The Department of Systems Engineering hosted a workshop entitled "Building Achilles: Assessing the Vulnerabilities of the Future Combat System," Jan. 16 and 17 in Mahan Hall here.

The 35 military and civilian participants from across the country and from here at the academy focused on identifying the potential vulnerabilities of the Future Combat System -- the centerpiece of the Chief of Staff of the Army’s vision for the Objective Force.

DSE will submit the final report and summary of the workshop -- which should be completed by the end of the month -- to the program manager and the lead systems integrator to consider as the FCS project continues through the phases of development.

The Future Combat System, currently in the developmental stages, is touted as a "system of systems" that will use the latest in network communications, weapons, robotics, and intelligence gathering tools to keep the United States Army in a dominant military position through the next few decades.

The workshop’s keynote speakers were Dr. Yacov Y. Haimes, the Director at the Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems at the University of Virginia, and retired Lt. Gen. Paul "Butch" Funk, Director for the Education and Technology Applications Division at the University of Texas at Austin.

Both men highlighted critical areas for workshop participants to consider. Haimes stressed the relationship between the transformation of the Army and the new Homeland Defense initiatives and Funk emphasized the importance of designing the FCS to ensure soldier survivability and build continued trust and confidence in Army leadership.

"The success of the Desert Storm force was a direct consequence of our soldiers truly believing...we really did want to save their lives while taking the lives of the enemy. They believed we had this intent in heart," Funk said.

He also conveyed to the audience that the challenge of the FCS developers is in instilling that same trust in our soldiers within a lighter, more agile force.

"Overcoming this challenge will not be easy, but this workshop is an important part of that process," he added.

The Department of Systems Engineering has been working with the FCS program office for more than two years. Dan Pierson, the Director of Systems Integration for the Objective Force and the Department’s direct client for its research in this area, participated in the workshop and was extremely pleased with the event.

"The workshop and others like it are a win-win for the Army," Pierson explained. "The program office wins because they can count on USMA for an independent, un-biased analysis and opinion, and USMA wins by remaining current on the real issues the army is facing and provides challenging problems for their students."

In addition to the keynote addresses, the workshop included large group sessions using interactive software for development of the analytical framework. This exercise was followed by smaller focus groups that addressed specific vulnerabilities using the developed framework.

Both the organizers and guest speakers agreed that this workshop should serve as a starting point for continued discussion of the vulnerabilities of the FCS. Funk said that he hopes to see the workshop participants stay in touch and draw even more people into the discussion about decreasing the vulnerabilities for the Future Combat System.

A second workshop is tentatively scheduled for mid-July of this year, the intent of which will be to further develop the vulnerabilities analysis within specific topic areas. Pierson said he is looking forward to continuing the partnership with USMA and DSE.

"We are all the stakeholders in the training of our soldiers and should play an active role as best we can. I am extremely grateful that our Army has a fine institution like West Point that we can rely on," he said.