Army expanding ‘Transformation in Contact’ initiative to Army Guard

The Army’s ongoing brigade modernization program is headed to the Guard.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee during a hearing Wednesday that Guard units are being identified for the service’s Transformation in Contact, or TIC, initiative.

“We want to do that as fast as we can in the Guard as well,” George said. “They are identifying those units who can do that in the Guard.”

The initiative seeks to deliver new equipment — such as Infantry Squad Vehicles, drones, counter-drone equipment and increased electromagnetic warfare capabilities — to operational units as they prepare for major training events and deployments.

George noted that those same capabilities will be in the Guard as well.

“They’re going to have the same systems,” George said. “They will not look any different.”

First armor brigade conducts combat training center rotation with new tools

The TIC initiative started with three infantry brigades: 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division; 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division; and 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division.

Those units saw increased capabilities, mobility and command-and-control systems accelerate how the traditionally dismounted units perform.

The work led to changes in the structure of the infantry brigade, which have been dubbed “Mobile Brigade Combat Teams.”

The Army has since shifted its focus to TIC 2.0 with Armor Brigade Combat Teams and division-level assets.

The 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, launched Exercise Combined Resolve in early May in Hohenfels, Germany, at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center.

“Raider Brigade is spearheading the Army’s Transforming in Contact initiative and experimenting with new capabilities to enhance battlefield effectiveness while deployed to Europe,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division, in a May release. “The lessons learned through this exercise will help inform the Army how an armored brigade combat team fights on future battlefields.”

The 1st ABCT’s participation in TIC is structured around four key phases: adapting how the unit fights, integrating emerging technologies, reorganizing formations to suit mission needs and rapidly incorporating new capabilities as they become available.

Another armor unit is also in the midst of TIC changes.

Soldiers with the 1st Cavalry Division began their TIC 2.0 work in April, shortly after returning from their Europe rotation.

Armor units are creating their own plans for what a new type of armor brigade might look like.

“An ABCT has a lot of different moving pieces,” Maj. Gen. Thomas Feltey, division commander, told Army Times in April. “Our battlespace is much larger, and things move faster.”

Though ubiquitous drone coverage helped infantry units, various kinds of drones will be needed for the longer-reaching, longer-ranging armored units, for example.

The division’s artillery, air cavalry squadron and electronic warfare units have all been designated as part of the TIC initiative.

The division is modernizing its main equipment, with the A4 variant of the Bradley and the A7 variant of the Paladin artillery system. It’s also on track as the next unit to receive the new Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, Feltey said.

Feltey expects to see communications upgrades, much like the infantry units did as part of TIC, with systems such as the Integrated Tactical Network, Star Shield satellite communications and the Mobile User Objective System, an improved UHF satellite communications system.

The 1st Cavalry Division’s culminating TIC event is expected to take place at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California, in 2027.