Light Rail in Canberra: Too much, too little, too late: Is the price worth th...
Tradoc this week sept 30
1. TRADOC This Week
A publication of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
1
Victory Starts Here...
FORT EUSTIS, Va. ■ Issue 7, Vol. 1, Sept. 30, 2011 ■ http://www.facebook.com/USArmyTRADOC
Gen. Cone speaks on challenge of
change
Innovation at Fort Leonard Wood could
point way toward TRADOC future
by Darrell Todd Maurina,
Pulaski County Daily
FORT LEONARD by Lynn Freehill, Univ. of photo by Kae Wang
WOOD, Mo. (Sept. Texas The Alcalde
23, 2011) — When the
As a 20-year-old cadet at West Point, Bob Cone stood in
deputy commander of
front of a group of senior officers and faculty, his already
the Army’s Training and
ruddy complexion turning red.
Doctrine Command came
West Point had just gone through a cheating scandal,
Sept. 23 to Fort Leonard
and Cone, who served on the honor-code committee,
Wood to preside over the
was getting grilled about how code-violators were being
change of command from
handled. Were some violators, they asked, being treated dif-
Maj. Gen. David Quan-
ferently than others?
tock to Brig. Gen. Mark
Cone was in a tough position — officially, any violator
Yenter, he noted that it’s
was supposed to be dismissed, regardless of the serious-
Lt. Gen. Jack Sterling speaks unusual for Distinguished
ness of the offense. But his committee hadn’t been handling
to reporters following Friday’s Service Medals to be lesser violations by their peers that way.
change of command ceremony awarded for a time of Cone stood thinking. Finally, he said frankly: “Yes.
at Fort Leonard Wood. service as short as that of
They are.”
Photo by Darrell Todd Maurina, Quantock, who came to Instantly, “his credibility with the audience went sky-
Pulaski County Daily the post in May 2010 and
high,” says Howard Prince, who tagged him right then as a
is leaving in the early fall
future faculty member and high-level leader. “His candor
of 2011.
made him stand out.”
However, Lt. Gen. Jack Sterling said leaders at TRA-
From the frank way he spoke about the U.S. Army’s
DOC know commanding Fort Leonard Wood has become
shortcomings on Friday, it was clear that his candor hasn’t
a major task and said that throughout the Army, “the very
changed. Cone, MA ’87, still speaks truth to power—ex-
fabric of our schoolhouses is undergoing huge changes.
cept now, as the head of all Army training and the highest-
“How can somebody in that short a period of time ac-
ranked Army leader ever to have graduated from UT, he is
complish all the things that we normally associate with the
power. And from his position, there is a lot he wants to see
Distinguished Service Medal?” Sterling said. “I’m here to
overhauled.
tell you today that Dave Quantock has earned this medal
“We’re terrible bureaucratically,” he said of the Army to
many times over.
an audience of ROTC members, special guests, and civil-
For the rest of this story, click here.
(See Gen. Cone, on page 2)
2. FORT EUSTIS, Va. ■ Issue 7, Vol. 1, Sept. 30, 2011 ■ http://www.facebook.com/USArmyTRADOC 2
(“Gen. Cone,” continued from page 1) MCoE Soldiers connect
ians. “We do brain surgery with an ax, is how we go about with 4G digital applications
business.”
He made a powerful case that a military branch he
called “very, very unbalanced” has to change. In Iraq and by Jennifer Gunn, MCoE Public Affairs
Afghanistan, young leaders had 534 Army training manuals
that hadn’t been updated in 10 or 15 years, and they had to
turn to wiki-type websites to share lessons learned.
The military, Cone believes, needs to develop digi-
tal apps and video games to train soldiers. “We gotta get
smarter, we’ve gotta use digital applications, we’ve got to
understand how this generation learns,” he said. “If we do
not capture their energy and imagination for the future of
our Army, we will fail. We cannot go back to the Mr. Potato
Head training of the past.”
There should be fewer leaders for a military that on Jan.
1 will become a peacetime force, he said. But the brightest
among them need to help write new doctrine and manuals.
To do that, Cone believes many should first be sent back to
graduate school. Sgt. Byron Arnold, of A Company, 1st Battalion, 29th In-
After military college at West Point and several years fantry Regiment, the Experimentation Force, or EXFOR,
in the service, that’s what Cone himself did when he came for Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment’s Spiral G
to The University of Texas to study sociology. Prince, now demonstrates using the Nett Warrior System Sept. 22 at
director of UT’s Center for Ethical Leadership and a man McKenna MOUT Site on Fort Benning, Ga. The Nett
intimately involved with turning around West Point after Warrior System provides networked situational aware-
the cheating scandal, had “bird-dogged” him to get his ness and command and control capabilities to ground
master’s degree. forces. The AEWE will be held at Fort Benning from Oct.
The challenge at age 28 of defending ideas, examin- 17 through Nov. 4. Photo by Kristin Molinaro.
ing assumptions, reevaluating beliefs, and debating with
classmates helped Cone later, he said. The negotiating skills FORT BENNING, Ga. –The same technology that
he learned came in particularly handy in dealing with lead- powers high speed commercial cellular networks will
ers like President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Prime be driving the voice, video and mission command
Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq. capabilities for Spiral G during the Army Expeditionary
But Cone also has faced down leadership crises no Warrior Experiment here Oct. 17 through Nov. 4.
amount of classroom training could prepare him for. He Although the Army has predicted for some time that
commanded Fort Hood for several years, including during smart phones will play an important role in the Sol-
the 2009 on-base shooting that killed 13 and injured many dier’s job, it is yet unclear just how large a role theirs
more. will be. During recent years, IT engineers at the Signal
He has been a four-star general since April, and he Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, Ga., have been
doesn’t plan to dial down the candor. Fellow “clear-eyed, pumping out iPhone and Andriod apps to satisfy today’s
blunt” leaders like new Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. tech-savvy Soldiers.
Martin Dempsey and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odi- When it comes to information flow on the battlefield,
erno are helping change the culture too, he said. AEWE’s use of 4G as the vehicle to support tactical op-
Above all, Cone believes honesty earns respect. “When erations may provide insight into how an unprecedented
someone asks me a question I don’t know, I say I don’t amount of information available to the Soldier level can
know,” he said. “If cadets think their leaders are sugarcoat- help shape the fight.
ing things and talking in circles, they don’t have a lot of For the rest of the story, click here.
hope that things are going to get better.”
3. FORT EUSTIS, Va. ■ Issue 7, Vol. 1, Sept. 30, 2011 ■ http://www.facebook.com/USArmyTRADOC 3
Other News in TRADOC
TRADOC leads charge in Fires MCoE’s new Maneuver Battle
by Brig. Gen. Thomas S. Vandal, U.S. Army Field Artillery
Lab captures synergy of Infantry
School and Armor
As we look to the future by Ben Wright, ledger-enquirer.com
of the U.S. Field Artil- In a move to consolidate the battle lab of the infan-
lery, the Fires Center of try and armor, Fort Benning officials will break ground
Excellence and the Army, Sept. 30 on a $30 million Maneuver Battle Lab simula-
we must take a hard look; tions facility.
assessing deficiencies, The 88,000-square-foot building will feature a
forging new doctrine, 200-person classroom and multiple large and small
and charging ahead with simulation bays that can be reconfigured for simulation
a renewed confidence in experiments. It will be built on a site adjacent to the
the strength of our field Smith Fitness Center on Dixie Road.
artillery units, leaders and As part of the Base Realignment and Closure deci-
Soldiers. sion in 2005 to move the Armor School to Fort Ben-
All of the changes we are making across the Army ning, the new facility is a key piece in consolidation of
(recruiting efforts, retention programs and new the Infantry Center Battle Soldier Lab and the Armor
doctrine, adaptability through mission command, and Center Mounted Maneuver Battle Lab that relocated on
tactically smaller units) are leading us to the Army of post from Fort Knox, Ky.
tomorrow. Virtual simulations are now conducted at Mabry Hall
We are maintaining a level of readiness expected of at Fort Benning. When the new facility is completed, the
the field artillery by producing a well-rounded, combined facilities will make the Maneuver Battle Lab
functional and effective fires force. the Army Training and Doctrine Command’s premier
For the rest of the story, click here. facility for experimentation and play a major role in all
future Army experiments.
Some key initiatives of the Maneuver Center of Ex-
MCoE takes charge of emerging technology cellence include work on the Squad, as the Foundation
experiments of the Decisive Force, 21st Century Maneuver Training
and Brigade Combat Team 2020.
Building dedication marks unity of
Infantry, Armor schools
Maj. J.D. Evans, commander of A Company, 1st Battalion,
29th Infantry Regiment, uses the WAVE Communicator
Sept. 22 on board a HMMWV. The WAVE Software creates
virtual radio channels over a standard data network to
establish multi-echelon voice communications between any
computer or cell phone in lieu of a dedicated tactical voice
radio. A Company is the Maneuver Battle Lab’s experiment
Family members of Cpl. Jerry W. Wickam cut the ribbon
force, or EXFOR, to test emerging technologies and con-
Sept. 23 at the dedication ceremony for McGinnis-Wickam
cepts for the AEWE campaign of experiments, currently in
Hall at Fort Benning.
Spiral G at Fort Benning, Ga. Photo by Kristin Molinaro.
Photos by Mike Haskey
4. FORT EUSTIS, Va. ■ Issue 7, Vol. 1, Sept. 30, 2011 ■ http://www.facebook.com/USArmyTRADOC 4
Snipers hone strategic squad capabilities Fort Lee: Home of CAC,
Top shooters from across the globe travel each year ICoE, MCCoE, SCoE set to host
to Fort Benning, Ga. Maneuver Center of Excellence
to compete in the annual International Sniper Competi- Army’s finest
tion. The two-man teams will compete in 14 events in- by T. Anthony Bell Senior, Fort Lee Traveller
cluding a sniper stalk, urban shooting and orienteering FORT LEE, Va. (Sept.
exercises, firing under stressful conditions and other 29, 2011)-The annual
tests of marksmanship and sniper skills. The 72-hour competition that show-
event runs virtually nonstop, with only two four-hour cases the skills, personal
rest breaks in the three days of competition. strength and commitment
The competition is hosted by the U.S. Army Sniper of the U.S. Army Soldier
School, whose mission is to hone warrior skills, exhibit will make its 10th start
the Warrior Ethos, determine the world's best snipers here next week.
and further the warrior mindset across the Army. The The 2011 Department of the Army Noncommis-
Sniper School develops Warriors who are part of the sioned Officer and Soldier of the Year Best Warrior
Strategic Squad and are able to dominate while con- Competition, commonly known as “Best Warrior,” will
ducting wide area security and combined arms maneu- commence Sunday. It will feature five days of field,
ver. classroom and boardroom challenges to determine who
achieves distinction as the Army’s standout warriors.
Twenty-six junior-enlisted troops and NCOs from
Army commands around the world are slated to
compete in the only major Army-wide event open to
Soldiers of all military occupational specialties. Events
include weapons qualification, a board appearance, ur-
ban orienteering and several of the Warrior Tasks and
Battle Drills that are key to survival in combat.
Fort Lee, which has hosted Best Warrior since
2002, traditionally launches itself into event planning
nearly a year in advance, putting to use a large infra-
structure of people, equipment and facilities that are
essential to a seamless operation.
Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Reid is commandant of
the Logistics NCO Academy. A key figure in the plan-
ning and execution of the event, he said preparation is
the biggest factor.
Follow TRADOC through its social media sites: For the rest of the story, click here.