Critical to the future effectiveness of the Army, and thus its trust with the American people, is whether the Army will retain the essential characteristics of a military profession—each of the six carefully explicated in this monograph—as it transits this era of Department of Defense reductions. Unfortunately, that future effectiveness is often not really known until the “first battle of the next war,” as the Army learned so painfully in the past, e.g., Task Force Smith in Korea.

The Army’s campaign of learning about the Army profession has been ongoing for a year, a campaign led by a broad community of practice (CoP) drawn from many of the proponent Centers (Army schools or agencies for each Army branch or functional specialty) in dialogue with cohorts throughout the Army. For purposes of analytical capabilities, the CoP is organized by cohort within the profession, e.g., officers, noncommissioned officers, warrant officers, enlisted Soldiers, Army civilians, etc. Throughout calendar year 2011, that CoP conducted multiple surveys, assessments, dialogues, forums, and exercises across the Army. This monograph highlights some of the outcomes to date, particularly those relating to the central research question—what does it mean now, after a decade of war, for the Army to be a military profession.

This question is addressed by presenting four initial outcomes of the campaign:

1. The Background Realities of the Army as a Profession;
2. Including Army Civilians: A New Typology for the Army Profession;
3. The Process of Professionalization and the Criteria for Individual Certifications; and,
4. The Essential Characteristics of the Army as a Profession.

 
the Army is making good strides in its most recent effort to prepare for transition in a period of Defense reductions. The Army is doing so by keeping professional capabilities intact and ready for the first battle of the next conflict. But it must be understood that the really hard work is yet to be done.

The hard work is to conform the daily behavior of the institution to that of a profession when almost every tendency during the period of reductions will be to behave like a government occupation: centralizing authority; bureaucratizing processes; micro-managing within hierarchy, while the force “does more with less”; and, taking autonomy away from the very folks in whom the future of the institution lies—its junior professionals, both uniformed and civilian. To avoid such an outcome is now a central challenge facing the “stewards” of the Army profession.

In a densely-worded joint statement, the two sides said they were talking about "delinking" the redeployment of 8,000 Marines from a 2006 agreement to close the base in the crowded urban area of Futenma.

It has been widely reported in Japan that Washington has now set its sights on shifting 4,700 Marines to Guam without waiting for Japan to stop its foot-dragging over the accord, which would see a new facility built in a sparsely populated coastal area.

The original agreement offered the carrot of a Marine drawdown in exchange for Okinawans allowing the construction of an airstrip at Henoko.

But local opposition to the plan has been fierce, with feelings running high on the tropical island chain that because it is home to around half of the 50,000 US troops in Japan, it already shoulders a big enough burden.

The two sides said Wednesday that the move to Henoko remained the "only viable way forward" but that it may no longer be contingent on Marines leaving.

The statement, issued in Washington and Tokyo, said the US was looking to "achieve a more geographically distributed, operationally resilient and politically sustainable force structure in" Asia, and the relocation of Marines to Guam was an essential part of that.

"Our two governments have started official discussions to adjust our current posture plans... in particular delinking both the movement of Marines to Guam and resulting land returns... from progress on the Futenma Replacement Facility."

Tokyo and Washington have squabbled since 2009 over the fate of the base, where locals have long complained of aircraft noise, the risk of accidents, and crime associated with a large contingent of young servicemen.

The dispute helped to bring down former prime minister Yukio Hatoyama who mused openly about moving the base off the island then backtracked to appease Washington, which maintains that a shifting security environment in east Asia means a Marine presence on Okinawa has crucial strategic value.

Hatoyama's successor, Naoto Kan, pledged to relocate Futenma, as originally agreed, but was brought down by domestic issues before he could fulfil his promise.

Current Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told parliament on Wednesday he had no intention of abandoning the plan to close Futenma.

"We definitely have to avoid fixing the site of the Futenma air base at the current place. There's no change in our plans to relocate the base to Henoko," he said.

The original proposal to shift Futenma dates back to the 1990s when the US military was looking to assuage local anger following a series of incidents including the gang rape of a schoolgirl.

But it has become mired in a mix of local and national politics and has reached deadlock in recent years.

Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said Wednesday's agreement to begin talks on reducing US troop numbers would at least provide a way forward.

"The government needs to carefully explain to the people of Okinawa about the need to remove the risk around the Futenma airbase as quickly as possible," he said.

"Do we choose to stay like this, where nothing moves on? It is better to choose an option that would lessen the burden on Okinawa."

“An Indian military delegation arrived on Monday in Ulan Ude [in Russia’s Far East] to discuss the preparation for INDRA-2012 military drills to be held this summer,” Lt. Col. Alexander Gordeyev said.

Russian and Indian military officials will reconnoiter the terrain at the training range where the drills will be held, the spokesman said.

Since 2003, India and Russia have conducted five of the INDRA series joint ground and naval exercises. The last such exercise was held between Russian and Indian army units in India in October 2010.

However, Russia cancelled both INDRA-series ground and naval exercises last year despite an earlier announcement by the Russian General Staff that INDRA drills may be held every year and involve three branches of the armed forces.

Relations between India and Russia have suffered in recent years from the delayed refit of the aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, and the poor sourcing of components for Russian-made equipment operated by the Indian armed forces.

India remains, though, a key buyer of Russian weaponry.

This effort has resulted in significant cost savings from the restructure of Army programs and the consolidation of test practices.

The year-old Network Integration Evaluation, known as NIE, effort has driven decisions to send certain systems to the field, revamp others to better meet Soldier needs and terminate several programs that lacked merit, leading to significant cost savings and avoidance. Consolidating the evaluations with the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. and laboratory assessments at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., has also saved more than $7.9 million to date in test costs versus testing networked systems individually.

Much of the cost savings and avoidance stems from program adjustments made after NIE results prompted the Army to re-assess planned purchases or revise requirements. Examples include the cancellation of the Early Infantry Brigade Combat Team effort (including the Network Integration Kit) and the Mounted Soldier System program, and the restructure of the Nett Warrior and Joint Tactical Radio System, or JTRS, Ground Mobile Radio efforts.

Other savings result from risk reduction efforts, including robust laboratory and integration assessments prior to formal operational tests and the alignment of major network programs of record into an integrated "capability set."

Synchronized fielding of capability sets every two years will allow the Army to buy the right amount and type of gear for the brigades that need it first, then incrementally modernize it -- instead of spending resources on technology that may be out of date by the time it is needed.

"In the Nett Warrior situation, the formal requirement didn't match up with what users were saying they needed to get the job done," said Col. John Morrison, director of the Army G-3/5/7 LandWarNet-Battle Command Directorate. "The NIE gave us the opportunity to get the technology right, and to save significant time and money in the process."

Nett Warrior is a Soldier-worn mission command system that 2/1 AD Soldiers deemed valuable but too bulky during the first NIE event in June 2011. Army leadership quickly restructured the Nett Warrior program to take advantage of the latest commercial technology, and a slimmed-down version of Nett Warrior received positive reviews at NIE 12.1 in November. These changes yielded more than $800 million in cost avoidance and resulted in a more usable end product for the dismounted Soldier, to be delivered to more units on a faster timeline.

Another major programmatic change related to the NIE is the termination of the Joint Tactical JTRS Ground Mobile Radio, or GMR. Soldiers at NIE 11.2 desired the GMR's communications potential but criticized its size, power consumption and startup time.

When a decrease in the planned purchase quantity of GMR radios triggered a rise in unit cost and a subsequent Nunn McCurdy Breach, the Department of Defense decided not to re-certify the program, thus clearing a path for the Army to pursue lower cost, mature alternatives within the available radio market.

The Army is now using the Agile Process to procure a GMR replacement, known as the Mid-Tier Networking Vehicular Radio, or MNVR. This Non-Developmental Item, known as NDI, effort aims to procure available radios that transmit information using high bandwidth, non-proprietary waveforms such as Wideband Networking Waveform, or WNW, and Soldier Radio Waveform, or SRW, to move voice, video, data and images across the force in real time. The Army will leverage NIE 13.1 in the fall to test potential MNVR solutions and determine which will be fielded for Capability Set 14.

"We know the waveforms, not the hardware, are the key to this capability," said Col. Dan Hughes, director of the Army's System of Systems Integration Directorate. "We can now go back out to industry to get those waveforms on hardware that is cheaper and can be delivered to the Soldier faster. This is what this adaptive process is all about, making sure we provide the Soldier the most technically advanced, easily usable and cost-effective capability quickly."

The Army will now use Capability Set Management, an adaptive and agile process, to sync network development and fielding with the Program Objective Memorandum cycle, thereby ensuring that the right amount of funding is in place at the right time for all components of the Capability Set. By fully aligning fiscal resources, development and fielding, the Army ultimately will field a greater depth of capability to more formations than was possible before.

Capability set fielding will be accomplished through the Agile Process, the Army's new quick-reaction acquisition methodology to address defined capability gaps and insert new technologies into the overall network at a lower cost. Industry participation in the NIE and Agile Process is growing steadily, a key factor as the Army shifts from developing its own network technology to leveraging industry innovation.

More than 40 industry technologies will be included as part of NIE 12.2 in April-June.

"Starting next year we will field the network as an integrated capability, and it makes sense to evaluate it that way," Morrison said. "The operational and financial benefits of the NIE will continue to build as we make this new model our established way of doing business."

The NIE events themselves are also evolving. NIE 12.2 will operate in a classified environment with secure data connections and will connect evaluation units to a higher-division headquarters, being represented by the 101st Airborne Division operating out of Fort Campbell, Ky. 2/1 AD operations at White Sands will require the brigade, battalion and company command posts to "jump" or move in uncooperative and unpredictable environments, and quickly establish network connectivity.

A battalion-sized opposition force will be employed in dynamic scenarios with hybrid threats, including conventional forces, insurgents and members of the local population.

"From a test perspective, the NIEs are a very effective way to simultaneously measure individual system performance and validate the integrated network architecture in a robust operational environment," said Maj. Gen. Genaro Dellarocco, commanding general of the Army Test and Evaluation Command. "While there are certainly challenges in evaluating so many systems at once, we believe there is little downside to quickly putting promising capabilities in Soldiers' hands. We are confident in our test methods and that these synergies will save the Army significant dollars over time."

Launched in June 2011, the NIEs are semi-annual evaluations designed to quickly integrate and mature the Army's tactical communications network -- the service's top modernization priority. The events assess new network capabilities from government and industry with an operational brigade combat team to determine whether they perform as needed, conform to the network architecture and are interoperable with existing systems.

If a certain system is deemed in need of further development, for example, it can participate in a subsequent NIE before a final procurement or fielding decision is made.

"We intend to buy commercial technologies that represent the best capability at the best cost to the taxpayer," Hughes said. "We're going to compete to bring the prices down to a point where capabilities are commodities that fill our needs. The Agile Process will ultimately streamline acquisition so it is more incremental and more affordable."

The teaming arrangement between General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) and BAE Systems' Munitions business, will leverage their respective strengths to provide a low-cost, highly affordable, precision mortar. The 81mm RCGM uses the current UK L41 round and US M734A1 fuze, but incorporates GPS guidance and General Dynamics' patented Roll Controlled Fixed Canard (RCFC) technology to provide a precision strike capability.

RCGM will put, for the first time, a low-cost indirect precision system into the hands of the front-line soldier, dramatically increasing his combat effectiveness," said Ian Anderton, managing director of BAE Systems' Munitions business. "The system's increased accuracy will help bring effective fire on target quicker and the reduced number of rounds required for a typical mission will mean an approximate 30 percent reduction in logistics demands an important consideration at the end of extended supply lines in theater."

Michael Wilson, President of General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems said, "Our teaming with BAE Systems will provide the infantry with a lightweight, portable, precision strike capability based on General Dynamics' innovative Roll Control Guided Mortar technology. By using existing warheads and fuzing with our low-cost control and guidance system, we can offer a truly affordable precision mortar round to the US, UK and allies across the world."

Sandia researchers Red Jones and Brian Kast and their colleagues have invented a dart-like, self-guided bullet for small-caliber, smooth-bore firearms that could hit laser-designated targets at distances of more than a mile (about 2,000 meters).

“We have a very promising technology to guide small projectiles that could be fully developed inexpensively and rapidly,” Jones said.

Sandia is seeking a private company partner to complete testing of the prototype and bring a guided bullet to the marketplace.

Researchers have had initial success testing the design in computer simulations and in field tests of prototypes, built from commercially available parts, Jones said.

While engineering issues remain, “we’re confident in our science base and we’re confident the engineering-technology base is there to solve the problems,” he said.

Sandia’s design for the four-inch-long bullet includes an optical sensor in the nose to detect a laser beam on a target. The sensor sends information to guidance and control electronics that use an algorithm in an eight-bit central processing unit to command electromagnetic actuators. These actuators steer tiny fins that guide the bullet to the target.

Most bullets shot from rifles, which have grooves, or rifling, that cause them to spin so they fly straight, like a long football pass. To enable a bullet to turn in flight toward a target and to simplify the design, the spin had to go, Jones said.

The four-inch-long bullet has actuators that steer tiny fins that guide it to its target. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

The bullet flies straight due to its aerodynamically stable design, which consists of a center of gravity that sits forward in the projectile and tiny fins that enable it to fly without spin, just as a dart does, he said.

Computer aerodynamic modeling shows the design would result in dramatic improvements in accuracy, Jones said. Computer simulations showed an unguided bullet under real-world conditions could miss a target more than a half mile away (1,000 meters away) by 9.8 yards (9 meters), but a guided bullet would get within 8 inches (0.2 meters), according to the patent.

Plastic sabots provide a gas seal in the cartridge and protect the delicate fins until they drop off after the bullet emerges from the firearm’s barrel.

The prototype does not require a device found in guided missiles called an inertial measuring unit, which would have added substantially to its cost. Instead, the researchers found that the bullet’s relatively small size when compared to guided missiles “is helping us all around. It’s kind of a fortuitous thing that none of us saw when we started,” Jones said.

As the bullet flies through the air, it pitches and yaws at a set rate based on its mass and size. In larger guided missiles, the rate of flight-path corrections is relatively slow, so each correction needs to be very precise because fewer corrections are possible during flight. But “the natural body frequency of this bullet is about 30 hertz, so we can make corrections 30 times per second. That means we can overcorrect, so we don’t have to be as precise each time,” Jones said.

Testing has shown the electromagnetic actuator performs well and the bullet can reach speeds of 2,400 feet per second, or Mach 2.1, using commercially available gunpowder. The researchers are confident it could reach standard military speeds using customized gunpowder.

And a nighttime field test, in which a tiny light-emitting diode, or LED, was attached to the bullet showed the battery and electronics can survive flight, Jones said.

Researchers also filmed high-speed video of the bullet radically pitching as it exited the barrel. The bullet pitches less as it flies down range, a phenomenon known to long-range firearms experts as “going to sleep.” Because the bullet’s motions settle the longer it is in flight, accuracy improves at longer ranges, Jones said.

“Nobody had ever seen that, but we’ve got high-speed video photography that shows that it’s true,” he said.

Potential customers for the bullet include the military, law enforcement and recreational shooters.

In addition to Jones and Kast, Sandia researchers who helped develop the technology are: engineer Brandon R. Rohrer, aerodynamics expert Marc W. Kniskern, mechanical designer Scott E. Rose, firearms expert James W. Woods and Ronald W. Greene, a guidance, control and simulation engineer.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated and managed by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.

The deal will be finalized on February 10, the source said, adding that 20 BMP-3 vehicles will be delivered before the end of the year.

The Russian army stopped purchasing the vehicles in 2010.

The state-run weapons exporter Rosoboronexport declined to comment.

The Kurganmashzavod arms plant said it would produce modified vehicles for Indonesia.

In November last year, the Government approved the purchase of the two ex-United States Army Chinooks following the loss of one ADF Chinook on operations in Afghanistan in May 2011.

The Minister said the new Chinooks would enter a period of deep maintenance and modification to bring them up to the same configuration as the existing ADF Chinook fleet.

Both Chinooks are scheduled to be delivered to the Australian Army to support operations by the middle of 2012.

The CH-47D Chinook is a highly capable medium-lift utility helicopter. Its roles include troop movement, battlefield equipment transport, search and rescue and disaster relief.

Chinooks have been highly capable workhorses since they entered ADF service in 1995 in operations both in Australia and overseas.

Chinooks have been deployed on Operation Slipper in Afghanistan since 2006.

They have performed an outstanding service for both ADF and International Security Assistance Forces and are in high demand across Afghanistan due to their superior performance in hot and high altitude conditions.

The ADF CH-47D fleet will be replaced with seven new CH-47F Chinooks from around 2016.

"While increased modernization and retrofit remains transparent to our analysis of new-production tanks, this factor has become a significant force in the international market," said Dean Lockwood, Forecast International senior military vehicles analyst. "Through ongoing maintenance, RESET (repair of battle damage), and upgrades, the U.S. Army intends to maintain its M1 Abrams tanks in active service through 2050."

Between 2004 and 2009, U.S. Department of Defense spending on the maintenance, RESET, and upgrade of existing M1 Abrams tanks was, on average, equivalent to 41.24 percent of what the entire international market spent on new-production main battle tanks annually. In 2010, U.S. DoD spending on the maintenance, RESET, and upgrade of existing M1 Abrams tanks experienced a reduction of more than 67.2 percent since the previous year – with a corresponding drop in the equivalent market share, to 10.69 percent. In 2011, U.S. DoD spending on the M1 Abrams fell 42.77 percent from 2010. Since 2004, the M1 Abrams program has lost nearly 82 percent of its market share.

The expense associated with the modernization and retrofit of high-end main battle tanks pales in comparison with the prospect of new tank procurement. Thus, Forecast International expects new production of high-end tanks to remain relatively low, accounting for 22.79 percent of all production, worth 36.05 percent of the market, through 2021.

In terms of sheer numbers, the Type 98 of the People's Republic of China, Pakistan's Al-Khalid, and the Russian Federation's T-90 (including India's licensed T‑90S) will continue to dominate the market, accounting for 54.73 percent of all new tanks rolling out worldwide, worth 43.79 percent of the market, through 2021.

Second only to infantryman in terms of combat effectiveness, the "Mailed Fist" of heavy armor remains the arm of decision on the modern battlefield. Further, as Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn (2003-2011) evolved from a war of movement into a security operation, the main battle tank proved surprisingly adaptable. In the congested streets of Iraqi cities, the Abrams served as a significant force multiplier, fully up to meeting the challenges of an asymmetric warfare environment.

A large number of army, naval and air force troops have been practising for months at Mirim air base near the capital Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified Seoul official.

"The practice was under way even before the death of Kim Jong-Il," Yonhap quoted the official as saying. The leader died on December 17 and was succeeded by his youngest son Jong-Un in the country's second dynastic power transfer.

The parade will likely be staged to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung on April 15, or the anniversary of the foundation of the army on April 25, the official was quoted as saying.

Major weaponry including new tanks and armoured vehicles as well as short- and mid-range missiles have been deployed, the official said.

The event will likely be the largest military parade ever held in the country if all weaponry that has been deployed for practice sessions actually takes part, JoongAng Ilbo newspaper quoted an official as saying.

Seoul's defence ministry declined to confirm the reports.

JoongAng Ilbo said it was assumed the parade would be held to mark Kim Jong-Il's birthday on February 16, but Yonhap said it was likelier to go ahead in April.

Kim Jong-Il's birthday was never marked by a military parade while he was alive.

The impoverished but heavily-armed state with 1.2 million troops has regularly staged large parades featuring thousands of goose-stepping soldiers and major weaponry to mark major anniversaries.

Kim Jong-Il had declared 2012 as the year when the North would become a "powerful and prosperous nation" to mark the centenary of its founder's birth.