All Systems Go recently interviewed Roger Krone, senior vice president, Army Systems, about the partnership Boeing has developed with its customer and how Army Systems plans to deliver products and services that will change the way the military manages its armed forces of the future.

ASG: This year Army Systems with its Lead Systems Integrator partner, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), were given the go ahead for the next phase of the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The contract is valued at nearly $15 billion. How did the changes that created Army Systems help achieve that milestone?

Krone: By working together across the Boeing enterprise, with great talents inside and outside of the company, Boeing created an innovative answer for our customer. We put together a program that integrates systems and gives the Army a capability they would not otherwise have. We are the only company that could bring together the people and resources to partner with the Army and help develop the Future Force.

Thanks to the diverse team, representing Boeing and our customer, there is a whole new vocabulary, creating new conversations. While FCS is at the center of many discussions, we also talk about leadership training, joint operations and the Future Force. It all ties together.

ASG: Army Systems was created as a “customer facing organization.” How has this structure changed the way you work with the customer?

Krone: We have clearly removed any confusion about how to contact the company and where the responsibility, accountability and authority are located. We have open lines of communications with senior civilian and military staff of the U.S. Army. When they have an issue they don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and give us call.

The Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki (now retired) gave the FCS industry team a two-word charge: “teamwork and trust.” The team we’ve built within Army Systems has built that kind of relationship with the Army.

ASG: How has organizing all Army programs under one roof benefited legacy and current programs such as Chinook, Apache and Comanche?

Krone: Tying our unique capabilities together enhances our existing products. Our rotorcraft, FCS and the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program teams have worked on making Comanche, Chinook and Apache tie into the wideband network that will connect the Future Force.

Comanche, which passed a critical design review this year, will have a key role complementing the Future Force. Apache Longbow upgrades, including the proposed Block III program, are enhanced by the interconnection of our programs. Apache with its digital capabilities is already demonstrating our network-centric capabilities. The Chinook demonstrated in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom that it can give intra-theater mobility where other systems simply cannot. By creating a plan to put JTRS on Chinook we can offer that capability to the future Army.

ASG: Has anything you’ve seen in Operation Iraqi Freedom reaffirmed or caused you to change your thinking about the direction of Army Systems?

Krone: Operation Iraqi Freedom showed the value of joint operations. It also demonstrated how high situational awareness could reduce the sensor-shooter cycle time. With high situational awareness you can also move to avoid contact with enemy forces at strategically or tactically unimportant locations. Then you can concentrate on choke points and other points of significance.

Clearly, in our view, Iraq validated the network-centric concept of warfare.

ASG: What’s the next big challenge for Army Systems?

Krone: We’ve had a terrific run of adding backlog to Army Systems. We’ve pioneered network-centric development and now we need to demonstrate to the Army that we can execute flawlessly on the programs we have won. Our ability to grow is as much dependent on the trust we build by meeting our commitments as it is on creating great new concepts. We will be able to leverage that success and take it into all the other aspects of Boeing and to all of our customers. I know our team is up to the task.