The Army Combines Smart Phones with Tactical Operations
FORT BRAGG, N.C., March 9, 2011 -- A cutting-edge combination of smart phones plugged into
tactical radios empowered small Army units during a recent field exercise observed by Gen. Peter
Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff.
Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division communicated via voice, data and images as they
swarmed a mock village to capture a high-value target. Information traveled rapidly up and down
the chain of command - and horizontally between team and squad leaders.
"What I watched with interest today was the ability to take pictures of high-value targets,
immediately provide them to the company or to the battalion command post," Chiarelli said
afterward. "I saw the ability when a Soldier is wounded to take a picture of the wound and to pass
that to the doctors, so that medics can make sure that they are treating the Soldier in the
appropriate way, given the wound that he has received. So there are many, many applications of
this."
In an expeditionary force like the 82nd Airborne Division, which prepares for full-spectrum
operations around the globe, Soldiers need a communications solution they can carry with them on
the fly.
The rugged, Android-based smart phones ran two apps: Joint Battle Command-Platform, or JBC-P
Hand held, and Tactical Ground Reporting, known as TIGR Mobile. JBC-P is the follow-on program
for Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below, or FBCB2.
JBC-P displayed blue icons indicating the real-time GPS locations of friendly forces across a map of
the battlefield, where users could also plot enemies or landscape hazards to alert their teammates.
TIGR enabled users to exchange photos, and to enter and retrieve historical information relevant to
the operation.
When the paratroopers needed to change direction halfway through their simulated mission, they
did so quickly and seamlessly. Without the radios and hand helds, they would have relied on much
more primitive methods.
"It would just be shouting through the woods. That's all it would be," said Sgt. Kyle Hayden, one of
the squad leaders. "It makes it much smoother and faster. You can be a little sneakier, too,
because now I'm not yelling (instructions)."
Soldiers said they could use the gear with little training.
"We got a five- or ten-minute class," said Spc. Hao Bui. "If you know how to use a phone, it's pretty
simple."
At the dismounted Soldier level, the information was conveyed over the secure terrestrial network
provided by HMS Man-pack and Rifleman Radios. The radios were integrated with War fighter
Information Network - Tactical, or WIN-T Increment One to carry the information between the
ground troops and the battalion tactical operations center.
A WIN-T satellite terminal known as SNAP (Secure Internet Protocol Router/Non-secure Internet
Protocol Router, or SIPR/NIPR, Access Point) extended the network's range beyond line of sight
and back up to higher headquarters.
Feedback from the 82nd Airborne Division will be used to reduce risk for upcoming tests of the
equipment, including the Integrated Network Baseline Exercise, or INBE, in June and the Brigade
Combat Team Integration Exercise in October, program officials said.
"That's what you value most when you give (new equipment) to an operational unit that's going
through the training that they would normally do," said Lt. Col. Mark Daniels, product manager for
JBC-P. "You get some very frank feedback. We value it and we're going to benefit from it."
In the case of JBC-P handhelds, PEO C3T will continue to partner with providers of different
transport methods, including Netted Iridium and several radio models selected by the Marine Corps,
Daniels said. For each instance, the mobile applications will be inter-operable with existing battle
command systems because they are built from a government-owned framework known as the Battle
Command Product Line Mobile.
"It's important to add a disciplined approach to the development of the software - a common
framework that's going to put everybody on the same sheet of music in terms of what messages
we're sending, how we utilize the computing resources that are on that smart phone, and the
security that's involved in protecting this data," Daniels said.
While challenges remain, the Fort Bragg exercise was a step toward leveraging smart phones for
tactical use, said Col. Buddy Carman, Training and Doctrine Command Capability Manager for
Brigade Combat Team Mission Command.
FORT BRAGG, N.C., March 9, 2011 -- A cutting-edge combination of smart phones plugged into
tactical radios empowered small Army units during a recent field exercise observed by Gen. Peter
Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff.
Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division communicated via voice, data and images as they
swarmed a mock village to capture a high-value target. Information traveled rapidly up and down
the chain of command - and horizontally between team and squad leaders.
"What I watched with interest today was the ability to take pictures of high-value targets,
immediately provide them to the company or to the battalion command post," Chiarelli said
afterward. "I saw the ability when a Soldier is wounded to take a picture of the wound and to pass
that to the doctors, so that medics can make sure that they are treating the Soldier in the
appropriate way, given the wound that he has received. So there are many, many applications of
this."
In an expeditionary force like the 82nd Airborne Division, which prepares for full-spectrum
operations around the globe, Soldiers need a communications solution they can carry with them on
the fly.
The rugged, Android-based smart phones ran two apps: Joint Battle Command-Platform, or JBC-P
Hand held, and Tactical Ground Reporting, known as TIGR Mobile. JBC-P is the follow-on program
for Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below, or FBCB2.
JBC-P displayed blue icons indicating the real-time GPS locations of friendly forces across a map of
the battlefield, where users could also plot enemies or landscape hazards to alert their teammates.
TIGR enabled users to exchange photos, and to enter and retrieve historical information relevant to
the operation.
When the paratroopers needed to change direction halfway through their simulated mission, they
did so quickly and seamlessly. Without the radios and hand helds, they would have relied on much
more primitive methods.
"It would just be shouting through the woods. That's all it would be," said Sgt. Kyle Hayden, one of
the squad leaders. "It makes it much smoother and faster. You can be a little sneakier, too,
because now I'm not yelling (instructions)."
Soldiers said they could use the gear with little training.
"We got a five- or ten-minute class," said Spc. Hao Bui. "If you know how to use a phone, it's pretty
simple."
At the dismounted Soldier level, the information was conveyed over the secure terrestrial network
provided by HMS Man-pack and Rifleman Radios. The radios were integrated with War fighter
Information Network - Tactical, or WIN-T Increment One to carry the information between the
ground troops and the battalion tactical operations center.
A WIN-T satellite terminal known as SNAP (Secure Internet Protocol Router/Non-secure Internet
Protocol Router, or SIPR/NIPR, Access Point) extended the network's range beyond line of sight
and back up to higher headquarters.
Feedback from the 82nd Airborne Division will be used to reduce risk for upcoming tests of the
equipment, including the Integrated Network Baseline Exercise, or INBE, in June and the Brigade
Combat Team Integration Exercise in October, program officials said.
"That's what you value most when you give (new equipment) to an operational unit that's going
through the training that they would normally do," said Lt. Col. Mark Daniels, product manager for
JBC-P. "You get some very frank feedback. We value it and we're going to benefit from it."
In the case of JBC-P handhelds, PEO C3T will continue to partner with providers of different
transport methods, including Netted Iridium and several radio models selected by the Marine Corps,
Daniels said. For each instance, the mobile applications will be inter-operable with existing battle
command systems because they are built from a government-owned framework known as the Battle
Command Product Line Mobile.
"It's important to add a disciplined approach to the development of the software - a common
framework that's going to put everybody on the same sheet of music in terms of what messages
we're sending, how we utilize the computing resources that are on that smart phone, and the
security that's involved in protecting this data," Daniels said.
While challenges remain, the Fort Bragg exercise was a step toward leveraging smart phones for
tactical use, said Col. Buddy Carman, Training and Doctrine Command Capability Manager for
Brigade Combat Team Mission Command.
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