The Army announced Dec. 4 a new leader at the Program Executive Office – Command, Control and Communications (Tactical): Maj. Gen. David Bassett will take over as the head of PEO C3T as of Jan. 31.

There, he will oversee the service’s networks for soldiers on the move from their home station, en route to a mission, in operations or on deployment.

Bassett heads to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland — PEO C3T headquarters — from Warren, Michigan, where he has served as program executive officer for Ground Combat Systems since September 2013. At Ground Combat Systems Bassett oversees management and modernization efforts for a nearly $3 billion portfolio that includes six Acquisition Category I programs, among them upgrades to the Abrams tank, Bradley fighting vehicles and the Stryker family of vehicles.

He replaces outgoing PEO C3T Gary Martin, who retires Jan. 31 after more than 30 years working for the Army, including in his current role since June 2015. Prior to the PEO role, Martin served as deputy to the commanding general of Army Communications-Electronics Command.

In his new role, Bassett will help oversee what happens next with the Army’s beleaguered Warfighter Information Network-Tactical program, the Army’s $6 billion battlefield IT backbone that officials on Sept. 27 announced would come to a halt amid concerns about survivability. Army officials hope to funnel WIN-T funding into other priorities that provide tactical communications to soldiers.

In October, Martin said interim emphasis would include ongoing efforts to simplify Army networks and “deconflicting mission command complexity.”

“If you go to any of our [combat training centers], on average it takes 40 to 50 hours just to bring up network. And that’s [because of] a combination of things,” including the complexity of the network and the need to manually configure networks — something that increasingly must be done in short order, on the move, Martin told reporters at the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting in Washington.

A change of command ceremony will take place at Aberdeen Proving Ground on Jan. 30, according to PEO C3T officials.

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