AUSA Sunshine Chapter hosts Col. Jason L. West to discuss Army transformation and training

By Cassidy Mills, Staff Writer

 

The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Sunshine Chapter hosted Col. Jason L. West, director of Synthetic Training Environment – Cross Functional Team (STE-CFT), for a discussion on modernization, training and the Army’s Transformation Initiative, Aug. 20.

 

The event drew military leaders, industry partners, chapter members and defense stakeholders to hear updates on reform efforts, evolving priorities and the future of Army training.

 

“Thank you to AUSA and to our partners for providing this space and opportunity,” West said. “I’m here to talk a little bit about my background, the Army’s Transformation Initiative, the synthetic training environment and the future of the Cross Functional Team.”

 

West began by sharing his career path which includes aviation battalion command, assignments at the Pentagon, the National War College and analytical work in operations research and wargaming. He said his entry into synthetic training was not initially by choice but became a defining role.

 

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know what the Synthetic Training Environment office was when I was first assigned to it,” West said. “But once I got into the work at Fort Leavenworth, I started to really understand its impact especially as we looked at resources and modernization.”

 

The central theme of his presentation was the Army Transformation Initiative which he described as the largest systemic reform since World War II. The initiative focuses on three areas: delivering warfighting capabilities at the speed of threats, optimizing force structure and eliminating waste and legacy systems.

 

“Right now, it takes on average 800 days to push a requirements document through the system,” West said. “Meanwhile in Ukraine, tactics and technologies are evolving in less than 30 days. We have to move at that speed not the speed of bureaucracy.”

 

West detailed how the merger of Army Futures Command and TRADOC will form a new Transformation and Training Command headquartered in Austin, Texas. He said this restructuring aims to streamline processes, remove redundancies and align capability development more directly with operational needs.

 

“Form follows function,” West said. “If we want to deliver faster, we have to reorganize ourselves to be more efficient, more effective and better aligned with the pace of modernization.”

 

Turning to the Synthetic Training Environment (STE), West outlined four major areas of contribution: next-generation constructive simulation, experimentation with live and simulated environments, support to wargaming and the Army’s Future Studies Program and embedded training capabilities.

 

“We believe that embedded training, connecting systems directly into platforms like the Bradley, will be a major leap forward,” West said. “When combined with live and virtual systems under one training environment, it will allow seamless integration for warfighters.”

 

During the Q&A West addressed industry collaboration and the Army’s shift away from long development timelines toward service-based and adaptable solutions. He highlighted the role of Soldier Touch Points and Technology Integration Facilities as ways for companies to plug in.

 

“We’re moving toward characteristics of need statements instead of lengthy requirements documents,” West said. “Sometimes an 80 percent solution delivered quickly is far more valuable than a perfect one that takes years.”

 

He also discussed emerging technologies such as augmented and virtual reality noting their potential for use as future embedded training tools. Aviation-specific training updates including software releases for rotary wing systems were also part of the conversation.

 

“What excites me most is that we’re not just talking about transformation, we’re actually doing it,” West said. “The Army is reforming across requirements, resourcing and acquisition and the Synthetic Training Environment is going to be a big part of that future.”