DEVELOPMENTAL OPERATIONS SPEEDING ACQUISITION TIMELINES
DEVOPS DELIVERS INNOVATION THROUGH SOLDIER FEEDBACK The opinions of rank-and-file Soldiers may often be unsought, but not so with the DevOps model of developing and fielding new technology. PEO C3T reveals how this approach has been successfully used in improving new technology by putting it in the hands of Soldiers early in the development process. By Justin Eimers, PEO C3T Public Affairs
MAJ Jerry Jones and CPT Monica Holmes demonstrate the Command Post Computing Environment (CP CE) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. CP CE will speed up the integration of new capabilities through its common user interface. (U.S. Army photo by Dan Lafontaine, PEO C3T Public Affairs)
“The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.” These words from Woodrow Wilson echo loudly across today’s Army. As the force faces potential peer adversaries, it searches for solutions to reduce traditionally long acquisition timelines and modernize its tactical network more rapidly. In support of this effort, program offices and cross-functional teams have embraced a Developmental Operations (DevOps) model, incorporating Soldier feedback from the early stages of the acquisition process and driving rapid improvements in critical mission command and tactical network systems. The Army’s Network Modernization strategy focuses on four modernization priorities known as lines of effort (LOEs): creating a unified network transport layer, building a common operating environment for mission command applications, improving Joint Force and coalition interoperability, and improving command posts’ mobility and survivability. Each of these LOEs utilizes DevOps to leverage experimentation, place capability in the hands of Soldiers early on in development, and inform design choices for the delivery of future warfighting systems.
16 | Armor & Mobility | October 2018
DevOps in the Command Post To meet the needs of improving command posts’ mobility and survivability, the U.S. Army Project Manager (PM) Mission Command, assigned to the Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), has employed the DevOps model throughout the development of the Army’s Command Post Computing Environment (CP CE). CP CE will consolidate current mission command systems and applications into a single user interface and allow commanders to see the same common operational picture. It also supports collaboration using a common picture with Joint and coalition mission partners and can leverage cloud and edge computing capability. “Everything we’ve done up to this point with CP CE has been centered on Soldiers and early Soldier feedback,” said LTC Shermoan Daiyaan, Product Manager for Tactical Mission Command, assigned to PM Mission Command. “From the day we got the capability, we’ve constantly been putting it in the hands of Soldiers for them to give us feedback.”
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