Brig. Gen. Randal Dragon, left, commander of the Brigade Modernization Command, greets Secretary of the Army John McHugh at Smith Bliss Field, Fort Bliss, Texas, with Brig. Gen. Laura Richardson, right, Commanding General, U.S. Army Operational Test Command, just before they board a helicopter that will take them to visit Soldiers from the 1/35 Armor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, participating in the Network Integration Evaluation 12.2. The NIE, as part of the Agile Life Cycle Process, is a series of semi-annual evaluations designed to integrate and mature the Army's tactical network. The NIE assesses potential Network capabilities in a robust operational environment to determine whether they perform as needed, conform to the Network architecture and are interoperable with existing systems. The NIE ensures that the Network satisfies the functional requirements of the force, and it relieves the end user of the technology integration burden.