The NIE and its uptmost importance to the Military

It is pretty understandable to state that with an ever changing battlefield the United States Military must constantly asses what needs to be done in order to support the solider in the field. Today this assessment is so imperative because of how advanced the military, and more importantly the world has become in terms of technology. In order for a military to have a successful logistical system it must be able to generate, transport, sustain, and redeploy necessary equipment, technology, and resources to its troops. By having the NIE in place this truly attacks the sustain pillar. As the committee evaluates the ever changing battlefield it is possible for them to create a response informing the military what they need to do in order to adequately support its troops. The Network Integration Evaluation or the NIE was put in place for this very reason.

The NIE meets semi annually to “inform the ways the army will field, train, sustain, and continuously improve capability acquisition and life cycle management” (Networking the Soldier). In history, the committee has meet four different times helping the military develop its tactical network capability in terms logistics and other aspects of warfare. The committee will test different systems (such as a weapon system, or vehicle, ect.) while using soldiers. From the soldiers feedback the committee then can manipulate the system to optimize it. The notable 10th Mountain Division recently received some of the output that the committee created in NIE 12.2 and 13.1.

Soon the organization will meet for NIE 13.2. One of the big questions that the committee is going to have to attack is the idea of cost. As we all know the Military is looking to cut back on its spending. What are the different ideas that the committee should take into account? Is there a certain point that cannot be crossed in terms of cuts when supplying out troops in theater? What are some optimal ways the committee could come up with in allocating technologies and resources to our deployed troops? The United States and its military is known for its ability to rise to the top in conflicts in the past couple centuries. The NIE is a valuable asset the United States as it continues to sustain and supply its troops with world class technology, gear, and resources.