Skill and ingenuity: what the US Army can study in the Armed Forces

Hester, Dennis Doyle and Ronan A. Sefton about why the United States should take an example from the Ukrainian army. Sefton about why the US should follow the example of the Ukrainian army. For two years, Ukrainians have defended their country through creative combinations of tactics and technologies.

Ukraine was involved in a conflict full of clash of old and new technologies, but because the technically subjected population of Ukraine voluntarily went to the service, it was able to withstand under Russian pressure and even succeed, especially in 2022. We call these tactical and technical talents the use of modern technologies on the battlefield "technical skill". American soldiers have to fight the same advantage. Field skill means the use of resources available for survival in the field.

By technical skill we mean the appropriate use of technologies on the battlefield. The US Army requires a multi -level grassroots approach so that soldiers can show and develop their technical skills. For example, remember the times when radar techniques, as highly specialized specialists, played an important and crucial role in fighting.

Now the army has changed the role of such techniques, adapting to the changing landscape of advanced technologies, such as unmanned management systems and sensory technologies. They passed the days when mastering a specific technological reception remained the key to tactical success. Soldiers deal with the operational environment in which they should introduce technological solutions as quickly as the industry creates.

Soldiers can contribute to the tactical success of the army, expanding their skills, and army commanders should purposefully develop the technical skills of their soldiers. Commanders need to invite soldiers to the table when developing decisions, providing them with resources, keeping them up to date with innovative processes and sharing ideas with others. Technical skills may seem futuristic, but soldiers on the battlefield have always used technologies in an unexpected way.

The concept of technical skill is named so that we can collectively understand its importance and recognize its constantly growing meaning.

While training in Ukrainian soldiers, the US Army in Europe and Africa observed a significant level of technical skill, which is manifested in the form of innovations on the battlefield, when the technological and professional abilities of Ukrainian soldiers enabled them to use, maintain and repair available military equipment, such as M777 artillery , Stryker armored vehicles, M2 Bradley combat vehicles or M1 Abrams tanks.

However, those who were directly on the battlefield took another step forward, adapting available civilian technologies, such as drones, work and radio-controlled machines to gain tactical advantage. The fact that the Ukrainian army encourages the innovation of its personnel should be considered as a factor of force that provides transformation during a fighting and can be a decisive factor in combat.

The war in Ukraine has increased the need to expand the basic skills of soldiers to preserve land domination. Two authors serve in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment of the US Army in Europe and Africa, where we were able to develop and improve technical skills through war lessons in Ukraine. Our battlefield analysis has shown that technological innovations that use already available resources help to protect the fighter on the ground.

This emphasizes the importance of technologies at the tactical boundary of the modern battlefield. The integration of small unmanned aircraft and 3D printers is crucial for the training we develop. These include reconnaissance drones-quadcopters and manually controlled drones with a first person. The US Army units in Europe and Africa were experimenting with several Ukrainian adaptations of drone for drones that give soldiers the opportunity to deliver a UAV load.

For example, in a special center for the production of equipment, American soldiers have printed and assembled a removable mechanism for an unmanned system, which can carry inert ammunition of different sizes and throw them for targets with high accuracy. Considering the critical role that FPV drones played in the war in Ukraine, the US Army created a department that is engaged in training drone operators through simulations and real flights.

In order to further expand the functions and capabilities of drones, soldiers have created a hinged equipment that includes landing chassis or equipment attachment mechanisms, inspired by the real structures used in Ukraine. The equipment used by the soldiers also influenced the aiming in the depths of the territory, and not only on operations at close distances. Traditional long -range firearms and heavy artillery have become a crucial element in the war in Ukraine.

The United States provided more than 30 high -mobile artillery missile systems to help weaken the Russian potential. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called them decisive in a successful operation to restore control over Kherson, a city that Russia occupied for eight months. However, the battle space has changed due to the spread of modified and re -elected drones. Historically, the main goals for the far precise fire were command centers or anti -aircraft installations.

But as the efficiency of soldiers' ingenuity and technologies used becomes more and more obvious, the advanced centers of pilot preparation and drones of drones have become priority for destruction. Since these goals are often a few kilometers from the hostility site, their accurate identification is a unique task.

The US Army in Europe and Africa and V Corps developed opportunities to solve this problem through control and observation of the area of ​​the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which carry out deep intelligence on electric bikes equipped with solar panels.

Innovative ideas similar to the surveillance teams and the equipment they use are just an initial example of what the lowest level commanders can achieve if the above command will give their authority to apply technical knowledge and solve complex problems on the battlefield. Technical skill is already available in our formations, but it depends on us its detection and development.

Commanders can draw inspiration in Ukrainian innovations and support soldiers who use technologies in effective and innovative ways to accomplish their tasks. Existing supervision and certification systems in the US Army have a number of serious obstacles that hold back the potential for technology and innovation development in our units. For example, technological proposals must be passed through several instances for testing.

Although innovations occur at the lowest level, the change of regulations should occur at the upper levels to promote the development of innovative culture. We know that commanders can encourage technical skills by increasing the level of units about technology and preventing risk during experiments with field equipment. Here are our recommendations on how to do it. Commanders need to know their soldiers and their skills that they own outside their military specialty or responsibilities.

The signs that the soldiers are prone to technical skills are interest in computers, video games, electronics, STEM education and, of course, amateur drones. Commanders should invite soldiers of all titles, regardless of their military and professional specialization, to help solve complex problems that arise during training and tasks. The most important feature is the desire to change the army and give the fighters tactical opportunities that will help to wage and win wars.

Soldiers with technical skills are happy to join changes because they are motivated by the tangible progress they can observe in the army. Commanders should provide their subordinates with the necessary resources and time to implement and test the decisions found during the brainstorming. For example, management made an exception to the rules that soldiers could work on drones in the laboratory of innovations of the 7th Army Educational Command.

The commander of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment was acquired by electric bikers for control and observation teams so that they can experiment and train on them. Soldiers were given time for experiments and tests, they were able to develop projects and created innovative technologies. This atmosphere paved the path to real and rapid innovations that led to the creation of projects suitable for lightning 24-96-hour projection cycle.

Leaders can purposefully create conditions, allocate time and money to purchase the necessary equipment to develop and encourage technical skills in their formations. The involvement of commanders, along with soldiers in the space of technical skills, is necessary to overcome the risks and problems that will inevitably arise.

For example, the experience of a commander who understands the risks and is able to reduce them will make a breakthrough in innovation, projection, development and implementation of tactical benefits during training and operations. However, leadership in this area requires commanders who have at least a conditional level of technical erudition and technical skills.

We need to invest in the professional military education of our officers, junior officers and sergeants in order to develop and teach those who will be immersed in technologically rich combat space, which requires technical skills. Leaders should understand and take the risk of innovation and experiments so that soldiers can act freely, without unjustified and suffocating restrictions. Due to the risk of risk, we find ways to increase potential.

If we are too afraid of risk, we will not be able to provide combat capabilities. In addition, commanders should give specific examples of what we need to decide, for example, "we need to ensure that our Stryker with an infantry compartment in a disassembled form is able to reach a probable collision line under the threat of drones with a first person.

" Soldiers who have undergone technical and field training can use their skills to create the conditions necessary for Stryker with the infantry detachment to come into contact with human-machine integrated formations and took the best position to win in initial contact, replacing the soldier with robot the first contact with the enemy. However, we must be careful not to interfere with our basic combat capabilities, developing technical skills in tactical formations.

Leaders should share these lessons with all units: write articles and share knowledge of how to develop and apply their experience. The importance of technical means is becoming increasingly obvious as the maneuverable units are learning the lessons learned on the battlefield in Ukraine, but a critical component for success is to combine efforts of the whole army. Soldiers who use their technical skills in one unit can develop and create a useful tool that will expand their capabilities.

But using it in the framework of its unit can lead to waste of resources and duplication of efforts. It is necessary that when the soldiers are able to introduce innovations, they were also given the opportunity to share their developments with other units, providing large -scale opportunities with the potential for improvement within the iteration cycle of development.

This concept simulates the joint efforts that we can observe in Ukraine, where technically -saved volunteers collect ideas to improve all the combat forces of our country. In general, leaders should evaluate their technology initiatives by the key result: ensuring the success of hostilities on the ground. The nature of hostilities changes rapidly.

The transformations occurring in the army, especially in connection with events in Ukraine, indicate significant changes in conducting operations to which the army should be ready. More important role is played by drones and sensors.

Units of the US Army in Europe and Africa integrated war lessons in Ukraine, adapt quickly, and commanders of all units of the army can contribute to the development of technical skills of their soldiers, inviting them to discuss, creating conditions for them, managing and sharing. It is very important for us to be aware of this dynamic landscape and maintain an adaptive way of thinking in the field of technical skills, since the pace of technological changes do not think to slow down. Brian A.

Hester is a Major Sergeant who joined the infantryman and has held all management positions in the infantry for 34 years of service. He served in Iraq three times, twice in Afghanistan, and was deployed in Force 17 in Kosovo. He is now a senior adviser to work with military personnel in the command of promising development of the US Army. Dennis Doyle is a Major Sergeant who joined the 1996 service as a tank and served in Bosnia and Iraq.

He played a decisive role in the formation of the 2nd Cavalry Division as a powerful and maneuverable force capable of rapid deployment, which takes into account the latest lessons learned from the war in Ukraine. Ronan A. Sefton is a US Army Intelligence Officer with extensive experience in working with foreign partners. He worked as a linguist and is an avid fan of 3D printers and unmanned technologies.