The Internet and The War

John Jorsett writes "Wired Magazine has an interesting article on the realities of the use of communication and navigation technology in the Iraq war. Particularly intriguing is the use of chat rooms to engage experts thousands of miles away in helping to solve problems at the troop level in the field. And if you think your admin job is tough, try running your servers in 125 degree heat in a sandstorm."

Soldier Skills.

[villain170]

The military better watch itself -- if they start relying too heavily on technology, soldiers will lose the fundamental skills that make them unique.

Re:Soldier Skills.

[Cipster]

It's already happened in my field (medicine). Too many doctors rely on sophisticated lab tests rather than performing a good physical

Technology changes other fields as well

[John3]

The challenge is to integrate the technology without reducing the skills that make the particular occupation unique. I own a hardware store and we've embraced all sorts of inventory, POS, web, wireless and communication technology. However, we still need to be able to manually examine a rusted ballcock that a customer yanked out of their toilet and hook them up with the proper replacement parts.

Re:Technology changes other fields as well

[operagost]

Huh huh... you said "ballcock".

Re:Soldier Skills.

[Timesprout]

Na with the automation of weapons and IRC communication it just means the recruiting adds will change their requirements to something like

Ability to work alone (usually forced)

Extensive experience in underground bunkers (parents basement is acceptable)

Ability to type 80 wpm

Extensive experience with RTS and FPS games

Childish desire to hit back at society for rejecting your inept social skills by attempting to achieve global domination

Re:Soldier Skills.

[Planesdragon]

The military better watch itself -- if they start relying too heavily on technology, soldiers will lose the fundamental skills that make them unique.

Yeah, like swordfighting--er...

I mean, yeah, like how to fire a musket line--no, wait...

Trenches! Must not forget trenches!

The history of war is a history of technology progressing, progressing, and progressing. The "war-fighter" (i.e., "solider, salior, marine, or pilot") doesn't have a job of reading maps and following trails--their job is to fight and win.

Sure, your networked rifle squad could lose its GPS uplink--but that's no different than having your map burnt away from you.

Re:Soldier Skills.

[GlassHeart]

Sure, your networked rifle squad could lose its GPS uplink--but that's no different than having your map burnt away from you.

Nonsense. It's far easier (though still difficult, obviously) to shoot down a dozen satellites - or just jam their transmissions effectively - than to find each paper map in an enemy army of 100,000 troops and burn them. Need to reproduce a map? Find a photocopy machine, or make a quick sketch by hand!

Technology is great, but it's not without risks. The warning against over-rel

Re:Soldier Skills.

[hobbesmaster]

Isn't that somewhat saying that you don't need guns because you already have bayonets? And when your gun jams, you're going for that bayonet anyway so lets just skip the guns.

And then centralized command and control; knock that out and theres nobody to control the armies! So lets just throw everyone out there and say "conquer the nation" and it'll all work out!

More or less the same line of reasoning. I'd expect a squad to react to losing his GPS the same way he'd react to losing their comms or running out of ammunition....

Anyway, when did using faulty technology stop the military in the past? I seem to recall an absurd rate of duds in USN torpedos during WWII...

Re:Soldier Skills.

[echucker]

A concept that I'd always idly wondered about at a younger age....

Weapons (and armor) are constantly in a race to stay ahead of each other. Longbows vs. cavalry, the zweihander vs. the pike, mail vs. slashing weapons.... As technology advances, it must always be retroactively effective against previous applications. Just imagine the beautiful irony though, if a helicopter's armor was immune to a laser, but a rock hurled from a sling knock it out of the sky?

critical soldier skills

[The Tyro]

like cleaning everything... constantly... endlessly.

Most people who have never deployed to that region of the world don't realize that it's not sandy... it's dusty. The soil (or what passes for soil) is this lightweight, fine, adherent brown dust... that dust got into damned near everything, even closed pelican cases (don't ask me how).

It wreaked havoc on our COMM and Systems guys; they were constantly cleaning their boxen, from the servers, right on down to the Dell laptops we were using.

Even in my field (medical), we were constantly cleaing and mopping out our Operating Room (in a tent, naturally).. you could NEVER get ahead of the dust. This drove my surgeon colleagues nuts... you could pretty much count on a higher complication rate with an environment like that. When the sandstorms would roll in, forget about it.

A bunch of us ran our own private LAN between a bunch of tents; honing our 31337 CounterStrike 5killz (I tell ya, those terrorists were in deep trouble if they tried to take us on... our M4 and AWP skills would have devastated those Al-Queda noobs... ) Fortunately, our hardware was not as mission-essential as the systems/COMM types... we could afford the occasional crash (though it did hurt to lose your sweet kill ratio).

Demanding environment, alright... it's amazing our stuff worked as well as it did.

Nice try, monkeyboy

[The Tyro]

You think my post is bullshit? I really don't care what a 14yo AC who hasn't the stones to post under his real account thinks. Besides, unless you've got security clearance and NTK, I can't tell you.

Sorry, but I take the national security agreement I signed very seriously.

Re:Soldier Skills.

[LittleLebowskiUrbanA]

That's why the military has riflemen and it has IT guys. However, the IT guys need to keep their basic rifleman skills honed so they go to a basic infantry skills course once a year at least in the Marine Corps.
Depends on the individual, really.

Re:Soldier Skills.

[AHumbleOpinion]

The military better watch itself -- if they start relying too heavily on technology, soldiers will lose the fundamental skills that make them unique.

I wouldn't worry. Marines refer to the 7 inch combat knife as the most reliable weapon they carry since it has no moving parts and no electronics. The Army still has a bayonet course in basic training, they still teach land navigation with map and compass. Some Navy quartermasters can still plot a position with sextant and chronometer. Much of basic training

Re:Soldier Skills.

[villain170]

Obviously they did, but that still doesn't change the fact that technology, most notably GPS, is going to replace the basic map reading skills.

Basic Training may not change much from what it is now; however, once soldiers get to their units and they see their officers using their fancy GPS machines, they are going to wonder why they ever learned how to read a stupid old paper map in the first place. That's when the military is going to be in trouble.

Re:Soldier Skills.

[Dun Malg]

Basic Training may not change much from what it is now; however, once soldiers get to their units and they see their officers using their fancy GPS machines, they are going to wonder why they ever learned how to read a stupid old paper map in the first place. That's when the military is going to be in trouble.

You're looking at it wrong. GPS units aren't used as replacements for maps. They're used to supplement them. GPS doesn't show terrain features, so planning unit movements still often requires separate maps. Even if these maps are kept totally online someday, the ability to READ a map will still have to be taught. Basic military training will always include basic navigation skills.

Re:Soldier Skills.

[zilly]

Look, why exactly will the military be in trouble when they begin relying on GPS instead of paper maps? Presumably there's some advantage to all this newfangled technology over reading paper maps, else they wouldn't be training soldiers to use these GPS gizmos.

If your argument is that the military shouldn't rely on technology because technology is inherently unreliable, then you may have a point -- but do note that the Pentagon isn't stupid, at least not when it comes to training its soldiers, and it will

Heh, the use of chat rooms...

[craenor]

A/S/L - 19 iraqi single male, looking for sniper...

Re:Heh, the use of chat rooms...

[JohnFluxx]

"Fuck you! I think killing is hilarious. Don't tell me not to joke about killing." - very-para quote of george carlin.

In Australia...

[more fool you]

We cook our lunches on the servers. We left a 2U gap so we could also have grills.

Re:In Australia...

[fredrikj]

We cook our lunches on the servers. We left a 2U gap so we could also have grills.

Here in Sweden, the extra heat from computers is just about enough to evaporate oxygen. Overclocking is a necessary means of survival during the winters.

Can't be true.

[caluml]

Suspect chemical attack, he types into a Microsoft Chat session running on the tactical Internet, the military's battlefield communications system.

Tell me this isn't true? The US military resort to Microsoft Chat to communicate a possible chemical attack? Surely they'd have some custom chat software with some heavy duty encryption in it?

It's true

[John Jorsett]

General speaking, you don't encrypt at the software level, you encrypt the comm links themselves, using NSA-approved hardware. That way, you don't have to worry about it at the application level, and there's no opportunity to build in hidden channels to bypass the encryption.

Re:It's true

[caluml]

There's no point encrypting the links if one end is compromised, or am I missing something?

Re:It's true

[John Jorsett]

There's no point encrypting the links if one end is compromised, or am I missing something?

Correct. Which is why you have a destruction plan in the event of capture, and procedures to change out the keys if compromise is suspected. Too, you take into account the perishability of the info. You don't need to protect, "I'm at position X," as long as you do, "the identities of our agents are ...," so that factors in to how you handle potential compromises as well.

Re:It's true

[caluml]

a destruction plan in the event of capture

Like that Enigma machine on that submarine. They didn't ever expect that to fall into Allied hands.

Re:It's true

[Dylan Zimmerman]

Actually, they DID have contingencies. If the sub was ever boarded, abandoned, or could possibly change hands in any way, the comm oficers were ordered to throw the books describing the Enigma into the water on the floor. These books were printed with a special red ink on pink paper. The ink would disolve as soon as it hit the water.

Without those books, the Enigma would be completely useless. They contained the schedule describing the first few letters the operators had to type to use the machine for any given day. It was a great system, really. The Enigma was eventually captured, but it took quite some doing.

Re:It's true

[Svobodin]

Exactly. A large percentage of the traffic on the tactical internet [globalsecurity.org] takes place via tcp/ip on encrypted, frequency hopping fm packet radios [globalsecurity.org]. And commo is always ready to push out new comsec in case of any compromise. This keeps them pretty secure. Trying to use any of it outside line-of-sight is a bitch, though.

Colonel!!!! Error message!!!!

[macshune]

Private : Colonel! It says, "MSN Messenger down for maintenance. Please try again in 15 minutes"

Colonel : Shit, boy! We're gonna get gassed 'cause Billy didn't change the oil up in Redmond! Sheeeit.

Private : Do you want me to bring out the pigeons?

Colonel [lights cigarette]:Fuck it. Send an e-mail to command that says, "possible chemical attack underway. pls advise."

Private :Sir! XP just had to install an update. I need to reboot! ...Sir? Sir???

[Colonel breaks M-16 over leg]

Thankfully, a giant penguin dropped down from the sky with reliable software, just before it was too late.

Re:Colonel!!!! Error message!!!!

[netsharc]

Reminds me of the scene from the South Park movie, where the holographic war map crashes, and the General summons Bill Gates. Here an MP3 [moviesounds.com] of their conversation.

Re:Colonel!!!! Error message!!!!

[Svobodin]

Most of the important stuff in the theater of operations runs on Solaris, usually.

Clippy sez...

[commodoresloat]

It looks like you're communicating news of a WMD emergency. Would you like help?

__ Get help with emergency

__ Continue with emergency without help

__ Howl in agony and clutch at face as it melts grotesquely into the desert sand

Military Relies on Microsoft Technology

[HidingMyName]

Several things come to mind reading this. For one thing, they appear to be using Microsoft Chat over the internet to communicate reconnaissance information. Whether such communication is secure is something I'd really like the govt. to think about, if not it could be putting soldiers at risk. One thing that is mission critical is tech support, and apparently they have a top tier (premier?) support from Microsoft. I wonder if anybody short of say IBM could offer a competing Open Source (*BSD or Linux) based solution?

RTFA

[(54)T-Dub]

"Welcome to Siprnet," he says. GCCS runs over Siprnet - the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network - in the same way that Web applications run over the public Internet. The difference with "Sipper" is that it's basically a far-flung local area network. To maximize security, it doesn't connect with the Internet proper. But it links Centcom to the battlefield and, among other things, allows Franks to talk to Rumsfeld and President Bush via two-way videoconference every evening.

Re:RTFA

[caluml]

Hard on the outside, soft on the inside?
And what happens when an Iraqi captures one of these Sipper sets? He can listen in to Rumsfeld and Bush?
Encryption should be between the two endpoints, IMO, like IPSec.

Re:RTFA

[KrispyKringle]

Again, according to the article, procedure is that if a humvee or truck equipped with one of these units is surrounded, the driver is to turn off the ignition, which shuts down the computer, requireing a password to restart. However, you obviously have to wonder what happens if, say, the driver is sniped but the computer left intact. Some sort of timed logout, while-using-biometric-authentication, or deadman switch seems the best answer, I suppose. Of course, the same vulnerability applies to radios, apparently without many ill effects.

Re:RTFA

[Svobodin]

On the FBCB2 project, SOP was to "zero" the harddrive using a built-in switch, then smash the screen if compromise was certain. But even if they were to get hold of one, and if the average Iraqi is anywhere near as smart as the average American GI, it'd take him a while to make sense of the damned thing. In that time, we're busy pushing out new comsec to secure any future transmissions.

Re:RTFA

[Anonymous Coward]

SIPRNet is one of several DoD operated internets that are physically separate from The Internet(tm), but use the same technology (TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP web servers, etc.) Interconnections between physically secure LANs are over dedicated point-to-point facilities that are bulk encrypted with hardware. It is used for very low-level classified information ("SECRET"). (This level of classification is used for information like today's weather forecast, as opposed to, say, the launch codes for nuclear missiles.)

Re:RTFA

[caluml]

OK, so they did probably think of that before.
But explain to me how you think it works then.

Re:RTFA

[L7_]

Its not connected to the internet... yet soldiers are required to use MS Online help to diagnose and solve problems.

How are they connecting to MS Online help if not through the internet?

Re:Military Relies on Microsoft Technology

[SchnauzerGuy]

I'm sure that there is encryption at the network layer (ala IPSEC or VPN), so using an unencrypted application layer program (like MS Chat) isn't a problem.

Better watch that EULA!

[phillymjs]

So what happens if a bunch of soldiers in the field die due to a failure of/flaw in a Microsoft product? Will Microsoft get off scot-free because of their "no liability" language in their EULA? Would there suddenly be knee-jerk laws passed concerning software reliability?

Discuss.

~Philly

Get real.

[El Camino SS]

For one thing, they appear to be using Microsoft Chat over the internet to communicate reconnaissance information. Whether such communication is secure is something I'd really like the govt. to think about, if not it could be putting soldiers at risk.

You're kidding, right? The DOD created the internet concept to make a more secure network. They have crap to keep things secret that we could only dream of.

Given that one "internet" concept alone, and the fact that Echelon probably exsists and the US Govt has probably been using it for decades, and that military planes explode in impact specifically to destroy technology... ...then I'd juuust assume that the US Govt would be up on communication secrecy.

Cmon. Secrecy has been *the* number one asset of the military for centuries. Its not a new concept.

After all, the Chinese got inside our spyplanes and didn't get jack squat out of it. That should let you know how paranoid we are about our information. So to say, "be careful that is not secure," to the US Military is like saying, "be careful, that stove is hot," to a five star chef.

Re:Get real.

[caluml]

the Chinese got inside our spyplanes and didn't get jack squat out of it.

You're very certain of that.

Re:Get real.

[commodoresloat]

You're kidding, right? The DOD created the internet concept to make a more secure network. They have crap to keep things secret that we could only dream of.

Then they probably should be aware enough not to trust communication to an insecure protocol. In this case the network is only as secure as its weakest application.

Re:Get real.

[swillden]

So to say, "be careful that is not secure," to the US Military is like saying, "be careful, that stove is hot," to a five star chef.

Hehe. This reminds me of a good story.

A few years ago, I gave a presentation on security technology to the Israeli Ministry of Defense. My presentation went well, but the guy who went before me was a security consultant used to dealing with corporate environments, with absolutely no concept of military realities.

The room full of Israeli brass listened politely to his presentation, even though it was clearly a waste of their time, up until the time he was discussing the importance of documenting your security policies and asked them, in complete seriousness, if the Israeli military commands had any documented security policies. I have to say that they took it very well: rather than forcibly ejecting the idiot from the room, they just laughed uproariously and proceeded to tune out the rest of his talk.

I have more than a passing familiarity with US DOD security policies, which are measured by the metric ton, and I cannot even begin to imagine what Israel, a country that has been, essentially, at war for every minute of its entire existence, must have. Needless to say, when he asked that question, I was torn. Half of me wanted desperately to crawl into a hole and die, and the other half wanted to stand up and yell "He's not from my company! I think he works for Microsoft!"

Re:Military Relies on Microsoft Technology

[sean23007]

Yup, that really would put our soldiers at risk in the event of a chemical attack...

Soldier's communication: ...chemical attack in progress. Need help.

Enemy SIGINT operator who intercepts the transmission: Oh my god! They're getting attacked with chemical weapons! I feel like I didn't already know that...

Re:Military Relies on Microsoft Technology

[robi2106]

Did you bother to read and pay attention to the article? The net they use isn't even physically / logically connected to The Internet. They are two totally independant networks.

The difference with "Sipper" is that it's basically a far-flung local area network. To maximize security, it doesn't connect with the Internet proper.

robi

Re:Military Relies on Microsoft Technology

[_ph1ux_]

"One thing that is mission critical is tech support..."

I have this image of a WWII Medic running out to a downed soldier - only hes not a medic and its not a downed soldier.

Its a Tech Support engineer running out to fix some guys comm-palm or something... holding his helmet with one hand, running back and forth half hunched over carrying his little black computer toolkit in one hand. His battle worn glasses "field repaired" with 100-mile-an-hour tape, from the helicopter unit he flew in on.

As he makes h

Re:Military Relies on Microsoft Technology

[JDWTopGuy]

I commend you on the good writing, you should consider writing a short story or something.

But how stupid do you think the military is? IF the soldier was THAT dependent on the device, he/she would be supplied with a backup. Anybody with military experience please correct/confirm this, but don't many soldiers in the field carry some kind of handgun in addition to whatever rifle/machinegun/etc is their primary weapon?

Anyway, I really don't think they're going to be that dependent anytime soon because of the

Re:Military Relies on Microsoft Technology

[Redking]

No, the average grunt still has an M-16A2. One out of a four soldiers carries the M203 grenade launcher and one person out of an eight man squad carries a M249 SAW (hench, Squad Automatic Weapon). Four squads roughly make up a platoon sized element and in each platoon there are one or two M60 (7.62 cal crew based machine gun) gunners depending on the mission and expected opposition.

Its plenty of firepower to cover your ass if something goes wrong with your weapon. Typical battle drills are done so that

OMG

[(54)T-Dub]

Caddell leads the way to one of the shipping containers. Inside, two soldiers baby-sit three rows of Sun servers. "This is where the Global Command and Control System lives," Caddell says. GCCS - known as "Geeks" to soldiers in the field - is the military's HAL 9000. It's an umbrella system that tracks every friendly tank, plane, ship, and soldier in the world in real time, plotting their positions as they move on a digital map.

Re:OMG

[caluml]

every friendly tank, plane, ship, and soldier in the world in real time,

I think "every" might be a slight exaduration. But seriously, does that extend to allied forces, cos we (British) always seem to take a lot of hits from people allegedly on the same side as us. :o(

And also, it's all very well having two soldeirs guarding it, but what happens if a missile lands right on top of them. You need them separated by a few miles.

Re:OMG

[Cyno]

We should know exactly where everything is at all times, including the missles. But that's military intelligence for ya.

Re:OMG

[(54)T-Dub]

Further down in the article the exaggeration is revealed:

About a quarter of the trucks in this convoy have GCCS

The system is still really powerfull though:

One zoom out and I'm looking at the entire Baghdad region. Another zoom out and I see all of Iraq, with forces dotted in the north and heavily clumped around the capital in the center. One more click and I'm looking at the entire sphere of Central Command, from the edge of Libya to Pakistan. I see forces in Turkey, and clustered in Iraq and Kuwait. I feel like a four-star general. I'm sitting in the Iraqi desert looking at troop movements across 25 countries.

Re:OMG

[meringuoid]

One zoom out and I'm looking at the entire Baghdad region. Another zoom out and I see all of Iraq, with forces dotted in the north and heavily clumped around the capital in the center. One more click and I'm looking at the entire sphere of Central Command, from the edge of Libya to Pakistan. I see forces in Turkey, and clustered in Iraq and Kuwait. I feel like a four-star general. I'm sitting in the Iraqi desert looking at troop movements across 25 countries.

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen to me. T

Re:OMG

[carpe_noctem]

we (British) always seem to take a lot of hits from people allegedly on the same side as us.

Hey, at least the patriot missiles actually worked this war!

Re:OMG

[caluml]

Yeah, since I've been a Slashdot-ite I've noticed that. Some of you keep weapons in your houses in case King George (was it George) decides to come and try and take back the former renegade coloney too...

BBQ!

[The Bungi]

Suspect chemical attack, he types into a Microsoft Chat session running on the tactical Internet, the military's battlefield communications system. Multiple dead sheep by side of road. Pls advise.

A1 sauce and your tank's exhaust. pls send wingz the commander replies.

Re:BBQ!

[Malfourmed]

Suspect chemical attack ... Multiple dead sheep by side of road. Pls advise.

A1 sauce and your tank's exhaust. pls send wingz the commander replies.

If those sheep have wings is that evidence of use of nuclear WMDs?

Re:BBQ!

[commodoresloat]

He misspelled "nuggets."

What the army needs a few good admins...

[EdgeShadow]

From text of article:

"If a general has a problem with his Web browser, then I fix it," Cluff says.

"How do you fix it?" I ask.

"I consult Microsoft online help," he replies.

Re:What the army needs a few good admins...

[mrpuffypants]

Now every soldier comes with a TechNet subscription for battlefield support.

the us military is doomed

[circletimessquare]

"If a general has a problem with his Web browser, then I fix it," Cluff says.

"How do you fix it?" I ask.

"I consult Microsoft online help," he replies. "We have Premier help," he adds, referring to the live operators available to subscribers only. "But most of the time it's something as simple as telling them they have to plug in so the battery doesn't run out." And then, with complete seriousness, he adds, "Without me here, I don't think that we'd be where we are today."

oh we are all doomed... doomed, doomed, doomed... goodbye, western democracy, goodbye... ;-P

Re:the us military is doomed

[Judg3]

oh we are all doomed... doomed, doomed, doomed... goodbye, western democracy, goodbye... ;-P

Indeed, I'd have to agree with that. As an Operations Engineer at my old company, we to subscribed to 'Premier Help' - the live operators are all but useless.
If it isn't in the MS KB, and isn't found in a 5-10 minute google search, they won't be able to help you either.
Then you have to submit it as a case, which gets looked over by MS engineers and will take 3 months or so, at which time they will respond with:
A

Re:the us military is doomed

[Bodrius]

This dependence on live operators will be fixed on the next release of Soldier.NET, which includes sophisticated AI avatars that will help either generals or cannon fodder to defend their respective democracy/monarchy/socialist-republic/ruthless-dic tatorhsip, as long as they have a valid License.

"Hi, I'm Clippy, the magical M-16 magazine clip. What enemy scum do you want to kill today?"

Re:the us military is doomed

[nounderscores]

"It looks like you're holding your breath and standing very still so the enemy sentry three feet away doesn't hear you... Would you like some help?"

Quote of the week

[caluml]

"How do you fix it?" I ask.
"I consult Microsoft online help," he replies.

That's too funny, really it is. On so many levels.

Article canot distingush Internet from WAN

[whoever57]

If you actually *read* the article, you will see that the reporter talks about (sigh) a "secret Internet" and a "Tactical Internet". What they really mean is a "WAN" (the reporter refers to it as a "far-flung LAN"). It even says that the WAN is NOT connected to the Internet.

Re:Article canot distingush Internet from WAN

[redhog]

_An_ internet (as opposed to _The_ Internet, which is _a_ worldwide internet), is a network of networks, an inter-network-connectivity. WAN is a specific set of technologies for implementing larger networks, whereas an internet is a network made up of several LANs and/or WANs, interconnected using "routers", using the IP as communication protocol.

Jacked up

[L7_]

IIRC, Those 11 POWs that were captured during the middle of the war (pre-bagdad) were captured because thier convoy was lost in the desert. Now reading that article, it comes as no surprise that they were captured and killed.

I'm surprised there weren't more convoys captured because they were lost and then given orders to drive into enemy territory as the way back or someother nonsense scenario where the common soldier does not have the correct equipemt to survive.

That kind of breakdown in communication sh

Heavy Metal music

[Hydraulinen_Androidi]

They also need an MP3 player to torture those poor captured representatives of the former Iraqi regime with heavy metal and children's songs. Very demanding admin work too. Military admin needs to know how to operate Winamp player! No use for M16 as a human rights and democracy tool? Might look a bit nasty on the telly?

And then you might need some kind of a Geiger counter or something to find those non-existent WMD's this war was supposedly about.

And do not forget to buy a pair of robot brains for your smart president.

This is the high tech reality of American Warfare today!

Mr. American President says "Boot my operating system!"

Re:Heavy Metal music

[GuyMannDude]

They also need an MP3 player to torture those poor captured representatives of the former Iraqi regime with heavy metal and children's songs.

You mean like this [bbc.co.uk]?

GMD

Entire Article

[Anonymous Coward]

"If We Run Out of Batteries, This War is Screwed."

By Joshua Davis

It's early April, days before the fall of Baghdad, and a convoy of trucks from the 11th Signal Brigade is rolling through southern Iraq. The mission: establish a digital beachhead in central Iraq. Without this advance node and a handful like it, the Army's Third Infantry Division cannot receive the precise targeting information it needs to fight its way into the capital.

About 9 am, soldiers in the convoy see something that fills them with d

Earthweb

[ansible]

Particularly intriguing is the use of chat rooms to engage experts thousands of miles away in helping to solve problems at the troop level in the field.

Sounds like something straight out of Earthweb by Marc Stiegler [skyhunter.com]. Except in the book they were fighting this strange interstellar planetoid bent on Earth's destruction.

The book also reminded me of Max Headroom, where that newsroom director "ran" Edison Carter when he was doing those live-on-the-scene reports.

The stuff you saw with Tank and his brot

Change in communication and detractors

[Wyatt Earp]

There has been alot of press made about the US military's changes in the way it communicates and it's desire to "swarm" on an enemy instead of the old way it and every other army has moved and communicated.

Basicly since the Romans every conventional army moved like a great set of parallel lines with interconnecting lines between them for communication and supply.

There has been a layer of abstraction between what the Generals tell the Colonels, what the Colonels tell the Captains, what the Captains tell the Lieutenants and what the Lieutenants tell thier soldiers.

Since the Revolution the layers of abstraction grew wider and wider.

By the Second World War, the United States Army had the widest gulf between the commanders and the men at the front of any Army in the European Theatre of Operation.

By Vietnam it was worse and the Gulf War it came to a head when Schwarzkopf canned a General who refused to advance due to a lack of fuel for his M-1s.

Now what is happening is remarkably fast adaptation of technology and communications systems for an Army.

In Afghanistan it was possible for A-Teams on the ground to contact the Pentagon directly and request supplies for themselves or thier allies on the ground and to have those things loaded within hours on C-17s.

Beyond the chat-rooms and GPS are the data-links between aircraft like the newer F-15s, F-22s, Grippens, Comanche, or data-links between ships, helicopters and patrol aircraft.

An example of this can be seen in the F-22. The radar of the F-22 has many modes, but one of them is to sit there dark and listen for radar signals, then it sends out pencil thin beams to detect the engines of an aircraft and it compiles a list of possible types from that signature. Using a data-link the detecting F-22 can send back detailed target information and aircraft behind the lead aircraft can launch AIM-120 missiles on a profile to light thier radars only when they get close to the target.

People have been pooh-pooing this revolution in communication and sensors in the press, but I think there is an assumption of rapid technology adpotion in the private sector that just doesn't happen in the military, but as militaries go the United States is adopting at a revolutionary rate.

Re:Change in communication and detractors

[GuyMannDude]

People have been pooh-pooing this revolution in communication and sensors in the press, but I think there is an assumption of rapid technology adpotion in the private sector that just doesn't happen in the military, but as militaries go the United States is adopting at a revolutionary rate.

Maybe I'm not reading the same press that you are but I haven't seen anything that would be described as pooh-pooing. However, what I did see was a lot of retired generals claiming that relying on the new technology w

Re:Change in communication and detractors

[timeOday]

Weird war, wasn't it? I was following websites from Russia, Europe, the US, and the Middle East, and everybody seemed to agree that the war was bogging down and that the administration had misjudged badly. One memorable phrase: "The Rumsfeld doctrine of underwhelming force" (a play on the "Powell doctrine of overwhelming force.") Then the next day we won the war.

Re:Change in communication and detractors

[YrWrstNtmr]

I think people just wanted these concepts tested a bit more before using them in battle.

Ya gotta test it sometime. Non-battlefield testing can only go so far. Red Flag, NTC in California, whatever the Navy equivalent is...can only do so much.

Not until you really set up in the field, and close with the enemy do you know what will happen.

With today's comms, aircraft from 3 different bases (US, England, Diego Garcia), 5-8,000 miles away, can hit a target 10 minutes after an Army unit has left the area.

Re:F-22

[Wyatt Earp]

Now I'm sure someone will complain about my talking up the F-22 and claim I'm over Tom Clancy'ing it's capabilities or something.

My info came from International Air Power Review Volume 5 pages 60-62 and covers the ALR-94 passive receiver, Intra-Flight Datalink and APG-77 radar in non-cooperative target recognition and jet engine modulation modes.

Re:Change in communication and detractors

[brer_rabbit]

In Afghanistan it was possible for A-Teams on the ground...

On the ground? Well duh! How many times do we have to hear, "I ain't gettin' on no plane with that crazy fool!"

DON'T

[GC]

MENTION THE WAR...

[John Cleese, Faulty Towers]

Re:DON'T

[tcopeland]

"I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it!"

"You started it!"
"We did not!"
"Yes you did, you invaded Poland!"

Classic stuff.

Unsung heroes

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting article [opinionjournal.com] from WSJ that talks about these new Warriors.

Embedded...

[cruppel]

The news ruined the word "embedded" for me...Embedded reporters watching soldiers fight, take a piss, talk about this war like it had been going on for even two months, watching them do whatever...I will always hear that word from now on and think of soldiers doing mundane things.

As for them using "Microsoft Chat" or whatever they called it, that's just plain irresponsible. If people have trouble using computers for simple email every day then why on God's (sandy) earth do they think those same technologies will hold up in much more mission-critical military conditions?

Re:Embedded...

[djupedal]

I take it you missed the story on the 'embedded' dolphins that were used to survey harbors in Iraq?

SIPRNET definition

[SylvesterTheCat]

"GCCS runs over Siprnet - the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network"

Just how damned difficult is it to get acronyms right?

The correct definition is "Secure Internet Protocol Network," although I have also heard it as "Secure Internet Protocol Router Network"

Apparently, very difficult.

War is cool and doesn't cause any harm!

[MavEtJu]

"What's funny about using Microsoft Chat," he adds with a sly smile, "is that everybody has to choosean icon to represent themselves. Some of these guys haven't bothered, so the program assigns them one. We'll be in the middle of a battle and a bunch of field artillery colonels will come online in the form of these big-breasted blondes. We've got a few space aliens, too."

This is exactly what I fear, that going to war is fun and not causing any harm to whoever is in it. First the US television stations didn't want to show the pictures of their own casualties, now this is added.

War is cool, war is fun and it doesn't cause any harm[*]!

[*] no pictures of harmed people by our own actions will be shown.

Using chat rooms to connect soldiers to experts?

[cje]

*** soldier ([e-mail]) has joined channel #help
*** techie ([e-mail]) has joined channel #help
<soldier> hey, anybody know how to get sand out of a gatling gun?
<techie> Sure thing. let me look it up for you. brb
<soldier> thanks
*** katie ([e-mail]) has joined channel #help
<katie> hay all!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<soldier> ...
<katie> hi solder ASL??
<techie> Approximately when did you get the sand in the gatling gun?
<katie> huh??
<soldier> about 15 minutes ago.
<techie> okay, brb
<katie> techie what r u talking about!!
*** jenny ([e-mail]) has joined channel #help
<katie> hi jenny how r u ltns!!!!!!! lol
<jenny> K8E!!!! kisskiss
<soldier> ...
<techie> How much sand would you say is inside the gatling gun?
<jenny> wtf lol
<soldier> well, there's quite a bit. it's draining out like an hourglass.
<jenny> hour glass??
<katie> jenny geuss what, taylor told lisa today that he want's me 2 invite him 2 the dance on saturday
<jenny> omfg LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
<jenny> wat did u say? did u say anything 2 him?
<techie> The sand is draining out of the Gatling gun like an hourglass?
<soldier> pretty much, yes.
<katie> heehehe!! well i went up 2 him and said hi and then he bought me a bottle of mt dew code red!! LOL
<techie> I see. have you tried shaking it vigorously?
<katie> techie wtf would i shake it vigorusly, it would fizz over and explode
*** techie rolls eyes
<techie> soldier: Have you tried shaking the gatling gun vigorously?
<soldier> no. brb
*** taylor ([e-mail]) has joined channel #help
<jenny> OMFG
<katie> OMFG
<soldier> OMFG
<soldier> the damn thing just went off and took out the cook and the chaplain
<katie> hi taylor, how r u????
<techie> I see. Recommend you replace gatling gun immediately.
<taylor> hi katie
<soldier> roger
*** soldier has left channel #help
<taylor> jenny, how r u? r u busy saturday night?
<katie> f u jenny
*** katie has left channel #help

Public Information Too!

[Slur]

If not for the Internet most Americans would never have heard that much of the intelligence information Colin Powell presented to the U.N. was based on outdated, and plagiarized material. The U.S. press simply didn't report it. So among other things, in wartime the Internet is going to continue to be very important for getting reliable information beyond state propaganda.

Of course if the United States' press didn't have their noses stuck up the ass of the government and the corporate establishment they might learn how to ask probing and difficult questions, and we wouldn't have to go looking for truthful reporting and real analysis from outside sources.

Obligatory war + internet quote

[tanveer1979]

"The biggest achievement of the internet is that it reduces a nuclear war to nothing more than a series of routing errors"
--Anon

we are the borg

[technoCon]

resistance is futile.

this kinda realtime adaptation to battlefield problems is one step in the borgish direction. the more that i see of our growing ability to collaborate the more it seems like the borg, but the less it bothers me. maybe not all group-minds are created equal.

bottom line is how our assimilation of Iraq turns out. if we're conquerors, that's one thing. if we're liberators, that's another thing.

Re:Chat rooms?

[Lazyhound]

You, um, realize they're using a closed network to communicate with other military personnel, right? Right.

Re:Chat rooms?

[DeltaSigma]

Sure, I suppose. Are we talking IRC, or AOL though?

I mean, go to debian's IRC server, idle in the debian chat for an hour so everyone who could have possibly cared that you joined has now forgotten, then ask some linux question.

And despite the current debate, fanboy-raving, intellectual discussion, or A/S/L exchange (okay I haven't seen that there), you'll get an immediate and helpful answer, or a request for clarification.

As a linux newbie I've come to rely heavily on the helpful people in the debian I

Re:Chat rooms?

[!splut]

The military has a policy about this already:

Don't ask, don't tell

Re:Chat rooms?

[John Jorsett]

I don't mean this as a troll (though somewhat tongue-in-cheek), but seriously, asking for military advice on IRC or AOL strikes me as akin to asking the NIDA for information on the dangers of marijuana - ie, even if you manage to get any factual information, you'll never find it from the BS it comes buried under.

You don't seriously believe that a tank commander is going to go on some AOL or IRC chat and start asking a bunch of random schmucks for advice about a gas attack do you? The military is using off-the-shelf technology to construct their own private networks and chats because that's a convenient structure for what they're trying to accomplish. I work with these guys and they're not quite that stupid (they just might even say the same about me if I'm lucky).

Re:A/S/ OMFG INCOMIIIINNG!!!

[caluml]

"What's funny about using Microsoft Chat," he adds with a sly smile, "is that everybody has to choosean icon to represent themselves. Some of these guys haven't bothered, so the program assigns them one. We'll be in the middle of a battle and a bunch of field artillery colonels will come online in the form of these big-breasted blondes. We've got a few space aliens, too."

Re:125 degrees

[WIAKywbfatw]

They're talking Farenheit, not Celcius.

125 degrees Celcius is above the boiling point of water. To find that kind of temperature on the surface of the Earth you'd have to be standing on an active volcano.

Didn't the fact that prolonged exposure to 125 C would be enough to kill anyone (even military grade geeks) give it away?

Re:125 degrees

[Guppy06]

The US military is supposed to be all SI, so they must be talking Kelvin.

Re:forget teh weather.

[robi2106]

Well the armed forces never were all that worried about trendiness of their lingo.

robi

Re:How many MS licenses did our military buy?

[commodoresloat]

There are more pressing military waste issues than M$ licensing to worry about, like the one trillion missing USD [sfgate.com] that they simply can't explain. ("Sorry, Senator, I must have left it in my other pants.")