At 50, EPG cog in U.S. military testing

Sierra Vista Herald, Sierra Vista Arizona ^ | 2/1/04 | Bill Hess

[SandRat]

FORT HUACHUCA - A new high-technology life began for this Southeastern Arizona Army post when the Electronic Proving Ground came here and re-activated the fort on Feb. 1, 1954.

A half-century later, much of the post's missions are in the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, the military's C4ISR arena. EPG is still the major leader in the testing and developing of critical systems for the Army and all of the nation's armed services.

Col. Jerome Payne sits at the EPG's helm. And he is the only soldier now with the organization, that includes 130 civil service employees and more than 400 contract workers.

"Right now we do about 250 tests a year, small ones that last a few days to large ones that can take two months," he said.

Testing continues to be the main part of EPG's reputation.

At any one time there are from 12 to 15 tests taking place. Not all of them are physically being done on the thousands of acres under the organization's control on Fort Huachuca, Payne said.

The beauty of today's electronic environment is that tests can be conducted by EPG people using assets scattered throughout the United States and other areas around the world, he said.

As an example, if flight operations are needed, that can be done using helicopters assigned to Fort Bragg, which can electronically simulate what is needed to test a piece of equipment EPG is responsible for.

The more than $100 million of testing facilities on the post allow EPG to do more than $50 million of tests a year, Payne said.

The Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines, as well as other federal agencies and civilian companies, use the proving ground. The civilian companies are interested in having something they are working on validated by the organization.

EPG acts as an underwriter laboratory, certifying systems, which is just one step of many needed before any equipment is used by the military.

Payne said that Fort Huachuca is important because of the synergy it has with a number of different organizations involved in a test, developing and fielding of high-tech equipment and systems.

"In many cases we have the testers, developers and users here on Fort Huachuca," he said.

The Department of Defense's Joint Interoperability Test Command is another role player in creating this synergy. The command has to certify that any piece of C4ISR equipment to be used by the military can work with all the services' systems.

One of the most important tests being done at EPG is Force XXI Battle Command for Brigade and Below, which seeks ways to identify the friendly forces, what the Army calls Blue Forces, Payne said.

Not all tests are doing on post

The beauty of today's digital electronic world is that any size military unit, such as an Army division, can be simulated by EPG, eliminating the cost to move soldiers and equipment to an area to be tested, Payne said.

Vehicles, such as trucks, can and are put out on Fort Huachuca and electronically simulate tanks.

The EPG also provides cost and test efficiency, Payne said. By not requiring the movement of people and equipment, the proving ground can cut back on the time needed to set up a test.

"We currently have a well-defined communications network infrastructure that provides us the capability to link multiple test facilities together for the purposes of evaluating a system using real, and simulated tactical units operating in real-time," Payne said.

The approach allows EPG personnel to see how well hardware or software "will perform from a number of different perspectives simultaneously," Payne said.

To help EPG, there has been an investment in the past two years in developing and refining the organization's high-speed networks, he added.

There are time lines to schedule and set up a test, which typically takes two-plus years. Without having to move soldiers to a test area in most cases, the time period can be shorter, Payne said.

In many cases existing units on the post provide soldiers for some tests, such as the 11th Signal Brigade when it comes to looking at communication systems.

In the electronic arena, systems are getting smaller. EPG is an important part of determining if systems that are smaller, but have more capacity, can be used by the military, Payne said. For example, Global Positioning Systems are smaller and more accurate than when they first were used, and each change is tested at EPG.

On the leading edge

In the past 50 years, people at EPG have seen major developments.

"We've gone from punch cards with mainframe computers to PC's that have the same capability in notebooks," Payne said. "EPG has leveraged this capability just as the business sector does."

As the business community processes and reduces the cost of operations while increasing the quality of what it produces, so does the proving ground.

The EPG helps to provided critical systems for the Army's and Defense Department's C4ISR programs.

Payne noted that many businesses approach EPG and pay the costs for testing equipment and systems they are interested in selling to the military. A business then gets a report card on a new system to see if it is what they want to do or what changes they have to make. Soldiers also come up with ideas once a system is accepted and fielded, requiring additional testing to be sure that no problems occur.

When the first of the Army's Stryker Brigades was being formed, soldiers said they had to have a better way to incorporate shelters with the vehicles. That led to the development of a system that can be rapidly put up and taken down while not interfering with electronic equipment, Payne said.

Instead of having extra vehicles to carry shelters in which high-tech systems were located, the new shelters are part of the main vehicles. That reduces a unit's footprint when it deploys, and it uses less space when transporting on an Air Force cargo plane, Payne said.

Listening to soldiers or any military user means "to have value added we need to have the ability to look at systems through a soldier's eyes," the colonel said.

People at EPG and others in the test and development units know it will be the soldiers use equipment and systems, and they have to be comfortable with them, he said.

What's ahead for the EPG

A former enlisted infantry soldier and later infantry officer, Payne became an Army acquisition officer in 1989. Knowing what the soldiers in the field need helps him to understand stand the importance of EPG.

There are new systems and equipment, such as new unmanned aerial vehicles, being developed that will enhance those in combat and those who support them.

EPG is where drones, the pilotless aircraft of those days, were launched and tested in the late 1950s and the early 1960s. At that time, a UAV had to be brought back to the ground, offload its camera and develop the film, which was then sent to an intelligence soldier to analyze.

That took time.

Today, a UAV can be launched, flown to a battle zone, take video pictures, send them back in real-time to be immediately analyzed so combat commanders cam make decisions.

In some cases, a UAV will find, send back information and then be directed to launch a missile at a target almost immediately, Payne said.

EPG continues to grow in expertise. It has a special program in which 10 engineering interns from the University of Arizona have been recruited in the past year.

"As we evolve we will continue to leverage technology to ensure that EPG continues as the tester of choice in supporting requirements from C4ISR systems regardless of which service the support or where the system is being developed," Payne said "The next 50 years will be as exciting as the first half century."

[SandRat]

EPG = Electronic Proving Ground

[SandRat]

Just a little military birthday celebration - ping

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thanks, SandRat. I'm late. It appears the guest have left. (^:
Happy birthday, Ft. Huachuca, EPG!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EPG is where drones, the pilotless aircraft of those days, were launched and tested in the late 1950s and the early 1960s. At that time, a UAV had to be brought back to the ground, offload its camera and develop the film, which was then sent to an intelligence soldier to analyze.

Today, a UAV can be launched, flown to a battle zone, take video pictures, send them back in real-time to be immediately analyzed so combat commanders cam make decisions.

In some cases, a UAV will find, send back information and then be directed to launch a missile at a target almost immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FORT HUACHUCA - Electronic Proving Ground, ping! 

[serurier]

Thank you very much , army need more UAV And UGV .

[TruthNtegrity]

And the latter (UGV) is part of my career "goals and opportunities", I hope. Multiple resumes to multiple contractors. One of the days.......

God bless our Military, wherever they are, whatever they are doing.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Amen, TNt, and bump for your career!

[serurier]

You are great , Thank you work for freedom .

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[blackie]

FORT HUACHUCA - Electronic Proving Ground ~ Bump!

[windchime]

Bump!