Connect with us

Politics

How the Futures Command is helping Army to envision NGC2

Published

5 months ago

on


When it comes to developing the next generation command and control systems, the Army is taking a different approach to capture those requirements.

The team working on program development issued a characteristics of need late in 2024 that focuses on the end result and not the map for getting there.

Joe Welch, the deputy to the commanding general of the Army Futures Command, said the characteristics of need is a central starting point for the NGC2 program.

Joe Welch is the deputy to the Commanding General of the Army Futures Command.

“The characteristic of need is really a signal to industry that we have a problem, and we have a problem statement, and we have an idea about what the solution or solutions may be, and then we think they have some characteristics associated with them,” said Welch in an interview with Federal News Network at the recent Army TEM conference in Savannah, Ga. “But it’s really more of a signal that we’re dealing with a complex problem and that we really need to understand industry’s input into our problem statement, not into what we are saying the solution needs to be, but what our problem is. So that’s really what the characteristic of need statement is all about.”

The Army released the characteristics of need for NGC2 in mid-December. It is a precursor to a bigger multi-year effort to update and standardize command and control across the service.

The Army Futures Command is taking on the job to create the requirements documents to meet the end goals defined by Command and Control Cross Functional Team. The futures command then will provide those documents to the Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications and Networks (PEO-C3N) for the solutions.

This multi-organization effort is a recognition that building the next generation of command and control is a lot more difficult and complex than previous development efforts.

Welch said with the range of technology solutions available and the idea that needs and technologies will continually evolve, NGC2 must be agile enough to meet the needs of commanders and soldiers as they emerge.

Always incorporating lessons

The Army has been working on NGC2 for much of the past two years, releasing the first version of the characteristics of need in late spring 2024 and then using an exercise called NetModX to help further refine the document.

The current approach to command and control is disparate and lacks interoperability. A common complaint among commanders is they don’t train as they would fight, which means learning new systems and capabilities in theater.

Welch said the characteristics of need is a living document and will continue to evolve as the Army tests out new technologies and processes.

“The single biggest thing that I think that we learned through this experimentation that we did back in the fall called NetModX is if you think about different war fighting functions and the data and information needed to support those and how they come together for a commander, the need to provide more rapid situational understanding to be able to make more rapid decisions,” Welch said on Ask the CIO. “We had some experimentation with that earlier in the year at Project Convergence, Capstone Four, what we hadn’t done yet is put it over what I’ll call a representative network, the type of processing, compute network solutions, radio solutions, the way that we manage those bits and bytes on the battlefield. We really hadn’t kind of coupled those things together yet. We did that at NetModX, and it just drove home the challenges that we saw there.”

The Army Futures Command took those lessons and updated characteristics of need that incorporates the need for a more cohesive technology stack that stretches from the data to the applications to the transport.

Welch said the characteristics of need included a new section to signal the importance of not piecemealing the NGC2 solution together.

Army TEM 14 is coming

When it comes to the NGC2 technology stack, Welch said the application layer has to be focused on the user’s needs.

“One thing that modern applications have in common most of the time is that you don’t really need a whole lot of training in order to get started on it. When you download an app onto your phone, generally, you’re able to start using it even if you haven’t done it before because that’s a very highly specialized skill set in order to make something intuitive right to understand. That has been in the characteristic of need from the first one that we did back in May, the level of intuitiveness,” he said. “If we can get that piece right, then all the other layers below it that help support that.”

With a goal of implementing the initial capabilities of NGC2 by 2026, Welch said much of the next year will focus on piloting and prototyping technologies and processes with a host of vendors.

The Army is hosting Technical Exchange Meeting (TEM) 14 in Grapevine, Texas where it will meet with vendors about the acquisition strategy, the technology roadmap and technology discriminators. The Army released a request for information to help decide which vendors to meet with. Responses are due by March 19.

Welch said the pilots and prototypes are focused both on technology as well as how the Army works with teams of vendors in that space.

“What we’re about to move into with the acquisition team is what they’re what they’re talking about as a prototype. We’re going to be building that to a bit of a larger scale, working with contract processes that are that are that are built to handle that larger scale, keeping our options open to learn from that and iterate,” he said. “We’re trying to move very quickly, but we are also keeping our decision space open, especially in this very important area of how we’re going to continue to contract for this activity, so that we can incorporate the lessons that we have learned when we get to kind of the initial, larger scale capability in 2026 before we start really expanding that out to much more of the Army.”

The post How the Futures Command is helping Army to envision NGC2 first appeared on Federal News Network.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Politics

Victor Reacts: This Is Almost Too Stupid to Be True – NYC Transgender Homeless Shelter (VIDEO)

Published

19 hours ago

on

August 9, 2025

By

Democrats continue to somehow subvert the lowest of expectations as they fight their woke crusades.

In a first ever virtue signal, New York City is set to open a transgender only homeless shelter.

The Gateway Pundit reported,

The city of New York is opening the nation’s first transgender-only homeless shelter.

The shelter, a partnership between a local LGBTQ nonprofit and the city government, will cost the city an extraordinary $65 million and will be the first transgender homeless shelter in the nation.

“ We’ve watched so many other corporations and foundations and businesses just like completely turn their back on the community and the city didn’t do it,” said Sean Ebony Coleman, founder and CEO of Destination Tomorrow, the nonprofit that will manage the shelter for the city.

“The city is keeping in line with what New York City has always been, a sanctuary city, a safe haven, but more importantly, a trendsetter when it comes to LGBTQ rights.”

The opening comes amid a broader homelessness crisis in New York City, where more than 100,000 people are estimated to be without stable housing on any given night.

The city’s shelter system is already stretched thin, with demand rising due to a combination of economic hardship, an influx of illegal aliens ,and a severe shortage of affordable housing.

Who cares about all the other homeless people in New York City each night, the transgender homeless come first.

Truth has become stranger than parody. With any luck, Democrats will continue down this path of self destruction that has been so thoroughly rejected by the American people.

The post Victor Reacts: This Is Almost Too Stupid to Be True – NYC Transgender Homeless Shelter (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Politics

Suspect in Deadly Montana Bar Shooting Captured After a Weeklong Manhunt

Published

19 hours ago

on

August 9, 2025

By

A weeklong manhunt has come to a close with the apprehension of Michael Paul Brown, a 45-year-old Army veteran, following a fatal mass shooting at The Owl Bar in Anaconda.

On August 1, 2025, at approximately 10:30 a.m., Brown entered The Owl Bar, where he lived next door, and opened fire with a rifle, killing four local residents: bartender Nancy Lauretta Kelley (64) and patrons Daniel Edwin Baillie (59), David Allen Leach (70), and Tony Wayne Palm (74).

A multi-agency effort, including state law enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service, and federal resources, scoured the mountainous terrain surrounding Anaconda. Helicopters, K9 units, and tactical teams were deployed across the region.

A reward of $7,500 to $10,000 was offered for information leading to Brown’s capture.

On Friday, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte confirmed Brown’s arrest via social media, acknowledging the rapid and resolute law enforcement response.

“The Anaconda shooter Michael Brown has been apprehended. Incredible response from law enforcement officers across Montana. Thank you to all partners for your commitment to the search. May God continue to be with the families of the four victims still grieving their loss,” Gianforte.

CNN reported:

Brown had been on the run since the “biggest” shooting in the state of Montana in a decade. He was arrested around 2 p.m. local time Friday near the search area in Anaconda and is now in the custody of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County authorities, according to the Montana Department of Justice.

Brown, an Army veteran, was seen on security footage fleeing The Owl Bar, where the fatal shooting occurred, investigators said. Since then, he had been sought by authorities representing at least 38 local, state and federal agencies traversing challenging terrain in the western Montana wilderness.

“I am proud of the unrelenting law enforcement effort this week to find and arrest Michael Paul Brown. The support we’ve seen for the community of Anaconda from across the state and the nation has also been remarkable,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in a statement following the arrest. “The families and friends of the victims remain in my prayers.”

[…]

Brown served as an armor crewman in the US Army from January 2001 to May 2005 and was deployed to Iraq from February 2004 to March 2005, Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, a spokesperson with the US Army, previously told CNN.

Brown’s niece, Clare Boyle, previously told CNN he struggled with his mental health during his time in the Army and was never the same after his service. Brown’s mental health got progressively worse with the passing of both of his parents, Boyle said.

The post Suspect in Deadly Montana Bar Shooting Captured After a Weeklong Manhunt appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Politics

WATCH: Fire Ravages World-Famous Mosque-Cathedral in Cordoba, Spain

Published

19 hours ago

on

August 9, 2025

By

Fire breaks out in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Cordoba.

More than a tourist attraction, more than an architectural treasure, the Mosque-Cathedral in the Andalusian city of Cordoba, Spain is a historical monument and a spiritual center – so, all around the world, both the faithful and the history lovers are mourning as a massive fire consumes the building complex.

Newsweek reported:

“Firefighters are responding to the blaze at the major tourist attraction and UNESCO-listed heritage site in Andalusia. Footage shows thick smoke billowing out from the millennia-old building as flames lapped at its roof.

Firefighters from the city of Córdoba are still battling to extinguish the fire at the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba but local reports say the blaze is mostly contained as of 10 p.m. local time. The extent of damage is not yet clear.”

Being simultaneously one of the most significant buildings both in Islamic and in Christian architectural history, it began as a grand mosque in the 8th century and was transformed into a cathedral in 1236.

“The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, officially called the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, was built as a mosque over 200 years starting 785 CE. The mosque opened in 988 CE, and remained a Muslim site for nearly 300 years before the Christian conquest of Cordoba in 1236 CE.

The structure converted to a cathedral, undergoing additional modifications and building until one final, major addition in 1607 CE.”

Read more, from November 2024:

‘The Virgin of Paris’: Medieval Statue of the Virgin Mary With Baby Jesus, That Survived the 2019 Fire, Is Returned to the Notre Dame Cathedral Ahead of December Grand Reopening

The post WATCH: Fire Ravages World-Famous Mosque-Cathedral in Cordoba, Spain appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Trending