Maintaining the Information Flow: Signal Corps Manpower and Personnel Requirements for the Battlefield B. Wayne Anderson U.S. Army Research Laboratory and Gerald S. Garfinkel U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command
Stryker Brigade Combat Team Evaluation US Army moving toward new structure The Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) Use of information as a combat multiplier Evaluate the effectiveness of Stryker Brigade Combat Team Evaluate C4ISR information system C4ISR Concerns Is C4ISR effective as information system? Can it be maintained?
Stryker Brigade Combat Team DIV/CORPS AUGMENTATION A HHC O O O 155 (T) ARTY BN BSB MI O O O O O O O O O O O O SUPPORT MP DIGITAL BRIDGE 4 X 12mm MGS 2 X 12mm CSSC & EAB SPT 2 X12mm CA HUMINT
C4ISR Sub-systems Level Systems Connectivity Upper TI MCS AFATDS ASAS CSSCS LAN NTDR BSN EPLRS NCS SMART-T Radio Retrans Spitfire SOTM HF Radio Lower TI Inter/Intra-Communications Systems FBCB2 Sensors SINCGARS EPLRS Radios
Stryker Brigade Combat Team C4ISR TROJAN PACKET NETWORK UFO SPITFIRE UAV w/comms RELAY SMART-T TROJAN RTNS/RELAY VEH SMART-T BDE TAC TROJAN BDE TOC w/rsta BSN SMART-T BSN BSB BN TOC RTNS/RELAY VEH BN TOC UAV PLT TROJAN RTNS/RELAY VEH
Evaluation of C4ISR Support Need to maintain C4ISR system to keep it operational Sufficiency of manpower and personnel levels Signal personnel too overworked to maintain C4ISR Therefore, evaluate the signal personnel maintenance of C4ISR
Analyses for Types of Signal Personnel ANALYSES MOSs Represented MTOE signal personnel Electronic equipment/ repairer C4ISR backlog Signal soldier questionnaire Officers and NCOs 25A, 53A, 25, 251, Z, 31W 31Z, 33W, 35W, 74Z P Information Systems and Networking 74B S P S TYPES OF SIGNAL PERSONNEL Signal Communication s Systems Plans and Communication s Security 31C, 31F, 31L, 31R, 31S, 31U 74C S P P P Audio/Visual Communication s Systems 74C P Communication / Electronic Equipment Repairer 35E, 35F, 35J, 31F, 31P S P P P = Primary Data Analysis S = Secondary Data Analysis
Table of Organization and Equipment Signal Personnel Comparison of TOEs for Stryker, Heavy Division, and 4 th ID Heavy Division - similar to Stryker Organization Size Mobility C3 structure 4 th ID - Army s First Digitized Division C4ISR electronic equipment same as Stryker For comparison normalized personnel based on size of Stryker Brigade
Comparison of Signal Personnel by Types 25 2 15 1 5 HD 4ID SBCT Officers WOs NCOs 74B 74C 31U Repairers Other Signal Personnel Numbers of Personnel
Officers, Warrant Officers, NCOs Numbers of Personnel 25 2 15 1 5 HD 4ID SBCT Officers WOs NCOs
Signal Communications Personnel 25 Numbers of Personnel 2 15 1 5 HD 4ID SBCT 31U Other Signal Personnel
Information Systems and COMSEC Personnel 25 Numbers of Personnel 2 15 1 5 HD 4ID SBCT 74B 74C
Repairers 25 Numbers of Personnel 2 15 1 5 HD 4ID SBCT Repairers
Analysis of Electronic Equipment Repairers Concern that as Army fields more electronic equipment electronic equipment repairers will be overburdened Tallied electronic equipment Stryker Brigade Heavy Division 4 th ID Divided totals by number of C4ISR electronic equipment repairers assigned to each unit
C4ISR Equipment per Repairer 7 6 Quantity of Equipment 5 4 3 2 1 Heavy Div 4th ID Stryker
Analysis of C4ISR Trouble Reports (TRs) Analyzed Trouble Reports from an Stryker Brigade operational exercise Entire brigade was involved in field exercise lasting 14 days TRs were logged problems with systems Included system Organization/location Reported times and times problem was resolved C4ISR TRs 89 Backlog defined as TR not resolved within 24 hours
Number of Days to Resolve TRs 45 4 35 NUMBER OF TRs 3 25 2 15 1 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 DAYS TO COMPLETE REPAIRS
Number of Days TRs Not Closed, Remained Open 6 5 NUMBER OF TRs 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 DAYS TRS WERE UNRESOLVED
Daily Backlog of TRs 35 3 BACKLOG OF TRs 25 2 15 1 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 DAY OF EXERCISE
Unresolved TRs at Various SBCT Units 15 1 5 BD HQ (Main) 1st INF BN 2nd INF BN 3rd INF BN Antitank CO FA BN RSTA SQDN BD SPT BN (Rear) BD SPT BN (Separate) MI CO SIG CO NUMBER OF UNRESOLVED TRs
Unresolved TRs by Types of Equipment 2 15 1 5 A/V Net Computer H/S Computer Support H/S EPLRS NCS Intercom LAN/TI Radios SMART-T NUMBER OF TRs
Signal Company Personnel Questionnaires Signal Company personnel in Stryker Brigade Questionnaires administered after the operational exercise Included 34 signal personnel (39% of the Stryker Signal Company) Ranged in rank from E3 through 1 st Lieutenant Included personnel from all sections of the Signal Company Asked about set-up, initialization, and maintenance of their equipment
Questionnaires on Set-up Very Hard Hard 5 4 Set-Up Initialization COMSEC Borderline 3 Easy 2 Very Easy 1 Brigade Subscriber Node EPLRS Section Network Management Section Retrans Team SMART-T Section Trojan Spirit Section
Questionnaires on Maintenance Very Hard 5 Hard 4 Borderline 3 Easy 2 Very Easy 1 ATCCS BSN Computers EPLRS NCS FBCB2 Network Radios Relay/Retrans TACSAT Trojan Spirit
Average Number of Incidents by Maintainer 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ATCCS BSN Computers EPLRS NCS FBCB2 Network Radios Relay/Retrans TACSAT Trojan Spirit AVERAGE NUMBER OF INCIDENTS PER MAINTAINER
Conclusions The support C4ISR personnel assigned to Stryker Brigade may not be sufficient. Numbers of InfoSys personnel should be increased. BACKLOG OF TRs 35 3 25 2 15 1 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 DAY OF EXERCISE Manpower levels for electronic equipment repair personnel needs to be increased. COMSEC personnel probably should be increased. Quantity of Equipment 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Heavy Div 4th ID Stryker
Backup Slides
Stryker Brigade Personnel by Unit HHC MI CO INF BN FA BN Antitank CO RSTA SQDN BD SPT BN ENG CO Signal CO Totals Total Personnel 127 68 748 31 65 499 382 128 88 246 Signal Personnel 4 19 21 1 24 17 2 84 172