This Week's Inside the Army

From this week's edition of Inside the Army:

1. Two-way street: As U.S. Army trainers in Ukraine consider expanding their mission, they are learning almost as much as they are teaching, officials say. The fight against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine spotlights once again a military pet peeve that has needed fixing for many years: multinational communications interoperability.

Full story: http://bit.ly/1MDqM86

2. Shopping list: Army leaders early this year finalized a shopping list, of sorts, for all things cyber. The first-ever "Materiel Development Strategy" for the virtual domain is classified, so details aren't public. Still, one official talked up the document as something of a guide for future investments.

Full story: http://bit.ly/1KgKBlv

3. Needle in Haystack: Speaking of cyber, leaders of the National Commission on the Future of the Army have flagged the service's inability to know exactly what sorts of cyber expertise they have in the reserves. Reserve advocates like to note how many specialists in their component work at Microsoft and IBM and the likes in their civilian lives. But at the moment, there appears to be no way of knowing for sure.

Full story: http://bit.ly/1Mg0FWV

4. Change of heart: Officials began circulating a recent letter by Lt. Gen. McMaster about how the Manpack radio is urgently needed and making strides toward improvements. Such talk likely will be music to the ears of manufacturer General Dynamics Mission Systems and its friends within the service, as McMaster last year blasted the system for falling short on many accounts.

Full story: http://bit.ly/1JbWDOf