Technologies rushed to war: and then what?

• Author: Irwin, Sandra
• Position: Up Front - Specialized military equipment timely deployment to Iraq war

Hasty deployment of specialized military equipment to forces under fire in Iraq and Afghanistan have saved the day more than once for Army troops. Materiel has ranged from bomb-detection robots to handheld language translators to vehicle-inspection devices.

But much work remains to be done in the equally important second phase--offering spare parts, manuals and other important follow-on services, according to senior officials.

The Army was able to purchase and deploy these items in relatively short time by skirting the traditional procurement bureaucracy and, instead, relying on so-called "rapid fielding" organizations. Many of these new technologies, however, were sent to war in such a hurry that the Army was unable to arrange the support services usually associated with military systems, such as technical manuals and instructions on how to obtain spare parts.

The Army launched three major efforts to expedite the delivery to technology to the front lines: the Agile Development Center, the Rapid Fielding Initiative and the Rapid Equipping Force.

Although these projects have achieved much success in moving equipment purchases at a fast pace, at some point, they need to address soldiers' needs for logistics support and repair parts, noted Brig. Gen. Roger A. Nadeau, commander of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command.

"Products get fielded by the REF," Nadeau said. "After a while, soldiers start asking 'where are the parts?' Where is the log [logistics] plan? ... Collectively, we don't have a good answer."

First of all, soldiers need to be told whether the Army will support the new system or whether they should throw it away when it breaks or wears out, he added.

The Army has fielded nearly 220 new technologies both in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Brig. Gen. Philip D. Coker, director of capabilities development at the U.S. Army Futures Center.

The issue of whether these accelerated systems will become part of the standard Army inventory is complex, given the intricacies of military procurement, he explained. "We've begun to look at which of those 220 technologies may be needed across the Army as a result of their performance under fire."

The procurement of Army equipment is "a wonderful process, if you are not in the middle of a fight," Coker said. "Now we are in the middle of a fight, and we need to deliver rapidly. Frankly, there are no firmly established processes.

"We are given a requirement from commanders. We send the...