During the past 12 months, TRADOC has brought about several innovations to the S&T process. TRADOC’s commitment to focusing the S&T dollars is evident by its modifying and developing new processes. These measures are designed to increase the seniority of TRADOC officials approving S&T endeavors. Approval levels for TRADOC S&T actions are:

During 1997, TRADOC for the first time evaluated ongoing and proposed ATDs. ATDs are approved by DCSCD, TRADOC headquarters.

ATDs are a category of Technology Demonstrations (TDs). They are risk–reducing, integrated, proof–of–principle demonstrations designed to assist near–term system developments in satisfying specific operational capability needs. ATDs have been promoted by the Defense Science Board and the Army Science Board as a means of accelerating the introduction of new technologies into operational systems. They are funded principally with 6.3 funds. ATDs facilitate the integration of proposed technologies into full system demonstration and validation (6.4) or engineering and manufacture development (6.5) prototype systems. As such, they provide a link between the technology developer, program manager, program executive officer, combat developer, and the Army user.

Each ATD must meet or exceed exit criteria agreed upon by the warfighter and the ATD manager at program inception (well before the tests begin) and before the technology in question will transition to development. The ATDs seek to demonstrate the potential for enhanced military operational capability or cost effectiveness. Logistics supportability is a consideration during evaluation of ATDs. Active participation by the user and combat developer, as well as by the developer of the technology, is required throughout the demonstration. An ATD consists of multiple subdemonstrations of the item or technology at various locations or as part of various exercises over the 3– to 5–year duration of the ATD. At least one subdemonstration must be conducted at a TRADOC battle lab and an advanced demonstration simulation must also be conducted. Combat developers identify measures of effectiveness/performance applicable to ATD evaluation for applicability and sufficiency for their FOC and warfighting concepts.

ACTDs accelerate the application of mature technologies configured in a way that is useful to the warfighter and is in response to a critical military operational need. ACTDs provide an evaluation of the military utility of proposed solutions, and are jointly planned by users and technology developers to enable operational forces to experiment in the field with new technologies in order to evaluate potential changes to doctrine, warfighting concepts, tactics, modernization plans, and training. ACTDs are used to develop appropriate concepts of operation, provide insights for the generation or refinement of requirements, and provide residual operational capabilities to the sponsoring user for an extended user evaluation or a contingency operational deployment. Other major goals of ACTDs include promotion of operational jointness, facilitation of senior leadership acquisition decisions, and posturing of ACTD systems for accelerated acquisition, given success and a decision to procure.

TRADOC plays a significant role in the ACTD nomination/approval process. TRADOC provides operational managers for the Army–led ACTDs and requirements integration managers for other services/agencies–led ACTDs. This process is described in detail in T.P. 71–9, Chapter 8–7.

FOCs are statements of an operational capability required by the Army to achieve the goals articulated in the hierarchy of concepts (T.P. 525 series) and to maintain military dominance over the operational environment in which it will be required to operate. FOCs are employed in the TRADOC S&T and the STO reviews as measures for assessing the warfighting merits of individual S&T efforts. FOCs guide the Army’s S&T investment. Materiel developers and industry use FOCs as references to guide independent research and developments and facilitate horizontal technology integration (HTI). FOCs are used within the Army Science and Technology Master Plan (ASTMP) process to provide a warfighting focus to technology based funding.

To maintain the technological dominance we expect in the future, we must determine today what technologies we need to keep that edge. TRADOC, through the Army After Next (AAN), is attempting to determine where we need to look in terms of technologies to explore or exploit in the near term to reach objectives and expectations in the future. A Council of Colonels (COC) conducts a review and makes recommendations to the TRADOC leadership (see Figure II–3, above).

During 1997, the mission of the battle labs evolved with the implementation of TRADOC Regulation 71–9. This regulation defines the roles and missions of the battle labs and directors of combat developments (DCDs) at the TRADOC centers and schools.

In 1997, three new battle labs were established and one was closed. In June, the Early Entry Lethality and Survivability (EELS) Battle Laboratory was disestablished and its functions transferred to the Combat Service Support Battle Laboratory and Dismounted Battlespace Battle Laboratory. The three new battle laboratories and their corresponding functions are: