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Defence Science and Technology Organisation

Supporting the current and future force

Not so much storming, but supporting, the Bastille... David McIlroy has served as Air Force Scientific Adviser (AFSA) for over two years. He reflects on what he describes as a rewarding role as he nears the end of his tenure.

January 2003, and three Scientific Advisers (SAs) recently appointed in the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) attend a briefing at Strategic Operations Division, given by then AIRCDRE Geoff Shepherd on the emergent planning for OP BASTILLE. A matter of weeks into the job and it's obvious that the life of an SA will be interesting, busy and challenging.

Subsequent to that briefing and with allied direction from the Chief Defence Scientist, the fledgling Navy, Army and Air Force SAs sought input from Force Element Group Commanders regarding possible DSTO Science and Technology (S&T) support to BASTILLE. In the ensuing weeks DSTO set up a dedicated structure for oversight of all Service-led requests for operational S&T support, based upon the model adopted for East Timor operations.

Back to basics

DSTO exists to support Defence through the research and application of science and technology in support of the current, evolving and future force and with application across most of the fundamental inputs to capability. The S&T support that DSTO provides is conducted from internally prioritised and funded long-range research, however by far the major portion of work is for client-sponsored programs (Force Research Areas) where the research priorities are driven by Defence customers and principal alignment is with the Defence Output Executives.

With its introduction of the Capability Development and Acquisition Program DSTO support to the Capability Development Group and to the Defence Materiel Organisation is currently evolving; until recently support to these areas was embedded within existing FRA tasking. Through the Capability Development and Acquisition Plan, DSTO aims to service its mandated responsibilities to major projects, up to second pass, in the areas of S&T support, FRA development and certification, risk mitigation, tender evaluation participation, and related planning, governance and reporting.

Scientific Advisers

DSTO employs a number of scientific advisers and staff to conduct the main liaison between DSTO and its Defence customers. The Air Force Scientific Adviser (AFSA) is one of three single-Service oriented advisers, with remit however to include some oversight of rotary-wing airworthiness issues for Navy and Army. In this latter respect the AFSA role reflects the responsibility vested in the Chief of Air Force for tri-Service technical and operational airworthiness capability management.

Major roles and responsibilities

The Office of the Air Force Scientific Adviser exists to provide the main point of contact between the Air Force and DSTO for enquiries concerning Air Force S&T requirements and resultant DSTO support to Air Force.

The major roles and responsibilities of AFSA include:

  • promoting an appreciation of DSTO's capabilities in support of Air Force;
  • promoting an appreciation within DSTO of Air Force S&T requirements;
  • advising DSTO on Air Force policy and operational procedures to help ensure that DSTO work is relevant in an operational context;
  • advice on DSTO capabilities to the Air Force Capability Committee and the CAF Advisory Committee;
  • driving the categorisation and prioritisation of Air Force S&T requirements and collating these into the annual Master Question List (MQL) endorsed by DCAF;
  • contributing to the development of the Air Force Research Area program plan and scrutinising its component tasks for alignment with MQL requirements. Shaping the agenda for the Aerospace Science Research and Development Committee and its Program Sub-Committee; and
  • monitoring and assisting with the development of DSTO tasks sponsored by Air Force. Assisting DSTO Science Policy Division with improving planning and task management processes.
Photograph, caption follows

Outgoing Air Force scientific adviser David McIlroy.

What it really means

The list of responsibilities does not provide much insight into the satisfaction derived from being AFSA. A key satisfaction to the position is through facilitating the interaction between Air Force and DSTO in both directions, thereby increasing mutual understanding and Defence outputs.

Seats on the relevant Air Force committees provide regular awareness of that Service's capability priorities, constraints, successes and drivers. Those seats exist by dint of the S&T advice AFSA is expected to provide, or by the exercising of secretariat duties.

In terms of Air Force relationships, the rewarding aspects are in the breadth and relative insight given into holistic Air Force business, its people, hardware capabilities, training, and above all its values-based leadership culture as actively promoted and displayed by Air Force's senior leaders. In this latter respect a major satisfaction derives from the privilege of being a member of the Air Force Senior Leadership Team.

A key role of the AFSA Office is brokering between Air Force and DSTO communities, either for new tasks being raised by DSTO, or in monitoring the performance of existing tasks. We work closely with DSTO counterparts in each of the component Force Research Area (FRA) programs, with the Scientific Adviser role concentrating more on emerging program issues, along with the important advisory and on-call functions to Air Force. DSTO employs Staff Officers (Science) at component headquarters, to provide localised liaison and I regard the two Staff Officers (Science) as my local deputies. In the Air FRA we have David Craven at Williamtown, for both Air Combat Group and the Surveillance & Response Group. At Amberley we have Tony Matthews for the Combat Support Group.

There is an inherent danger in the Scientific Advisor (SA) positions of performing a scrutineering role, without reflecting on the true value of DSTO generated in the three Laboratory engine-rooms. In other words the SA earns his or her worth by virtue of advice, liaison and brokering - in themselves meaningless entities without the S&T product. A successful SA must achieve a certain threshold of knowledge of various DSTO Divisions and aims, together with an ability to relate these activities to Defence capability drivers and needs.

DSTO's Force Research Area

In the April edition of Defence SA-Joint provided some detail on the component areas of DSTO's Joint, Strategy, Intelligence and Civilian Counter-Terrorism Force Research Areas (FRA). The Air FRA was reorganised in recent years to align better with Air Force, Force Element Group structure, with major current-force support, major acquisition projects and with some underpinning technologies. Financial Year 05/06 and beyond sees a further evolved structure, in response to, and refinement of Air Force client input.

The force research area capabilities (FRACs) that comprise the Air FRA are, from July 05, as follows: Air Combat Operations, Surveillance and Response Operations, Airlift and Combat Support of Air Operations, Platform Life Management, Air Platform Survivability, Air Weapons, Human-Centred Air Capability, New Air Combat Capability, Airborne Early Warning and Control Capability, and Air 7000.

Parallels and Lasting Impressions

Approaching the end of my tenure as AFSA, a consistent theme has been the similar challenges (opportunities) facing both DSTO and the broader Defence organisation.

DSTO seeks to maximise delivery of service from its Information, Platforms and Systems Sciences Laboratories into its Maritime, Land, Air, Intelligence, Strategy, Joint and Counter-Terrorism programs. DSTO's challenges parallel those of Defence in specifying, developing, delivering and operating truly joint military capabilities. The newest component of DSTO's support programs to Defence is the emerging Capability Development and Acquisition Program; this will see some changes in DSTO support to the single-Service major projects under the Chief of Capability Development Group and the Chief Executive Officer Defence Materiel Organisation diarchy. AFSA's role involves relaying DSTO's Capability Development and Acqusition Program intent to Air Force and in reflecting ongoing Air Force senior officer feedback to DSTO executive management.

Perhaps the strongest parallels lie in resource-constraints and seeking greater efficiencies and payoffs in our respective business processes. I use the term 'business' deliberately, for although we are a research organisation, the Chief Defence Scientist and other senior DSTO managers are steadfast with respect to DSTO's responsibilities for delivering product to Defence clients.

Steadily decreasing non-salary budgets are inevitable in a climate of ostensibly zero-growth DSTO allocation from the Defence portfolio, allied to rising staffing and physical infrastructure costs. This budgetary profile parallels the sustained pressure on the Defence Capability Plan.

In common we face the very real, if sometimes intangible, challenges of addressing what network-enabled capability really means, how to achieve it and, in our case, how to provide tailored science and technology support.

David McIlroy is the outgoing Air Force Scientific Adviser.

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