NSWC Crane accelerates technology development with Warfighter integration

NSWC Crane accelerates technology development with Warfighter integration

By Sarah K. Oh (ctr), NSWC Crane Corporate Communications

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) has expanded its use of the Personnel Force Innovation (PFI) program, integrating more uniformed service members from different military branches in its labs.

The PFI program places military members at Department of War agencies for designated tours of duty. Brian Dean, the Mission Engineering Branch Manager in the Model Based Engineering and Analysis Division at NSWC Crane, has witnessed how embedding service members, and ultimately the end-users, into the lab environment enhances technology development. NSWC Crane has service members from the Indiana Army National Guard and the Indiana Air National Guard, where they bring real-time intelligence reporting directly to virtual test events.

"Integrating the end user and operators alongside your acquisition workforce, specifically the engineers and scientists, is crucial," said Dean. "It provides exposure on both sides-breaking down barriers between the two perspectives that may be otherwise stovepiped from each other. You also get your STEM workforce more involved in the mission because they talk to actual operators who are doing this day-to-day versus coming into a building to do engineering but completely cut off from the end-user."

NSWC Crane's Real-time Analysis Virtual Electromagnetic Network (RAVEN) laboratory positions active-duty military members from the PFI program directly alongside the civilian technicians and engineers. The RAVEN lab brings joint electromagnetic spectrum operations (EMSO) and technology expertise to the modeling and simulation (M&S) environment, including live virtual constructive (LVC), hardware in the loop (HWIL), and software in the loop (SWIL).

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Thomas Rountree, an Electromagnetic Warfare Technician at NSWC Crane and U.S. Army soldier in the Indiana National Guard, is part of the PFI program. Assigned to the RAVEN laboratory, he does M&S for the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS).

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rountree said bringing his background as an end user improves research and development, including grounding simulations in operational reality, helping to bridge the gap between virtual lab environments and live physical test ranges

"How [the electromagnetic waves are] actually employed in a fight or a skirmish…" said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rountree, "that's where I get to really come in and help make the realism come to the forefront. For younger engineers, they may understand the science but may not understand the implementation of it because defense applications aren't something they necessarily learn in school. "

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Staff Sgt. Adam Grimmie, an analyst at NSWC Crane and U.S. Air Force airman with the 181^st Intelligence Wing, is also part of the PFI program. He said he has been able to leverage his experience at NSWC Crane since he began in 2025.

"I am able to utilize skills I've acquired operationally and then provide high-level analysis from an intelligence standpoint that our engineers and scientists are then able to use on projects," said Staff Sgt. Grimmie. "

Staff Sgt. Grimmie said including the most up-to-date reporting in projects and technology development provides end-users with the most accurate and validated information.

"Having PFI support at NSWC Crane allows our group to pull in members of different branches and backgrounds and apply them to projects here at Crane," said Staff Sgt. Grimmie. "We are able to get real-world experiences that provide influence on projects and research that may not have been realized. It gives the service members the chance to grow operationally together while assisting with projects that can give scientists and engineers a different perspective on how a finished product may look and work outside of the lab."

Dean has seen the PFI program impact end-results for warfighters at the speed of operations, as the service members bring operational tools, software techniques, and real-world deployment experience to the lab.

"We spent all these years connecting labs and systems, but we weren't connecting groups and organizations," said Dean. "That was the part we've really hit over the past year that's made a huge difference in the efficacy of the events. Having [active-duty service members] involved allows us to adapt as quickly as they have to in real operations. They understand how they have to adapt on a daily basis and they're bringing that knowledge to our mission integration and engineering assessments."

Staff Sgt. Grimmie said the partnership provides unique value to the end users.

"Being able to use intelligence information in a research and development environment provides the PFIs to grow in an area that isn't readily accessible to most members of the DoW," said Staff Sgt. Grimmie. "This gives us the opportunity to grow and work in a joint environment that we can take back to our home units and assist in training, operations, and other methods in maintaining the standards our members are held to. For the warfighters, they are getting new technology that supports them during operations and gives them an advantage during combat. They are supported through the development of advanced technology and weapon systems that go beyond the standards and enable them to be the most effective and lethal military in history."

Dean said bringing NSWC Crane's in-depth EMSO expertise to the M&S community provides high-value testing capability to the U.S. military.

"What we bring to the table is a very high-fidelity, specific modeling done by closed communities while taking on the whole environmental factors of specific environments," said Dean. "We're able to bring more real-world intelligence and effects into that virtual test environment to make it more realistic and more accurate. At the same time, we are enhancing training, capability testing, verification, and validation."

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rountree's experience at NSWC Crane in 2023 directly impacted his following deployment to the Middle East.

"At NSWC Crane, I worked on a Navy-Marine Corps system that that Army doesn't have," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rountree. "While deployed overseas, the system was on our base and I showed up and was able to test that system and make sure it was functional, which provided value to the Army."

For Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rountree, the technical expertise and knowledge gained while working in the lab impacts his role in the Army and ensures he is technically proficient.

"Because I work at Crane under the PFI program, I literally do something with electronic warfare every day," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rountree. "It keeps me sharp. So, when I go do Army things, I am very keen on electronic warfare. Normally as an end user, I just get a system... and we assume it's capable of everything it's listed as. But working with engineers, I get to see the meat and potatoes of it and why certain components were used. It's been beneficial to get a deeper level of understanding."

About NSWC Crane | NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with mission areas in Strategic Missions, Electromagnetic Warfare, and Expeditionary Warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi-spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today's Warfighter.