Despite its relatively small size, NAVSCIATTS has an evolving mission, one that is proving to be a critical and cost-effective enabler to U.S. defense strategy and U.S. Special Operations Command’s intent to develop a network of like-minded partners across the globe. Inviting allies to train in the U.S. allows for exposure to a world-class mission-planning environment that provides multiple military benefits. Most importantly, NAVSCIATTS is leading from the front by proactively sharing our best practices in leadership, operations, and maintenance in partnership towards higher levels of security and stability.

Where are the greatest equipment challenges? Funding? Technologies?

The greatest challenge is getting requirements identified, documented, validated, prioritized, and resourced in a timely manner.

In NSW’s context, the current fiscal environment tends to drive acquisition away from development and further toward commercial off-the-shelf items. While this approach has its advantages, i.e., affordability and quicker fielding, it challenges our ability to maintain a necessary advantage over our adversaries (state or non-state actors), as the technology is available and affordable to them as well.

We will occasionally identify a significant stretch goal for large levels of investment funding, e.g., Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, but those opportunities might come around once a decade and we hope to cull benefits that intersect multiple technology areas.

Our key challenge is to achieve game-changing advanced capabilities while maintaining existing capability in a fiscally constrained environment. One of the approaches we take is to focus “capability pursuit” by developing programmatic roadmaps that look out over the next couple of decades.

We also make every effort to leverage other government agency research development test and evaluation (RDT&E) funding to the maximum extent possible to help us accomplish proof of concept, prototypes, and generally increase the technology readiness level (TRL) of various technologies. Finally, we only plan to resource a small number of these efforts, always looking for those areas that appear ripe for success, are the most impactful, and generally represent the lowest risk to transition toward fielding to our operators. We will occasionally identify a significant stretch goal for large levels of investment funding, e.g., Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, but those opportunities might come around once a decade and we hope to cull benefits that intersect multiple technology areas.

What is your message to industry representatives who believe they have “the next great idea” in NSW hardware?

Industry members sometimes contact NSW directly; however, without a requirement or a look at an actual product, it is probably the least productive use of their time. If the idea is still at a very low TRL, i.e., 6 or less, then they may want to reach out to any of the various RDT&E-focused organizations such as the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTS), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), or Naval Surface Warfare, Crane Division, to see if there’s interest or if they are aware of an existing requirement or pre-existing technology along those same lines.

If “the idea” is a product technology at a TRL of 7 or higher, they should subscribe to FedBizOps, which enables them to receive applicable Requests for Information, Sources Sought Synopses, Broad Agency Announcements, and other potential contracting-related information for the types of capability SOCOM and NSW are pursuing. They should focus efforts on demonstrating their technology at one of the various technology experiment events, NSW innovation events, or defense-focused trade shows held throughout the year. We recommend reaching out to the program offices within SOCOM to develop a better understanding of the battle rhythm of these events and to obtain the logistic details of these events occurring over the next few months. Technical experimentation events are typically held three times a year and will have differing technology emphasis areas. The ideal scenario is to pair that “great idea” with documented requirements, programmed funding, and the intent for the government to pursue a contract.

Industry representatives have numerous ways by which to display their hardware.

The USSOCOM Technology & Industry Liaison Office (TILO) (http://www.socom.mil/sordac/Pages/SubmitYourIdea.aspx) is a forum for presenting new ideas to the USSOCOM community at large.

Technology providers may also be interested in applying to participate in the USSOCOM Technology Experimentation (TE) events (http://www.socom.mil/sordac/Pages/ExpWithUS.aspx), or the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Joint Interagency Field Experimentation (JIFX) events (http://my.nps.edu/web/fx).

There are various events each year that offer the opportunity for industry technology providers to test their equipment under field conditions with active-duty members from the various services in direct contact. The events enable operator feedback, giving providers a better idea of whether their product is in line with operational requirements, which also helps guide future independent research and development investment.

This interview first appeared in The Year in Special Operations 2016-2017 Edition.