Font ResizeWHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE - The problem that exists when soldiers dismount their vehicles in the field is they lose the capacity for individual communication with each other.
The solution? Cell phones.
The U.S. Army is developing applications for cell phones that will put soldiers into the fray with tools that will help them not only to communicate with each other, but also identify enemies, pinpoint locations and get a better handle on their surroundings.
Fort Bliss held a recent training exercise in the field to kick off the process of cellular communication for individuals. Col. Marisa Tanner, Future Force Integration Directorate Mission Command Capabilities division chief, said a dismounted team network currently doesn't go with the team, but that will change.
"We are looking for better solutions," said Michael McCarthy, operations director for the Future Force Integration Directorate at Fort Bliss.
The training mission took a division of soldiers to the Cox Ranch on White Sands Missile Range to roust three insurgents.
"We are using an area where there is no Sprint (cell phone service) or whatever," McCarthy said. "We are testing our own network and the functionality of the phones."
The phones used by the soldiers will have its own network source, McCarthy said. When social networking can be used in combat, the picture becomes more complete for those in the field.
The transmitting towers are low profile, no more than 3åfeet tall, and can be
"This way we are not tethered to our vehicles for information," he said. "We are here to validate the functionality. They would provide a richer exchange of information with the ability to have a more refined picture of what is going on in the field."
McCarthy said the Army is using actual commercial products on the market that leads to enormous cost savings over enveloping their own.
"With the velocity of change in cell phones, they can be obsolete in six months," he said. "This way we can leverage the velocity of change."
"With these instruments in the field, every soldier is a sensor," Tanner said. "We can have a fused picture. We can do developing and collecting inside."
Applications for the phones in the field are numerous. For example, medical data can be transmitted, such as photos of wounds, to help personnel decide how to help.
There are apps for tactical chat providing test messaging that results in quick reporting and rapid information dissemination. With today's young people, texting is second nature.
"If they have a platform to text, they are going to text," Tanner said. "You can put 250 people on a text."
The soldiers have been becoming familiar with the phones for a couple of years and are already providing good feedback to the program, Tanner said.
"We built a feedback platform," she said. "Soldiers are providing specific feedback. At the end of the day, it is the soldier that matters."
"We get an average of 60 inputs of feedback a day," McCarthy said. "Soldiers are creative and innovative."
The soldiers tell the development team what they could use and applications or apps can then be developed as needed.
Another app is a hand-held GPS sensor that provides team tracking.
"It's a very simple, complex thing," Tanner said.
The phones are able to provide facial recognition. Taking a photo of someone can generate a quick response as to whether to detain or release them. Personal information can be added with the photo.
McCarthy noted the potential of the identification app expanding to a point where soldiers can have that information in their glasses and can check identities just by looking at passers-by.
Army Evaluation Task Force 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Commander Col. Daniel Pinnell said a digital system can provide a real-time sequence of the history of an area and where problems have occurred before.
"We can evaluate potential risk like where bombs have been camouflaged in the past, Pinnell said.
He said the current range of the network is about 19.2 feet, but in the future that can be expanded to where overhead vehicles such as blimps and UAVs may be able to carry the antennas.
Pinnell also said the data is not stored on the phones. If they get into enemy hands, they can be turned off remotely or even monitored to see who the enemy is calling or texting. They can even be erased remotely.
Elva K. ·sterreich writes for the Alamogordo Daily News, a member of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership, and can be reached at eosterreich@alamogordonews.com.
