You are not alone: How to engage your protection Warfighting Function Community

The most frequent question we are asked as the Protection Division (Force Modernization Proponent), Fielded Force Integration Directorate (FFID), Maneuver Support Center of Excellence (MSCoE), Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, is “How do I get ‘plugged in’?” (or “How do I best engage the wider protection community of practice?”).

The protection warfighting function boasts a vibrant community of practice, many opportunities for collaboration, and members with great willingness to share experiences and ideas. The answer to how to get “plugged in” varies widely based on the duties of the person asking the question.

One answer is obvious—and it’s in your hands! The Protection professional bulletin, published annually by MSCoE, is your publication. The Writer’s/Photo Guide and publication schedule is available at https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/contact/publications/ppb. The e-mail address is usarmy.leonardwood.mscoe.mbx.protectpb@army.mil. We look forward to receiving your articles and/or photographs capturing your protection experiences and ideas, regardless of grade, unit, or component. Any subjects that address overarching protection issues and are not better shared in a branch-specific publication are appropriate. Share your thoughts, and perhaps improve our Army!

Screenshot of the Protection Net website.

Protection Net, located on milSuite at https://www.milsuite.mil/community/spaces/apf/protectionnet, is the collaborative work forum for our community. Are you—

• A noncommissioned officer looking for protection-related standard operating procedures for your unit?
• A researcher trying to reach a large protection audience?
• An individual looking for unabridged community feedback on a unique protection solution?

If so, then Protection Net is the destination for you. More than 225 Protection Net members from across the Army are ready to field your questions, share their resources and references, or act as your sounding board. The Protection Net online library hosts dozens of hard-to-find Army, joint, and international references. Protection Net also includes several subboards (known as subspaces) for hosting in-depth branch and specialty-topic discussions, such as discussions on—

• Explosive ordnance disposal.
• Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) issues.
• Safety.
• Antiterrorism.
• Maneuver enhancement brigades (MEBs).

Protection Net is approved for controlled unclassified information, but participation does require opening an account on milSuite. Join today!

PIC Diagram.

The Protection Integrator’s Course (PIC) currently consists of a series of pilot courses now being conducted by the U.S. Army Military Police School (USAMPS), Fort Leonard Wood. The primary PIC target audience includes current and future unit protection chiefs and protection cell members in echelons-above-brigade headquarters Army-wide, as well as those serving in supporting activities. PIC is currently a 4-day, nonresident course in which each of the protection primary tasks is explored, student and faculty experiences are shared, and an in-depth practical exercise is conducted. Soldiers from all branches—especially those normally associated with the protection warfighting function (CBRN, air defense artillery, engineer, cyber, medical, and military police)—are welcome to attend. To learn more about PIC, including future class dates, please contact the Command and Tactics Division (CATD), USAMPS, by e-mail at usarmy.leonardwood.mp-schl.mbx.dotcatd@army.mil.

MSCoE hosts the biannual Protection Warfighting Function Warfighter Forum. The target audience for the warfighter forum consists of protection cell chiefs and members of echelons above brigade and their supporting elements from all components across the globe. The forum topics generally include protection trends, new resources available to protection cells, the latest doctrine and organization redesigns, upcoming exercises, and other subjects of protection community interest. The last Protection Warfighting Function Warfighter Forum was held in August 2021. If you did not receive an invitation to the forum and you believe that you should have, please contact Mr. Barrett Parker by e-mail at usarmy.leonardwood.mscoe.mbx.protection-fmp@army.mil.

MSCoE Protection Operational Planning Team (OPT) meetings are the Protection Warfighting Function Warfighter Forum counterpart meetings for the generating forces. At quarterly meetings, the Protection OPT discusses doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities, and policy (DOTMLPF-P) issues. Protection-related U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) schools, U.S. Army Futures Command, Department of the Army, and other organizations typically participate in the OPT meetings. Participation among our protection-focused TRADOC schools and related organizations has been outstanding over the past couple of years.

Several MEB community-specific engagement opportunities are available. The MEB Branch, Protection Division, FFID, MSCoE, hosts a common access card-enabled MEB professional resources SharePoint© site. This site contains a vast repository of resources, including unit standard operating procedures, lessons learned, MEB precommand course information and slides, a list of future conferences and events, table of organization and equipment documentation, and many other references. The MEB Branch also publishes a quarterly MEB newsletter that contains selected lessons learned and information about upcoming events and other MEB engagement opportunities. Finally, the MEB Branch hosts a quarterly MEB Warfighter Forum, which is held via Microsoft Teams© with a dial-in option. Typical MEB Warfighter Forum discussions include updates to MEB tasks and briefings on observations from recent operations and warfighter exercises from MEB members. If you would like to be added to the distribution list for the MEB newsletter or to the invitation list for the quarterly MEB Warfighter Forum, please contact the MEB Branch by e-mail at usarmy.leonardwood.mscoe.mbx.protection-fmp@army.mil.

For those working on protection issues in garrison and installation environments and other protection situations governed by Army Regulation (AR) 525-2, The Army Protection Program,[1] the Headquarters, U.S. Army Operations, Protection Division (DAMO-ODP) is responsible for the execution of the Army Protection Program (APP) governance cycle, which provides an enterprise approach to integrating, coordinating, synchronizing, and prioritizing APP initiatives and resources. It is a flexible mechanism that comprehensively addresses nonwarfighting protection policy issues; shapes program planning; supports the programming, budgeting, and execution process; ensures effective integration with Army warfighting responsibilities, and ensures a unified effort among all APP functions. The Headquarters, Department of the Army APP governance cycle consists of the three-star level APP Board of Directors, the APP General Officer Steering Committee, the colonel level APP Council of Colonels, the action officer level APP Working Group, and other associated working groups, as required. DAMO-ODP executes the APP governance cycle as necessary, but not less than biannually, to address protection topics that are important to the Army. The APP Working Group serves as the entry point into the APP governance cycle and is a subcommittee to the APP Council of Colonels. The working group reviews, resolves, and assigns responsibility for APP topics, issues, and/or tasks and assists the APP Council of Colonels in the development of key required outputs. Actions and decisions are made at the lowest level throughout the governance cycle. The APP entry point of contact in DAMO-ODP can be reached by e-mail at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-dcs-g-3-5-7.list.aoc-g-34-spp-branch@army.mil.

Finally, you are always welcome to contact the Force Modernization Proponent—Protection Division, FFID, MSCoE.

The vibrant protection warfighting function community of practice may be missing one thing—YOU! Plug in today!