As the Army transitions away from major wartime operations, it faces fiscal constraints and a complex and growing array of security challenges. The Army will be smaller and senior leaders recognize that the core of a smaller yet still highly capable force is having a capable tactical information network. Over the last decade, the Army focused most of its decisions to field network improvements on supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, an effort that was both expensive and time consuming. The Army did not synchronize the development and fielding efforts for network technologies. Funding and time lines for network-related programs were rarely, if ever, aligned. The Army fielded capabilities in a piecemeal fashion and the user in the field was largely responsible for integrating them with existing technology. In December 2011, Army leaders finalized the Network-enabled Mission Command Initial Capabilities Document, a central document that describes the essential network capabilities required by the Army as well as scores of capability gaps. These capabilities support an Army mission command capability defined by a network of command posts, aerial and ground platforms, manned and unmanned sensors, and dismounted soldiers linked by an integrated suite of mission command systems. A robust transport layer capable of delivering voice, data, imagery, and video to the tactical edge (i.e., the forward battle lines) connects these systems. To achieve the objectives of its network modernization strategy, the Army is changing the way it develops, evaluates, tests, and delivers networked capability to its operating forces, using an approach called capability set management. A capability set is a suite of network components, associated equipment, and software that provides an integrated network capability. A requirement is an established need justifying the allocation of resources to achieve a capability to accomplish military objectives. Instead of developing an ultimate capability and buying enough to cover the entire force, the Army plans to buy only what is currently available, feasible, and needed for units preparing to deploy. Every year, the Army will integrate another capability set that reflects changes or advances in technology since the previous set. To support this approach, the Army is implementing a new agile process that identifies capability gaps and solicits solutions from industry and government to evaluate during the NIEs. NIEs are a significant investment. Since 2011, the Army has conducted five of them, and has projected the cumulative cost of the events at $791 million. The Army conducts NIEs twice a year. Each NIE typically involves around 3,800 soldiers and 1,000 vehicles, and up to 12,000 square kilometers of territory, and approximately 6 weeks in duration. The two categories of the key participating systems during the NIEs are Systems under Test (SUT) and Systems under Evaluation (SUE), and each is subject to differing levels of scrutiny. SUTs are from an ongoing acquisition program (sometimes referred to as a program of record) that are formally determined to be ready for operational testing in order to inform an acquisition decision. This operational testing is subject to review and is conducted with the production or production-like system in realistic operational environments, with users that are representative of those expected to operate, maintain, and support the system when fielded or deployed. SUEs are provided by either industry or the government. They are either (1) developing capabilities with sufficient technology, integration, and manufacturing maturity levels to warrant NIE participation; or (2) emerging capabilities that are seen as next generation war-fighting technologies that have the potential to fill a known gap or improve current capabilities. SUEs are not subject to formal test readiness reviews, nor the same level of testing as the SUTs. SUEs are operationally demonstrated and receive a qualitative user evaluation, but are not operationally tested and are not the subject of a formal test report (as SUTs are). Aside from their role in the agile process, NIEs also provide the Army with opportunities for integration, training, and evaluation that leads to doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities recommendations; and the refinement of tactics, techniques, and procedures related to the systems tested. The Army believes that traditional test and evaluation processes frequently result in fielding outdated technologies and expects to improve on those processes through the NIEs. The Army’s test community members, including the Brigade Modernization Command (BMC) and the Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC), conduct the testing during the NIEs. The BMC is a headquarters organization within the Training and Doctrine Command. It has an attached operational 3,800-soldier brigade combat team dedicated to testing during the NIEs. BMC soldiers use systems during the NIE in simulated combat scenarios for testing and evaluation purposes, resulting in qualitative evaluations based on their observations. The BMC also recommends whether to field, continue developing, or stop developing each solution and to improve the integration of capabilities into deploying brigades. ATEC has overall responsibility for the planning, conduct, and evaluation of all Army developmental and operational testing. ATEC also produces a qualitative assessment of the overall performance of the current capability set of network equipment. Two test offices within the Office of the Secretary of Defense that help inform Defense Acquisition Executive decisions also provide oversight on testing related to major defense acquisition programs. The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) provides oversight of operational testing and evaluation for SUTs. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Developmental Test and Evaluation (DT&E) provides oversight of developmental testing that precedes operational testing of SUTs. DOT&E and DT&E roles are limited to the SUTs selected for operational testing during the NIEs. Test and evaluation is a fundamental aspect of defense acquisition. DOD, under its Defense Acquisition System, requires the integration of test and evaluation throughout the defense acquisition process to provide essential information to decision makers; assess attainment of technical performance parameters; and determine whether systems are operationally effective, suitable, survivable, and safe for intended use. Testers generally characterize test and evaluation activities as either developmental or operational. Developmental testing is a generic term encompassing modeling and simulation and engineering type tests that are used to verify that design risks are minimized, that safety of the system is certified, that achievement of system technical performance is substantiated, and that readiness for operational test and evaluation is certified. The intent of developmental testing is to demonstrate the maturity of a design and to discover and fix design and performance problems before a system enters production. Operational testing is a field test of a system or item under realistic operational conditions with users who represent those expected to operate and maintain the system when it is fielded or deployed. Specific operational tests include limited user tests, initial operational tests, and customer tests. Before operational tests occur for major acquisition programs, DT&E completes an independent Assessment of Operational Test Readiness. Each Assessment of Operational Test Readiness considers the risks associated with the system’s ability to meet operational suitability and effectiveness goals. This assessment is based on capabilities demonstrated in developmental testing. The Defense or Component Acquisition Executive considers the results of the Assessment of Operational Test Readiness, among other inputs, in making decisions on a major acquisition program proceeding to operational testing. The Army has made steady improvements in the NIE process since its inception and the evaluations continue to give the Army useful information and helpful insights into current and emerging networking capabilities. However, some resulting Army decisions are at odds with knowledge produced during the NIEs. Most importantly, despite poor operational test results for a number of SUTs during the NIEs, the Army has sought approval to buy additional quantities and field several major networking systems. While many of the SUEs received favorable reviews, the Army lacked a strategy that addresses a number of procurement barriers—such as funding availability and requirements—when it began the NIE process, which precluded rapid procurement of successful SUEs. Additionally, as we reported previously, the Army has not yet tapped into the potential to use the NIE to gain insight into the effectiveness and performance of the overall tactical network. To date, the Army has conducted five NIEs, costing an average of $158 million to plan and execute. Through those five NIEs, the Army has operationally tested 19 SUTs and evaluated over 120 SUEs. NIEs have helped the Army in a number of ways. The NIEs allowed the Army to formulate a network architecture baseline that will serve as the foundation upon which the Army plans to add networking capabilities in the future; evaluate industry-developed systems that may help address Army- identified capability gaps in the future; integrate the new capability sets into operational units and to create new tactics, techniques, and procedures for using the new systems in operations; and provide soldiers with an opportunity to both provide input into the designs of networking systems and to integrate the systems before the Army fields them to operational brigades. According to Army officials, testing during each NIE generates a large volume of potentially useful information. There are detailed operational test and evaluation reports for each of the SUTs, user evaluations for each of the SUEs, an integrated network assessment of the current capability set, and general observations on the NIE event itself. The DOT&E has reported observations of the NIEs in its fiscal years 2011 and 2012 annual reports, including an overall assessment, operational scenarios and test design, threat information operations, and logistics. According to DOT&E, the intended NIE objective to test and evaluate network components together in a combined event is sound, as is the opportunity to reduce overall test and evaluation costs by combining test events. NIEs also offer the opportunity for a more comprehensive evaluation of a mission command network instead of piecemeal evaluation of individual network components. In addition, the DOT&E generally reported overall improvements in the execution of the NIEs, realistic and well-designed operational scenarios, and improvements in threat information operations. ATEC, in addition to preparing operational test reports for specific systems, also prepares an integrated network assessment after each NIE.