Redefining Contentious Dialogue or Discussion, as the Case May Be

Redefining Contentious Dialogue or Discussion, as the Case May Be

At Fort Liberty, North Carolina, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Gaines, the ACoS G6 at 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), is spearheading a significant shift in the approach to contested communications. This change is driven by a keen awareness that the joint force will not maintain the same level of technological dominance in large-scale combat operations.

The need for this transformation is underscored by the reality that operations centers often resemble people working through stages of grief rather than coordinated staffs. In some cases, the adversary is actively jamming every system in the joint task force's inventory across the entire area of operations.

To navigate these challenges, several key steps and strategies are being implemented:

Key Steps and Strategies

1. Operational Training with Restrictions: Training exercises are being designed where communication is restricted to pre-determined windows. This simulates the challenges of contested environments, promoting adaptability and autonomous decision-making.
2. Adaptive Force Structure Adjustments: Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) in communications are being streamlined by merging related specialties. This enhances flexibility and operational efficiency, allowing personnel to perform a broader range of tasks in austere environments.
3. Cross-Training and Versatility: Existing informal cross-training practices are being formalized to equip soldiers with diverse skill sets. This ensures that network capabilities can be maintained even in challenging conditions.
4. Joint Exercises and Training: Globally Integrated Exercises (GIE) and Large Scale Global Exercises (LSGE) are being utilised to validate joint force plans and improve interoperability across different domains.
5. Enhanced Leadership Development: Professional Military Education (PME) and Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) programs are being used to develop leaders who can discern military dimensions of national challenges and lead effectively in integrated operations.
6. Technology Innovation and Investment: Advanced communication technologies are being developed and integrated to operate securely in contested environments. This includes investing in resilient networks capable of withstanding cyber threats.
7. Crisis Management Seminars: Senior Leader Seminars (GICoL) are being conducted to expand senior leaders' decision-making capabilities in complex and dynamic environments.

Strategic Considerations

In addition to these strategies, risk assessments are being conducted to identify vulnerabilities in communication systems and develop contingency plans. Robust cybersecurity measures are being implemented to protect communication networks from cyber threats. Common standards for communication equipment and protocols are being established to ensure seamless integration across different forces and allies.

Captain Alex Suh, the communications OIC for the Special Operations Joint Task Force at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, emphasizes the importance of refining tactics, techniques, and procedures. However, it's crucial to remember that the final change to our approach to contested communications is a recognition that it is not solely, or perhaps even primarily, a technological challenge.

Maj. Brian Sutherland is the image credit for this article in the US Army. Some personnel continue with business as usual, as this is not their first exercise encountering full-scale cyber injects. There is a need to improve understanding of equipment, deployment, and use to maximize LPI/LPD capabilities, and when not to use them. There is also a need to improve the precision with which we speak about the effects of contested communications.

The term DDIL (denial, disconnection, intermittency, or limitations) is used to describe the challenge of contested communications, but it fails to capture important nuances and tends to be thought of as binary in nature.

The exercise control group has announced that all communications are down. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense.

1. Lieutenant Colonel Tom Gaines, the ACoS G6 at 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), is spearheading a strategic shift in warfare, focusing on contested communications, recognizing the military's potential loss of technological dominance in large-scale combat operations.
2. To prepare for such contested environments, several strategies are being implemented, including operational training with communication restrictions to promote adaptability, cross-training and versatility to maintain network capabilities, and crisis management seminars for senior leaders.
3. In addition, enhanced leadership development, joint exercises and training, technology innovation and investment in resilient networks, strategic risk assessments, and the establishment of common communication standards across different forces and allies are part of this transformative approach.
4. However, it's critical to remember, as Captain Alex Suh emphasizes, that the changing approach to contested communications is not just a technological challenge; it's about refining tactics, techniques, and procedures to better understand equipment, deployment, and use, and to improve the precision of speaking about the effects of contested communications.

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