DARPA's Map-Based Wiki Keeps Platoons Alive

blackbearnh writes "One of the biggest problem that a platoon on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan faces is that when a new unit cycles in, all the street-sense and experience of the old unit is lost. Knowing where insurgents like to plant IEDs, or even which families have a lot of domestic disputes, can spell the difference between living and dying. In response to this, DARPA created TIGR, the Tactical Ground Reporting System. Developed as much on the ground in active warzones as in a lab, TIGR lets platoons access the latest satellite and drone imagery in an easy-to-use map based interface, as well as recording their experiences in the field and accessing the reports of other troops. In this O'Reilly Radar interview, two of the people responsible for the development of TIGR talk about the intel issues that troops face in hostile territory, the challenges of deploying new technology meant for combat areas, the specific tricks that they had to employ to make TIGR work over less-than-robust military networking, and how TIGR is impacting platoons in their day to day operations"

Excellent tool

[mc1138]

This is great for a couple of reasons. First it gives troops on the ground better intel on what to watch for and where, doing a job of keeping them alive. But it also looks like it can help troops get a better understanding of the area. What are your poor areas prone to violence. Long gone are the days when you can shoot first and ask questions later. This sort of intel is a valuable step to understanding the people over there and maybe even working with them rather than working against them. I'm sure the vast majority of Iraqi's just want an end to the violence, and are willing to work with whomever will help them get the status quo back.

Don't panic

[Max Romantschuk]

I totally need something like this for my GPS-enabled cell phone for a real world Hichhiker's Guide. :)

Re:Useful and Needed

[fabs64]

Sounds like the army encounters (on a more dangerous scale) one of the very same problems that the corporate world does. Loss of institutional knowledge.

Makes sense that they should try out systems similar to those that are being trialled in other areas to combat this problem.

Re:Sounds great if they protect the source from en

[thedonger]

Of course this assume the enemy hackers are not as good as your hackers

You are assuming the network over which it is served in the field is not completely localized. Or that somehow it never occurred to them that the Taliban might have hackers.

You are arm-chair IT managing.

Re:This is not good!

[drakaan]

I wish that there was a "-1: Straw-man" moderation...

No one has said (that I have seen) that this is a silver bullet to allow us to win. Beyond that, unless your definition of what it means to win (in Iraq) is vastly different from mine, winning would mean the end of military operations there, which I expect (based on the pair of comments you made about weapons) you would approve of.

That aside, This is a tool, not a strategy. This tool provides historical information to people (soldiers) who would make *worse* decisions (life-or-death decisions affecting Iraqi civilians as well as soldiers) without it.

Whether it's time to leave or not, how is this system a bad thing for the situation in Iraq?

Re:This is not good!

[Canazza]

Indeed, it'll most likely aid immesurably for the residents of the next country we all go and liberate.

Joking aside, While I never agreed with going to war, I do agree that we should clean up what we've done, and this does go some way to ensure that can happen consistently and easilly.