Concept Development and Learning

BG Mark W. Odom
Director

Bio

Mission

The Concept Development and Learning Directorate (CDLD) develops concepts and leads the campaign of learning to provide the foundation for the development of the Army’s future force.

Priorities

  • Develop and refine concepts to identify required capabilities.
  • Conduct wargames to generate ideas and refine concepts.
  • Conduct experimentation as a key enabler and tool in support of the learning plan.
  • Lead the models and simulations (M&S) experimentation community and provide a collaborative M&S technical environment in support of experimentation and other learning venues.
  • Identify and align science and technology community opportunities to warfighter needs, both now and in the future.
  • Engage in and foster a collaborative concept development community of practice in TRADOC; across the Army; with the Joint Staff, industry, academia, OSD, and other Services; and across the interagency to leverage these venues.
  • Represent Army ideas or concepts, and improve overall joint and multi-Service concept development and learning, all oriented on winning in a complex world.

Intent

Purpose: Provide the foundation for development of the Army’s future force

  • Key Task:
  • Think:
    Develop Army and Joint Concepts as the foundation of future capabilities.
    Think and Shape Thinking about future conflict, oriented on Landpower.
  • Learn,Analyze
    Link Science and Technology efforts to Warfighter requirements and the campaign of learning.
    Develop Operational and Organizational (O&O) concepts.
    Maximize Unified Quest and Unified Challenge opportunities, and tie into AWA to integrate learning events.
  • Implement
    Orient development and learning toward timely transition of concepts to capabilities.

ENDSTATE: CDLD integrates and synchronizes Army concept development and learning, rapidly transitioning concepts to capabilities. CDLD sustains a solid conceptual foundation for Army capabilities development that ensures unity of effort and future force readiness. Reconnaissance and focused learning identify and support opportunities to improve future force effectiveness. Army forces, as part of the Joint Force, overmatch the enemy and win in a complex world.

Divisions

Future Warfare

Provide the vision of future conflict to the US Army by orchestrating key learning venues using realistic scenarios that visualize, describe, and account for critical learning demands with the support of the community of practice through the Army Warfighting Challenges (AWFC). Through Unified Quest (UQ), the CSA's Future Study Plan, generate the ideas required to drive concept to capability development and determine the policy and strategy implications of the future force for the CSA and the CG TRADOC.


Joint and Army Concepts

Develops and integrates the Army Concept Framework and applies land force capabilities in Joint concepts to guide future force development, advance the joint narrative, and describe how joint and Army forces may operate in the future.




Joint and Army Experimentation

Leads and integrates concept experimentation to optimize learning and support the development of the Army's future force.


Joint and Army Models and Simulations

Provide the modeling and simulation (M&S) environment in support of the Campaign of Learning; providing the foundation for the development of the Army's future force.


Joint Interdependency Coordination

Coordinates and recommends joint interdependent concepts and solutions to strategic, operational, and tactical challenges confronting the Army today and out to 2028 and beyond. Reviews national, Department of Defense (DoD), joint, and Service strategy and planning documents, and strategic trends. Manages the development of scenarios used in experiments, studies, and wargames.


Science, Technology, Research, and Accelerated Capabilities

Serve as scouts for Science and Technology opportunities; synchronize capabilities into the capability development community of practice; plan and coordinate concepts and capabilities induction into Army Warfighting Assessments (AWA).