108. Soldier Dominance and Battlefield Primacy

Soldier Dominance and Battlefield Primacy

“What we’ve got to think about is, how do we make our Soldiers more effective, how do we maintain that battlefield primacy for our commanders, for our Soldiers, and for our units.”

[Editor’s Note:  At the conclusion of Ian Sullivan‘s insightful blog post from almost four years ago, we were provided with a sage and cautionary admonition:

“… I think it is important to ask ourselves which approach are we [the U.S. Army] following on our path to modernization?  Are we are trying to revolutionize our approach to warfare, or are we simply trying to modernize a force based on yesterday’s ideas?  Is our preferred way of war capable of standing up to our pacing threats’ transformations, or do we need to refine it? ... We must answer the question “Are we doing enough fast enough?” — but we also must inexorably link that answer to an even more fundamental question:  “Are we building the right force, with the right people to prevail over adversaries who have thought long and hard about how to defeat us?”

In our latest episode of the Army Mad Scientist’s The Convergence podcast, we sat down with proclaimed Mad Scientist COL Scott Shaw, Director, Maneuver Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate (MCDID), to learn how the Army Futures Command’s presence at the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE), Fort Moore, Georgia, is accomplishing this challenge — helping transform the Army’s maneuver capabilities to ensure our war-winning future readiness — Read on!]

[If the podcast dashboard above is not rendering correctly for you, please click here to listen to the podcast.]

COL Scott Shaw, U.S. Army, is a graduate from the University of Arkansas in August 1996 and was commissioned as an Infantry officer.   Prior to his current assignment as the Director, MCDID, COL Shaw was Assistant Chief of Staff, G3, I Corps and Joint Base Lewis McChord.  COL Shaw also commanded the U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Group, Ft Meade, Maryland, from July 2019 to the unit’s deactivation in May 2021.

COL Shaw has held two combat commands — as the Commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division deploying to Kabul, Afghanistan, and as Commander, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment deploying to Baghdad, Iraq.  He has had three additional combat tours in Iraq, plus another in Afghanistan, and has served abroad in the Sinai in Egypt, in Kuwait, and in Korea.  COL Shaw holds three Master’s degrees – Military History (With Honors) from Norwich University, Military Art and Science from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and Strategic Studies (Distinguished Graduate) from the Marine Corps War College.

COL Shaw has also been a frequent guest of The Convergence podcast and is a proclaimed Mad Scientist.

Army Mad Scientist sat down with COL Shaw to talk about the Maneuver CDID, how it supports Army innovation, and how you can contribute to its mission.  The following bullet points highlight the key takeaways from our conversation:

• A capabilities development and integration directorate (CDID) is the Army Futures Command’s lead for an Army force modernization proponent.  The Maneuver CDID (MCDID), specifically, determines and develops future force capabilities and future infantry, armor, and robotic requirements. This allows for a trained and ready maneuver force that will be fully integrated in Army Combined and Joint operations in order to maintain the battlefield primacy of our Soldiers and the formations in which they fight.  The MCDID works to deliver the maneuver force of 2030 and design the maneuver force of 2040. 

• A major focus for the MCDID is “transformation in contact” – evaluating and refining technologies for use in combat through troop rotations and deployments. This ensures that requirements are captured and doctrine is written so Soldiers can fight a transform-in-contact-organized, equipped, and led Brigade Combat Team (BCT) across the DOTMLPF-P capabilities spectrum.  Other initiatives include improved strategic and tactical mobility, integrating robotics, and simplifying command and control for all BCTs. 

• As concepts and technology mature within the next 10 years, the MCDID will shift its focus to other initiatives, such asformation based layered protection, treating the squad as a system vice just Soldier load, and several signature modernization efforts.  In addition to these efforts, an important initiative is captured under the situational awareness strategy which includes new night vision capabilities for the close combat force and the close combat support force.

• Beyond 10 years, the MCDID is striving to “never again trade blood for first contact.”  Integrating robotics further into formations for robotic-enabled maneuver is how Soldiers will be relieved of dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks so they can focus on what humans do best – making ethics-based decisions. 

• All Soldiers, Commanders, and Leaders have the opportunity to be a part of the innovation and modernization process! The MCDID is actively soliciting ideas, suggestions, and comments from the field.  Many divisions and installations have innovation efforts with direct and regular connection to the MCDID.  This is a Mad Scientist call to action! 

Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence on 16 January 2025, when Army Mad Scientist’s own “James Gang” — Dr. James Giordano and Dr. James Canton — returns to discuss Unidentified Anomalous (vice Aerial) Phenomena, or UAPs, and their associated National Security implications! 

If you enjoyed today’s podcast and blog post, check out the TRADOC G-2’s new OE Assessment — The Operational Environment 2024-2034: Large-Scale Combat Operations

Explore the TRADOC G-2‘s Operational Environment Enterprise web page, brimming with information on the OE and how our adversaries fight, including:

Our China Landing Zone, full of information regarding our pacing challenge, including ATP 7-100.3, Chinese Tactics, BiteSize China weekly topics, People’s Liberation Army Ground Forces Quick Reference Guide, and our thirty-plus snapshots captured to date addressing what China is learning about the Operational Environment from Russia’s war against Ukraine (note that a DoD Common Access Card [CAC] is required to access this last link).

Our Russia Landing Zone, including the BiteSize Russia weekly topics. If you have a CAC, you’ll be especially interested in reviewing our weekly RUS-UKR Conflict Running Estimates and associated Narratives, capturing what we learned about the contemporary Russian way of war in Ukraine over the past two years and the ramifications for U.S. Army modernization across DOTMLPF-P.

Our Iran Landing Zone, including the latest Iran OE Watch articles, as well as the Iran Quick Reference Guide and the Iran Passive Defense Manual (both require a CAC to access).

Our Running Estimates SharePoint site (also requires a CAC to access), containing our monthly OE Running Estimates, associated Narratives, and the 2QFY24, 3QFY24, and 4QFY24 OE Assessment TRADOC Intelligence Posts (TIPs).

Then check out the following related Mad Scientist Laboratory content:

“Once More unto The Breach Dear Friends”: From English Longbows to Azerbaijani Drones, Army Modernization STILL Means More than Materiel by Ian Sullivan

China’s PLA Modernization through the DOTMLPF-P Lens, by Dr. Jacob Barton

Insights from Ukraine on the Operational Environment and the Changing Character of Warfare

Other People’s Wars: The US Military and the Challenge of Learning from Foreign Conflicts and associated podcast, with Brent L. Sterling

The Future of Ground Warfare and associated podcast, with Proclaimed Mad Scientist COL Scott Shaw

The Case for Restructuring the Department of Defense to Fight in the 21st Century, by LTC Christopher J. Heatherly

Innovation at the Edge and associated podcast

Strategic Latency Unleashed!, Going on the Offensive in the Fight for the Future, and associated podcast with former Undersecretary of the Navy (and proclaimed Mad Scientist) James F. “Hondo” Geurts and Dr. Zachary S. Davis

Tactical Innovation: The Missing Piece to Enable Army Futures Command, by LTC Jim Armstrong

Mission Engineering and Prototype Warfare: Operationalizing Technology Faster to Stay Ahead of the Threat by The Strategic Cohort at the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC).

Innovation Isn’t Enough: How Creativity Enables Disruptive Strategic Thinking, by Heather Venable

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Army Futures Command (AFC), or Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)