Within a year or two, the U.S. military could field a portable, laser backpack device that will provide a three-dimensional (3-D) map of buildings. The reconnoitering pack could be used by reconnaissance scouts to form a 3-D, interactive image of buildings that other troops might have to access at a later time.
September 2010
A soldier in harm’s way has no greater ally than other soldiers watching his or her back. That trust is the
key component of a good unit. Usually, the bond of trust that only members of the military share is built
during training and missions. That trust is priceless in theater, but what about other environments?
Dark alleys, sketchy neighborhoods, the bleachers of an away game – soldiers have that covered. But,
who has your back in cyberspace?
The U.S. Marine Corps now has its first fully assembled Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) system and is working to overcome past difficulties to put the asset in warfighters' hands. Plans to upgrade multiple radar capabilities with the single system hit some snags over the past few years, but developers are back on track after finding solutions to the problems.
While anecdotes abound about professionals who have lost job opportunities over something they’ve posted online, new research reveals that the risk is greater than suspected. A survey Cross-Tab conducted of more than 1,100 human resources professionals found that 70 percent of recruiters have rejected a candidate for employment based on text, photos or videos they discovered online.
Trawling the Internet can be a dangerous activity, but the security status of different types of websites is not the same, Sorin Mustaca, data security expert, says. However, when more than 3,300 people responded to a survey about Internet security on the Avira GmbH website, more than a third of the respondents said when it comes to security, all websites are equally dangerous. Mustaca, who works for Avira, says in reality, some sites and computer activities are riskier than others, but Web devotees can take simple precautions to protect themselves from e-predators.
The Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) is working to keep
Give two cents—get big prizes. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), in partnership with ChallengePost, launched Challenge.gov on September 7 at the Gov 2.0 Summit 2010 in Washington, D.C. The free online challenge platform invites the general public to propose solutions to government challenges, including the U.S. Army’s push for new training and simulation tools utilizing artificial intelligence.
The People’s Republic of
This summer I attended a series of thought-provoking conferences, ranging from business technology to clean energy to cybersecurity and network integration. Collectively, they suggest that we’re living in a “golden age” of technological innovation, but they also highlighted a growing gap between increasingly interactive capabilities and the ability to provide security at several levels, ranging from individual privacy to critical infrastructure protection.
A British soldier in an armored vehicle talks with U.S. Marines while on patrol near Marjah in Helmand province in Afghanistan. The United Kingdom probably will have military forces in Afghanistan for the next five years under the aegis of the International Security Assistance Force.
Pvt. Sherman Huff, USA (l), 207th Army Liaison team (ALT), helps Pfc. Aaron Garlington, USA (c), 206th ALT, and Spc. Shaun Marshall, USA, 207th ALT, inflate a balloon with helium. The aerostat provided surveillance at the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) site in Colorado Springs, Colorado, during Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID) 2010.
The fundamental nature of warfare has changed. Asymmetric warfare has become the prominent threat. Non-state actors, often difficult to identify, have become the primary warfighters in many cases. The cyber domain has been recognized as one of the most dangerous and potentially harmful warfighting domains. And, defense and security budgets are strained by a troubled global economy. Does this sound familiar? It is the environment no matter where you sit on this globe.
Portuguese Army Capt. Rafael Aranha (l) assists Staff Sgt. William Kouba, USAF, of the 1st Combat Communications Squadron (1CBCS) with reconfiguring the Tactical Communications network as Senior Airman Stacey Whitmire, USAF, 1CBCS, takes notes in the background during Combined Endeavor 2009.
An old doctrine illuminates the obsolescence of traditional rules.
Military commanders long have complained of limited situational awareness because of faulty intelligence and disruption of their lines of communications. Gen. Carl von Clausewitz called this “the fog of war.” Today’s military commanders face a distinctly different threat to their lines of communications because cyberwar casts a shadow far beyond Gen. Clausewitz’s conventional battlefield and the rules of engagement that govern armed conflict.
The Mobile Detection Assessment and Response System is the recipient of laser radar technology developed under a previous Army Research Laboratory Collaborative Technology Alliance.
Autonomous machines that interact intelligently within their environment are part of Army’s plan to help the warfighter.
The German armored reconnaissance vehicle Fennek will be one of the first armed forces vehicles to be fully supplied by the Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing (SAP) for Defense Forces and Public Security (SASPF) after deployment to Afghanistan.
Photo courtesy of
Despite reductions in budget and personnel resulting from the global financial crisis, the NATO Consultation, Command and
Control Agency (NC3A) continues its core mission of supporting alliance forces in Afghanistan.