by Avantha Arachchi, CERDEC Public Affairs and Outreach
Foreign liaison officers (FLOs) assigned to the Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) may not all have the same native language, but they do share a common mission to communicate and coordinate toward the same goal: the furthering of each military's technology.
To do this, the FLOs from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and Israel interact with CERDEC researchers to discuss technological challenges. If their country has encountered this problem, the FLO can encourage an information exchange, "I think, in a great measure, we're here to listen and see what the developments are," said Lt. Col. Raymond Charlebois, the Canadian FLO.
The other function of the office is to pique interest in technologies that the respective country is trying to develop. In his case, Charlebois describes this as "represent[ing] the needs of the Canadian Army to the U.S. Army communications community here." If there is an interest on either side, the FLO will attempt to set up an agreement between the two nations.
One type of agreement is the data exchange agreement, which is basically a simple information exchange that allows for money and time to be saved. One instance of this is the exchange of information concerning command and control (C2) systems with Israel.
Israeli soldiers were interviewed about their experience with the new C2 system in Israel. The U.S. was able to receive this information without wasting the money or time to produce the trials themselves. "They can approach the same problem from a different perspective, and then we won't have to try it that way because they have," said Michelle Wallner, the CERDEC international point of contact who aids the FLOs.
Project agreements, however, are more about cooperation. Experts are brought together from the different countries to work on developing new technology. Col. Thierry Belloeil, the French FLO, believes that this is what the foreign liaison office was created for, stating that project agreements are "not just people at desks talking; it's working together."
Preparing for these meetings is a majority of the FLO's work, along with writing up the proper documents and reports. The physical labor of an FLO is tied to building the groundwork for the military personnel of each nation to work together.
Like Wallner, each FLO emphasized the importance of the program, noting that there is a good chance many of these opportunities to work together would otherwise be missed and that there would also be a loss in efficiency.
"I can imagine if an American officer calls my office in Germany," said Horst Behner, CERDEC FLO from Germany. "This guy in Germany, he might be completely lost. He'd say, 'An American called me today and asked me some questions, what shall I answer?' That's completely out of their world. But if a German officer from CERDEC calls the office, they can talk to them about the situation. They are not afraid of talking to me."
In that way, the FLO must also act as a point of contact, being able to build relationships on both sides of the pond. "The most basic thing is to be able to create relevant connections," said Lt. Col. Guy Chernobov, the FLO from Israel. "[The other] main thing that I have to do is to market [Israel]. I have to prove that we have something to contribute in these areas."
Chernobov goes on to say that "people aren't looking for extra jobs or extra missions, so if you're going to get cooperation from them, they have to be convinced that it has some value to them."
Behner describes the ultimate goal as "the understanding between both countries' governments and forces. Getting all of the information together and maintaining it encourages joint operations." The Australian FLO, Lt. Col. Simon McDonald, describes it in a similar way, saying that "it is keeping the Australian capabilities and the U.S. capabilities focused on interoperability."
On an international scale, interoperability allows countries to work together in theater. Wallner said, "If you're going to be in military operation with someone [from a different country], you would like them to speak to each other, send messages to each other. It's not something that happens automatically."
"We're not fighting alone," said Belloeil, "When we are fighting, we are fighting together. And we need to do what we are going to do, but together. We need to be able, for example, to share situation[al] awareness: what we know about the battlefield. If some country has some information about what's on the battlefield—good guys, bad guys, neutral—we should be able to exchange this information with another nation that is sharing this battlefield. We'll go after the right guy."
For CERDEC, interoperability is also the desired outcome, said Wallner. "If we do come to an agreement on a project on the interoperability of certain radios and it works, then we have a tool that we can use in a real life situation," she said. "We might even get a better product: a better radio, a better antenna."
Because of this interoperability, the warfighter would benefit as well, said McDonald, since it allows American and foreign soldiers to work together in theater. Chernobov agreed, saying that procedures and information will be "faster and more reliable. [There are] less mistakes, less friendly fire, less fratricide: all of which are benefits for the warfighter."
These benefits will allow the future warfighter to obtain information and react more effectively. In fact, Behner believes that these efforts "are supporting soldiers within the next five to 20 years."
Ultimately, it is our allies against our enemies on the battlefield. Our FLOs are still communicating and coordinating, and they are still equipping our team—our army and theirs—with all available resources to reach success.
