Search

The U.S. Army's ambitious program to create a lighter, more mobile, networked and lethal force is facing budget cuts and concerns that the complex initiative may not be fully deployed. A recently released Congressional Budget Office report examines Future Combat Systems within the context of the Army's transformation efforts. It highlights the challenges facing the program and provides alternative approaches to modernizing the service's combat brigades.

The U.S. Marine Corps is assessing a technology that will allow troops to assemble aviation command and control centers anywhere they can take a high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV). The new system is more agile, mobile and dynamic than the systems it replaces, and it gives Marines the ability to engage the enemy more quickly and effectively.

U.S. troops in Iraq are performing investigative fieldings of instant speech-to-speech translators as a result of efforts by several government organizations and private companies. The language barriers faced by U.S. forces and Iraqis inhibit training and routine operations. As operation Iraqi Freedom continues, the need for better communication between U.S. troops and Iraqi soldiers and civilians is becoming increasingly important.

Disaster areas are chaotic, demanding, challenging environments for both the survivors and the organizations trying to help them. A recent international demonstration examined ways to develop new applications and technologies to coordinate disaster recovery operations better. The event also focused on building social networks between the participants to streamline and accelerate future relief efforts.

Both warfighters and their first responder counterparts depend on handheld radios to maintain small unit connectivity. These radios are lighter and less awkward than manpack systems, allowing more flexibility for users who must coordinate activities in adverse and chaotic situations. The disadvantage is that the range of handheld radios limits their effectiveness in areas with little or no infrastructure.

In the past few years, the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) has participated in several operations that required the sudden U.S. collaboration with a range of unexpected partners. These operations repeatedly highlighted the same point: PACOM must be capable of rapidly standing up new communities of interest (COIs) for specific

Command and control systems used by the U.S./Republic of Korea Combined Forces Command, the 15-member United Nations Command in Korea and U.S. Forces Korea have transformed significantly over the past two years. These improvements in the region were made a priority by the former commander of U.S. Forces Korea, Gen. Leon J.

It has been said that the two news items published most inside the Beltway are "operational successes" and "intelligence failures." Nothing would please me more than to be able to list all of the positive developments in real intelligence collection and sharing that have occurred since the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004-but I cannot. However, the intelligence community, in the wake of this restructuring, has provided a greater glimpse than ever before of its goals and effectiveness. Unfortunately, the public seems aware of only those widely publicized intelligence failures.

Wartime demands and the greater likelihood of coalition operations are changing the way the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency conducts business. The agency is trending toward products that have lower classification levels to improve coalition interoperability, and it is laying the groundwork for its customers to tailor its products to suit specific needs.

Intelligence technology research normally focused on electronics-related disciplines increasingly is being applied to improving human intelligence capabilities. These capabilities, which range from intelligence collection to distribution, define human intelligence activities in the war on terrorism.