PUTTING APPS TO WORK AGAINST INSURGENTS


(Left) SSG Reag Wood of 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 5th Brigade, 1st Armored Division illustrates how he uses an iPhone to obtain a visual image of a mock insurgent activity during a CSDA field training exercise at White Sands Missile Range, NM, last December. (Right) COL Marisa Tanner, Chief of Mission Command Capabilities Division, Future Force Integration Directorate, demonstrates an application that can provide situational awareness and information on high-value targets, during a “digital rodeo” last summer at Fort Bliss, TX. (U.S. Army photos courtesy of Fort Bliss Public Affairs Office.)


said Michael McCarthy, Director of Operations at the Brigade Modernization Command, Mission Command Complex, Fort Bliss, TX.


The Army is also looking at innovative ways to power cell phones, such as the use of an experimental micro fuel cell contain- ing a one-ounce cartridge of methyl alcohol, McCarthy said. The cartridge goes in the bottom of the phone. “One ounce will give me enough power to keep five to six phones working for five to six days,” he explained.


NEXT STEPS The Army is conducting cost-benefit anal- yses of the use of various smartphones and applications; some of the applications use icons and maps with key location-related information, Smith said.


At the same time, there are Information Assurance challenges with the use of smartphones, he said. “You don’t want to use a device that might give away your


locations to a potential enemy.” Through CSDA, the Army is considering various types of encryption and other methods to mitigate these concerns, Smith said.


With this in mind, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has Soldiers in Afghanistan using a smartphone/PDA-type device that translates Pashtun into English and vice versa; however, the “phone” func- tion on this device is turned off for now to mitigate security risks, Smith said.


The Army also is exploring another option in the use of portable cell towers to establish a mobile, ad hoc cell network for deployed forces; this technique creates a mobile “hot spot” that can be extended by adding nodes to the network. As part of these evaluations, the Army is assess- ing whether ad hoc mobile cell networks can successfully integrate with an existing tactical network that includes software- programmable radio, satellites, and other communications technology.


The CSDA initiative also is demonstrating success in using smart devices for training materials, which can be pulled down and used by students at the place and time of the student’s choice, Smith said. Materials such as the Army Blue Book instruction manual for new Soldiers, Military Police basic officer courses, and Patriot missile launcher crewmen courses are linked to smartphone applications.


“We can postulate a future where smart devices are with every Soldier. We are thinking in terms of capability. The real key is whether the benefit outweighs the cost,” Smith said.


KRIS OSBORN is a Highly Qualified Expert for the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technol- ogy Office of Strategic Communications. He holds a B.A. in English and political science from Kenyon College and an M.A. in com- parative literature from Columbia University.


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ACQUISITION


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