On the Army's technology wish list, 'network' ranks number one.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: DEFENSEINSIDER - Seamless global network

* It has been a long-elusive goal for Army technologists: A network that lets soldiers tap their laptop or smart phone keyboards and obtain the information they need, anywhere in the world.

No such network exists yet, and may never will, simply because the Army's information systems are too complex and disjointed to make that vision possible.

It is estimated that there are currently 40 separate programs spread across the Army that would have to be integrated in order to create a seamless global network.

A big hurdle is the Army's antiquated acquisition system.

Current practices are network-unfriendly because they were designed to manage stand-alone widgets and weapon systems. Another obstacle is that the acquisition bureaucracy is too slow to keep up with advances in the commercial IT industry, officials said.

Units at war today have loads of sensors and computer networks, but they're isolated "point-to-point" systems, which limits their usefulness, said Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli. Soldiers in the field often complain about living off the information grid, Chiarelli said. "You can't blame the soldier for wanting the technology. But when we provide technology and it's not integrated with the rest of the systems, he has no idea that the reason it doesn't work is because it's not integrated," he said. "The real challenge for us is, how do we change the acquisition system to take advantage of rapid technological change?"

The next best hope for achieving the Army's dream network lies at Fort Bliss, Texas...