FORT JOHNSON, Louisiana—Sgt. Maj. Gary Lynn spotted U.S. soldiers playing his enemy and pulled out the most powerful piece of communication equipment he had: an Android phone bolted to his body armor. With a few taps, Lynn marked the enemy’s position in the WinTAK app, sending it instantly to a 101st Airborne command post camouflaged among tall pine trees in the Louisiana forest. This week saw the debut of WinTAK at the Joint Readiness Training Center here—and the first time it has been used in any of the Army’s four sophisticated combat-training centers, according to Alex Miller, a senior science and technical advisor to Army Chief of Staff Randy George.
Beyond plotting the positions of forces on a live map, WinTAK enables soldiers to create chat groups and pipe in communications from radios, among other functions. The map even allows command posts to track the speed and direction of units that are carrying a linked Android device, said Capt. Charles O’Hagan of the 101st Airborne’s second brigade. WinTAK allowed O’Hagan to project map data onto a strip of canvas in a busy command-post tent. The ability to set up a command post with nothing more than an Android phone, a projector, and a WiFi puck also cuts down on the clutter of a command post. The move also parallels Ukraine’s heavy use of Kropyiva, a similar Android-based command-and-control application.
The Defense Department sometimes struggles with acquiring functional technology, but Lynn said WinTAK had proven “not that hard” to use, even if, as O’Hagan said, soldiers might need to play around with applications to get comfortable with them. WinTAK is downloadable software based on ATAK, a Android-based battlefield management software originally developed by the Air Force. There’s also an open-source version for civilian use. The app will eventually be rolled out across the Army, although there is no rigid timeline, Miller said.
