Defense Technology International - March 2007 - (Page 46) Q&A ON THE RECORD ARMY INTELLIGENT The U.S. Army’s chief scientist is traditionally an engineer, but the current deputy assistant Army secretary for research and technolog y, Thomas Killion, is a psychologist. Killion says his training is useful in today’s environment of information-intensive systems: “Our soldiers need to be able to use those systems. I bring a different perspective.” Killion started his career in the U.S. Air Force working on simulations, electronic warfare and countermeasures, and he notes that “Our ground platforms are going through the same sort of learning processes in terms of designing for survivability that aviation systems have gone through for years.” After heading a joint unmanned aerial vehicle office, he went to work for the Army. “Unmanned systems are relevant to where the Army is going with [Future Combat Systems],” Killion says. In January, Defense Technology International Editor-in-Chief Sharon Weinberger and Military Editor David Axe talked to Killion about Future Combat Systems and technology readiness assessment. Defense Technology International: What does your office do? Killion: We have responsibility for oversight and management of Army science and technology programs. But I do not have direct line authority over execution of those programs. You feed into requirements, though, don't you? We help to define areas of investment and to defend where that money’s going to go. . . . The largest chunk of our program is executed through Army Materiel Command's Research, Development and Engineering Command. . . . They are not directly in my chain of command, but [we] work closely together because I help define [their] budget and help guide where the investment goes in that budget. How do you shape your priorities? We have a detailed process we go through with the user community that helps define where the needs are. We work directly with Training and Doctrine Command to define user priorities, to define where there are “capability gaps”—the term in vogue today—that we need to address [and] where there are technology areas [in which] we’re deficient; where technology . . . can help address that gap in the future. And that future can be short-term. In the case of Advanced Technology Development, our 6-3 Program, as it’s called, those are things we expect to see go to a [program manager] or even to the field any time from a year to five years from now. What’s the division between short-term and long-term projects? [Army] Science and Technology is comprised of three major chunks. The three big chunks are: basic research—that is, research into fundamental phenomena, understanding physics, chemistry, materials, biology. . . . [W]e work heavily with universities in that area. 46 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2007 THOMAS KILLION: Deputy Assistant Army Secretary for Research and Technology/Chief Scientist, U.S. Army Birthplace: Wichita, Kan. Education: B.A. degrees in psychology and English, St. Mary’s College, Winona, Minn., 1974; Ph.D., experimental psychology, University of Oregon, 1978; graduated with highest distinction from the Naval War College, 1997. Background: Director for personnel technologies in the office of the Army's deputy chief of staff. Manager of the Army’s dual-use science and technology program. Executive assistant to the director of the Army Research Laboratory. Technology team leader for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Joint Project. Principal scientist for electronic combat training at the U.S. Air Force’s Human Resources Laboratory. Applied research—taking that fundamental understanding and beginning to turn it into technology that’s relevant to the Army in some way—not just doing research on new types of electronics, but how those electronics might map onto new electronic warfare capabilities or new communications devices or new sensors, for instance. The third step is maturing that technology and demonstrating a notional capability. That’s advanced technology development, where you build a system or subsystems or even a whole platform that is a demonstrator of what the technology can do. Essentially, that’s prototyping. Then we hand it off to a program manager who develops it into a program of record that delivers the technology in large numbers to the field. One of the challenges the Pentagon has had is with technology readiness levels TRL . Examples include Future Combat Systems FCS and Land Warrior. Are there lessons to be learned here? I’m responsible for doing technology readiness assessments on systems going towards a milestone, a decision on whether to go forward into systems development or fielding. Before what’s called milestone B or C, I have to work with the program manager—who’s supposed to develop a technology readiness assessment—and then I do an independent assessment of the quality and of whether I agree that those technologies are sufficiently mature, and that the data we have demonstrate their level of maturity. [Then I] tell my boss and the Office of the Secretary of Defense that those technologies are ready to go. There are a couple of interesting aspects of FCS regarding TRL. There’s a difference of opinion between the Defense Dept. and the Government Accountability Office on what’s a sufficient technology readiness [level] to proceed into system design and development. They would like us to bring everything up to TRL 7: fulwww.aviationweek.com/dti http://www.aviationweek.com/dti Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - March 2007 Contents Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch Swift Boats Fill 'em Up Buddy System Light Arms Who Goes There Drones Down Under Power Play Ready To Roll Tailor-Made Strong Suits Showtime Bird's Eye View Micro UAVs Power Up With Novel Fuels The Net Cutting Edge On the Record In Review Insight Defense Technology International - March 2007 Defense Technology International - March 2007 - (Page 1) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - (Page 2) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - (Page 3) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - (Page 4) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - (Page 5) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Contents (Page 6) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Contents (Page 7) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Around the World (Page 8) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Around the World (Page 9) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Science Watch (Page 10) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Science Watch (Page 11) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Tech Watch (Page 12) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Tech Watch (Page 13) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Swift Boats (Page 14) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Swift Boats (Page 15) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Fill 'em Up (Page 16) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Buddy System (Page 17) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Buddy System (Page 18) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Light Arms (Page 19) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Light Arms (Page 20) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Who Goes There (Page 21) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Drones Down Under (Page 22) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Drones Down Under (Page 23) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Power Play (Page 24) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Ready To Roll (Page 25) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Ready To Roll (Page 26) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Ready To Roll (Page 27) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Tailor-Made (Page 28) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Tailor-Made (Page 29) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Strong Suits (Page 30) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Strong Suits (Page 31) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Showtime (Page 32) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Showtime (Page 33) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Showtime (Page 34) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Showtime (Page 35) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Showtime (Page 36) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Showtime (Page 37) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Bird's Eye View (Page 38) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Bird's Eye View (Page 39) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Micro UAVs Power Up With Novel Fuels (Page 40) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Micro UAVs Power Up With Novel Fuels (Page 41) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - The Net (Page 42) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - The Net (Page 43) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Cutting Edge (Page 44) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Cutting Edge (Page 45) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - On the Record (Page 46) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - On the Record (Page 47) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - In Review (Page 48) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - In Review (Page 49) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Insight (Page 50) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Insight (Page 51) Defense Technology International - March 2007 - Insight (Page 52) http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
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