The Army’s faster way to field tactical network gear gets its first big test Mark Pomerleau
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The Army is looking for critical feedback before it begins fielding its modernized network equipment to new units in 2021. (Sgt. 1st Class Zach VanDyke/U.S. Army) FORT POLK, La. Paratroopers testing the Army’s latest communications equipment jumped into a sprawling field surrounded by dense woods and moved north upon landing in an effort to secure the area. Significant equipment improvements allowed the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division to communicate clearly across greater distances than in the past up to about 28 miles, said Lt. Col. Andy Harris, commander of the brigade’s 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
Congress allots about half the money requested for Army command post modernization program December 23, 2020 The Army wants to make its command posts more mobile and better able to survive. (Richard Bumgardner/Army) WASHINGTON Congress granted partial funding for an Army tactical network program to modernize command posts after the effort hit delays. In the earlier House version the fiscal 2021 budget bill, lawmakers proposed eliminating funds for the program, called Command Post Integrated Infrastructure (CPI2), citing the request as “ahead of need.” In the final compromise, which President Donald Trump still has to sign, lawmakers opted to give the program $23 million of about $50 million requested by the Army Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), the modernization team’s acquisition arm.