Homefront Help is SIGNALConnections’ effort to support U.S. service members, veterans and their families. The column highlights programs that offer resources and assistance to the military community ranging from care packages to benefits and everything in between. In that same spirit, Homefront Help presents opportunities for readers to donate time, offer resources and send words of thanks to those who sacrifice for freedom. Programs that provide services are listed in red. Opportunities for the public to reach out to service members are listed in blue. Each program description includes a link to the organization's website, when available. Homefront Help also has a Facebook page where visitors can gather and share information.
Operation Gratitude supports deployed warfighters by working to provide them with care packages and letters from groups and individuals back home. It sets itself apart from similar organizations by also bringing items to troops undergoing long-term rehabilitation at several military hospitals. To further the physical and mental well being of these warfighters, Operation Gratitude offers a service in which it sends packages from the injured to their unit members on the front lines. This has a two-fold result: those deployed know their wounded comrade is thinking about them, and the patients still feel they are contributing to the battlefield.
The pharmacy staff at Kadena Air Base in Japan recently started working with a robot designed to count medication for prescriptions. The PharmASSIST ROBOTx stores the counted medications until electronic prescriptions are received from doctors. Then, using bar code scanning checks, it ensures patients receive the correct medication. The machine can produce up to 240 prescriptions per hour; fill prescriptions every 15 seconds; and count medications simultaneously. The Kadena Air Base pharmacy fills an average of about 400 prescriptions every day. The robot cuts the average wait time for customers from 30 minutes to 20, provides extra layers of safety, creates a more efficient work environment and frees up staff members to conduct other duties.
A new Surveillance Detection System (SDS) capable of near real-time, 360-degree detection of optical threats identifies when friendly forces are being monitored or targeted by cameras, binoculars, sniper scopes or other optical means. The system was recently demonstrated on a U.S. government test range and successfully completed field testing over the past year. The SDS can be adapted to meet specific customer needs, including tracking of counter-surveillance; snipers; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and improvised explosive devices. It also provides the range and Global Positioning System location threats in a prioritized database built on real-time target interrogations.
The SDS design combines advanced sensing and processing components in a compact, lightweight and environmentally rugged package.
Troops now have a secure means to share videos. With the unveiling of milTube, the latest addition to milSuite, the military work force no longer needs to turn to YouTube—a practice the higher echelons frown upon—to share training or professional development clips.
A groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) project seeks to have sensors accepting and transmitting information in a method similar to the human brain.
Homefront Help is SIGNALConnections’ effort to support U.S. service members, veterans and their families. The column highlights programs that offer resources and assistance to the military community ranging from care packages to benefits and everything in between. In that same spirit, Homefront Help presents opportunities for readers to donate time, offer resources and send words of thanks to those who sacrifice for freedom. Programs that provide services are listed in red. Opportunities for the public to reach out to service members are listed in blue. Each program description includes a link to the organization's website, when available.
Part of the USS Cole has found new life in a field in New Jersey. Engineers at the Vice Adm. James H. Doyle Jr. Combat System Engineering Development Site (CSEDS) Aegis Technical Representative (TECHREP) in Moorestown refurbished the SPY-1B/D antenna that was installed on the ship when it was attacked by terrorists in 2000.
An explosive ordnance disposal specialist with the U.S. Army credits a popular treasure-hunting game called geocaching for his keen eye and ability to seek out improvised explosive devices.
Homefront Help is SIGNALConnections’ effort to support U.S. service members, veterans and their families. The column highlights programs that offer resources and assistance to the military community ranging from care packages to benefits and everything in between. In that same spirit, Homefront Help presents opportunities for readers to donate time, offer resources and send words of thanks to those who sacrifice for freedom. Programs that provide services are listed in red. Opportunities for the public to reach out to service members are listed in blue. Each program description includes a link to the organization's website, when available. Homefront Help also has a Facebook page where visitors can gather and share information.
The demonstrator for the X3 high-speed, long-range hybrid helicopter recently began test flights. The vertical takeoff and landing aircraft is designed to cruise at speeds in excess of 220 knots. Two turboshaft engines power a five-blade main rotor system and two propellers installed on short-span fixed wings, which offer the speed of a turboprop-powered aircraft and the full-hover flight capabilities of a helicopter. The concept is tailored to applications where operational costs, flight duration and mission success depend directly on the maximum cruising speed. The aircraft is designed for a range of missions, including special forces operations, troop transport, combat search and rescue, medical evacuation long-distance search and rescue missions, Coast Guard duties, border patrol missions, passenger transport and intercity shuttle services. Initial testing will continue through December. After a three-month upgrade, Eurocopter-built X3 will resume flights in March with the goal of reaching sustained cruise speeds in excess of 220 knots.
Become a fan on 
Link with 
View photos on 
