Revolutionizing the United States Army's Chemical Defense through the Acquisition of Software and Software-Intensive Systems

摘要

This thesis presents an analysis of how the United States Army can revolutionize the passage of critical chemical defense information on the battlefield. The current process for passage of this critical information is heavily dependent on short-range and stand-alone chemical detection systems, transmitted over secure radio vertically throughout the chain of command. These factors result in inaccurate, time-lagged information reaching command decision- makers, increasing the risk of contaminating additional soldiers and equipment. Through the insertion of new products, with integrated software to automate the passage of this hazard information, the Army is changing this process for the flow of chemical contamination information. The resulting new process is expected to increase battlefield awareness thereby decreasing the probability of spreading the contamination across the battlefield, maintaining the ability for soldiers to accomplish their missions. Analyzing this change using Davenport's model for large-scale innovation, the revised chemical process still requires additional equipment and cultural changes to maximize the effectiveness of the Army XXI soldier.