Experimentation and Rapid Prototyping in Support of Counterterrorism (2009) / Chapter Skim
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3 Analysis of Current Approaches and Suggested Improvements
3 Analysis of Current Approaches and Suggested Improvements
Pages 30-50
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From page 30... ...
The committee first focuses on the strengths and weaknesses that it perceives the RRTO organization to have, identifying issues that could impact its future success, and then follows these analyses with suggestions that the RRTO should consider to further improve its long-term effectiveness. STRENGTHS of the rapid reaction technology office Being able to spur and leverage technological advances is vital to sustaining the Department of Defense's (DOD's)
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From page 31... ...
Furthermore, the RRTO can be credited both with giving midlevel management and senior leaders the flexibility to address current warfighter needs rapidly and with highlighting potential benefits enabled by smaller technology projects that might otherwise be ignored. Box 2.1, "What Defines the Rapid Reaction Technology Office?
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From page 32... ...
This effort is an excellent example of the RRTO's creating synergy using capabilities from multiple organizations. • Enable close relationships among technical staff, testers, and users: The RRTO sponsored the development of a test facility within Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, to examine new systems for counterterrorism.
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Analysis of Current Approaches and Suggested Improvements 33 BOX 3.1 Successes of the Rapid Reaction Technology Office • irborne Global Information A • easuring Progress in M Grid (AGIG) Conflict Environments • Alternative Strategies (MPICE)
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For a "Rapid Reaction Technology Office," having delays that average many months from the start of a contracting process until the award of the contract is a significant issue. The RRTO does not have its own contracting office but relies on others for contracting support.
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These exchanges should be organized in such a way that both the sponsoring organizations and the RRTO benefit. Potential Issues that could Impact the Organization's Future Effectiveness The committee identified seven potential issues that could represent barriers to the future effectiveness of the RRTO (see Box 3.2)
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From page 36... ...
not always compatible with E RRTO initiatives • Support from sustainment organizations not always clear • Lack of test site intelligence support at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona (e.g., detailed acquisition program management) and on other elements of the DOD to provide internal administrative and other support.
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Consequently, the committee does not recommend change to the RRTO approach for selecting projects. Potential External Issues On the basis of its analysis, the committee identified the following external issues that could impact the future effectiveness of the RRTO: 1.
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Secretary of Defense Robert M Gates has called for new ways to procure and quickly field specialized, often relatively low-tech equipment well suited for stability and counterinsurgency missions. The committee believes that the RRTO provides Secretary Gates just such an essential business model, with a proven record of success including demonstrated innovation, speed, agility, and product risk taking.
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From page 39... ...
In addition, the RRTO has expanded testing infrastructures, such as those at Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) , Arizona, and at the Joint Interagency Task 10 Benjamin Riley, Director, Rapid Reaction Technology Office, "Testing and Experimentation: How to Better Support the Need for Quick Reaction Capabilities in an Irregular Warfare Environment," presentation to the committee, Washington, D.C., October 16, 2008.
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5. Lack of test site intelligence support at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona: The committee visited the National Counterterrorism/Counterinsurgency Integrated Test and Evaluation Center (NACCITEC)
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The rest of this major section and the next major section address, respectively, (1) potential changes to some of the RRTO's current business methods and (2)
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Simply stated, the RRTO should expand the sharing of technical and other information with additional laboratories with the goal 11 Benjamin Riley, Director, Rapid Reaction Technology Office, discussion with the committee on current projects, Washington, D.C., December 15, 2008.
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From page 43... ...
Potential areas for improvement include the following: • Obtaining specific modifications to the existing authority for other transactions for prototyping and grants that would be specific to the RRTO's areas of interest (Section 845/804 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994; see footnote 6 above) , and obtaining additional relaxation of or exemption from federal acquisition regulations for small rapid prototyping efforts and for test events; • Obtaining specific authorities for the RRTO to receive a blanket testing priority similar to what classified programs are sometimes given, in order to help shorten the time between the development and deployment of successful programs; and • Obtaining specific authorities for the RRTO to obtain appointments under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA)
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From page 44... ...
The RRTO has initiated programs in a wide variety of areas since its formation, and the focus areas can change significantly as the organization works its business model to anticipate needs and find opportunities for solutions. From the briefings that the committee received, it is not completely clear how focus areas are selected, prioritized annually, and aligned with the available funding, customer priorities, and manpower.
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FIGURE 3.1 A committee view of the focus area and project selection process of the Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO)
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the counter-IED testing and facility development that the RRTO started at Yuma Proving Ground and turned over to the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO)
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From page 47... ...
Those two organizations should also expand their support to the RRTO by assisting in translating intelligence information into realistic test scenarios, because the RRTO does not have sufficient knowledge or capability to do so. The RRTO should also work closely with the NACCITEC and other major test outdoor ranges as well as indoor countermeasure test facilities, as appropriate, to have them focus on upgrading their sites to support rapid reaction counterterrorism technology prototyping and testing as a core competency.
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From page 48... ...
Why is the Rapid Reaction Technology office needed? In a recent article in Foreign Affairs, Secretary of Defense Gates stated that "support for conventional modernization programs is deeply embedded in the Defense Department's budget, in its bureaucracy, in the defense industry, and in Congress.
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From page 49... ...
The RRTO's defining characteristics (see Box 2.1 in Chapter 2) as a catalytic organization that anticipates and responds to emerging threats, and that has a business model which creates synergism by bringing diverse organizations together to invent and develop capabilities and concepts of operation, constitute key elements informing this committee's belief that the nation needs to maintain and sustain the RRTO.
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From page 50... ...
The current RRTO is a very small, low-key, nonconfrontational organization that is adept at using the networks that have been built up to identify potential technologies that can be exploited in a rapid manner to address unconventional conflict needs. It is questionable as to whether it would be prudent to increase the stature of the RRTO organization, because it does not want or need the perception that it is in competition with other science and technology (S&T)
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