Q: What is your focus at USASMDC/ARSTRAT?

A: First and foremost, our focus has been and will continue to be the warfighter. Through our core competencies of space and missile defense, we provide warfighters the tools that enhance the current fight, and we are developing technologies that will improve warfighters’ capabilities in the future.

We want to assure the Army’s use of space and integrated missile defense force enhancements can successfully deter, dissuade, and if necessary, defeat the enemy. It begins with our own warfighters providing support to warfighters and continues with our civilians and contractors who work tirelessly in research, development and acquisition.

These are exciting times for USASMDC/ARSTRAT and the future of space and missile defense. This past year has seen the 50th anniversary of the Army’s involvement in space and missile defense. While I don’t know what the next 50 years will hold for us, I know that the immediate future is full of promise and satisfying work as we continue developing capabilities for the warfighter.

Q: Let’s talk about one of your core competencies: space. Why is the Army invested in space?

A: Quite simply, the U.S. Army is probably one of the world’s largest users of space-based products. We have about 247,000 soldiers deployed around the world with almost 137,000 deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom as of July 1st. When you consider that supporting each of those soldiers are global positioning system [GPS]-enabled vehicles, precision-guided munitions, satellite communications, weather data-streams, world-wide video-teleconferencing, global integrated missile defense systems and a host of other capabilities; then you begin to understand the enormous amount of spaceenablers required by the Army to fight the current fight and the future fight.

From the perspective of the United States Army, space exploration and commercialization has profoundly influenced day-to-day combat operations and has totally changed the face of modern warfare. The Army is no longer a static, forward deployed force, operating from legacy war plans. Instead, the Army has transformed to a modular force, capable of placing maximum firepower upon a given objective with minimal notice. Successful deployment of multiple unit configurations, into unfamiliar areas, and often in support of joint and/or multi-national operations, demands the effective use of all available space force enhancements. Army Field Manual 3-14, which covers space support to Army operations, identifies five space force enhancement areas. These areas include communications; position, velocity and timing; environmental monitoring (which included space and terrestrial weather); intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance [ISR]; and theater missile warning.

Space force enhancements support the Army’s ability to deploy its warfighting capability to any location in the world. They allow our troops to maintain full situational awareness of their position, the position of friendly forces, terrain information, current and projected weather conditions, enemy troop locations and capabilities. Space force enhancements also give our troops the ability to effectively communicate with other warfighters within their area of operation, and to reach-back to rear support capabilities, including the United States.

Q: What specific things are you doing in the space arena?

A: We’re working on some exciting things in the mission areas of operationally responsive space.

We’ve established a Responsive Space Task Force to provide combatant commanders with rapid, cutting-edge effects from space and high altitude that increase lethality, improve force protection, and enhance survivability. We want to incorporate “spin outs” from cutting-edge technologies into practical solutions that can be deployed in support of the current fight and to plan, justify and execute solutions that span the space and high altitude domain to create capabilities that contribute to offense, defense and stability operations.

One specific example is our recent development of the Army nanosatellite demonstration program. The objective of this initiative is to verify the functionality of several technologies in orbital space that can provide an effect to satisfy a current commander’s operational need.

Specifically, with this initiative, we’re working to provide a beyond line-of-sight communications ability to a warfighting commander with a rapid, relatively low-cost satellite capability. We’re teaming with the Operationally Responsive Space [ORS] office, the Air Force Research Laboratory, academia and industry to build a constellation of demonstration nanosatellites; and we’re working with the ORS office to identify a launch vehicle. High altitude is another domain in which we see much promise for development. Various studies have indicated that the warfighter has a need for a persistent capability that could be addressed through high altitude assets.

USASMDC/ARSTRAT has been actively involved in the high altitude mission area for several years and was designated the specified Army proponent for high altitude in September 2007. Over the years, we’ve been involved in modeling and simulation, Training and Doctrine Command experimentation, prototype development, and as a member of the high altitude airship advanced concept technology demonstration team. We’re focused on the total development of the high altitude mission area.

In parallel development, our technical center is pursuing the development and testing of prototypes of high altitude platforms and payloads. At the same time, the Future Warfare Center [FWC] is pursuing identification and documentation of the needs and requirements of the warfighter in this area.

We’re working with the staffs of the Army Training and Doctrine Command and the Army Capabilities Integration Center to identify the best assessment method for determining the Army’s way ahead in the high altitude mission area.

In summary, our responsive space efforts can provide combatant commanders with rapid, cutting-edge effects to some pressing needs. Ultimately, we want to satisfy the warfighter’s needs in the best way possible and demonstrate that USASMDC/ARSTRAT is what we call a “best athlete” for ORS.

Q: How do you provide space support to the combatant commanders and other commanders?

A: We provide support to the combatant commanders and other commanders with Army space operations officers—FA40s. Pushing the technology down where the rubber meets the road are Army space operators.

Army space operations officers work to complement the actions and responsibilities of warfighters as well as signal, intelligence, information operations and engineer staff officers. They are trained to understand, enable and improve on how each combat formation can use space in support of their operations. They also understand the needs of our sister services, DoD and other government agencies.

The Army’s cadre of trained space operations officers provides in-depth expertise and experience to leverage space assets for our ground commanders. As the Army identifies requirements and develops capabilities for the “space-empowered” Future Force, Army space operations officers are fully integrated into current operations, future planning, research and development, and acquisition positions at all organizational levels within the Army and Department of Defense.

Our space experts at the tactical levels are providing commercial imagery to forces down to platoon level, integrating new GPSguided artillery munitions into the fight, leveraging space-based capabilities in support of the counter-IED fight, assisting personnel recovery and developing GPS electromagnetic interference mitigation procedures.

Army FA40s are the “tip of the spear” as the space experts to make sure Army space requirements are understood and addressed in decision and developmental locations within and outside the Army. FA40s are working in such organizations as USSTRATCOM, the Joint Space Operations Center, the National Security Space Office, the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, the National Reconnaissance Office, and interning at Headquarters U.S. Air Force.

Q: Why would you send Army space operators to other services and other agencies?

A: Sending Army space operators to other services and to other agencies just makes sense. We have seen great success in supporting Marine forces with Army space support teams augmented by an Air Force and Marine space professional. The teams certainly punch above their weight class. The Army space support teams are perhaps a microcosm of how we should be operating at the operational and strategic levels—that is, in joint formations.

As we look forward to new systems that support the tactical operations, we should think of them as born joint. After all, they serve all forces. Our concepts of operations should be unified. Operations centers for platforms and payloads should be drawn closer together in their operating procedures. Physical co-location may not be the only answer. The thought is to position them at a point from which they can provide the best support to the user. Our development efforts as well should be closely tied together. Our developers should be assigned inside the organizations that have the core competency in developing and fielding these complex systems. We may be better able to address capability gaps if we are on the ground floor together. The great successes we have enjoyed have been a result of joint coordination and collaboration. The successful Wideband Global SATCOM satellite is a great example of excellent coordinated efforts by the Air Force, Army and industry.

Q: So that’s what you’re doing related to space. How about the rest of the command? How is it structured?

A: On the operational side, as the Army service component command to USSTRATCOM, our mission areas are global in nature. We are involved in the Army operational aspects of space operations; information operations; integrated missile defense; global command and control; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; combating weapons of mass destruction; and strategic deterrence. We have operational units located worldwide.

The 1st Space Brigade in Colorado Springs, Colo., conducts space operations to enable delivery of decisive combat power. The 53rd Signal Battalion is a major element of the brigade that provides combatant commanders assured communications for command and control, critical intelligence, video teleconferences and logistics.

The 1st Space Battalion’s Theater Missile Warning Company operates joint tactical ground stations that provide early warning of missile launches to deployed U.S. forces worldwide. The battalion’s Army Space Support Company provides forward deployed capabilities, expertise and products in support of the warfighter who plans and executes the full spectrum of military operations.

We are a total force organization, with the 100th Missile Defense Brigade, which is part of the Colorado Army National Guard, overseeing the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System. The 49th Missile Defense Battalion, supported by the Alaska Army National Guard, operates the Ground-based Midcourse Defense fire control network, provides positive operational control over the interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska, and ensures protective security to the systems deployed there.

We have a Ballistic Missile Defense System [BMDS] manager, who is responsible for the integration of doctrine, organizations, training, materiel, leadership education, personnel and facilities activities across all Army assigned BMDS elements and who serves as the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command capability manager for the BMDS.

On the research, development and acquisition [RDA] side of our mission, we turn concepts into combat capabilities, providing warfighters with the technological edge they need on the battlefield. The command has three primary RDA elements, all located at Redstone Arsenal. They are the Technical Center, the Contracting and Acquisition Management Office, and the Technical Interoperability and Matrix Center. These three elements are diverse in their functions and capabilities. They create and transition technology, plan and conduct test and evaluation, conduct contracting and acquisition management activities, and provide selected space intelligence. The Technical Center performs directed energy, space and missile defense research and development. The Technical Center works with the Missile Defense Agency to develop and test missile defense technologies for the nation. It also is the command’s lead organization and executing agent for developmental and operational test and evaluation, for test facilities and support activities at White Sands Missile Range in N.M., and at the Ronald Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The Technical Center also supports the land component commander with space science and technology efforts, to include exploiting space capabilities on the battlefield and augmenting them with high-altitude platform and responsive nanosatellite initiatives. The Technical Center works closely with the Army and the joint space community as the material developer of assigned efforts and as the technical manager of Joint Concept Technology Demonstrations.

The Contracting and Acquisition Management Office heads our contracting activity, awards the command’s fiscal year obligation program, manages and directs all USASMDC/ARSTRAT acquisition systems, develops contracting policies and procedures, and provides cost analysis, cost estimation, earned value analysis and program assessment.

The Technical Interoperability and Matrix Center integrates technical and operational requirements with materiel developers, improves interoperability for our warfighters, advances Space and Integrated Air and Missile Defense and provides oversight for USASMDC/ARSTRAT personnel who are working within other organizations.

Through these three RDA elements, we optimize the resources of industry, academia and the government so that our research, development and acquisition provide efficient and cost-effective solutions to the technology and acquisition challenges facing the warfighter.

We have delivered the technology that underlies the missile defense systems being deployed today and planned for the future. We’ve made possible the Army’s tactical exploitation of national capabilities and the delivery of space products to the ground warfighter. From exploratory basic research, through testing, to the transition of technology; the vision of our research, development and acquisition elements is to provide support from “research to reality” for the joint warfighter. I believe we have consistently done that and will continue to do so well into the future.

We are combat developers as well as materiel developers. The Future Warfare Center is our combat developer, with offices in Huntsville, Ala.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Fort Monroe, Va. The FWC develops the Army’s space and missile defense doctrine and concepts, validates requirements and ensures Army-wide solution integration. The FWC rapidly advances innovations for space, missile defense, C4ISR and information operations to the warfighter through prototype development, experimentation and wargames, analytical assessments, and modeling and simulation development. Additional FWC roles performed for the joint community include management of high performance computer centers, threat scenario design, command and control engineering, and advanced concept technology demonstration management.

We also manage the Army’s astronauts at the NASA Astronaut Detachment at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and serve as the Army proponent for the space operations career field. There have been a total of 15 Army astronauts, including the current Army astronauts: Colonel Douglas Wheelock, detachment commander; Colonel Timothy Creamer; Colonel Timothy Kopra; and Lieutenant Colonel Shane Kimbrough. Colonel Wheelock flew on the Space Shuttle in October 2007 and had more than 20 hours of extra-vehicular activity during three spacewalks, including one unplanned spacewalk to repair a damaged solar array. Lieutenant Colonel Kimbrough is scheduled to be the next Army astronaut in space on his first mission scheduled in November.

Q: How about your missile defense mission. How do you support USSTRATCOM?

A: USASMDC/ARSTRAT is the Army service component command to USSTRATCOM, with responsibility over all Army forces assigned or attached to USSTRATCOM, regardless of mission area. We provide planning, coordination, integration and control, when directed, of Army forces in support of USSTRATCOM. We also serve as the proponent for space and ground-based midcourse defense; we’re the Army’s integrator for global missile defense; and we provide mission-related RDA support. USASMDC/ARSTRAT organizes, trains, mans, equips and deploys Army space and ground-based midcourse defense forces to conduct worldwide space and ground-based midcourse defense operations in support of USSTRATCOM, combatant commands and other agencies as directed.

We also support USSTRATCOM with the other hat that I wear as commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for the Integrated Missile Defense [JFCC-IMD], reporting directly to General Kevin Chilton, commander of USSTRATCOM.

USSTRATCOM selected the commander of USASMDC/ARSTRAT to serve in the functional capacity as the commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense. JFCC-IMD’s mission is to integrate and globally synchronize U.S. missile defense planning and operations support to provide an optimized layered missile defense against missiles of all ranges and in all phases of flight.

The JFCC-IMD is a joint command with Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps personnel headquartered at the Missile Defense Integration and Operations Center at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado.

We have a strong partnership with the geographic combatant commands and MDA in synchronizing IMD planning and operational support responsibilities.

The Ballistic Missile Defense System is a network of radars and interceptors strategically deployed to address anticipated threats. It is a modern defense network that is expanding to include radars and other sensors that feed information from the environments of air, land, sea and space to battle management centers that can direct interceptors to targets.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?

A: Our warfighters have become sophisticated users of space-based assets and depend on us to provide them with enabling capabilities. Clearly, our spirit of partnership must extend not only across the military but also to industry and to academia. We must never forget that it is ultimately the warfighter who pays the steeper price. We owe it to these intelligent and brave men and women to work together and produce the capabilities that give them the dominant advantage on the battlefield.  ♦