I remember back in the 1990s there was a period during which there was a lot of fascination with the idea of modernizing the ground soldier. I attribute it to 1) renewed interest in the military after Desert Storm I, and 2) growing awareness of this whole "internet" thing and technology in general. The articles in the likes of Popular Science happily blended real research and prototypes being considered by military with editorial wishful thinking. Some of the things the "modern warrior" might be expected to carry included cameras that could carry live feeds back to HQ in real time, HUD devices that would overlay data from a battle computer over a combat scene in real time, various technology-"enhanced" rifles, powered exoskeletons, and the like.
I was reminded of this when I saw a link on Jerry Pournelle’s website to an article on the Strategy Page about a new information system rolled out in Iraq. What’s neat is that it isn’t one of those ideas cooked up by brass and shoved down the infantry’s throats. To the contrary, this sounds as if it was created in response to sigificant demand from the troops themselves. Likened to a combat-oriented "Google Earth", the TIGR system allows soldiers to add notes, photos, and video to locations on a map. This information helps the next group who has to plan a patrol on that route.
TIGR actually solves two problems. First, obviously, it provides troops with maps of their area, but with icons indicating previous incidents (good and bad) and reports of enemy activity in general. The maps are updated by the users, like a Wiki, and by intelligence troops, so that the maps tend to show what is out there now, including recent construction or battle damage. But it’s second use is equally important. TIGR gives troops, especially patrol leaders, an easy way to report what they saw on their missions. It’s these reports that create a clearer picture of what the enemy is up to, and what friendly troops have been doing as well.
More than a decade after experiencing successes and setbacks with the concept of the "modern warrior", I’m glad to read about one piece of technology that really is making life easier for our troops. Now to dust off the plans for that bad-ass combat exoskeleton.
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