National Defense articles from December 2007

National Defense archives from December 2007

Coast guard's innovative spirit needed by all.(PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE)
December 1, 2007... Innovation is one of those great leadership challenges that is not easy to define but is obviously a necessity of every successful organization. That brings me to the Coast Guard's just concluded technology exhibition in New Orleans, where the...

For contractors in war zones, business will keep growing.(DEFENSE WATCH)
December 1, 2007... The constant sniping in Washington about military contractors--particularly those doing" business in Iraq--ignores the inescapable conclusion that the privatization of government functions not only is here to stay, but is going to get bigger....

Contractors unwittingly give up secrets, says CIO.(WASHINGTON PULSE)
December 1, 2007... Pentagon Chief Information Officer John G. Grimes has put industry on notice. Tighten your internal network security, he tells a roomful of contractors. Spies are extracting drips and drabs of highly sensitive information from defense...

Iraqi vendors urged to bid on U.S. contracts.(WASHINGTON PULSE)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To make it easier for Iraqi companies to score U.S. military contracts over in the war zone, the Pentagon created a database that lists in Arabic all available contract opportunities. Since the joint contingency...

Change? Don't even think about it.(WASHINGTON PULSE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... At the Defense Information Systems Agency, it is not easy to even suggest minor changes to the status quo, laments DISA's chief, Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Croom. "I work in a bureaucracy of 15,000 folks--6,600 military and civilians, 8,000...

In military acquisition, civilians rule.(WASHINGTON PULSE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... It is rare these days to find green-suit officers in charge of major procurement programs. That has to change, says Lt. Gen. N. Ross Thompson III, director of the Army Acquisition Corps. "Our acquisition workforce is 97 percent civilian,"...

A tough sell: hardware for the wars of 2030.(WASHINGTON PULSE)
December 1, 2007... Under the latest schedule, the Army's Future Combat Systems will be completely fielded by 2030. That timeline speaks volumes about the difficulties the Army has selling the program to skeptical appropriators on Capitol Hill. "It's...

Army brass pleads for more overseas bases.(WASHINGTON PULSE)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Army leaders are unhappy with base-closure laws that require that 94 percent of its combat units be based in the United States by 2011. The upshot will be an Army that cannot quickly respond to contingencies, says...

Looking North: controversial Secure Border Initiative demonstration program moving to Detroit.(SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Customs and Border Protection and Boeing Co. had a fitful and controversial start to their Project 28 border surveillance program. Problems integrating commercial-off-the-shelf technologies caused a four-month...

Border Protection agency outlines new plans for unmanned aircraft.(SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Customs and Border Protection will expand its unmanned aerial vehicles' areas of operations to the northern border and the Caribbean and will set up its own command and control center. Douglas Koupash, acting...

Defense prodding agencies to beef up disaster preparedness planning.(SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs)
December 1, 2007... Most federal agencies are unprepared to do their part in the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack of natural disaster, a Defense Department official complained. "The one thing the Defense Department does better than any other...

DHS technologists continue search for tunnel detection technology.(SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs)(Department of Homeland Security)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Border Patrol in Yuma, Ariz., employed a unique method to locate the latest tunnel used to smuggle drugs and people underneath its fences. A water truck drove over it and caused the clandestine structure to...

Troubled US-visit program still seeking solutions.(SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ENSURING THAT FOREIGN VISITORS ACTUALLY leave the United States when their visa expires has been a long-time goal of the Department of Homeland Security's US-VISIT program. Unlike European and Asian countries,...

What's next for ground robots?(INSIDE Science AND Technology)
December 1, 2007... When the Pentagon's premiere research lab held a robot race across the California desert three years ago, it not only generated excitement in industry and academia, but also created skeptics who scoffed at the idea of driverless cars and trucks...

Weapons under fire: Marine programs need to regain credibility, says acquisition chief.(UPFRONT)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] QUANTICO, Va. -- The Marine Corps must fix its troubled procurement programs and restore its reputation on Capitol Hill if it wants to secure needed funding for new equipment, said a senior acquisition official. ...

Military's new 'light' truck defies laws of physics.(UPFRONT)
December 1, 2007... When did buying trucks become "rocket science?" Unlike most other high-tech weapon procurements, trucks have been relative straightforward affairs. The issues typically involve cargo capacity, off-road mobility, fuel efficiency and other...

Air Force search-and-rescue crews stressed by war, say commanders.(UPFRONT)
December 1, 2007... Air Force search-and-rescue crews are busier than ever helping the Army with medical evacuations of wounded troops. The intense pace of operations, Air Force commanders assert, is straining units and is causing frustrations because medevac...

Port worker ID card criticized as wasteful and ineffective.(UPFRONT)(identification)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard in October began enrolling port workers in a long delayed identity card program even though the technology to read the cards may be years away. Without...

United States and Britain at odds over weapons sales regulations.(UPFRONT)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LONDON -- The world's top two weapons exporters, the United States and the United Kingdom, remain at odds over an international arms trade treaty favored by the United Nations. The United Nations is proposing new...

Darkened skies: murky picture of what's happening in space worries Air Force officials.(STRATEGIC COMMAND)
December 1, 2007... OMAHA, Neb. -- One year ago, the esoteric subject of "space situational awareness" was the fifth or sixth bullet on Air Force PowerPoint charts listing needs for the military's spacecraft fleets. The ability to know what is happening in...

Strategic command selling itself to field commanders.(STRATEGIC COMMAND)
December 1, 2007... OMAHA, NEB. -- The lives of officers at U.S. Strategic Command sound remarkably similar to those of traveling salesmen. "We engage the combatant commanders," said Army Col. Christopher Fulton, chief of staff for global strike integration....

'Responsive space' office must quickly prove itself, proponents say.(STRATEGIC COMMAND)
December 1, 2007... OMAHA, NEB. -- U.S. Strategic Command's operationally responsive space office opened its doors at Kirtland, N.M. Air Force Base in May. Although the paint has barely dried, its proponents said that it's already time for the office to make good...

Information gaps: troops in the digital age, disconnected.(Cover story)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AS SURPRISING AS IT MAY SEEM IN TODAY'S WIRED CULTURE, TROOPS IN COMBAT ZONES DO NOT HAVE EASY ACCESS TO INFORMATION. That nugget may be hard to comprehend, considering how effortlessly information today can be...

Digital communications: industry pushing ahead with software-based radios.(net WARFARE)
December 1, 2007... LONDON -- THE U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT'S TROUBLED program to replace its radios with a family of software-based communications devices is plodding along slowly. Experts note that it could be several years before these next-generation...

Security demands fuel market for encrypted communications.(net WARFARE)
December 1, 2007... LONDON -- The rapid expansion of Internet-based communications for military command functions and other security-sensitive operations has sparked concerns about protecting that data from intruders. The military for years has used exclusive...

Blind alleys: U.S. military still struggling to understand urban environment.(URBAN OPERATIONS)
December 1, 2007... In the beginning stages of the Iraqi insurgency, the Armys main intelligence gathering method was "advance to contact"--in other words--keep driving the humvees until hostiles begin shooting. That's how commanders found the enemy, said...

Military researchers seek ways to 'interrogate' buildings.(URBAN OPERATIONS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN VIETNAM, KOREA and World War II, soldiers and Marines were often ordered to "take the high ground." But in today's urban battles, buildings have become the new "hills." Buildings may hide weapon caches,...

Know the enemy: mathematical models: the latest weapons against urban insurgencies.
December 1, 2007... War planners for decades have used computer simulations to prepare for future battles. The Iraq experience, however, convinced commanders that they need new and improved ways to cope with the complex social environments and insurgent...

'The stink of the battlefield': more realism sought in urban combat training.(TRAINING AND SIMULATION)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Before units are deployed to Iraq, they undergo "close quarter" combat training that is designed to prepare them for the rigors of urban warfare. But after completing their tours, troops have complained that current...

First responder teams eye military urban trainers.(TRAINING AND SIMULATION)
December 1, 2007... Threats of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil are prompting law enforcement agencies and first responders to turn to military-grade training facilities. Law enforcement officials are requesting training for urban combat so that units can...

Marine corps orders new convoy simulators.(TRAINING AND SIMULATION)
December 1, 2007... The Marine Corps has purchased simulators that will teach crews how to handle dangerous situations while driving in urban war zones. The combat convoy simulator, made by Lockheed Martin, is an immersive trainer in which five-person crews,...

Coming of age? Serious games market is gaining momentum.(TRAINING AND SIMULATION)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BALTIMORE -- The "serious games" industry, after years of trial and error, is beginning to capitalize on the lucrative alliance between education and entertainment. Defining what constitutes a "serious game" is...

Saving lives: simulations promise better training for combat medics.(TRAINING AND SIMULATIONS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As improvised explosive devices continue to claim lives and maim troops, a new market has emerged for medical simulations to train combat medics. "What's driving the need for training is the way we're fighting...

Computer simulations of stressful environments help boost performance.(TRAINING AND SIMULATION)
December 1, 2007... "Computer simulation" and "psychologist" are not terms usually used in V the same sentence. But one company is trying to fuse the two via cognitive science. The goal is to optimize human performance in high-risk industries and high-stress...

Almost real: digital designs and virtual tests continue to be subject of debate.(TRAINING AND SIMULATION)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To speed up deliveries and cut costs, the U.S. military's newest jet fighter will undergo much of its testing in digital simulations. The Defense Department for years has relied on "virtual prototypes" to test...

Sharper image: clearer TV screens nearing fruition.(TECH TALK)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A high-tech project funded by the Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency has yielded lasers that have the size, expense and reliability of diode lasers and the beam quality of more costly solid-state systems....

Computer forensics can be done in the field.(TECH TALK)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... The art and science of computer forensics--capturing images from "erased" drives and reconstructing files--doesn't always happen in a "CSI" laboratory. For investigators who need to work in the field, there is a lunchbox-style portable...

Military GPS navigation tailored for civilians.(TECH TALK)(global positioning system)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... A HELMET MOUNTED NAVIGATION SYSTEM for parachutists recently was introduced by Rockwell Collins, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The ParaNav is a personal, GPS-based, flight management system with a heads-up display. It provides parachutists with...

Multi-mission underwater craft serves fed agencies.(TECH TALK)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, are giving several federal agencies unprecedented acuity in underwater scenarios. One of the vehicles, made by JW Fishers Mfg. inc. of East Taunton, Mass., is the SeaLion ROV,...

Improved helmet display for army aircraft simulators.(TECH TALK)
December 1, 2007... A LIGHTER, significantly more capable head mounted display for the Army's Advanced Combined Arms Tactical Trainer is being developed by Rockwell Collins Simulation and Training Solutions. The Army Program Executive Office for Simulation,...

Ballistic eyewear protection essential for troops.(TECH TALK)
December 1, 2007... SURVEYS SUGGEST that 10 percent of battlefield injuries involve the eyes. One initiative to curb that disturbing statistic is to provide ballistic protection eyewear and prescription inserts to the troops. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To...

Export laws: avoid the Scarlett letter.(ETHICS CORNER)
December 1, 2007... Complex U.S. export control laws and regulations are here to stay. The federal government is serious about export control enforcement, and violators are being severely punished. Apart from the fines and suspension issues, as serious as...

'Academic Olympics' to inspire future generations of scientists.(ETHICS CORNER)
December 1, 2007... We have all heard the story: the United States has woefully inadequate numbers of graduates in science, math and engineering. Other countries crank out graduates in these fields and many of these countries' citizens come to U.S. schools. Some...

Science--technology engineering--mathematics.(STEM News)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Are you concerned about the declining rate of STEM graduates in the U.S.? Are you concerned enough to do something about it? Have you heard about the National Science Center? The National Science Center (NSC) is a unique partnership between...

NDIA events calendar.(National Defense Industry Association)(Calendar)
December 1, 2007... DECEMBER 3-7 Defense Systems Acquisition Management Course (DSAM) New Orleans, LA ndia.org/meetings/802A 6 C4ISR Breakfast Pentagon City, VA ndia.org/meetings/892B [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 11-12 ...