The White Sands Missile Range 2046 Strategic Plan, now available to the public, delivers tomorrow’s readiness with a vignette of how the range will function by 2046.
“WSMR must adapt to respond to the future challenges in a rapidly changing global environment,” said WSMR Commander Brig. Gen. Timothy Coffin. “This plan will help guide our command in its pursuit of that objective.”
The plan is now available on the WSMR public website: http://www.wsmr.army.mil/pdf/WSMR_2046_Strategic_Plan_v1_2_FINAL_v1_3.pdf.
“Today we are faced with evolving threats and advancing technologies that are on par with our existing warfighter capabilities, DoD is developing Third Offset Strategies to regain a qualitative edge over our adversaries while sustaining today’s leaner, more agile Army, Navy and Air Force,” Coffin said. “This Strategic Plan will guide us as we reshape the way we do business now and set the foundation for the programs of the future.”
The United States faces a rapidly-changing global security environment that is volatile, unstable and increasingly threatening to our nation's interests. WSMR's 2046 Strategic Plan is a 30-year outlook on a required future state of threats and Third Offset Strategies and capabilities which are needed to maintain the competitive edge over U.S. adversaries. It contains the Commanding General's future vision for the range; presenting an assessment of current and foreseen capabilities, facilities, requirements, processes and operations that will guide the range’s efforts to ensure WSMR remains a premier Major Range Test Facility Base in support of the nation's security.
In addition to a focus on technology enablers, this plan provokes deep exploration of inter-dependencies and affordability ideals as we re-learn to value cost control and total ownership costs to protect and sustain this National Treasure. “We must simultaneously leverage core systems engineering fundamentals (requirements flow down) and question everything we do and why we do it,” explained Executive Director Paul Mann. “Our affordable and successful future depends on critical and creative thinking, seeing familiar challenges in new light, and experimentation and risk taking by our teams to unleash the art of the possible in support of the vision,” Mann said. Building capacity for the transformation also requires a persistent and disciplined focus on divestment of infrastructure and processes that are mis-aligned with the goals. “Our ability to realize the vision captured in this plan must be accompanied by a willingness to smartly abandon the enablers (real and perceived) of the past. We must demonstrate courage and wisdom to understand and accept our future proficiency and affordability requires divestment as well as investment.”
During the development of this plan, WSMR reached out to its internal and external regional partners and stakeholders throughout the country to help shape WSMR’s required goals. “I would like to thank everyone who had a part in helping WSMR create our plan for the future,” said WSMR Strategy and Long-Range Plans Director Dan Hicks. “Your insight and knowledge helped us capture a better picture of what the WSMR of 2046 needs to look like.” The partnerships and relationships identified in this plan will be key to our collective success in the future. “WSMR simply cannot accomplish our important National Security mission within our borders, airspace, and our external off-range support/launch sites; without the continued strong support of our Federal, State, Tribal and Community partnerships throughout the South West.”
WSMR's Strategic Plan will help reshape the way WSMR does business now, set the foundation for future changes, and focus the efforts of monthly reviews to measure progress. The plan is a living document to be updated periodically to reflect new insights and changing conditions.
The plan enables WSMR to deliver critical readiness to the forces of tomorrow!