Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD – The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) hosted their annual Coffee with Colleagues event this past May, where the Center’s experts shared their ongoing projects and scientific findings. The event was intended to give SMEs extra practice in presenting their next-generation technology to future customers and create a setting that facilitates future collaborative efforts. But, this time, CBC was treated to a visit by a group of guests of honor that are seldom seen at such a technical event – our nation’s warfighters.

Now in its 14th year, Coffee with Colleagues garners the attention of even external organizations such as DEVCOM Headquarters and the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command. To Dr. Peter Emanuel, Senior Research Scientist for Bioengineering at DEVCOM CBC, a venue filled to the brim with rows of posters and their respective SMEs is the perfect example of how to train and reward those who are primed to showcase how their product improves Soldier readiness.

“At the end of the day, we’re professional question answerers,” said Emanuel. “This trains us to prove our success, and the ability to convey our ideas is the definition of success. If you can’t sell in front of the poster, you can’t do it in front of an audience, which may be a potential customer or even just the DoD in general.”

But this year’s event had a new audience. A small group of warfighters had the opportunity to interact firsthand with the scientists and engineers that help to solve problems in the field via technology. These Soldiers, hailing from the Army Futures Command, assigned to the Fort Leonard Wood Maneuver Support Capability Development and Integration Directorate (MS CDID), are part of the mission to develop future CBRN warfighter operational concepts and develop future CBRN requirements to strengthen our future Soldiers’ capabilities on the battlefield.

Maj. Jason Slone is a Chemical Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Integration Officer with CDID MS assigned to the Requirements Development Directorate (RDD) CBRN Branch. They are responsible for the development and subsequent updates on all Army CBRN Capability Development Documents (CDD) and CBRN related programs of record. With these specializations, a technological-centric event such as Coffee with Colleagues can be quite beneficial.

“Seeing the plethora of efforts and posters at Coffee with Colleagues is an amazing way for this community to stay current on technological developments,” said Lowry Brooks, deputy director of the Engineering Directorate at CBC. “For our folks, what better way to understand our ultimate customer, the warfighter, than to interact with them here. Last year many researchers and engineers spoke extremely highly about being able to interact with such an important CBRN community in the Army.”

The warfighters got to interact with each of the Center’s presenters and their technologies through a series of scheduled demonstrations and discussions on poster exhibits. For Capt. Seth Mcgeehan, a Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) Team Lead, the Army CBRN requirements and development world is difficult to thrive in while maintaining product effectiveness without the critical firsthand experience that one would find at an event such as this.

“Usually, we only meet at the experiments, major ones,” said Mcgeehan, an acquisition officer assigned to the Requirements Development Directorate (RDD) within the CBRN Branch. “We’ve interacted at Tenacious Dragon, Project Convergence – major experiments that bring out a large portion of the staff… it’s on a semi-frequent basis, but ultimately we do not see each other as much as we should to maintain a valuable relationship such as this.”

While one on one, the warfighters got hands-on with a variety of future and ready-for-action technologies, ranging from contaminant identification to 3D printing, including a Low Burden Sensor for Rapid In-Field Detection of Heavy Metals, used for toxin and explosive work. Consisting of a 40-pound machine mounted to the back of a Humvee, Soldiers can use a small sticky note or liquid adhesive to allow the transfer of any sample to the machine, which instantly flashes either red or green for the determined contaminant, right down to the nanogram.

“This gives the opportunity to see from the science perspective where you place importance versus where the Army side emphasizes performance,” said Mcgeehan. When asked which technologies interested him the most, “There were a couple here that I was highly interested in from a military utility side of things. 3D printing, manufacturing unique parts that may not be as common in the manufacturing cycle, we can make things that aren’t mass produced. Helps that we have 3D printing machines in the field in some formations.”

In-person warfighter consultations at events such as Coffee with Colleagues give the opportunity to collaborate on a more heightened level. This conflux opens up a two-way street that shows exactly what a Soldier needs, and exactly what technologies the Center is able to develop for integration and fielding to the warfighter.