Soldiers’ Innovation Drives Army Transformation
Soldiers’ Innovation Drives Army Transformation

Bottom-up innovation continues to drive the Army’s transformation as the service seeks to move “at the speed of change,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said.
“Our soldiers are very innovative. They are very welcoming of this change. They can move at this kind of speed,” George said Jan. 29 during a Coffee Series event hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army. “I’m a believer in bottom-up innovation. … Our challenge is the processes back here to support all of that.”
A big driver of this innovation is the Army’s transformation in contact initiative, which puts new and emerging technology into soldiers’ hands for testing and experimentation.
The initiative, which has featured three infantry brigade combat teams, will expand this year to include two divisions—the 25th Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne Division—as well as armored and Stryker brigade combat teams and formations in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve, George said.
“We’re learning a lot from what is happening in the world, but they’re only lessons observed until you change how you train and operate,” George said. Some of this change is already happening, George said. One example is the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, which was among the first three transformation in contact units. The brigade, from Fort Johnson, Louisiana, is in Germany for Exercise Combined Resolve, where it is putting to the test new drones and formations.
To illustrate how quickly technology is developing, the drones that 3rd Brigade is using during Combined Resolve are already different from the ones the Army provided to a previous transformation in contact brigade, George said. “They’re more capable, they’re longer endurance, they’re better and cheaper,” he said.
Feedback from transformation in contact units and other lessons learned will be used to inform a force design update scheduled to begin this spring, George said. The Army also is working with industry and other partners about innovating counter-unmanned aviation systems, he said. “That’s one area where we think we have to move much, much faster,” George said.
Another area the Army is focused on is changing how it buys things, George said. “We need to buy capabilities,” he said, especially in areas where commercial technology is outpacing military technology.
The Army is working closely with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. “I think there’s appetite for change,” George said. “I think we’re going to get better value for our money, and I think that’s what this is really about. It’s what’s best for our formation, and it’s where we need to go.”
Along those lines, the Army will have to make “tough choices” when it comes to the budget.
“Nothing is off the table, we’re looking at everything,” he said. “We’re looking at everything we do in terms of return on investment for lethality for our formations and taking care of our soldiers. Everybody needs to get used to, across the formation, at looking at every dollar we’re spending, and we’re focused on that.”
As the Army moves out, it wants to transform “with speed, but we don’t want to be frantic,” George said. “We’re going to have to be leaner in our formations, more mobile,” he said. “We’re going to be ruthless in how we get to that point and get there as fast as possible.”