The Advanced Warfighting Working Group, Exploring the Future

after-action review with the students once the mission is complete. Future Applications The breach lab trains students on how to conduct a breach with a reconnaissance, terrain rehearsal, JANUS exercise, and execution on the terrain board. This process gives students a thorough hands-on experience of breaching operations without the high cost of alive breaching demonstration. In the future, PCC, AOBC, ANCOC and BNCOC may also use the Armor Center Breach Lab to train breaching operations. The Armor School can incorporate the breach lab into CPX missions through the terrain models and JANUS. Though the actual breach on the ground cannot be replaced, the breach lab offers a viable alternative at a lower cost. Breach Site ARMOR — 43 Captain Dan McIntosh is currently assistant S3, Warrior Brigade, Ft. Polk, La. His previous assignments include tank platoon leader, tank company XO, and battalion S4, in 2-70 Armor, Erlangen, Germany, and 2-72 Armor, Camp Casey, Korea. He is a graduate of AOBC, BMOC, Airborne School, NBC Officer Course, Scout Commanders Certification Course, and Cav Leader’s Course. Captain Scott D. King is a 1988 graduate of the U. S. Military Academy. A graduate of AOBC, Infantry Mortar Platoon Officer Course, and AOAC, he served as a tank platoon leader, mortar platoon leader and battalion S4 with 1-34 Armor, Ft. Riley, Kan. He is currently an Armor Officer Basic Course instructor with 2-16 Cavalry at Ft. Knox, Ky. The Advanced Warfighting Working Group, Exploring the Future by Major Christopher A. Mitchell, Co-facilitator The Advanced Warfighting Working Group (AWWG) was formed in March of this year by the Deputy Commanding General, Brigadier General Maggart. Modeled after virtual management principles, the group has explored various subjects relevant to mounted warfare in a unique fashion. The group is unique in that it is non-hierarchical, and the structure or organization can change with each meeting and topic. Membership is voluntary, with the only prerequisite being a natural curiosity to explore issues that apply to the transition of the Mounted Force to the twenty-first century. Members work on their own time, researching and studying topics in an effort to bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to conventional thinking. Members range in experience from noncommissioned officers to movie producers to Army nurses, and even include scientists, computer modelers, company commanders, and doctrine writers. The AWWG meets every Wednesday for about two hours. Members select a topic and, based on interest and experience, one or two members will lead or facilitate a discussion on the selected topic. As a group, the members decide what form the product of the discussion will take, be it a paper, research proposal, or simply a briefing. To date, some of the topics have included a research proposal on “Seeing the Battlefield” and the development of a future reader which included a précis of major future works. The group has also produced a number of papers on leadership in the information age, information as the fifth element of combat power, and higher order insights on the Advanced Warfighting Experiment 94-07. Many of the products are influencing the development of future doctrine and are appearing in different papers and manuals that are shaping the focus of the Army of the twenty-first century. The AWWG has an extended membership which draws from expertise in the private sector; we’re also active in the Internet, and have tapped into sources of information across the country. The Chief of Staff of the Army, General Gordon R. Sullivan, fully supports the concept and has established a direct link with the group through a computer his office provided. General Sullivan said this about the AWWG in May of this year, “What impressed me most is your language and the fact that you are in being. What you represent is the future — what can and will be Force XXI. Think and grow. Help us change and grow without a loss of effectiveness.” The fact that the group exists is a credit to the USAARMC chain of command, and their willingness to lead the Army in Force XXI initiatives and contributions. It’s no accident that Fort Knox is credited with making the most significant strides toward the twenty-first century and the Information Age.