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Army Plans Overhaul of Infantry Gear
nxg125 writes "Wired is running an article about a seven-year, $250 million revamping of the US Army's uniforms. One of the major obstacles is going to be how to power all the electronic devices that the soldiers will use. 'They have at least one idea, though. "Avoid the use of Microsoft Windows operating systems," a recent memo on the subject directed. FFW is going open source. Cleaner software needs less energy to run.'"
...which already has some open source ties.
For example, the Vishnu planning engine (source code and project site here) is being used as part of FCS logistics planning.
The Army reading list
It's a similar way too forward-looking military thing. The plan is that by 2020, every soldier will have an IP address.
There isn't? Then how come there's such a thing as "diplomatic immunity?" Is it just my imagination? Or all those other things i was told about in my introductory law course? Are you telling me that these are all myths, and that in reality, everyone does what they will?
Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
The US only observes the Geneva Convention when it's convenient or they think the media isn't looking. Look at the prisoners in Cuba: the US government made up new definitions in attempt to thumb its nose at the Geneva Convention and thus bypass it. It sounds like hypocrasy to me.
How about this time in particular?
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
Maybe we could forgo the technology that we don't need and have longer enlistments for infantry with more Special Forces type training, i.e. winning hearts and minds. Make it a lifestyle choice with more and better training, higher physical standards, better pay.
Go ahead and shoot me down but I'm going off of 8 years of Marine Corps Infantry.
Some of the new technology is great like the new ACOG 4x scope for the battle rifles. You can use them with both eyes open. My little brother is deploying to Iraq as a Marine Scout Sniper and bought his own (out of his pocket!) Eotech 552 scope. You can see from the link provided that it can be used even when half the lens is damaged.
In keeping in line with my comment about the rifle scopes/sights, the basic gear still needs to be revamped. Tear away chest harnesses are in high demand with most Marines choosign to buy them out of their own pockets rather than use the issue gear. The Marine Corps is still trying to deal with their mistake of using the MOLLE gear system. The MOLLE's plastic pack frame was breaking left and right in Afganistan and now the Marine Corps is replacing the pack with a new design.
So stop fantasizing about the choice of OS on pie in the sky dreams/future projects and get the grunts gear that works.
This guy is way out there
Not only that, but many of those custom batteries do not react well in field conditions. They have a tendency to explode when wet. The semisealed lithiums are just not safe. I don't want to have to worry about carrying a small bomb when I'm wearing an AERPS kit.
For Air Force aircrew this seems to be changing. Most of the gear I've been issued in the last year runs on AA or AAA. GPS, NVGs, lip lamps, all commodity batteries.
There are many errors in your post. Also, your conclusion is wrong.
There are a long series of Geneva conventions that most countries have signed and ratified.
There were four Geneva Conventions, not "a long series." One hundred and ninety countries have signed or ratified (not necessarily both) some part of the Conventions (not necessarily all).
In the United States when international law is ratified it holds the same legal standing as the Constitution.
There's no such thing as "international law." That's just a figure of speech. What you're talking about is a treaty. Treaties, when signed by the president and ratified by the Senate, take on the force of federal law. They do not have the same legal standing as the Constitution. Treaties, like all laws, are subject to the constraints of the Constitution. A treaty which violates any provision of the Constitution is not valid.
(That's why, incidentally, the United States could not have ratified the Rome Treaty if it had wanted to. The International Criminal Court would have completely violated the Constitution's protection of our rights of due process, equal protection, and freedom from self-incrimination.)
Now, let's talk about law for a second. Law is legitimate only to the extent that it arises from the collective will of the people. The rules of war, such as the Geneva Conventions, are agreements made between governments without the involvement of the people. Therefore the rules of war do not comprise a body of law. They're legally equivalent to a handshake.
(So, incidentally, is the UN Charter.)
I write in my journal
So why are guerilla tactics used by an opposing force often decried as unfair or underhanded?
The idea is inherited from the Napoleanic Wars. Back in the day, Armies did the fighting, and Civilians were not really much affected by war (unless a battle happened in your backyard) - "The farmer in his field and the Burgher in his town should neither know, nor care, when the state has gone to war". An older phrasing of the idea, already fraying in Napolean's day.
Guerrillas ("little wars") required Armies to make war on the populace at large, or give up. And Armies, traditionally, don't really like making war on the populace or giving up. Note that Air Forces have always been a bit less discriminating that way. Comes from having only area effect weapons.
In any case, the traditional view is that wars have a distinct beginning, middle and end. And Guerrillas mess up that "end" part no end.
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
Actually, despite the fact that our public schools are miserable failures of education these days,
Interstingly, the US Military has one of the most effective teaching systems in the world. The sudden dramatic expansion of the US Military in WW2 pretty much required that they learn how to teach pretty much anyone anything, quickly.
And a long service professional military helps there too.
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
(with the exception of some no critical, off the shelf stuff)
Afraid you're wrong on that one.
From http://www.genevaconventions.org/
Both the fourth Geneval Convention and the two Additional Protocols extend protections to civilians during war time.
Civilians are not to be subject to attack. This includes direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks against areas in which civilians are present.
There is to be no destruction of property unless justified by military necessity.
Individuals or groups must not be deported, regardless of motive.
Civilians must not be used as hostages.
Civilians must not be subject to outrages upon personal dignity.
Civilians must not be tortured, raped or enslaved.
Civilians must not be subject to collective punishment and reprisals.
Civilians must not receive differential treatment based on race, religion, nationality, or political allegiance.
Warring parties must not use or develop biological or chemical weapons and must not allow children under 15 to participate in hostilities or to be recruited into the armed forces.
But before that, I believe it was said by none other than Winston Churchill.
And all that stuff I listed, that's just for people classified as prisoners of war. If you're not part of the armed forces of a nation... well, the rules are considerably looser.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
To fix that problem Electric Fuel has created a zinc/air battery for use in the field. To deal with the multiple battery form factors they have a little plugin empy plastic box, that leads out with a single pigtail. The actual battery actually is two 12 volt stacks that can be wired in parallel or series if you need 24V.
Absolutly true. The Air Force deals with Lat/Long because the earth is curved and the area they cover is large enough that computing distances and heading over a curved surface is computationally easier using degrees and minutes.
The Army, on the other hand, deals in distances much smaller, where the curvature of the earth is not a factor. The Army uses a system called the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS ).
This system suits the Army well because it is simple, accurate, and works in meters instead of nautical miles.
Army pilots, like myself, have to use both systems constantly. And we always have to convert between the two. Although when errors are made, it often deals with using different datums rather than computational error. The DOD is in the process of fixing this though by using a single datum for all maps. (WGS84)
You have 5 Moderator Points! Use 'em or lose 'em! They will expire before any good stories are posted.
You're wrong. The geneva convention prohibits physical and moral coericion including threats. In particular,
So withholding pain meds, sleep deprivation, threats of torture, loud starvation, etc. are not okay according to the convention.
Also, threats of physical violence don't really do much unless it's credible in which case someone probably gets hurt in order to make sure prisoners understand that they might be next or that the interrogators are willing to go further.
"When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it
The citizens of the United States were better off with that piece of shit Saddam running Iraq. They never should have changed the status quo of the situation in 2002 by invading Iraq.
Not because "war is wrong", but because once the US unilaterally invaded Iraq, it would have no way to get out, without a worse situation occurring (a theocracy against the US). Because we can't get out (without having a more f**ked up situation), 800 US citizens have lost their lives (and more heroes are about to die for their country), reservists are confronted with the situation of being a grunt for the next ten years, while their families fall apart and loss of potential civilian career, and the cost to the US taxpayer will probably ultimately go into the trillions of dollars for this escapade.
This result of this action was forseen by military & strategic experts before the actual invasion. It only could have been mitigated by better planning and execution by the U.S. Gov't. Obviously, they failed miserably (Invasion suceeded, occupation has failed). Now these same experts are indicating that our U.S. military will become unable to meet its world wide security committments (Korea & Taiwan) because the bulk of our force is now stuck in Iraq & Afganistan. Support the US and the troops all you want. But if you support Bush, then you support an administration that *failed* in reverting Iraq into a stable nation, and made the US geopolitical situation much worse than it was in 2002.
The "imminent threat" to the US by Saddam has been demonstrated to be a lie. A lie concocted by the U.S. Gov't, with the most likely culprits the Bush administration.
You think the lie was merely a mistake caused by British intelligence. But we had US personnel verify that the intel was wrong. When one of those gov't employees tried to point out that the administration was lying about not receiving the information, someone decided to tell the press that his wife worked as a deep cover anti-terrorist agent. There was no reason to reveal her name. Its a federal crime to do so. It damaged the intelligence network she setup against WMD terrorists, jeapardized her life, and now she can't work in CIA because she's been outed.
Why Bush decided to invade Iraq, who was behind it (Israel???), is all distracting speculation.
The only thing left to do is kick out the Bush administration for their egregious failure, and hope the next set of ass-clowns can do a better job. The current group has failed.
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon