The U.S. Army has tested secure wireless equipment designed to help soldiers reduce the time it takes to setup and disassemble a tactical operations center.

The service branch said Thursday the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division trained with the Secure Wireless package at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California.

Soldiers used the wireless equipment to deliver untethered network connections to the brigade main command post in an effort to support wireless voice, video and data exchange as well as wireless mission command on systems.

“When facing a near peer threat in a complex environment, it is imperative that our operations centers become more mobile with ability to move quickly, and that we have the ability to rapidly collaborate in planning to defeat a near peer adversary,” said Col. Phil Brooks, commander of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.

The wireless package is designed to cut command post setup and tear down times by hours as well as lessen the amount of cables and protective flooring that need to be transported from one location to another, the Army noted.

Wireless systems also work to mitigate network downtime and the loss of mission command systems after moving.

The Secure Wireless package includes advanced network operations functions and security features such as the Wireless Intrusion Detection System, which is built to help identify potential hackers trying to breach the wireless network.

The brigade will undergo another NTC training in the fall to test the full operational potential of the secure wireless technology, the Army said.

The military branch has performed risk reduction events of the wireless package with units in Hawaii, Delaware and Texas, among others.

The Army collects soldier feedback from the events to continually develop the wireless technology prior to its official fielding.

The Defense Department has stepped up its strategy to assess potential systems against intercontinental ballistic missile threats, Reuters reported Wednesday.

DoD elevated anti-ICBM technology assessment efforts following the completion of a simulated ICBM interception test last month at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

A June 6 department memo seen by Reuters says the Boeing-built Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system offers a capacity to protect the homeland from multiple intermediate-range and intercontinental missile threats using basic countermeasures.

Vice Adm. Jim Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, said during a congressional hearing the U.S. defense program still has room for improvement despite DoD’s efforts to address challenges related to the system’s reliability over the past five years.

James MacStravic serves as the Under Secretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics in the Defense Department, where he gives the the secretary of defense information on acquisition, contract administration and the defense industrial base. His role supports DoD’s efforts to boost the purchasing power and performance capacity of the defense acquisition enterprise.

MacStravic will also offer logistics and material readiness, operational energy, chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, research and engineering data to the defense secretary.

The DoD veteran held various roles within the Office of the Secretary of Defense including principal deputy assistant secretary of defense, strategic adviser and the deputy assistant secretary of defense for tactical warfare systems.

He served as a member of the U.S. Air Force where he was named a deputy director at the service branch’s Aerial Networking Systems and the Joint STARS program offices.

MacStravic also held various roles within the Naval Sea Systems Command including as a principal naval architect and head of the process control division.

He received a bachelor’s degree in naval architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in finance from the George Mason University.

Lt. Gen. Gwen Bingham, U.S. Army assistant chief of staff for installation management, has told lawmakers that the Army needs another round of base realignment and closure, or BRAC, to remove excess facilities and redirect maintenance funds toward other readiness efforts.

Bingham told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies that the Army pays to maintain approximately 161 million square feet of excess infrastructure, the Army said Thursday.

She added that another round of BRAC would eliminate the need to maintain excess infrastructure and allow the Army to use cost savings to repair needed facilities and support readiness priorities.

“The Army has infrastructure capacity in excess of any foreseeable future force structure, not always located where it is needed, but consuming precious dollars that could be better invested elsewhere,” Bingham stated.

The Army’s fiscal year 2018 budget request allots $1.79 billion for facilities — including $1.2 billion for military construction, $529 million for family housing and $58 million for the execution of the last BRAC round, which started in 2005.

Bingham said the budget request is lower than what the Army needs but could help mitigate the accelerated degradation of the military branch’s facilities.

The Army faces $10.8 billion in deferred maintenance backlog, which accounts for approximately 22 percent of the the service’s buildings and means that more than one in five buildings are deteriorating.

Bingham told senators the Army works to sustain facilities in good condition to prevent degradation; apply resources to modernize or demolish facilities; and consolidate personnel into well-maintained facilities then eliminate deteriorated buildings under the Reduce the Footprint initiative.