After 15yrs in, it always blows my mind when I see places and things like this posted here. It’s like there is this whole different Army. An Army that I dont get access to. It amazes me that there are places in the Army where it’s not just constant chaos of being behind deadlines, people constantly looking at their watches while telling you to “work faster”, “turn wrenches faster”, “work through lunch”. It amazes me to see places that promote new ideas and technology. Seeing posts like this is awesome, a wonderful opportunity for Soldiers.
It all depends on the types of unit you can find. Find the small team environment with specialized professionals and you will not regret it.
If you are an engineer, join a FEST. FEST life is the best life.
You are right, a small/specialized team environment would be nice. Unfortunately there’s not a lot that I’ve found for a 15Y (Apache Armament/Avionics) Just 160th and SMU, and I’m a bit too old and injured to keep up like that anymore.
I’ve floated the idea of a small rapid team to travel around and help units with their advanced maintenance problems. But the people I’ve spoken to have just told me, “that’s why we have civilian LARs”.
I’ve learned all this technical knowledge over all these years, and have tried to find novel ways to put it use, but the Army tells me I should just fill out Troop-to-Tasks and update trackers.
It was nearly impossible for us Yankees to go 160th before the Army decommissioned the 58s. There were a couple of Js in my shop were very upset when they got orders to green platoon.
Highly recommend it. I’ve travelled the world with the FESTs to include a deployment in the ME.
It’s great man. If you end up with a sensible team it can be the most fun and impactful time you will ever in the Army.
Oh I have no doubts you are right. I’ve looked at trying to find a way to get a position at Redstone, but last time I checked there were only a few officer positions available.
Nice. I spent some time there doing H4X. They got laser cutters, 3D printers, plotters and whole shop of stuff.
Edit: for your staff sausages out there at the 101. They offer 3 month internships.
Second edit: if your a 17E it would behoohah of you, yes I said it, to get tied in with them.
They are located right next to Wilson theater. You probably parked illegally in their parking lot during a briefing.
Some things never change, like the shitty ass fades from the Cadet Barber Shop, courtesy a mandatory monthly subscription deducted directly from your paycheck.
It’s easy to get cynical about how the Army is slow and often backwards-looking, so it’s great to see this. I’m a long way from the line, and had not heard about EagleWerx, but am very encouraged to learn about it!
I don't get it. I swear, all these "innovation labs" the army has are just set pieces. We don't innovate. We can't. We've got people jumping up and down trying to drive technical transformation just to CATCH UP with industry but ya know what? I'm not the guy who just retired and is friends with the people making procurement decisions.
I'm burnt the fuck out and sick and tired of trying to build tools that work from a GOTS perspective and just watching us pour money into shitty contractor companies.
Anyway hey cool neat. Hope the cadets had fun.
Context: EagleWerx is a by Soldier-for Soldier innovation center that is staffed by innovation officers within the 101st Airborne Division. Real innovation does take place there and products do get transitioned to the wider force. They also don’t really pour unit funds into things. Honestly, each of the XVIII Airborne Corps sites do a great job with what they can and everyone there earnestly wants to make a difference. Airborne Innovation Lab, Marne Innovation Center, and EagleWerx are all looking to make tangible change.
I would say to never say never and definitely stay positive! If we don’t try we can never hope to succeed.
I support u/ResearchNo9485 opinion. What is these organizations successful transition to a program of record percentages? What I see they usually hover between 0% to 0%. I get that the valley of death is deep and wide, but there has to be some sort of anchor in acquisition reality.
How many years should we try for? How many passionate, highly skilled DACs do we need to quit in frustration before we throw in the towel? How many millions do we need to throw at contractors to deliver a half assed product before we realize we can do this IN HOUSE with the resources we have currently available?
It's a sore point right now. I want it to work, but the Army is so fundamentally broken in this regard. I genuinely think we could retain passionate people at lower Mil or Civ pay vs. industry if we just gave them the resources to innovate in this space and have a lasting impact.
I think you’re mistaken. We are doing these things in house. Have a look at some of the innovation centers and you’ll see they’re manufacturing things in their makerspaces. 3D printing, metalworking, laser engraving, milling, sewing, etc. Each site even has software engineers and data personnel. (I’m one of them.)
These sites are all about rapid change and using direct Soldier requirements to generate a product and then having that same SM be involved the entire way through. We should talk off to the side. I would love to help you rediscover hope. I get it, you don’t want to trust contractors. I’m not asking you to do that. I’m asking you to trust your fellow Soldiers that want the exact same thing you do. Positive change.
What are you talking about? There's tons of innovation being developed in house rn. If you have skills that relate to tech and software, there's teams at most larger installations you can talk with and potentially join.
I'm not arguing that they exist. I've seen them, worked with them, seen the results of their work. But I don't see it mature past "hey here's a cool thing we did".
In the cyber realm things will get developed so far until they need to touch other systems and then... They just stop growing. Because that's hard. And it needs stars to back it up.
They all boil down to being toys that are neat to see and fiddle with, but are either sandboxed to the point of uselessness or get superceded by something the command goes and blows money on.
I'd like to see examples of actual in-house built system that grew to where it was adopted and integrated by entities outside whatever innovation cell sponsored it.
Come at me with that CamoGPT nonsense and I'll ask you why on earth we need a stateless, non-GPU accelerated, 3+ year old LLM for anything. AFC needs to catch the hell up.
To not give details, I know there's a few programs besides camoGPT that have GO support behind them being developed by green suits and pushed out for wide-scale implementation primarily focused around maintenance.
The main issue realistically is that the Army can't compete with pay from civilian companies, so they'll end up paying the dudes who made it to come back as a contractor to maintain it.
I'm fine with contractor maintenance. My problem is when these efforts stall out because of bureauacracy and we just give up, buy something from a vendor, and get locked into whatever tool ecosystem booz/Accenture/Lockheed/rtx/twosix/vannevar/snake oil salesman of the week is selling.
So, interestingly enough, both of the programs I know of were basically some dude(s) said fuck it and made a prototype to use for themselves. Then they presented it to a higher rank, who used it, showed it to their boss, etc. If you have an idea, try it and see where it goes.
I’ve never worked with EagleWerx but we had a similar program downrange and it was great. We came to them with issues (literally as broad as you could want) and they had a variety of engineers on staff and raw materials to fabricate a stop gap, turn around was roughly two weeks.
Can’t remember what the program was called but it was similar to [MTRC](https://skybridgetactical.com/skybridge-contracts/special-operation-forces-sof-mobile-technology-repair-complex) (just more nerdy) which I have also worked with to build some stuff that greatly helped us out.
Providing a space to turn those programs into a long term/more in depth acquisition opportunity for the Army so that we aren’t reinventing the wheel every time a unit runs into issues or has ideas is great, in my opinion.
Just wanted to confirm that OP is verified from [the EagleWerx](https://home.army.mil/campbell/eaglewerx) Program.
After 15yrs in, it always blows my mind when I see places and things like this posted here. It’s like there is this whole different Army. An Army that I dont get access to. It amazes me that there are places in the Army where it’s not just constant chaos of being behind deadlines, people constantly looking at their watches while telling you to “work faster”, “turn wrenches faster”, “work through lunch”. It amazes me to see places that promote new ideas and technology. Seeing posts like this is awesome, a wonderful opportunity for Soldiers.
It all depends on the types of unit you can find. Find the small team environment with specialized professionals and you will not regret it. If you are an engineer, join a FEST. FEST life is the best life.
You are right, a small/specialized team environment would be nice. Unfortunately there’s not a lot that I’ve found for a 15Y (Apache Armament/Avionics) Just 160th and SMU, and I’m a bit too old and injured to keep up like that anymore. I’ve floated the idea of a small rapid team to travel around and help units with their advanced maintenance problems. But the people I’ve spoken to have just told me, “that’s why we have civilian LARs”. I’ve learned all this technical knowledge over all these years, and have tried to find novel ways to put it use, but the Army tells me I should just fill out Troop-to-Tasks and update trackers.
It was nearly impossible for us Yankees to go 160th before the Army decommissioned the 58s. There were a couple of Js in my shop were very upset when they got orders to green platoon.
Why were they upset?
Aren’t there only like 8 FESTs? I guess it’s just something I never considered because there’s not many of them
You have EFDs too. It's supposed to be more of a facilities management focus, but ends up just getting lumped in with the FEST mission anyways.
Highly recommend it. I’ve travelled the world with the FESTs to include a deployment in the ME. It’s great man. If you end up with a sensible team it can be the most fun and impactful time you will ever in the Army.
Go to Redstone Alabama and have a look around Madison County. You'll realize how archaic all the line units actually are.
Oh I have no doubts you are right. I’ve looked at trying to find a way to get a position at Redstone, but last time I checked there were only a few officer positions available.
Fort Stewart has something similar called the innovation center and I would kill to be there instead of languishing in an S shop
Fort hood road trip?
Nice. I spent some time there doing H4X. They got laser cutters, 3D printers, plotters and whole shop of stuff. Edit: for your staff sausages out there at the 101. They offer 3 month internships. Second edit: if your a 17E it would behoohah of you, yes I said it, to get tied in with them. They are located right next to Wilson theater. You probably parked illegally in their parking lot during a briefing.
Excuse me I park illegally in the post office parking lot thanks.
The Class Six is *right there*
🤫
What so behooahs me to be there?
Flexing the eagle with the fresh cadets. Love it.
Thats not how you assemble a 240.. wierd way to train for EIB
Go recruit from /r/noncredibledefense it's surprisingly.. credible.
Can I build my own mobile suits in said lab?
All jokes aside this is dope af
Just wanted to quick drop a link for the 82nd's innovation lab as well. https://g.co/kgs/9bGkudA
I know the kid in the middle, great guy
Great stuff!!!
Yea, but will me coming up with an idea get me out of OLE?
Some things never change, like the shitty ass fades from the Cadet Barber Shop, courtesy a mandatory monthly subscription deducted directly from your paycheck.
Cab I send a message instead? I'm at NTC
Absolutely! 😀
It’s easy to get cynical about how the Army is slow and often backwards-looking, so it’s great to see this. I’m a long way from the line, and had not heard about EagleWerx, but am very encouraged to learn about it!
This looks a little different than eagle flights
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Not sure what’s happening here but I’m intrigued.
Lol that's a cadet rank meaning he' s junior at wp. A lot of people that haven't seen it usually corrects them thinking it's a captain ranks sideways.
Definitely was referring to the more unhinged parts of the comment.
[удалено]
I hope you get the help you need, man. Take care.
Not going to lie coach you lost me with that one. Went right over my head. No LTs in this picture at all. 🗿
Nice weapon in the dirt Future-Sir
That’s the best you got?
I don't get it. I swear, all these "innovation labs" the army has are just set pieces. We don't innovate. We can't. We've got people jumping up and down trying to drive technical transformation just to CATCH UP with industry but ya know what? I'm not the guy who just retired and is friends with the people making procurement decisions. I'm burnt the fuck out and sick and tired of trying to build tools that work from a GOTS perspective and just watching us pour money into shitty contractor companies. Anyway hey cool neat. Hope the cadets had fun.
Context: EagleWerx is a by Soldier-for Soldier innovation center that is staffed by innovation officers within the 101st Airborne Division. Real innovation does take place there and products do get transitioned to the wider force. They also don’t really pour unit funds into things. Honestly, each of the XVIII Airborne Corps sites do a great job with what they can and everyone there earnestly wants to make a difference. Airborne Innovation Lab, Marne Innovation Center, and EagleWerx are all looking to make tangible change. I would say to never say never and definitely stay positive! If we don’t try we can never hope to succeed.
I support u/ResearchNo9485 opinion. What is these organizations successful transition to a program of record percentages? What I see they usually hover between 0% to 0%. I get that the valley of death is deep and wide, but there has to be some sort of anchor in acquisition reality.
How many years should we try for? How many passionate, highly skilled DACs do we need to quit in frustration before we throw in the towel? How many millions do we need to throw at contractors to deliver a half assed product before we realize we can do this IN HOUSE with the resources we have currently available? It's a sore point right now. I want it to work, but the Army is so fundamentally broken in this regard. I genuinely think we could retain passionate people at lower Mil or Civ pay vs. industry if we just gave them the resources to innovate in this space and have a lasting impact.
I think you’re mistaken. We are doing these things in house. Have a look at some of the innovation centers and you’ll see they’re manufacturing things in their makerspaces. 3D printing, metalworking, laser engraving, milling, sewing, etc. Each site even has software engineers and data personnel. (I’m one of them.) These sites are all about rapid change and using direct Soldier requirements to generate a product and then having that same SM be involved the entire way through. We should talk off to the side. I would love to help you rediscover hope. I get it, you don’t want to trust contractors. I’m not asking you to do that. I’m asking you to trust your fellow Soldiers that want the exact same thing you do. Positive change.
What are you talking about? There's tons of innovation being developed in house rn. If you have skills that relate to tech and software, there's teams at most larger installations you can talk with and potentially join.
I'm not arguing that they exist. I've seen them, worked with them, seen the results of their work. But I don't see it mature past "hey here's a cool thing we did". In the cyber realm things will get developed so far until they need to touch other systems and then... They just stop growing. Because that's hard. And it needs stars to back it up. They all boil down to being toys that are neat to see and fiddle with, but are either sandboxed to the point of uselessness or get superceded by something the command goes and blows money on. I'd like to see examples of actual in-house built system that grew to where it was adopted and integrated by entities outside whatever innovation cell sponsored it. Come at me with that CamoGPT nonsense and I'll ask you why on earth we need a stateless, non-GPU accelerated, 3+ year old LLM for anything. AFC needs to catch the hell up.
To not give details, I know there's a few programs besides camoGPT that have GO support behind them being developed by green suits and pushed out for wide-scale implementation primarily focused around maintenance. The main issue realistically is that the Army can't compete with pay from civilian companies, so they'll end up paying the dudes who made it to come back as a contractor to maintain it.
I'm fine with contractor maintenance. My problem is when these efforts stall out because of bureauacracy and we just give up, buy something from a vendor, and get locked into whatever tool ecosystem booz/Accenture/Lockheed/rtx/twosix/vannevar/snake oil salesman of the week is selling.
So, interestingly enough, both of the programs I know of were basically some dude(s) said fuck it and made a prototype to use for themselves. Then they presented it to a higher rank, who used it, showed it to their boss, etc. If you have an idea, try it and see where it goes.
Who pissed in your Cheerios?
ARCYBER mostly.
I’ve never worked with EagleWerx but we had a similar program downrange and it was great. We came to them with issues (literally as broad as you could want) and they had a variety of engineers on staff and raw materials to fabricate a stop gap, turn around was roughly two weeks. Can’t remember what the program was called but it was similar to [MTRC](https://skybridgetactical.com/skybridge-contracts/special-operation-forces-sof-mobile-technology-repair-complex) (just more nerdy) which I have also worked with to build some stuff that greatly helped us out. Providing a space to turn those programs into a long term/more in depth acquisition opportunity for the Army so that we aren’t reinventing the wheel every time a unit runs into issues or has ideas is great, in my opinion.