cause a lot of challenges not only for how we operate here at AMRDEC (but) for also for getting products to the warfighter. Excellence in terms of work force development and how we support the customer is key,” he said.

Lackey credits the leadership of Patti Martin, former ED director, in establishing an organization that is focused on supporting the warfighter today and in the future.

“What Patti has done in terms of setting up a strategic orientation here at the Engineering Directorate has been huge, and you can see that in the language and behaviors of everybody here.

They’re very strategically aligned with visions, missions and goals of the larger organization,” he said.

Lackey holds a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering from Virginia Tech and a master’s in engineering management from Florida Tech. An acquisition professional community member since 1994, he holds Level III certificates in program management; systems planning; research, development and engineering; and test and evaluation.

Related links AMRDEC/ED: http://bit.ly/14IkPER

24

MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

ARDEC engineer’s journey to Afghanistan

By Timothy Rider ARDEC Public Affairs

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. — Much like Soldiers who find ways to make things happen under battlefield conditions, a team of engineers and technicians deployed with Soldiers apply their skills and knowledge to find a rapid solution to problems that Soldiers bring to them.

To Stephen McFarlane, a mechanical engineer from Picatinny Arsenal, a major allure of such a team was meeting the immediate needs of the Soldiers without involving the “higher up guys,” who typically make the decisions that keep the high-quantity, big-ticket hardware moving through the acquisition process.

But instead of having the items pass muster with the Army Test and Evaluation Command, field commanders had the latitude to decide whether small quantities of items born from a need to solve a field problem would become part of the unit’s equipment.

During his deployment in Afghanistan, McFarlane interacted with Soldiers as his “customers” who relayed their needs. As he got to know them better, he increasingly appreciated their insights and importance.

“These were guys who are actually going out on missions and getting shot at. They were the reason we were able to do our mission and do it safely,” said McFarlane, who has worked for the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny for more than six years.

In Afghanistan, McFarlane was teamed with two other engineers, three technicians and a power and energy specialist. They were the talent manning the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Field Assistance in Science and Technology Center, or RFAST-C. “RDECOM had purchased an assortment of equipment that allows for rapid prototyping of equipment that meets Soldiers needs,” explained McFarlane.

The RFAST-C is equipped with a mill, lathe, press-brake, sheer and a precision metal-cutting tool called a water jet.

RDECOM kept the RFAST-C stocked with talent by recruiting volunteers from its centers, where thousands of military engineers and technicians are employed.

Responding to announcements of open positions, these volunteers rotate in-

Robert McFarlane, an engineer with the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, deployed to Afghanistan to provide Soldiers with engineering solutions in the field.

(Courtesy photo)

and-out constantly, usually serving for six-months before returning to their home centers.

To generate Soldier customers, a separate RFAST-C advocate circulated from one forward operating base to another in the theater of operation, giving briefings on the capabilities available through the RFAST-C. The majority of RFAST-C customers are junior enlisted Soldiers and noncommissioned officers.

“The Soldiers are dedicated and disciplined,” McFarlane noted. “A lot of them have wisdom and life skills beyond their years. That’s why they receive and deserve the utmost respect from me and my division.”

Soldiers are drawn to the RFAST-C primarily through word-of-mouth in a bid to exploit its tools and talent, McFarlane

explained. “They come in with very insightful requests that we don’t usually hear of when we’re working in the acquisition community.”

CAREER OPTIONS AFTER COLLEGE McFarlane’s eventual journey to Afghanistan came after having to make a tough career decision as he completed college, then later having to decide if a tour in Afghanistan was the right choice.

Last April McFarlane received an e-mail that announced an opening in Afghanistan for an engineer skilled in computer-aided design. He qualified for the position but needed to ask around before officially tossing his hat into the ring.

He conferred with his wife first, who was hesitant, said McFarlane. Even so, she told him that with an 18-month-old

25

RDECOM’s THE INSIDER daughter, the time was as good as it would get.

“She wouldn’t remember me,” he said, something that would make his transition back home to the states less stressful if his daughter was too young to remember him leaving.

An Army major and close friend told him that deploying in the service of his country was “honorable and noble,” said McFarlane. Those words swayed him.

BUILDING HARDWARE AND A REPUTATION McFarlane’s primary duty was to turn the ideas and requests made by the troops into workable hardware designs to help meet the pressing needs of Soldiers or to make their jobs easier.

Upon his arrival at work at 8 a.m., “nine-times-out-of-ten” he would find a new requirement or project waiting for him. McFarlane would typically work 12-hour days from a shipping-container office. Some days he would design and fabricate new items the same day he received them.

“Our small shop is what the Soldiers see as (the identify of) RDECOM. When they were made aware of the shop and its capabilities, it changed their perspectives about RDECOM,” said McFarlane.

The combination of a small staff and steady demand for material solutions meant that McFarlane had to expand his skills to meet the Soldiers’ needs.

Within a month of his arrival, McFarlane had learned to operate the water jet, press-brake and shear by working with the technicians and reading manuals.

The need to equip a unit before it rolled out on its next mission demanded that the RFAST-C members operate as a team, putting aside strictly defined work responsibilities.

“We didn’t have the luxury of just sitting back and doing CAD (computer aided design) work,” said McFarlane. “We had to share the work load and get involved in fabrication.”

Examples of field-expedient engineering solutions include: nA Soldier wanted a mount for his ammunition canister inside his turret next to the left window, where the ammo would feed directly into the machine gun.

Other Soldiers were mounting ammo cans outside the turret with bungee cords.

McFarlane made two mounts and wound up making eight more after other Soldiers in the unit found out about it.

nLocal kids were throwing rocks at the thermal imaging lens of the Common Remotely Operated Weapons Station, which could break the $70,000 devices and render the high-tech thermal camera unusable. He designed a cover to protect the lens, thus allowing the camera to “see.” nMineroller-controller screens were extremely bright and interfered with night optic devices. McFarlane designed a custom-fit, steel-protective cover with an integrated film insert to reduce the brightness of the screens. nSoldiers wanted to use the 500-round ammunition pack known as the Ironman for their MK- 48. McFarlane worked with 2-D drawings to design an adapter for the feed chute, a project he completed with personnel from the Prototype Integration Facility at Picatinny Arsenal. nThe Rapid Equipping Force had made 2-D drawings of a litter bracket that would ease the loading and unloading of the wounded inside of Stryker vehicles. But they lacked a way to manufacture the item. With the RFAST-C’s help, 30 were produced and fitted to Strykers.

Approval to have the imaginative items fitted to vehicles occurred without the delays normally associated with providing items directly from the United States.

“The commanders in the field had the final say,” said McFarlane.

Working with military vehicles was a fitting experience for McFarlane, who was first attracted to engineering because of an interest in automobiles.

Furthermore, he said he liked the association with the military. His father was a U.S. Navy Sailor, and he understood the sacrifices military personnel and their families make during their service.

That understanding would grow in Afghanistan.

LIFE PATH, CAREER CHOICE His previous life experience that most resembled a combat zone was more than six years ago, when he was dealing with his Patriot League rivals as a defensive end on the Lafayette College football team in Easton, Pa. In other words, he had no comparable experience.

To Robert Pellen, who recruited McFarlane to work at Picatinny Arsenal, the football experience bode well for the prospect that the student-athlete would one day provide valuabe skills to the Army.

“That’s a good department,” said Pellen

of the engineering department at Lafayette College. “If they come out of that they’re good for us.”

Pellen explained that the course load at the college was known to be strenuous enough without extracurricular activities.

“If he could handle the athletic work and the course load, it tells us he can handle a lot.”

McFarlane had signed up for a meeting on the Lafayette campus to speak with Pellen. He would later tour several labs at Picatinny and then assess his future. He had a choice to make.

On one hand, McFarlane had received an offer to work for a telecommunications giant that would have provided a nice office, routine hours and $15,000 more per year than what was initially being offered

by Picatinny.

SHIPPING CONTAINER OFFICE AND BRUTAL HEAT One the other hand, he could work on the Army base. If he volunteered for a deployment, he might end up working 12plus hour days in a place under constant threat of attack where temperatures varied from the teens to 100-plus.

His office, a shipping container, might be furnished with a solitary wooden desk.

The deployment would also provide a 10 p.m. curfew accompanied by mandatory lights out, which would mean navigating to showers and other destinations with a flashlight.

Moreover, he might be able to speak with his wife and baby daughter via FaceTime, a service for video calls.

And on most days he might hear the “controlled dets.” Frequently at night, McFarlane explained, Soldiers would roll out on combat missions to destinations not far from Baghram Air Base. They would return in the morning with a load of munitions they had captured from enemy fighters.

Later that day, he would hear controlled detonations echo throughout the base, signaling the end for the lethality those munitions once held.

They were “munitions that were earmarked for us,” added McFarlane.

By choosing the Army route, he got to engineer for the folks who have to go out and do what needs to be done to accomplish their mission.

“It’s just what I wanted to do.”

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/14IL8e4

26

MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

Improved biosurveillance capabilities for U.S. Forces Korea ECBC Communications ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — A portal, a duel and a kraken that springs to life.

No, it’s not the latest science fiction movie. It’s an advanced technology demonstration that’s just getting started.

The Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense is working with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center to introduce a new advanced technology demonstration- the Joint United States Forces Korea Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition, known as JUPITR. The goal of the four-year program is to develop unique biological detection capabilities that will address the demand for stronger biosurveillance capabilities in the Korean Peninsula.

Biosurveillance has been a national priority since 2007, the government formalized a policy that said all hazards threats could take many forms, including naturally occurring disease outbreaks.

Two years later, the release of the National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats recognized that a pandemic disease knows no borders and a massive outbreak of a disease was just as much a national security threat as a chemical or radiological incident.

The National Strategy for Biosurveillance was established in 2012. While some organizations began moving on the initiative, there are still a number of questions on how to best implement biosurveillance.

“This is a Department of Defense flagship program for how biosurveillance will manifest itself,” said Peter Emanuel, Ph.D., JUPITR ATD leader and ECBC’s Research & Technology Directorate’s BioSciences division chief. “ATD’s are a great opportunity to try risky and innovative concepts and really push the envelope on what our technology can do. JUPITR is aggressively pushing technology to the very limit of what we think it can do to demonstrate in the field what biosurveillance can look like.”

The first leg of JUPITR is an information portal, similar to a web management tool for health surveillance.

Brandon Flores from JPEO-CBD Information Systems demonstrated the current prototype of the portal in ECBC’s Berger Laboratories in January.

“Many people who see it at first say it looks a lot like a personalized iGoogle desktop, except that all the feeds are about disease outbreaks and medical supply shipments,” Flores said.

The second leg, led by Brady Redmond, Ph.D., of R&T’s BioSensors Branch, will work with scientists on the Korean Peninsula to build

ECBC is working with the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense on the fouryear JUPITR project that will begin testing on the Korean peninsula in June. (U.S. Army photo)

upon the capabilities of their labs, allowing them to conduct analysis at their own facilities rather than taking valuable time to send away samples to stateside laboratories for evaluation.

Jennifer Thermos of Joint Program Management-Contamination Avoidance leads the third leg, which she refers to as “The ShootOff” because it will pit a number of field biological detectors against one another, with the ultimate winner finding a home in Korea.

The fourth leg is exploring early warning concepts by building on an ongoing JPM-Guardian program called Integrated Base Defense. IBD has, at its core, a massive multi-functional all-seeing sensor suite designed to rapidly establish a defensive perimeter. In field tests the 15-foot high box quickly popped open, raising telescoping towers and activating a myriad of field sensors, leading one soldier to exclaim, “time to release the Kraken boys!” thus coining the nickname.

“In JUPITR we will add a chemical/biological capability to the kraken such that our detectors can fuse with the common operating picture developed by its all-seeing eye in the sky. The devices will learn from kraken’s acoustic, infrared and thermal sensors and be able to direct what and where they look, which amplifies their effectiveness,” said Ken Kammerer, JUPITR ATD’s deputy.

As the ATD lead, Emanuel is currently leading efforts to ramp up for the official kickoff of the program, determining cost assignments, brokering complex technical solutions and collaborating with existing JPEO and other agency partners to ensure the program is prepared for full operation in FY14.

As one of the original experts charged with crafting biosurveillance policies, and with 20

years of bio-detection expertise in his career, Emanuel is well-suited to lead this program.

There are also significant connections to the work conducted within the BioSciences Division.

“Our scientists have been working in biosurveillance for so long, this will almost be like a fifth branch under the division,” Emanuel said. “This also allows ECBC’s Research & Technology Directorate and its Engineering Directorate the opportunity to have a significant impact in this important field. There are so many opportunities to utilize our talent. It makes it so much easier to be able to tap the wealth of experience within ECBC such as Shawn Funks’ ATD team or John Strawbridge’s early warning expertise.”

This program has been under development for the last two to three years, born out of an overlapping of lessons learned from previous Able Response exercises in Korea, which identified a need for a stronger biosurveillance capability. The next exercise will take place in June.

“What we have is akin to a big chess board where all the pieces were there, they just weren’t working together,” Emanuel said.

“When you recognize the strength and the weakness of each piece on the chess board and move them in concert toward a specific aim, you have a greater chance of achieving your goal. In this case our goal is to significantly increase defense capabilities against impending threats. This really is an exciting time for the field of biosurveillance and at ECBC. We’re very excited to be one of the leaders in this mission.”

Related links Army.mil: https://www.ecbc.army.mil/

27

RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

Army sees potential in light-emitting monolayers to benefit Soldiers

By Joyce P. Brayboy ARL Public Affairs ADELPHI, Md. — Army scientists want to make sense of the fascinating properties of novel layered materials that can exist in a single or a few atom-thick layers, such as graphene.

Recently Penn State researchers working with the Army Research Office showed that tungstenite, or WS2, formed from layers of sulfur and tungsten atoms has light-emmiting properties that cold be useful to plenty of Army applications, like optical sensors or even lasers.

University scientists saw an extraordinary glow from the honeycomb edges of monolayered triangular islands of WS2 for the first time and knew this would be groundbreaking.

The discovery was one of several milestones for a small team of experts from four universities working on a Multi-Disciplinary University Research Initiative, or MURI, project.

Along with the principal investigator of this project, professor Pulickel Ajayan of Rice University, this team is helping the Army “make sense of the fascinating properties of novel layered materials that can exist in a single or a few atom-thick layers,” said Pani Varanasi, Ph.D., program manager for the Physical Properties of Materials Materials Science Division of the U.S. Army Research Office, of U.S. Army Research Laboratory, known as ARL. The MURI project, which explores the synthesis routes of two-dimensional, or 2-D, atomic layers of nitrides, oxides and sulfides and characterization of these materials, is in its second year.

“The most recent finding forms the building blocks for improvements to future Army technologies such as sensors, transistors and flexible displays,” Varanasi explained.

Mauricio Terrones, Ph.D., a professor of physics and of materials science and engineering at Penn State, is one of the team members of the MURI, and leads the present research on WS2 materials.

“We wanted to work on a layered system that people were not working on already,” Terrones said. “There were several reports on [molybdenum disulfide] but not that much research regarding WS2, so we thought this could be a nice avenue to investigate.”

The research team used a method similar to the one they developed in their earlier research.

“We were investigating previously the

Penn State researchers working with the Army Research Office showed that tungstenite formed from layers of sulfur and tungsten atoms has light-emmiting properties that cold be useful to plenty of Army applications, like optical sensors or even lasers.

synthesis of WS2 nanotubes using WOx nanorods and sulfur, therefore we thought thin films of WO3 would be appropriate to start producing 2-D materials,” Terrones said.

They deposited tiny crystals of tungsten oxide, less than one nanometer in height, and then passed the crystals through sulfur vapor at 850 degrees Celsius. It led to oneatom thick WS2 triangles, he said.

The idea was to grow monolayers of WS2 using the chemical vapor disposition approach, and then try the experiment with molybdenum disulfide, known as MoS2.

The results for both minerals were similar, but instead of the uniform film they expected, they got triangular islands, Terrones said. What astounded them from the first experiment was the “extraordinary photoluminescence from the edges of the triangles at room temperature.”

Photoluminescence occurs when a substance absorbs light at one wavelength and re-emits that light at a different wavelength, like what happens in fireflies. In the future, the structures could have plenty of applications in optical detectors, light emitting diodes, photo sensors, and even in the development of lasers, Terrones explained.

He explained that creating monolayers, or single, one-atom-thick sheets is of special interest to scientists because the chemical properties of minerals and other substances are known to change depending on their atomic thickness, paving the way for an infinite amount of possible materials.

The preliminary results of the WS2 research will be published in a print edition of

the journal Nano Letters, and will also appear on the cover of the forthcoming issue.

Interest in the 2-D materials has grown significantly after scientists explored 2-D materials with groundbreaking results using graphene, and earning the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2010.

“We are growing square inch single-, double-, and triple-layered WS2, MoS2 and others now,” Terrones said. “By controlling the number of layers, we could control their optical electronic properties and therefore different types of devices become possible.”

The Army wants materials that could help equip Soldiers with efficient technology at the lightest possible weight. In fact, ARL recently started a Director’s Strategic Initiative, which is awarded based on its potential to result in emerging or alternative technologies, on Stacked 2-D Atomic Layered Materials. The primary investigator, Madan Dubey, Ph.D., was awarded the DSI to develop technologies to protect Soldiers and to design lighter-weight, energy-efficient electronic devices and batteries.

ARL is developing 2-D-enabling technology for multifunctional transparent, high performance flexible/conformable electronics for future warriors. The research will enable creation of an unlimited number of material systems that will be unconstrained by conventional growth techniques, Dubey said.

The Army will continue looking from many angles at “novel materials with extraordinary properties like 2-D WS2 that could benefit Soldiers into the future,” Varanasi added.

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/14IPBOa

28

MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

Army engineering team, Soldiers partner in Afghan security mission

By Dan Lafontaine RDECOM Public Affairs ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — American Soldiers with a mission to advise the Afghan uniformed police finished securing a key coalition compound with the assistance of deployed U.S. Army civilian engineers and technicians.

Before Soldiers from Security Forces Advise and Assist Team-8 could occupy their patrol base in Kapisa Province, they needed engineering expertise to help fortify the location. Four civilians from the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command took on the challenge of developing a solution.

Capt. Mitchell Monette, the SFAAT-8 officer-in-charge of force-protection improvements, said the contributions of the RDECOM Field Assistance in Science and Technology-Center, or RFAST-C, Forward Deployed Prototype Integration Facility were critical to ensuring his unit’s safety.

“By implementing these improvements, it allows us to focus solely on the mission when we go on patrol, which is to advise, assist and mentor our counterparts at the Provincial Headquarters Police,” Monette said. “When we have to worry less about outside threats within a close distance of the compound, it allows us to better concentrate on the task at hand.”

RFAST-C finished the project’s first two phases -- designing, constructing and installing a metal door and frame as well as observations screens to allow movement in the compound without being monitored -- in February. The third phase, completed April 6, was to attach steel panels to the inside of the compound to provide ballistics protection.

Completing the security improvements was vital to future successful missions for the SFAAT-8 and future teams, Monette said.

The project presented challenges for the RFAST-C team because it required implementing engineering solutions outside the forward operating base at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, said Nick Merrill, who led the third and final phase of the group’s effort. Merrill is a mechanical engineer with RDECOM’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.

Because of the compound’s remote location, the RFAST-C team created a plan to fabricate, transport and install 48 steel panels, each measuring 1-foot by 8-feet spaced armour and weighing more than 200 pounds, without a crane or forklift typically used to move heavy

Soldiers and RFAST-C team members stand in front of the newly constructed wall at the Security Forces Advise and Assist Team-8 compound. Front row, from left: Staff Sgt. Nicholas Rosales, Sgt. Mario Palomo, RFAST-C mechanical engineer Nick Merrill, Spc. Benjamin Dininger. Middle row, from left: Sgt. Jason Aguilar, 2nd Lt. Andrew Stephens, Capt. Mitchell Monette, Staff Sgt. Joshua Debaun. Back row, from left: Staff Sgt. Terry Draper, Sgt. Walter Napier, Maj. Richard Thompson, Spc. Ryan Lucero, Capt. Andrew Spiess. (U.S. Army photo)

material, Merrill said. The team made considerations during the design process for this extra obstacle.

“There is absolutely no mechanical equipment at this outpost,” Merrill said.

“Therefore, we designed and fabricated hooks to allow for manual carrying of the spaced armour panels. The only thing we had was people power.”

“From start to finish, it’s one of the largest projects that we’ve ever undertaken as far as time, size and manpower.”

— Bob Spetla Merrill; engineering technician Bob Spetla, Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center; engineering technician Courtney Johnson, ECBC; and engineering technician Brian Seifert, Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, comprised the RFAST-C team that completed the third phase.

Johnson and Seifert fabricated the steel panels at the RFAST-C facility. Merrill and Spetla then traveled to the compound for the installation to work side-by-side with the

Soldiers -- SFAAT-8 members Monette, Staff Sgt. Joshua Debaun and Sgt. Jason Aguilar and 27th Brigade Support Battalion welders Sgt. Marco Palomo, Sgt. Nicholas Rosales and Spc. Benjamin Bininger. The SFAAT-8 and 27th BSB are both located at Bagram Airfield.

Unlike work at an Army stateside facility in which engineers can choose from multiple materials, the RFAST-C developed a solution with only readily accessible supplies at Bagram Airfield.

Merrill said ballistics armor is typically used, but the shipping costs from the United States would have been four to five times the cost of the material because of its weight.

Also, because the Soldiers needed a solution quickly in order to occupy the facility, there was not enough time to wait for supplies to be purchased and shipped.

The team began to evaluate steel panels as an option with the help of Maj. Joshua Keena and Sgt. 1st Class Adam Adams of the Regional Command-East Science and Technology Assistance Team, which is also part of RDECOM’s FAST network. STAT members are uniformed science advisers embedded in theater who provide operational commanders with access to the Army’s research and development community.

The RC-East STAT used its resources and

RDECOM’s THE INSIDER reachback capability to provide the necessary research and analysis to ensure the proposed solution would keep Soldiers safe.

“The STAT did the legwork in finding out how we would be able to use our in-house materials to give Soldiers adequate protection in the compound,” Spetla said. “It took a long time [for everyone to brainstorm] how we could even begin to create something that was manageable just by people power. We called in extra help -- that’s where the STAT team came in. It took everybody putting their heads together. The normal methods of how we do things weren’t available to us.”

RFAST-C Director Mike Anthony said the solution for the Soldiers’ facility would not have been possible without the contributions of joint civilian and uniformed teams throughout Afghanistan.

“The RFAST-C team left no stone unturned when it came to developing a field-expedient solution for the unit,” Anthony said. “The Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan STAT also assisted CJTF1 STAT on field testing and obtaining crucial ballistics information, which informed the ultimate solution. This truly was a successful team of teams approach.”

Spetla, who has worked since January on all three phases of the compound improvements, said the RFAST-C and Soldiers developed a strong sense of camaraderie because of the large scope of the project and the challenges the teams solved together.

“From start to finish, it’s one of the largest projects that we’ve ever undertaken as far as time, size and manpower,” Spetla said. “It was very, very challenging. We had to find ways to do things that we’re not normally accustomed to.

“We’ve built quite a bond with this unit. It’s really cool to work with the Soldiers. Together we were able to design, fabricate and install an expedient solution.”

Monette said force-protection upgrades would not have been possible without the RFAST-C’s assistance because the unit’s internal engineering team was busy with projects such as closing FOBs across two provinces in preparation for the drawdown in Afghanistan.

“It would have been an absolute degradation in the mission if we weren’t able to implement this utilizing the RFAST-C assets,” Monette said. “It’s been a profound difference. By them assisting us with all these improvements, it allows freedom of maneuver and the ability to stay multiple days, which ultimately benefits both us and the Afghans in the long run.”

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/14IPBOa

29

ARL improves vehicle design with blast tests ARL Public Affairs ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — With the growing threat of improvised explosive devices over the past decade, Army researchers have been hard at work testing and evaluating ways to keep Soldiers safe from bomb blasts.

The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command analyzes under-body blasts, known as UBB. Researchers at the Army Research Laboratory Survivability and Lethality Analysis Directorate have led to many improvements in vehicle design.

“Through live-fire tests, we have been able to provide a comprehensive characterization of the blast environment and occupant injuries during a UBB,” said Sarah Coard, Army researcher. “Only by understanding the mechanism of injury can we apply engineering changes [to vehicles] to decrease the likelihood of those injuries. The blast environment is unique.”

The Army’s concern is always the same: how can a vehicle be modified to reduce the likelihood and severity of injuries to Soldiers?

“The test and evaluation community is working to a standard that 10 years ago would have been unimaginable,” said Scott Welling, a member of SLAD’s Engineering Analysis Branch. “The number of data channels that are used today in a test event is greater than five times the amount used prior to these conflicts.”

Army experts are leveraging an evergrowing wealth of test data.

The Army’s approach to live-fire testing, leverages mechanical engineering experts in the Engineering Analysis Branch and the crew-injury-physiology experts in the Warfighter Survivability Branch. Welling and Coard are partners as RDECOM’s representatives on the integrated product team for live-fire testing. This ensures a comprehensive analysis of the survivability of both the crew and their vehicle.

“Another use for the data may be surprising,” Coard said. “Improving the test instrumentation itself and refining and enhancing the test scenarios. One such instrument is the anthropomorphic test device, a crash-test dummy originally

Army researchers test and evaluate ways to keep Soldiers safe from bomb blasts. (U.S. Army photo)

developed by the automotive industry. For UBB testing, it has become obvious that the ATD must be modified if it is to provide the most accurate data. So ARL is now leading an experimentation program to enhance the ATD for use in future tests.”

Not only is instrumentation improving, but test designs have also become more sophisticated. In the past, a vehicle would often be tested with one crash-test dummy in it. Now, it is required that there be a crash-test dummy in every occupant location in a vehicle.

Officials said another significant change is the adoption of new and current injury criteria in order to make assessments more accurate and to achieve greater resolution in inferring what injuries would result and how. A further way that test design has evolved is by the introduction of new methodologies to analyze the motion of seats and floors.

The current war-time environment has caused testing specifications to grow and timelines to shrink. The Army has been responding to urgent materiel releases.

The Army is looking at the structural response of the vehicle and the survivability of its occupants.

For every vehicle or piece of equipment tested, researchers analyze the blast’s effect on communications, mobility, firepower and mission success.

Because analysis demands so much more than merely capturing data, a holistic vantage point is vital, officials said. The testing enables researchers to provide this context to evaluators, program managers and vehicle designers.

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/14Io8vT

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The America’s Army comic book is available via the website or tablet app at http://comics.americasarmy.com.

Army comics, game, app depict Soldier lifestyle

By Heather R. Smith AMRDEC Public Affairs REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — Deep in a maze of corridors at the Army Game Studio here, the worlds of graphic art, gaming and military collide.

This is where artists, Soldiers and gaming experts collaborate to use games and comic books to communicate to the public the reality of being a Soldier in the U.S. Army.

Developed by the Software Engineering Directorate of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, the America’s Army game, at www.americasarmy.com, is more than a

decade old. Yet it stays new and relevant with frequent updates and new product lines.

In 2009, the Army released America’s Army 3, known by players as A A3, and released also the first installment of the America’s Army comic series. Last year, saw the addition of the America’s Army comic book app for viewing interactive issues of the America’s Army comics on iPad and Android tablets.

Marsha Berry, Army Game Studio public game director, said the purpose in everything they do - - games, comics, apps, and future products already in the works - - is to tell the public the true life of a Soldier by exploring Army values, careers and technology.

Senior game designer John Fairchild,

added that the purpose of the game has always been aimed at outreach “to kind of get across to the community that there is more to being a Soldier than just guns.”

To achieve that, designers like Fairchild build into the game challenges that encourage values like team work, honor, duty, loyalty, selflessness and respect.

“You don’t get big points for killing. You don’t get big points for shooting other players,” said Fairchild, who has been a part of the game’s development team for five years. “ We focus on rewarding the player for sticking together as a team, for being mission focused, and taking objectives. We try to structure the mechanics such that one guy can never be the best.

You always have your battle buddy. You always have your team, your unit, and

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER you’re always going to stick together to achieve victory.”

In the ten years since the game debuted, the Army has added to the game more military occupation specialties, more weapons, and more maps.

In addition to featuring various military occupation specialties, or MOSs, the America’s Army game and comic book highlight Army technology, both the triedand-true and the latest and greatest. For example, when the Army first came out with the Improved Outer Tactical Vest, or IOT V, Berry said the vest was integrated into the game before it was even deployed to the field.

Fairchild said incorporating all of the cool Army technology is one of the things he likes best about the game and his job.

One memorable inclusion is a fog grenade, added to A A3, which Fairchild said reminded him of the fog screens used in the Batman stories.

“It’s an instant smoke cloud and then you disappear and the enemy can’t see you anymore,” Fairchild explained, excitedly. “If you are taking a lot of fire, you could quickly deploy this thing and be gone. There is just tons and tons of Army tech that what I would love for a user to be playing and say ‘Wow, that’s cool’, and somebody say ‘Yeah, but that’s real.’”

“You might think this is a cool game, but Soldiers are out on the battlefield utilizing this tech right now. Our Soldiers are the best equipped and the best trained.

You don’t want to mess with them on the battlefield because they’ve got all the cool toys.”

The America’s Army comic book, added in 2009, was a natural direction, Berry said, both because of the popularity of comic books with young gamers and the Army’s long history of using comic books for communication. Since 1951, the Army has published the preventative maintenance monthly comic “PS Magazine.”

“Comic books and the Army have been around for a long time,” explained Berry.

The America’s Army comic sets the back story of U.S. involvement in Czervenia, the fictional country where the game takes place, and tells of the humanitarian aid that the Army is conducting, Berry said.

“As we move for ward, we’re star ting to integrate more and more between the story line and products that we put out to the public to kind of tie everything together so you can get a better broader picture of the Army and Soldiers,” he said.

Fairchild said he gets great job satis-

CONTINUED from PAGE 1

Army Game Studio Concept Artist Davis Godwin uses painting and line art to help game designers create objects and levels for the America’s Army game. (Courtesy photo)

faction out of producing such a fun product that ser ves also such a great purpose.

“I can’t think of many jobs out there where you both get to have fun as well as produce something which, to sound campy, answers to a higher calling,” Fairchild said. “Lots of other game developers out there are making games for the almighty dollar. They want to make it fun because that’s what will sell titles and that’s what will make money and profits and they get to make more games. We don’t sell our game; it is completely free.

And to have the oppor tunity and the responsibility to tell the Soldiers’ story with it- - it’s a big deal to me.”

Whitney Stovall, Army Game Studio marketing director, said fans of the game and comic can expect in 2013, a new version of the game, more mobile comics and fur ther development of the back story of the America’s Army products.

The team is keeping details of the new game hush-hush, but Stovall said following along with the comics and the America’s Army social media pages on Facebook and Twitter will give gamers clues about what to expect.

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/11Sxq31

teriel readiness – technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection, and sustainment – to the total force. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of AMC. At a unique indoor mine lanes facility, McHugh saw advancements of evolutionary and revolutionary technologies that find buried mines, improvised explosive devices, and trace elements of explosives in the air.

As one of the Army’s core competencies, McHugh was highly interested in how the Army is countering mines and IEDs. The mine lanes offer large “sandboxes” full of dirt and soil from around the world in which the NVESD subject matter experts can test mine-finding technologies, both handheld and vehicle-mounted.

Larger countermine equipment was demonstrated to include the HuskyMounted Detection System, which can sense explosive threats at significant depths in the ground. These technologies both separately and taken as a whole have saved thousands of Soldier and civilian lives.

“NVESD is doing great work,” McHugh said. “I get plenty of briefings in the Pentagon, but nothing beats getting out to see the folks who are doing great work in support of our Soldiers and say thank you.”

Related links More photos: http://bit.ly/11SBu3i

Army researchers brief Secretary of the Army John McHugh at the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, April 18 (U.S. Army photo)

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ManTech program bridges gap between lab and Soldier

By Dan Lafontaine RDECOM Public Affairs ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Transitioning a technology prototype from an Army engineer’s laboratory to the Soldier on the ground is filled with potential obstacles.

To overcome challenges associated with manufacturing Soldiers’ equipment, from helicopters to helmets, the U.S. Army enlists the Manufacturing Technology Program, commonly known as ManTech.

Andy Davis, ManTech program manager with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, said his team is focused on addressing issues in affordability and producibility. “[Scientists and engineers] develop technologies in the labs. They can make one or two [prototypes] in the lab, but they can’t make them in quantity,” Davis said. “ManTech bridges that gap. In terms of the Warfighter impact, it helps get items more quickly to the [field].”

Projects average three years in the program, and ManTech typically has 25 to 30 in process, Davis said. Each project ranges from $1 million to $7.5 million.

RDECOM manages ManTech on behalf of the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Research and Technology, which has overall responsibility for the Army’s program.

The command’s research laboratory and six research, development and engineering centers each have a ManTech manager. They coordinate with project managers to execute individual projects.

ManTech focuses on three thrust areas: enabling affordable S&T development for new capabilities, addressing current systems, and advanced manufacturing initiatives.

S&T Development for New Capabilities The first focus area develops manufacturing methods that deliver new capabilities to Soldiers. These efforts focus on reducing the cost of manufacturing or building a new process.

A common manufacturing issue for the Army is finding companies in the defense industrial base that have the expertise or capability necessary to make an item, Davis said.

“It’s a new technology that directly benefits the Soldier, but there’s no production capability,” Davis said. “Even if it’s similar to something that’s been produced in the past, it’s too expensive to make it affordably to be able to outfit Soldiers with it.”

Davis explained that ManTech addresses

The Kiowa Portable Alignment System, managed within RDECOM’s Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is enabling field alignment of the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter. The ManTech solution is shown. (U.S. Army graphic)

S&T challenges that are beyond the level of risk that an Army program manager or industry are willing to take. ManTech works with the Army’s organic industrial base (depots, arsenals and ammunition plants) as well as private industry.

“The PM might say, ‘This is too risky for my program right now, but if you could bring the cost down, I would implement them.’ Industry might say, ‘This is a good idea, but there’s not a market yet for this so we’re not willing to put the money in it to demonstrate this process,’ “ Davis said.

The Chip Scale Atomic Clock is one example where ManTech helped to develop a product by funding a new manufacturing process, he said.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency demonstrated the original prototypes, and the Army recognized the benefit of using a microchip-sized CSAC to allow Soldiers to communicate in areas without GPS service.

The CSAC allows Soldiers to maintain or resynch communications devices faster because it does not rely on satellites for timing.

Although atomic clocks are common in commercial communications networks, the Army needed a much smaller version that could be integrated into a configuration that Soldiers could use in a tactical environment.

Because industry did not have a market to produce the small atomic clocks, the Army, Air Force and Office of the Secretary of Defense put money into the project.

Through the military’s investments and the maturation of the technology, costs have decreased from thousands of dollars to less than $300 per unit with a production rate of 20,000 units per year.

Three vendors have been awarded ManTech contracts for production, and the commercial

sector, including the oil and gas industry, has shown interest. Competition within industry also contributed to lower prices.

“It’s a capability that didn’t exist. The limitation was the manufacturing process.

We enabled that capability through both technology development and the ManTech Program,” Davis said. “We now have three sources within industry because of the way the program was set up.

“We are able to buy this capability, which didn’t exist before, at a much lower price than if we had let industry figure it out.”

Addressing Current Army Systems In addition to enabling new technologies, the ManTech Program addresses another costly area for the Army -- operating and sustaining existing platforms and equipment. Davis said ManTech searches for S&T solutions to reduce costs through improved manufacturing processes.

The Kiowa Portable Alignment System, managed within RDECOM’s Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is enabling field alignment of the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter without large non-portable, alignment fixtures at Corpus Christi Army Depot, Texas.

The current process to determine whether the helicopter is within acceptable alignment, it is shipped it from theater to Texas. The emerging technology uses a portable, state-ofthe-art laser measurement device that can be used in combat field conditions.

“You have different points on the helicopter that you’ve calibrated to and that scans the

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER helicopter to tell if it’s twisted or not,” Davis said.

“You can also use it for retrofit to locate exact points to be drilled. Enabling them to have that capability to reduce the repair and sustainment costs is part of what we do in working with the organic industrial base.”

Advanced Manufacturing Initiatives ManTech’s third focus area encompasses a significant shift in how the Army approaches manufacturing.

The Army plans to provide manufacturers with the specifications for a part in a threedimensional format instead of the current standard two-dimensional technical data package.

In essence, the Army hopes to move from 2D drawings to 3D computer-aided design, or CAD, packages.

Because the manufacturing community works with 3D data, there are added costs when vendors must take the Army’s 2D TDP and convert it to a 3D CAD package. The proposed changes would save time and money for the Army.

“It’s a cultural shift. It’s an underlying enterprise approach to how we do manufacturing,” Davis said. “Think about what you can do with the data once you have it. You can use that data to sustain the system.

“If you have the assembly steps, you can use that in reverse for disassembly. All the layers in the supply chain are on the same page with respect to manufacturing data.”

Outreach Efforts Davis said the ManTech team has spent the last year-and-a-half informing its transition partners -- the Army’s program executive offices and S&T community -- of the program’s benefits.

ManTech is also looking to expand its efforts to other Army S&T organizations outside RDECOM, including the Medical Research and Materiel Command, Space and Missile Defense Command, and the Corps of Engineers. Davis said this will broaden the program’s mission and address Army needs and requirements, not just RDECOM technologies.

“There are pockets in the S&T community who understand,” he said. “We went to every PEO that has a mission requiring manufacturing. We solicited from them. What are their manufacturing needs? What areas can we help them with?”

Related links Online: http://1.usa.gov/X9qHD0

Research leads to publication in top journal for ARL physicist

By Jenna Brady ARL Public Affairs U.S. Army Research Laboratory physicist Dr. Jeff Carroll of the Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate’s Power and Energy Division was recently recognized with a publication in Physical Review Letters.

International in scope, Physical Review Letters is the premier peer-reviewed journal for basic physics research, including articles of sufficient quality and value to be disseminated to all physicists regardless of their field.

Per the Web of Science, this is only the fourth time, and the first since 2006, that a publication affiliated with ARL has appeared in Physical Review Letters.

The publication, titled “Direct Observation of Long-Lived Isomers in 212Bi,” describes results from an international collaboration that included Carroll, who helped arrange the “beamtime,” perform the experiment, interpret the results and prepare the manuscript.

“International collaborations of this type, in this case led by physicists at the University of Surrey, require national-scale research facilities, with unique ion accelerators and detector systems,” Carroll said.

In order to utilize these facilities, members of collaborations propose a specific study, competing for research time at the facility.

If approved, the study is scheduled for a typical 5 to 7-day period with the experiment running 24-hours per day, requiring scientists to assemble and perform shifts to insure data collection and make modifications to the experimental conditions on the fly.

At the particular facility where this collaborative experiment took place, the German GSI Institute for Heavy Ion Research, it can often take years for an experiment to be approved and scheduled, so beamtime is a precious commodity.

The experiment Carroll conducted with fellow scientists, which incorporated insights from his research as a professor at Youngstown State University in Ohio, resolved a long-standing discrepancy between the measured and calculated lifetime for a specific nuclear isomer in 212Bi. It took about six months of submission for the experiment to be accepted by GSI, and a total of about four years before beamtime was actually scheduled.

According to Carroll, nuclear isomers are

Dr. Jeff Carroll, physicist in the U.S. Army Research Laboratory’s Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate’s Power and Energy Division (U.S. Army photo)

long-lived excited states of atomic nuclei with lifetimes ranging from microseconds to many millennia.

Many of the longer-lived isomers are of great interest to ARL, as they store about 100,000 times the energy per unit mass of chemicals.

Since isotopes possessing such longlived states often have shorter-lived, unstable ground states, some radioisotopes can be “switched” from energy-storing to energy-releasing forms upon demand.

“Although high-risk, nuclear isomers have the potential to enable new types of batteries for applications like persistent, low-power sensors, and this is being investigated under a basic research program within the Power Components Branch, Energy and Power Division of SEDD,” noted Carroll.

A lingering problem has been the inability to accurately predict the lifetime of isomers using modern theoretical approaches, so measurements were always required.

Now, the published work shows that calculations may be more accurate in some instances than previously thought, and identifies the isotope 212Bi as a possible new test case for isomer “switching.”

Although this research is currently basic in scope, Carroll says that the ultra-high energy densities of isomers and the ability to “switch” them to higher-power levels may lead to innovations that will benefit the Warfighter.

Related links Abstract: http://bit.ly/11SzQ1F

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Sarah S. Bedair, Ph.D., an electronics engineer with Army Research Laboratory, is adjusting the settings on ink-jet printer used to deposit nanomaterials onto the surfaces of micro-devices. These devices would be used in high-power-density power supplies. The lab is pursuing energy solutions in areas like energy storage, alternative energy sources, high-density power converters and micro grids. (U.S. Army photo by Doug LaFon)

ARL scientists scout energy solutions

By Joyce P. Brayboy ARL Public Affairs ADELPHI, Md. — What if scientists and engineers could scavenge energy for warfighters, like bottom feeders scavenge in the ocean?

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory, or ARL, along with the Army science and technology community, is pursuing novel technology aspects of the Army’s Operational Energy Strategy.

Energy Scavenging is just one way ARL experts are getting more from existing resources, said Dr. Edward Shaffer, who is the Energy and Power Division Chief at the lab. Energy harvesting is critical to realize “net zero” energy use, a key element of the Army’s Operational Energy Strategy.

There are a number of technology areas enabling operational energy, such as energy storage, alternative energy sources, highdensity power converters and micro grids that the lab is pursuing.

Department of Defense operational energy

is an emerging area being shaped. It is what is required to train, move, and sustain forces, weapons, and equipment for military operations. It accounted for 75 percent of all energy used by DOD in 2009, according to the Energy website for DOD. It was in May 2011, when the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy, Plans and Programs defined an operational energy strategy, and then published Operational Energy for the warfighter, a guide that would transform the way the DOD consumes energy in military operations.

“We want to develop technologies to enable future energy networks for the warfighter,” Shaffer said. “The challenge is to develop something that could be valuable to Soldiers 15 to 20 years from now -- based on what we know today.”

A past history of success in areas like electrochemistry is “informing the way forward for other technologies,” he said.

“In the recent past, ARL electrochemists discovered a way to increase the duration of high-energy batteries with an electrolyte

additive. Now, other teams are thinking about high-efficiency, miniature power supplies that could give small, unmanned systems bursts of power “on-demand,” Shaffer said.

“Technology is ever changing,” he said.

The basic research at the laboratory now will help the Army to be better in the next conflict, said John Carroll, action officer for the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Power and Energy Technology Focus Team. “The fuel challenge won’t go away. We have to fix it.”

Shaffer originated the concept of Smart Battlefield Energy on-Demand, or SmartBED. “SmartBED is one way we think Soldiers would be able to link up to the power they need. It will ultimately bring complex pieces together -- generator, solar systems and energy storage -- in a flexible, resilient way into an energy network,” said Carroll, who retired from the Navy as a nuclear propulsion engineer before coming to ARL. “The essence of SmartBED is being able to get energy seamlessly when and where it is needed, but yet not wasting it,” Shaffer

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER said. “Currently, we waste energy and it limits availability because often a single power source is tied directly to a single load.”

We want Soldiers to plug into the energy they need to keep their sources, batteries and devices topped off, yet drawing energy only as needed,” Shaffer said. “SmartBED is designed to improve energy capacity for Soldiers while they are at base camp or otherwise on the move.”

Shaffer has a wide view of the energy needs across Army, DOD and interagency forums that explore complimentary ways of addressing energy and power technology gaps and reduce duplicated efforts, including the DOD Energy and Power Community of Interest and the Interagency Advanced Power Group that includes agencies like the Department of Energy and NASA. These communities are comprised of scientists, engineers, subject matter experts, technologists and program managers with a common interest in promoting innovative energy and power solutions for the nation.

“One of the good things is to be able to see the flow of technology and communicate at each level,” Carroll said. “We come together as a science and technology community and see what investments are necessary to better get Program Executive Offices and Program Managers the operational energy tools they need when they need it.”

The Army acknowledges energy and power challenges to its operational energy concept and strategy, beyond technological improvement -- there are cultural, policy and procedural concerns that leaders are addressing.

There are ongoing research initiatives within the Army to explore alternatives and technology improvements in order to offset long-standing issues, like delivering large amounts of JP8 to the front lines, Carroll said.

The good news is that within and beyond the Army there are partners that are finding solutions and pushing technologies ahead together more smartly, he said.

At ARL, the future is a seamless energy architecture that begins with concepts like SmartBED, Long-lived Power and FuelReforming for better energy convergence.

ARL will share a series of four stories that focus on far-reaching concepts of the Army operational energy strategy. The next article in the series will focus on Smart BED. Scientists and engineers at ARL forecast solutions that empower and protect Soldiers into the future with a portfolio of basic and applied science.

Related links Army.mil: http://1.usa.gov/17vc5A6

Army researchers from RDECOM’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center introduce chemistry to young students at Ring Factory Elementary School. (U.S. Army photos)

Young students create their own ‘gak’ or slime, also known as homemade play dough during the science education outreach program.

ECBC helps turn first-graders into chemical engineers ECBC Public Affairs

BEL AIR, Md. – Three engineers from the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center recently made Engineering is Elementary’s chemical engineering unit come to life for 80 first-graders at Ring Factory Elementary School.

Af ter educating f irst- graders about the rewarding career pathways for chemical engineers at ECBC, they revised the engineering design process and talked about dif ferent types of chemical engineering professions with the students.

They then moved on to a thorough safety lesson and fascinated f irst- graders with a hands- on science, technol-

ogy, engineering and math, known as STEM, experience that gave students the oppor tunity to create their own ‘gak’ or slime, also known as homemade play dough.

“I really enjoyed the play- dough ac tivity today,” said Ian Silver, f irst- grade student at Ring Factor y Elementar y School. “I learned about the work that chemical engineers do for the Army.”

Par t of this inquir y- and design-based STEM activity was for students to discover the proper ties of the play- dough that they had mixed together.

Related links ECBC: https://www.ecbc.army.mil/

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

Christopher Doona and other researchers at Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center were awarded a total of 20 patents in 2012, helping the Army make Thomson Reuters’ Top 100 Global Innovators. (U.S. Army photo by David Kamm)

NSRDEC patents help Army into ‘Top 100 Global Innovators’

By Alexandra Foran NSRDEC Public Affairs NATICK, Mass. — The U.S. Army and Navy were named among Thomson Reuters’ Top 100 Global Innovators for 2012. This is the first time any government agency has ever made this list.

Leaders are chosen using a propriety program based on metrics regarding each company’s multiple innovative patents.

The Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, or NSRDEC, patented 20 different technological advancements for the Army in fiscal year 2012 alone.

NSRDEC’s patent contributions in 2012 included ideas such as portable chemical sterilization and the polymerization of natural compounds, among others. Quality of life has already improved for deployed Soldiers through the portable chemical sterilization patents, while the polymerization of natural compounds may make food last longer, create better flame-retardant material, and possibly develop a cancer-fighting drug.

Christopher Doona, a civilian senior research chemist, researches novel technologies in order to create more hygienic

and safer working environments for Soldiers in places such as medical facilities, kitchens and showers. “(For us) it’s kind of fascinating to see our research being more applied, patented and licensed to industry,” Doona said. “Actually, industry is already marketing a commercial product based on our inventions.”

Doona’s patents transitioned into products such as the Portable Chemical Sterilizer and Disinfectant sprayer for Foods and Environmentally friendly Sanitation, both of which are lightweight, portable, and generate gaseous chlorine dioxide safely in minutes to sterilize certain specific surfaces at their point-of-use.

Doona and his team have been recognized with Department of the Army Research and Development Achievement Awards and Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer for this research with practical benefit to military and civilian consumers.

Nicole Favreau Farhadi and Ferdinando Bruno, both civilian research chemists, looked at a naturally occurring compound known as hydroxytyrosol, one of the most potent antioxidants found in olive oil, and

enzymatically polymerized it; this chemical process basically means the compound is reacted to form a long chain of repeating units.

“As you make this polymer chain longer, it becomes a more potent antioxidant than what you actually find in nature,” said Favreau.

When this process is used for food applications, limiting or eliminating oxygen in this manner will make food last longer.

Polymerization in this way is incredibly important because it is relatively simple, now that the process has been formulated, which means polymerizing on a mass scale is feasible.

Their team reported two patents: “the homoand co-polymerization of hydroxytyrosol for possible application as an antioxidant for food, maybe even cancer drugs,” said Bruno.

Both chemists noted that they often find industry and academic partners who are willing to collaborate with them to advance their research and development.

“We have seen a lot of outside interest for many other potential applications,” Bruno said.

A 2012 U.S. Department of Commerce report stated: “Innovation is the key driver of competitiveness, wage and job growth, and long-term economic growth.”

RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

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ECBC engineer applies no-fear personality to career ECBC Communications ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Lisa Smagala used to be afraid of heights, until she took a hot air balloon ride to challenge her fear. Guns made her nervous, so she went to a shooting range to test a few out. When Smagala thought she was an awful distance runner, she signed up for her first half marathon.

“I just like throwing myself into things,” Smagala said. “The only way I fully understand something is to touch it and feel it, so figuring out how things work and facing a problem head on is how I always approach things.”

At the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s chemical, biological center, Smagala serves as the systems integration team leader within the Advanced Design and Manufacturing Division’s Technology and Systems Integration Branch at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.

Smagala has used her no-fear personality and disciplined work ethic to advance her skills as a systems engineer, bring success to her team and add value to her many projects.

As a female team lead in a field historically driven by males, Smagala never lets being the “small girl in the room” deter her from immersing herself in a field that truly piqued her interest. “I really don’t mind getting dirty, or climbing around the vehicles turning wrenches,” Smagala said. “Although these days I don’t get to do it as much as I used to, that type of work is what really excites me. I’m a hands-on learner.”

Smagala has been in the systems engineering line of work for more than 10 years and spent her undergraduate years studying industrial engineering. “A majority of my studies and the jobs that I’ve held were heavily male dominated,” Smagala said.

While she is used to the environment and feels comfortable in the atmosphere, she has encountered some difficult attitudes from time to time.

“Never at ECBC, but I have been in several situations where male customers would ask another male questions even though I’m the person in charge, or I may get treated differently. The best way I combat that is to just show them what I am made of,” Smagala said.

“Work ethic, good results, drive and skill all speak on their own. While they may not ask me questions initially, it doesn’t take long for them to realize that I am capable.”

Although Smagala is someone who has always pushed herself, hard work is a trait that comes naturally. A strong work ethic and building relationships are the traits that Smagala thinks are essential to any engineer’s career -- male or female.

Lisa Smagala

“You have to be committed to your job, be excited and want to see you programs succeed,” Smagala said. “I try to instill that value in our team to encourage members to work hard. Our Warfighters deserve a certain level of service, and we need to be able to deliver on that.”

Smagala’s first foray into engineering was not unlike her approach to conquering her fear of heights or challenging her ability to run long distances - she took a head-first and hands-on approach. At 18 years old, Smagala worked a summer job at the General Motors factory assembly line near her Delaware home. In her time with GM, Smagala started as a summer intern and became a full-time engineer by the time she graduated from the University of Delaware with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.

“I stayed with GM for about seven years and really enjoyed my job. Unfortunately the plant began to show signs of closing down, so I couldn’t stay as long as I wanted,” Smagala said. “It was because of the real exposure to the working world an manufacturing that I found the field exciting and fast paced.”

After GM, Smagala ventured into a completely different side of engineering and took on a job at WL Gore working with the company’s fabric division as a part of their testing lab/ manufacturing support. The difference between working on vehicles versus working with fabrics was immense to her.

“While it very different to transition from cars to fabric, I got a whole new view of manufacturing through the work we did in the lab,” Smagala said.

Although Smagala enhanced her skills in

research and development and learned a lot through the process, she wanted to manage more than just a piece of the puzzle, so she started to pursue different opportunities --especially when she met Kevin Wallace through a mutual friend. Wallace, Smagala said, always talked about the exciting work he did at ECBC. It didn’t take Smagala too long to send Kevin her resume to see if ECBC could be a good fit for her.

“I gave Kevin my resume and about six to eight months later I got a call from the Advanced Design and Manufacturing Division inviting me in for an interview,” Smagala said.

During her time with ECBC Smagala said she has truly pushed herself and really grown as an engineer.

High-profile projects she worked on included the Buffalo vehicle, the Joint Explosive Ordinance Disposal Rapid Response Vehicle Surrogate and the Husky Mounted Detection System Surrogate.

In addition to her projects, Smagala earned a master of science in business administration from Wilmington University, and a master of science in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University within three years while with ECBC. “I just wanted to throw myself into it and complete all the programs. I felt very encouraged by my coworkers here who work so hard and are so passionate about what they do,” Smagala said. “I wanted to become more well-rounded and do as much as I could to fully understand and appreciate every opportunity.”

Smagala said her favorite project thus far with ECBC was the work with the JERRV Surrogate, a training vehicle for the Joint Improvised Explosives Defeat Organization.

This was the first project that Smagala has had the opportunity to work with from cradle to grave. “I have been involved with JERRV from the start and I got to see it from the initial fielding, to sustainment, training and enhancements for a fleet of 80 vehicles, so I feel a personal tie with that one. We spent a lot of time with the Soldiers during training and practical exercises and really got an inside look into their needs.”

Traveling 90 minutes each way to get to ECBC every day, Smagala uses the little free time she has to stay active in volleyball, kickball, dodgeball leagues and participates in obstacle course races. While her schedule can be stressful and exhausting at times, it is all worth it. Smagala believes it is hard to get stressed when you’re having fun. “I get the opportunity to not only do something I love, but do it next to some of the most talented, intelligent people who are also enthusiastic about their jobs.”

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

Combat vehicle ID app means Soldier training on-the-go

By Amanda Rominiecki CERDEC Public Affairs

Army Contracting Command recognizes RDECOM chaplain ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Juan M. Crockett, RDECOM’s chaplain, is presented a certificate of appreciation from the Army Contracting Command for supporting the APG workforce March 20.

Crockett shared his knowledge and experience while leading recent stressmanagement training.

(U.S. Army photos by Conrad Johnson)

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Soldiers and civilians alike can now test their knowledge of U.S. and foreign combat vehicles in a new, free Android application released in February.

The mobile app ROC-V, which stands for Recognition of Combatants -Vehicles, was developed by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, or CERDEC NVESD, located at Fort Belvoir, Va, in collaboration with TRADOC Capability Manager Brigade Combat Team -- Mission Command.

Based on the official ROC-V computerbased training software also developed

by CERDEC NVESD, the ROC-V mobile app is a publicly available Android app meant to teach Soldiers to identify combat vehicles using visible cues. The more extensive ROC-V computer based trainer trains the Warfighter to identify vehicles using Forward Looking Infrared and visible imagery. The purpose of the training is fratricide avoidance. CERDEC NVESD’s Modeling and Simulation Division has been working closely with the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps for over 16 years to ensure the training effectiveness of ROC-V. “As mobile applications really started to take off, we had the idea to create a mobile version of ROC-V,” said John O’Connor, NVESD ROC-V project lead. “Taking into consideration comments from both users and TRADOC (U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command), we developed the app available today.”

With several study modes, the user can choose to freely study at their own pace or pick between two challenge modes: Vehicle Discrimination and Timed Signature, both meant to test the user’s knowledge and expertise on vehicle identification.

“This app means a Soldier can train anytime, anywhere,” said O’Connor. “More importantly, it’s fun. If a Soldier has a little spare time, he can pull up this app and train in a relaxing but challenging environment.”

Users can study the visible markers of the over 80 U.S. and foreign vehicles included in the app. Once the app is downloaded, it requires no internet connection to be played.

The mobile app ROC-V, which stands for Recognition of Combatants - Vehicles, was developed by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, or CERDEC NVESD, in collaboration with TRADOC Capability Manager Brigade Combat Team “ Mission Command.

While the app is currently only available on Android devices in the Google Play Store, an iOS version is currently under review to be released in the Apple App Store.

So far, user comments about the app have been positive.

“Excellent first version.

Highly recommended for anyone wanting to learn basic and detailed vehile (sic) ID. Every military service member with an Android should download this on principle alone.

There is now no excuse for not knowing what your loooking (sic) at,” said one user in the Google Play store.

“We’re very excited about this app,” said O’Connor. “It’s been 2 years coming, and with great support from TRADOC and the user community, we’ve developed an excellent product. It’s really an evolution of training and support to the Soldier that we hope to continue as we move into the future.”

Related links CERDEC: http://www.cerdec.army.mil/

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RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

Military equipment from masks to backpacks and detectors are tested for durability against some of nature’s toughest elements. (U.S. Army photo)

ECBC engineers test around the world in 26 chambers ECBC Communications

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — In a given work day Audrey Moberly and Greg Carter can visit the tropics, freeze in the Arctic or survive a sandstorm.

Engineers spend time walking in and out of the branch’s 26 environmental test chambers, assisting groups inside and outside of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s chemical and biological center to ensure military equipment -- from backpacks to masks and detectors -can withstand any natural elements.

“We are here to do the hard testing to ensure that the equipment being sent to our Warfighters can last through harsh environmental elements,” said Moberly, who has been with Edgewood Chemical Biological Center for 17 years. The testing chambers include temperature/humidity, salt fog, sand/dust, solar radiation, altitude, hot environmental, cold environmental and rain. The temperature chambers range from negative 60 degrees Fahrenheit to 300 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity levels ranging from 2 to nearly 100 percent.

“There are many elemental factors that engineers need to be mindful of when creating and designing a product. It goes beyond just the climate of the area where they will be using the equipment,” Moberly said.

They have to account for the travel to the location.

“For example, will be driven through a mountain terrain in a box at the back of a hot vehicle for a couple hours, or maybe a small cold space?” Moberly asked. “Our facilities simulate everything from the final destination climate to any natural factors that could pose a problem while traveling there.”

The group uses shock, vibration and rough -handling testing to simulate the travel of equipment.

“We are able to test secured steady state or transient vibration and loose cargo tests,” Carter said.

Vibration testing is controlled in a separate room with computer analog equipment where the engineers can observe the testing environment, and adjust conditions.

The group can videotape testing for future documentation.

The vibration testing complies with the American Society for Testing of Materials Test Standards and Military, Federal and Commercial test standards. In case a precious piece of equipment falls, EFTB’s Drop Tests can be conducted from up to 40 feet. EFTB can also conduct altitude testing, which is a low pressure test that can be conducted up to 45,000 feet. One version of the altitude test is a rapid decompression to simulate a sudden loss of pressure in an aircraft. EFT’s

testing facilities have been used to test the Joint Service Aircrew Mask, Joint Service General Purpose Mask, vehicles for the Joint Program Manager for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Contamination Avoidance, and many others.

“We support other teams and branches with testing their equipment. Our space is always here,” Moberly said. Sometimes the space might be used, but not the chambers.

Recently, members of ECBC’s Test, Reliability and Engineering Branch and the Project Manager for Force Protection used the large space in EFT’s warehouse to test their Lighting Kit Motion Detectors. The group needed a large space with enough room for someone to run around and test the sensors, a task that is typically done outdoors. Because of cold weather the group was still able to conduct the testing they needed indoors.

As resources change, equipment needs to be sent to Warfighters faster and be more durable for whatever comes. Environmental and harsh testing complies with Military Standard 810G of Materials Test Standards.

“We can replicate almost any environment on Earth,” Moberly said. “Just tell us where you want to go.

Related links ECBC: https://www.ecbc.army.mil/

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MAY 2013 – ISSUE NO. 10

ARL employee gains certification ARL Public Affairs

hands-on experience with the FED vehicle.

In the pre-drive session, TARDEC engineer Rachel Agusti briefed Via on three takeaways about the vehicle.

“There were three objectives with the program: increase fuel efficiency by 30 percent, improve the capabilities of the warfighter, and to be able to provide protection and ergonomics for the vehicle in terms of safety and survivability for our Soldiers,” Via relayed to Leno on the episode.

Via emphasized that partnerships were key to developing the vehicle, which is equipped with fuel-saving technologies developed by the automobile industry and currently in testing on the FED vehicle.

FED Alpha could perform the same mission as a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, but with about 70 percent better mpg ratings (in simulated studies). The episode also included a video showing the FED in motion.

Like every vehicle that enters Leno’s garage, the host test drove the vehicle with Via and Bochenek along for the ride on the streets of Los Angeles. Leno commented on the braking power and turn radius.

Increasing fuel efficiency would have life-saving impact because it reduces the amount of fuel convoys — and warfighters’ exposure to the enemy — in the field.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Dr. Christine Allen, science and technology manager for medical simulations at the Simulation and Training Technology Center, recently completed her Certified Modeling and Simulation Professional Dr. Christine Allen Program.

STTC is part of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory’s Human Research and Engineering Directorate.

According to Allen, “certification is important as it helps me expand my expertise in the continually evolving modeling and simulation field.”

The CMSP program a tool for anyone working in the field of modeling and simulation - developers, managers, analysts, users and customers to maintain current knowledge and skills. The National Training and Simulation Association created the program to highlight best practices and assemble a group of well-qualified individuals.

The two-phase certification structure evaluates and tests the candidate’s qualifications and knowledge. The first phase is evaluation of the applicant’s credentials. The committee requires a designated amount work experience in the M&S that correlates to the highest degree level held by the candidate. Additionally, applicants must furnish three detailed letters of reference addressing to their expertise in M&S and suitability.

The second phase consists of an online examination and essay that evaluates both the applicant’s general knowledge of M&S and questions within their area of expertise. Applicants have 30 days to complete the exam and essay. The essay topic is not formally graded but reviewed to provide insight of the applicant’s abilities.

“I would encourage others to take the certification as it is a great test of M&S knowledge in a field that has grown exponentially,” Allen said.

Related links FED Episode: http://bit.ly/16hZXEp

Related links More info: http://www.simprofessional.org

Jay Leno interviews AMC Commander Gen. Dennis L. Via and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Grace M. Bochenek about the FED Alpha vehicle for his online show “Jay Leno’s Garage.” (U.S. Army photo by Cherish Washington)

Jay Leno drives Army’s original Fuel Efficient Demonstrator TARDEC Public Affairs

BURBANK, Calif. — The Army has a longterm goal of increasing the fuel efficiency of its entire fleet and the Fuel Efficient Demonstrator vehicles were built to help accomplish that.

Late-night talk show host Jay Leno has a goal of exploring all things automotive on his web series “Jay Leno’s Garage.”

Those two objectives came together when Leno welcomed Army Materiel Command’s Commanding General, Gen. Dennis L. Via, and AMC Chief Technology Officer Dr. Grace Bochenek to his online program to showcase the FED Alpha — the first of two vehicles the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s tank and automotive center and teams of industry and academic partners developed to evaluate fuel-saving systems on a military platform.

“This is not a Prius by any means, but for the Army it’s very fuel efficient,” Leno commented on the webcast, which is available at jaylenosgarage.com.

Designed by Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center and industry partners, the FED Alpha is an Office of the Secretary of Defense-sponsored project developed to test fuel efficiency technologies that may be integrated into the current combat vehicle fleet.

To prepare for the show, Via and Bochenek visited Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Southeast Michigan in late January for