MOBILE AUTOMATED FIELD INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEM TRADOC COMBINED ARMS TEST ACTIVITY (TCATA)

Abstract

In early 1978, as part of on-going organizational and resource assessments at Headquarters, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), one important factor evaluated was the most efficient and effective way to support current and future TRADOC sponsored user tests and how to maximize TRADOC support to the Operational Test and Evaluation Agency (OTEA) and joint testers within existing and anticipated resource limitations. It was concluded that existing test and evaluation instrumentation was: a. Not mobile which caused test scheduling conflicts at fixed test sites. b. Not adequate to support current and future Army user and joint test requirements for large scale realistic scenarios and c. Obsolete and becoming uneconomical to operate and maintain; particularly at the TRADOC Combined Arms Test Activity (TCATA). In May 1978, TCATA, in conjunction with the Combat Developments Experimentation Center (CDEC), was directed to develop TRADOC requirements and a concept for an instrumentation system that would meet the goals indicated in Figure 1. Some of the key goals indicated in this tasking are commonality and interoperability of test and training range instrumentation and the capability of instrumenting field exercises. The concept developed as a result of this directive is the Mobile Automated Field Instrumentation System (MAFIS) development program. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a MAFIS system overview and discuss the implementation of the various MAFIS subsystems and how the chosen implementation supports the goals identified by the TRADOC Commander.