The Convergence - An Army Mad Scientist Podcast

• 111. Tactical Tech: How Smartphones are Countering Jamming in Ukraine with Dr. Sean Gorman

    “The hope is that we can begin to profile what the capabilities of the jammer are that we’re seeing out in the field with enough measurements from enough devices” [Editor’s Note:  In last week’s post, Sherman L. Barto posited a fictional intelligence (FICINT) scenario detailing China’s swift victory over Taiwan and the United States — achieved in part by the People’s Liberation Army’s use of “… jam-resistant swarms utiliz[ing] permissioned blockchain encryption and … onboard AI adjust[ing] Software Defined Radio (SDR) receivers in real time to ignore interference that does not transmit with proper encryption and authentication.  The loss of GNSS satellite navigation was assumed by PLA military planners and is replaced with a ship-based Long Range Navigation (LORAN) system providing the location of the three PLAN aircraft carriers to UAVs which is then paired with UAV computer vision trained on detailed maps of Taiwan to recognize where they are.  Each UAV transmits a location tag every second to each adjacent node in the swarm, enabling precision location within 20 meters.  The one pulse per second geolocation tags perform double duty as a network timing protocol, ensuring all PLA networks remain in synch despite the loss of GNSS timing.” A U.S. Army maneuver Brigade Combat Team (BCT) has over 2,500 pieces of equipment dependent on space-based assets for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) — precision strikes and the convergence of massed fires depend on accurate and resilient PNT data.  However, as we’ve seen in Russia’s on-going war in Ukraine, access to this PNT data is increasingly being disrupted or spoofed by Electronic Warfare (EW) jammers. Today’s The Convergence podcast welcomes Dr. Sean Gorman, CEO and co-founder of Zephr.xyz, to discuss how his company is “crowdsourcing [GPS] measurements across a bunch of phones to get a better version of reality by looking at more satellites and getting more measurements.”  Zephr is also harnessing this capability as a counter-EW jamming capability, turning everyone with a cellphone into a sensor to detect, identify, catalog, and locate these emitters.  These capabilities, conceptually proven in Ukraine, may soon be tested in Taiwan against our most capable adversary — the People’s Liberation Army — Enjoy!] Sean Gorman is the CEO and co-founder of Zephr.xyz, a developer of next-gen networked positioning technologies.  Gorman has a more than 20-year background as a researcher, entrepreneur, academic, and subject matter expert in the field of geospatial data science and its national security implications.  He is the former engineering manager for Snap’s Map team, former Chief Strategist for ESRI’s DC Development Center, founder of Pixel8earth, GeoIQ, and Timbr.io, and held other senior positions at Maxar and iXOL.  Gorman served as a subject matter expert for the Department of Homeland Security’s Critical Infrastructure Task Force and Homeland Security Advisory Council, and he’s be...

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• 110. Generative AI: The New Ammunition in the Data Arms Race with Ben Van Roo

    [Editor’s Note:  Today’s The Convergence podcast welcomes back Ben Van Roo, recent author of our Unlocking TRADOC’s Potential with GenAI: Opportunities and Challenges blog post, to continue our exploration of the transformative potential of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) — specifically its ability to democratize access across the U.S. Army to the vast reservoirs of Operational Environment information.  In ingesting all of the OE Data Integration Network’s (ODIN) content — including the Worldwide Equipment Guide (WEG), Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE) and accompanying Force Structures, the Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 7-100 series, and the Training Circular (TC) 7-100 series — Gen AI offers the potential to respond to conversational queries from individual Soldiers with the TRADOC G-2’s aggregated and authoritative OE knowledge.  Operationally, Gen AI could also help accelerate the OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act) loop, the intelligence cycle, and even kill chains — powerful stuff, indeed…. Read on!] Ben Van Roo is the Co-Founder and CEO of Yurts, a generative AI company partnering with the U.S. Department of Defense to advance mission-critical systems.  He holds a PhD in Operations Research and has significant experience developing AI solutions for defense and national security applications. In our latest episode of The Convergence podcast, Army Mad Scientist sits down with Ben Van Roo to discuss Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) models, how they can be  integrated into secure networks, and how TRADOC can use them to enhance Army training.  The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation. Classic AI models could provide rudimentary identification abilities, whereas Gen AI is a newer class of modelswith the capability to produce long form documents, generate and critique ideas, and create new images, video, and music. The technology enabling Gen AI is moving at a rapid pace.  As soon as a new model is available, competitors and adversaries will use that newer model to upgrade their own, fostering a rapid learning and adaptation cycle.  When thinking about the geopolitical implications and competition, there is a very tight timeline of advantagebetween open-source communities, proprietary model vendors, and the U.S. and other countries.  Where Gen AI is useful today is plugging into pre-existing systems andaugmenting the processes that already exist.  TRADOC’s mission of preparing the Warfighter in basic aspects of readiness, for different environments (e.g., Decisive Action Training Environment [DATE]), understanding our adversaries’ materiel capabilities in the Worldwide Equipment Guide, and much more is a perfect use case for employing the current state of Gen AI technology.  While DoD is experimenting with Gen AI in aspects such as computer vision or Course of Action development, it is more suited to bridge the gap between the technology vendors and the Warfighters. The Government lacks what a large venture-backed company with a sole focus on writing Gen AI software can provide.  For large organizations like the DoD, within the next 2 to 3 years, the fundamental focus will be on how to bring Gen AI into production— how it’s integrated, where it shouldn’t be, and how management, costs, and analytics will be conducted.  

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• 109. Ghosts in the Battlespace: The UAP Threat with the James Gang

  “We have craft that defy physics as we know it and are moving at speeds that are at least a hundred times faster than anything a human or robot… can produce on the planet.” [Editor’s Note:  Today’s The Convergence podcast welcomes back our very own James Gang — proclaimed Mad Scientists Dr. James Giordano and Dr. James Canton — discussing a topic featured prominently in recent news stories and Congressional testimony:  Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, or UAPs, now referred to by Drs. Giordano and Canton as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.   The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) issued a preliminary assessment to Congress several years ago.  This assessment documented the findings of the Department of Defense’s UAP Task Force (UAPTF) and the ODNI National Intelligence Manager for Aviation — focusing on reports that involved UAP largely witnessed firsthand by military aviators and collected from systems considered to be reliable.  These reports described incidents that occurred between 2004 and 2021 —  144 reports originated from U.S. Government sources.  Of these, 80 reports involved observation with multiple sensors.  This preliminary assessment states: “Most of the UAP reported probably do represent physical objects given that a majority of UAP were registered across multiple sensors, to include radar, infrared, electro-optical, weapon seekers, and visual observation.” UAPs represent a currently unknown aspect of the Operational Environment  — all the more troubling, given the possibility that they could be foreign adversarial systems, operating freely within U.S. territorial spaces.  Drs. Giordano and Canton dismiss the “woo” factor often associated with this topic, describe what we do know about UAPs, and lay out three recommendations to better understand these phenomena — Enjoy!] Proclaimed Mad Scientist Dr. James Giordano is Pellegrino Center Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Biochemistry; Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program; and Chair of the Subprogram in Military Medical Ethics at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC.  Dr. Giordano is a Bioethicist of the Defense Medical Ethics Center at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences; Distinguished Stockdale Fellow in Science, Technology, and Ethics at the United States Naval Academy; Senior Fellow in Biosecurity, Technology, and Ethics at the U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI; Senior Science Advisory Fellow of the Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA), Joint Staff / J-39, The Pentagon; Chair Emeritus of the Neuroethics Project of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Brain Initiative; and serves as Director of the Institute for Biodefense Research, a federally funded Washington, DC, think tank dedicated to addressing emerging issues at the intersection of science, technology and national defense. He previously served as Donovan Group Senior Fellow, U.S. Special Operations Command; member of the Neuroethics, Legal, and Social Issues Advisory Panel of the Defens...

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• 108. Soldier Dominance and Battlefield Primacy

  Soldier Dominance and Battlefield Primacy “What we’ve got to think about is, how do we make our Soldiers more effective, how do we maintain that battlefield primacy for our commanders, for our Soldiers, and for our units.” [Editor’s Note:  At the conclusion of Ian Sullivan‘s insightful blog post from almost four years ago, we were provided with a sage and cautionary admonition: “… I think it is important to ask ourselves which approach are we [the U.S. Army] following on our path to modernization?  Are we are trying to revolutionize our approach to warfare, or are we simply trying to modernize a force based on yesterday’s ideas?  Is our preferred way of war capable of standing up to our pacing threats’ transformations, or do we need to refine it? ... We must answer the question “Are we doing enough fast enough?” — but we also must inexorably link that answer to an even more fundamental question:  “Are we building the right force, with the right people to prevail over adversaries who have thought long and hard about how to defeat us?” In our latest episode of the Army Mad Scientist’s The Convergence podcast, we sat down with proclaimed Mad Scientist COL Scott Shaw, Director, Maneuver Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate (MCDID), to learn how the Army Futures Command’s presence at the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE), Fort Moore, Georgia, is accomplishing this challenge — helping transform the Army’s maneuver capabilities to ensure our war-winning future readiness — Read on!] [If the podcast dashboard above is not rendering correctly for you, please click here to listen to the podcast.] COL Scott Shaw, U.S. Army, is a graduate from the University of Arkansas in August 1996 and was commissioned as an Infantry officer.   Prior to his current assignment as the Director, MCDID, COL Shaw was Assistant Chief of Staff, G3, I Corps and Joint Base Lewis McChord.  COL Shaw also commanded the U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Group, Ft Meade, Maryland, from July 2019 to the unit’s deactivation in May 2021. COL Shaw has held two combat commands — as the Commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division deploying to Kabul, Afghanistan, and as Commander, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment deploying to Baghdad, Iraq.  He has had three additional combat tours in Iraq, plus another in Afghanistan, and has served abroad in the Sinai in Egypt, in Kuwait, and in Korea.  COL Shaw holds three Master’s degrees – Military History (With Honors) from Norwich University, Military Art and Science from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and Strategic Studies (Distinguished Graduate) from the Marine Corps War College. COL Shaw has also been a frequent guest of The Convergence podcast and is a proclaimed Mad Scientist. Army Mad Scientist sat down with COL Shaw to talk about the Maneuver CDID, how it supports Army innovation, and how you can contribute to its mission.  The following bullet points highlight the key takeaways from our conversation: A capabilities development and integration directorate (CDID) is the Army Futures Command’s lead for an Army force modernization proponent.  The Maneuver CDID (MCDID), specifically, determines and develops future force capabilities and future infant...

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• 107. Hybrid Intelligence: Sustaining Adversary Overmatch with Dr. Billy Barry, LTC Blair Wilcox, & TIM

  [Editor’s Note: Army Mad Scientist continues our series of blog posts and podcasts in the run up to our Game On! Wargaming & The Operational Environment Conference, co-hosted with the Georgetown University Wargaming Society, on 6-7 November 2024 — additional information on this event and the links to the conference agenda and registration site may be found at the end of this post (below). In today’s episode of The Convergence podcast, Army Mad Scientist welcomes back Dr. Billy Barry, who is joined by LTC Blair Wilcox from the Army War College (AWC) to discuss their recent case study using their “AI Study Buddy” — TIM — to pass an AWC class, explore how hybrid intelligence can augment human cognition, and address how AI could be used to amplify learning during Army wargames — Enjoy!] Dr. Billy Barry is a Professor of Emerging Technology and Principal Strategist of the Artificial Intelligence/Intelligence Augmentation (AI/IA) Program for the Center for Strategic Leadership at the United States Army War College. Before working at the Army War College, Dr. Barry was a visiting professor of Philosophy and Just War Theory at the United States Military Academy at West Point.  A pioneer in Human-AI/IA teams, he is the first to introduce AI-powered intelligent augmentation androids, robots, digital virtual beings, and strategic advisors as teaching and learning partners in civilian university and Professional Military Education classrooms. A sought-after TEDx and international keynote speaker, Dr. Barry’s influence extends to Fortune 500 companies and global leadership symposiums and conferences. His current research interest centers on non-invasive brain-computer interfaces, driving the conversation on ethical technology interactions. His contributions to academia and industry establish him as a leading authority on the future of human relationships with emerging technology.    Blair Wilcox is a lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army Strategist (FA59), and Assistant Professor currently assigned as the Deputy Director in the Strategic Landpower and Futures Group in the Center for Strategic Leadership at the U.S. Army War College. Before his current assignment, he taught in the Department of Social Sciences at the U.S. Military Academy from 2016-2020. His first functional assignment as a Strategist was at V Corps where he was the lead author for the Corps Subordinate Campaign Plan and Operational Approach. LTC Wilcox helped stand up the Corps, deployed with the Corps during crisis, and served as the Chief of Plans during his final year in the G5. Army Mad Scientist sat down with Dr. Barry and LTC Wilcox to discuss their fascinating use case of pairing with an artificial intelligence (AI) to pass an AWC course, how hybrid intelligence can amplify a Soldier’s cognitive abilities, and how AI is a wargaming game changer. The following bullet points highlight key takeaways from our conversation: Hybrid intelligence takes the concept of human/AI teaming to a whole new level, requiring both sides of the partnership to accomplish a task.One major benefit of hybrid intelligence is the ability for the machine to continuously learn through its interactions with humans, as opposed to static AI which has a pre-determined and finite base of knowledge.  The application of hybrid intelligence will be extremely useful to the Army and Joint Force at the strategic level – corps through theater. <...

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