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Troops deserve best technology
Relevance Score: 2.766 2009-03-18 23:51:54
Your recent article ("Military and police work together to subdue a volatile corner of Afghanistan," News, March 10) pointed out that the 17,000 extra U.S. troops we are sending to Afghanistan will face a growing insurgency that could grow more deadly than the one we left in Iraq. So as the Obama administration places Pentagon programs on the chopping block, it should remember that cuts to programs like the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program would delay the delivery of new high tech reconnaissance tools that could save countless lives in Afghanistan--by uncovering ambushes before they happen. For a soldier on patrol, each ditch in Afghanistan might hide a deadly ambush. To survive, our troops need the best technology to see around these dangerous corners: fog lights for the proverbial fog of war. Each platoon in an FCS brigade will have remote-controlled aerial and ground robots providing live video reconnaissance of insurgent activity directly to troops on the ground. The networked vehicles and digital soldier gear can access up-to-date electronic maps of the area, color coded with friendly units and potential insurgent strongholds, thus allowing our soldiers to take the battle to the enemy on our own terms. Combat veterans testing this equipment say our troops need it now. When critical body armor and armored vehicles failed to arrive in Iraq on time, thousands of soldiers died. We must ensure that this type of critical equipment for our combat troops never suffers another needless delay. --George Autobee Cpt. (Ret.) Director of Government Affairs, American GI Forum of the United States Washington, D.C.
Documentary highlights success of Land Warrior system
Relevance Score: 2.623 2009-06-09 22:17:32
"Keep Up the Fire," a new documentary produced by the Army's Program Executive Office Soldier, tells the story of the first infantry unit deployed to Iraq with the Land Warrior system. In 2007, the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, deployed to Iraq to help bring peace to a region paralyzed by war. With them, the battalion brought a vital system called Land Warrior, the most advanced piece of infantry technology ever fielded. The Soldiers entered a brutal combat environment, where insurgent attacks numbered in the hundreds each week and American forces faced the mistrust of the people they had been sent to protect. Despite the difficulties they faced, the battalion was remarkably successful during its deployment. Land Warrior, an advanced navigational and network communication system worn by Soldiers was a key to that success. Land Warrior consists of a wiring system, joystick-like control unit, a computing unit, and flip-down monocular eyepiece. In its role as a navigation device, Land Warrior shows a Soldier's location on a tactical map. Similarly-equipped Soldier and vehicle positions are constantly updated within the system, greatly increasing the situational awareness of the dismounted Soldier. “Land Warrior gave me confidence as I planned to coordinate for a blind hit at night for the first time in this area,” said Capt. Brandon Kint, who used Land Warrior with the 4th Bn. As a networking device, Land Warrior enables communication among Soldiers, vehicles, and commanders through one system. Additionally, Land Warrior creates organic networks between equipped units as they move into and out of contact with one another. Digital information can be exchanged between these equipped units and throughout the networks. For instance, Soldiers can place markers on the digital maps called "digital chemlights," which will appear on the map of every other Land Warrior-equipped Soldier within seconds. Originally developed in the early 1990s, Land Warrior was canceled just before the unit was set to deploy. By special request, the system was supported for the duration of the deployment to Iraq. Before and during their deployment, the battalion worked closely with the developers of Land Warrior to make changes to the system, increasing its effectiveness and usability. The success and innovative work with Soldiers led to renewed interest in the program, so much so that a Stryker Brigade Combat Team will take an improved system to Afghanistan this year. “It’s one piece of equipment that we won’t leave the (field operating base) without anymore,” said Master Sgt. (P) Marc Griffith, who deployed with Land Warrior and the 4th Bn. to Iraq.
France plans to launch a military spy satellite tomorrow
Relevance Score: 2.455 2009-12-08 14:11:07
The satellite, Helios 2B is slated to blast off on a European Ariane rocket at 1:26 pm (1626 GMT) tomorrow from the European Space Agency launch site in French Guiana. The defence ministry said, as Paris boosts spending on its independent surveillance from space despite closer military co-operation with the United States. This will be the first such launch under President Nicolas Sarkozy who brought France back into NATO's military command earlier this year, following a 40-year partial rift with the military alliance. While cooperating more closely with the United States on military planning, France sees independent access to space intelligence as a strategic priority. "In an international context marked by uncertainty, France must be able to understand the strategic environment in which it is evolving and to anticipate threats," the defence ministry said in a briefing document. The satellite would help in preparing missions and assessing threats, as well as drawing up maps of uncharted zones in Afghanistan, Iraq, Chad and the neighbouring Sudanese region of Darfur. Manufactured by the space division of Airbus parent EADS, Helios 2B is the second of France's second generation of spy satellites. Its predecessor was launched in 2004. It was initially planned as a pan-European satellite series to counter US space intelligence domination during the Cold War. However, France's European partners have been less willing to participate financially in the Helios 2 programme.
Space technology assists Iraqi irrigation inventory project
Relevance Score: 2.330 2009-07-01 09:09:10
Soldiers from the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team's geospatial intelligence section are playing a role in helping Iraqi leaders prepare to expand irrigation and farming throughout Iraq. The Soldiers are teaching 20 Iraqi technicians on data processing procedures they will use to inventory the Iraqi farmland and irrigation infrastructure. Sgt. 1st Class Marvin Nichols and Pfc. Amanda Po, both of Philadelphia, with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, are presenting a geospatial systems workshop to Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Agriculture officials in the International Zone. The course, that began June 21, will continue throughout the week. The workshop shows technicians how to compile data, gathered recently by field technicians, to measure canal layouts and amounts of acreage used for growing various crops. "Basically they're looking for an accurate, fast way of processing this information," said Nichols, the brigade's senior geospatial intelligence engineer. Nichols explained that the ministries will use the raw data to begin a cost analysis of improvement projects. Many parts of the canal system are over 30 years old and are in various states of disrepair. The Stryker Soldiers got involved in the data-gathering effort after previously assisting the U.S. Agency for International Development/Tatweer program by preparing maps of a roughly 35-square-kilometer area, between Taji and Baghdad. That area, south of the Grand Canal, is the pilot area for the irrigation inventory. The Tatweer, an Arabic word meaning development, provides support to the ministries for capacity development in public management. Nichols and Spc. Jessica Yates, of Hatboro, Pa., another brigade geospatial analyst, developed the block of instruction after discussing the need for the training with Robert Kirkman, the programs U.S. senior advisor to the MoWR. Nichols and Kirkman, who has led the GIS-mapping and irrigation canal surveying efforts, met with Iraqi water resource officials to learn about their data management needs in completing an inventory. "These processes are going to be the basis for their new GIS centers," Nichols said of centers to be developed at each ministry and linked together through a database. "Now both ministries can use this data collectively to better economic development." Nichols explained that once information is processed it can be used to determine how many acres of crops a stretch of canal can support compared to current agriculture usage. The GPS information, Nichols said, can show Iraqi officials where there may be unregistered water pumps and can illustrate canal flow capacity. Farmers in Iraq must get a permit to pump from a canal if their usage meets a certain level. Nichols said the training "has gone really well." After a few days of learning the processing program, the technicians began working with the actual data from Canal 42, in the Taji Irrigation District, east of Sa'ab al Bour. Kirkman, who has worked with the Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team working with 56th SBCT, said the project utilizes the 56th Brigade's "relationship with the locals." The USAID/Tatweer program and inter-ministerial teams are working to improve survey methods to more accurately determine cropping patterns into an economic model. That model will show potential returns on crops grown if water is returned to rehabilitated canals. Nichols and Po used an interpreter to present their model to the technicians in a brisk exchange of questions and answers. The students huddled in groups around laptop computers as the two instructors led them through the steps of turning GPS points into detailed maps. Po, a geospatial analyst, said her involvement in the class is showing students how to set up their system to use the GIS data. A year ago Po, a 2007 high school graduate, was a brand new Soldier with a semester of college completed. Now she's helping Iraqis build their future. "I got on this deployment right out of [advanced individual training]," Po said. "It makes me feel really good. They have the ability. They're going to go a long way." "The benefit they get out of it is it helps them work together," Po continued. "What we're showing them ... is how they can use their water system to rebuild capacity." Po's day-to-day work on the deployment includes doing terrain analysis and responding to requests for mapping information. Po said her experience in Iraq is shaping her future. "I have decided from this deployment to go back and get my degree in GIS and hopefully come back here as a civilian to help them," Po said.
The Air Force communications satellites called Widefield Global SATCOM launched!
Relevance Score: 2.263 2009-12-08 14:01:52
The Delta 4 rocket launched the third in a series of advanced Air Force communications satellites called Widefield Global SATCOM spacecraft. The 13,000-pound satellite will serve U.S. and allied troops on missions around the world, including those now fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The satellite provides a giant leap in communications bandwidth and technology and will replace the aging Defense Satellite Communication System. WGS satellites are designed to provide high-capacity communications to our nation's military forces. They will augment and eventually replace the aging Defense Satellite Communication System, which has been the Department of Defense's backbone for satellite communications over the past two decades. The satellite provides a giant leap in communications bandwidth and technology. The satellites supply communications such as maps and data to soldiers on the battlefield, relay video from unmanned aerial reconnaissance drones, route voice calls and data messaging, and even offer quality-of-life considerations like television broadcasts and email delivery to the troops. The satellite will be maneuvered into a circular geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above the planet where it can match the Earth's rotation and appear parked over one area of the globe. On-orbit testing is scheduled to last a few months, enabling the craft to begin full use next April. The WGS spacecraft are constructed around Boeing's powerhouse 702-model design used by commercial satellite operators. But within the WGS craft are Ka- and X-band military communications packages. The WGS craft offer X-band communications, like the venerable DSCS satellites, to connect with military users anywhere within the field of view from orbit.
Vietnam War Vet Killed in Iraq
Relevance Score: 1.900 2009-05-13 19:42:14
PHOENIX - A 60-year-old Vietnam War veteran killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq has become the oldest Army soldier to die in that conflict, the military said Thursday. Maj. Steven Hutchison, of Scottsdale, Ariz., served in Vietnam and wanted to re-enlist immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks, but his wife was against it, his brother said. Richard Hutchison told The Associated Press on Thursday that when she died, "a part of him died" so he signed up in July 2007 at age 59. "He was very devoted to the service and to his country," Richard Hutchison said. He described him as a great big brother and friend. "I didn't want him to go," he said through tears, adding that he loved his brother "so much." The Pentagon said Steven Hutchison was killed in Iraq on Sunday. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nathan Banks said Thursday that Hutchison was the oldest Army soldier killed in Iraq. An Associated Press database of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that Hutchison is the oldest member of any service branch killed since the wars broke out. Hutchison served in Afghanistan for a year before deploying to Iraq in October, heading a 12-soldier team that trained the Iraqi military, his brother said. Later, he was assigned to help secure Iraq's southern border. Hutchinson, who grew up in California, taught psychology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on and off between 1988 and 1996, and lectured and taught at two other colleges, according to school records. He then worked at a health care corporation in Arizona before retiring and re-entering the service, his brother said. He was part of the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan.
US soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq offered Internet service
Relevance Score: 1.878 2010-02-07 13:11:40
Soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq are being offered an Internet service primarily aimed at companies in Asia. The new service offers high-speed Internet access with out the need for phone lines, cable or dial-up modem. TS2 Satellite Technologies company is using satellites to power their Internet service. For soldiers deployed to the war zones this service can allow for communications back home. Many of the soldiers arrive in Afghanistan and Iraq with their own lap top hoping to stay in contact with loved ones. The troops can connect with the service when they are in their barracks. Not everyone though in the service is just using the Internet to stay close with family some are using it to blog and stay in touch with their business associates in the US. Having that connect with family and those at home have upped the morale of the troops.
283 Bases, 170,000 Pieces of Equipment, 140,000 Troops and an Army of Military Contractors
Relevance Score: 1.731 2009-03-31 11:41:15
With last week's announced escalation of the war in Afghanistan, including an Iraq-like "surge" replete with 4,000 more U.S. troops and a sizable increase in private contractors, President Barack Obama blew the lid off of any lingering perceptions that he somehow represents a significant change in how the U.S. conducts its foreign policy. In the meantime, more reports have emerged that bolster suspicions that Obama's Iraq policy is but a downsized version of Bush's and that a total withdrawal of U.S. forces is not on the horizon. In a dramatic understatement, the GAO notes that the U.S. "has an extensive basing footprint in Iraq. … Closing or handing over U.S. installations in Iraq will be time consuming and costly." With no fewer than 283 such installations throughout Iraq -- 51 large bases and 232 smaller bases -- the Obama administration has not said how it will approach this formidable task. This is no minor detail. "According to U.S. Army officials, experience has shown that it takes one to two months to close the smallest platoon -- or company -- size installations, which contain between 16 and 200 combat soldiers or Marines." However, the U.S. "has never closed large, complex installations -- such as Balad Air Force Base, which contains about 24,000 inhabitants and has matured over five years. U.S. Army officials estimate it could take longer than 18 months to close a base of that size." Obama should explain clearly how he intends to dismantle these bases or to what forces he is going to give control over them. It is very hard to imagine that the U.S. will simply walk away from large bases it spent years building. So, will they be turned over to Iraq? If so, to whom? What guarantee is there that they would not be used as operating bases for death squads? Will some be destroyed? What about the environmental impact? In addition to the bases, the GAO reveals that, as of of March 2008, "the United States had in place about 170,000 pieces of equipment worth about $16.5 billion that would need to be removed from Iraq." Erik Leaver, a senior analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies, says,"An example of a tough question: What to do with MRAPs [Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles]?" "The MRAPs are so heavy, transport back to the U.S., plus the rehab charges may make it cost-effective to actually destroy them," says Leaver. "Plus, if you need to move 120,000 soldiers in a rapid time frame, do you even have the space to bring them back if you take the MRAPs?" Then there are the facilities in Iraq currently being run by U.S. contractors. According to the GAO, Defense Contract Management Agency officials estimate "there is at least $3.5 billion worth of contractor-managed government-owned property in Iraq."
High-Speed Satellite Internet Access for U.S. Troops in Afghanistan and Iraq
Relevance Score: 1.730 2009-12-08 14:15:10
Hughes Network Systems, a major player in broadband satellite networks and services, reportedly has expanded the provision of high-speed satellite Internet access for U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Hughes is proud to provide high-speed Internet service to our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, reinforcing the military's Morale, Welfare & Recreation [MWR] efforts in the region," said Rick Lober, vice president and general manager of Hughes Defense and Intelligence Systems Division, in the release. Lober said staying connected with spouses, children, extended family, and friends is essential for the troops' morale, especially as they often are deployed overseas for a year or more. "Hughes has been providing broadband satellite terminals throughout the region since 2003, and the additional bandwidth and resources from our new Dubai-based hub now enables us to connect even more men and women of the military with their loved ones at home while they serve our country overseas," said Payam Herischi, senior director of Hughes Global Services. The high-speed satellite Internet service is available at U.S. military bases in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait, with local installation and logistics support provided by partner companies in the region.
$5.8M to Improve FOB Speicher, Iraq
Relevance Score: 1.707 2008-06-03 23:41:16
Wintara, Inc. in Fort Washington, MD received a $5.8 million firm-fixed price contract for replacement facilities for Forward Operating Base, Speicher near Tikrit, Iraq. Work is expected to be complete by Jan 31/09. 98 bids were solicited on Feb 4/08, and 12 bids were received by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Programs Center in Winchester, VA. Capt. Speicher’s F/A-18 Hornet fighter was shot down over Iraq during Operation Desert Storm on Jan 17/91, and was listed as killed. There has been considerable controversy regarding his fate, however, and in January 2001, the Secretary of the Navy took the extremely rare step of changing his status to “missing in action.” In 2002, it was changed again, this time to “missing-captured.” Many also believe that his aircraft was not shot down by a surface-to-air missile, as claimed at the time, but by an Iraqi fighter that passed American planes who were not allowed to engage it. See also the March 27/01 CIA report. After Operation Iraqi Freedom, evidence was found that included a flight suit believed to be his, an escape and evade sign located on the desert floor, and what appear to be the initials “MSS” scrawled on a wall of a cell in the Hakmiyah prison in Baghdad. Speicher’s name was also found on a document in Iraq, dated January 2003, that had the names of prisoners being held in the country. Despite these efforts and clues, however, Speicher’s whereabouts and the exact details of his fate remain unknown.