LtGen Dennis A. Crall Shares a Winning CJADC2 Recipe for DoD Industry Partners
In a previous article on Government Technology Insider (GTI), we sat down with Marine LtGen Dennis A. Crall (Ret.) to discuss the different components of the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) initiative, and how analyzing and processing data from the modern battle space – at speed – is critical to maintaining warfighting advantages over U.S. adversaries.
In the second part of our conversation with LtGen Crall, we examined the progress the military has made in meeting the CJADC2 mission and explored the ideological and technical attributes that the DoD is seeking out in its CJADC2 industry partners.
GTI: What challenges have DoD agencies and organizations come up against as it pertains to fulfilling the CJADC2 mission?
LtGen Dennis A. Crall: I think the list of challenges is both definable and predictable. The DoD is a large organization, and there are supporting requirements that make the fulfillment and implementation of CJADC2 difficult even under the best circumstances. I place these friction points in three categories: culture, process, and enablers. 
From the cultural perspective, DoD has very few success stories apart from the Special Operations Forces (SOF) community when it comes to delivering Joint solutions. Services hold the dollars and rightly look at fulfilling unique service requirements, many of which are extremely specific. Joint requirements flow from a different process and arrive at the Service level normally without the detail needed for procurement, implementation, and integration. Add resistance in the form of “not built here,” and it is not surprising that progress is often thwarted due to strong headwinds.
“There’s an assumption that our warfighting networks are secure, robust, and survivable on the tactical edge to deliver information at speed. Unfortunately, we’re coming up short in all those categories.” – LtGen Crall
The budget and acquisition processes are also a challenge to onboarding technology rapidly given traditionally long lead times to establish resourcing (five years out) and highly involved selection protocol. There are many emerging examples of accelerating efforts, and this is good; however, many are “one-offs” and nearly all are small projects well below what I would call “enterprise-level” capabilities. Also, and perhaps most critically, more discipline and rigor are needed in enforcing decisions that are made. I have countless examples of high-level direction, not suggestions, that are simply ignored without consequence. We get what we allow.
Finally, there are many enablers to CJADC2 which must be in place for the capability to realize its potential. For example, there is a challenge around the capabilities of our networks as it pertains to delivering information at speed. There’s an assumption that our warfighting networks are secure, robust, and survivable on the tactical edge to deliver information at speed. Unfortunately, we’re coming up short in all those categories. There are key dependencies that need to be settled right now so that when we fulfill portions of CJADC2, the other offerings are mature, ready, and functional.
Metaphorically, we’re building a race car with CJADC2, but it must have a track to race on. We don’t want to develop the different facets of CJADC2 in sequential or serial order. We want the racetrack to be ready when the car is ready, to ensure that these different CJADC2 components can deploy at the same time.
Additionally, there is significant work that needs to be done on data availability and sharing. There are many data holders within the DoD who are uncomfortable with sharing the data they have. We also have a challenge making sure that data can move in different areas at the right time through our cross-domain solutions.
“Industry has arrived prepared, but the DoD has been slow in adopting and implementing these solutions.” – LtGen Crall
These challenges boil down to the movement of data, the networks that data rides on, the permissions on the distant end, as well as what to – and what not to – share with our mission partners. I am increasingly concerned that we have not developed our mission partner environment infrastructure in a useful way.
If these enabling challenges aren’t resolved soon, I believe that CJADC2 will arrive on scene as a potent fighter ready to go, while the supporting cast renders it moot. This is an area where we cannot accept mission failure.
GTI: What role do industry partners play in realizing the CJADC2 mission? Given the challenges you described, what are the ingredients of a winning CJADC2 recipe of which industry should take note?
LtGen Dennis A. Crall: Industry has long been ready to provide true endpoint management, executable cross-domain solutions, and zero trust at scale for the Department of Defense. Industry has arrived prepared, but the DoD has been slow in adopting and implementing these solutions.
There are already rules governing data integrity, storage, transference, availability, processing, and protecting certain private information from the calculated information that we need. We must learn by doing and we must have the same amount of courage and will to stop doing unwanted things as we do starting them. We are able to test on a small scale and in a closed, safe environment. We have the talent to implement rapidly and safely, yet we often proceed with so much caution that very little improvement is realized. Risk is to be managed, not avoided completely. Our industry partners have long been ready and are rightly frustrated with our timid approaches. We have talked enough. It’s time to deliver.
“Companies that can genuinely improve the CJADC2 initiative will prioritize intuitive and measurable performance products that deliver real, beneficial outcomes.” – LtGen Crall
A key to unsticking our efforts is to understand the difference between “big S” and “little s” as it pertains to standardization. Standardization with a “big S” equates to reduced freedom of choice. It’s oppressive in our systems when implemented. This limits capabilities, as it’s too restrictive, too intrusive, and usually too expensive. I believe industry is waiting for the DoD to provide some level of standardization with a “small s.” This is a difficult concept for some, but industry partners are ready to move out on it. The “small s” gives just enough guidance so that developers know what they need to stay within left and right lateral limits, but at the same time it brings out the richness of the products that they offer. Striking that balance is a DoD responsibility, and it’s been a challenge for us to get on the same page to agree to that.
GTI: What should the DoD be looking for in the industry partners it selects to assist with the CJADC2 initiative?
LtGen Dennis A. Crall: The DoD needs to be looking at specific criteria as it pertains to selecting CJADC2 industry partners. Companies that understand the mission and build to that purpose will be highly valued. Old ways of selling what is on the shelf, uncaring attitudes toward interoperability, failure to future-proof, etc. will not find favor. It all starts with the mission threads the Services are developing to fight and win in the environment captured in the Joint Warfighting Concepts. Offerings must be flexible, non-proprietary, and functional at the tactical edge.
Industry partners that “get it” will ensure that data can be shared and assimilated with ease. They will anticipate cross-domain solutions and expertly apply AI in facets of the delivered solution. They’ll be able to take the data and put it in a graphic user interface that a consumer can use, not something that is created by an engineering team that will never perform the warfighting mission. Companies that can genuinely improve the CJADC2 initiative will prioritize intuitive and measurable performance products that deliver real, beneficial outcomes.
Time has been somewhat kind in the sense that the clock has not yet run out. The warfighting need has never been clearer. CJADC2 is needed to win our current and future fights. I hope we are given the time to develop and learn in peacetime. Of course, the enemy always gets a vote and time appears to be a shrinking commodity.
