Control Engineering

Paul Grayson

Tactical Underwear - IVTT Conference
February 18, 2008

Photo from Armygear.net  Polypro long underwear is part of the military ECWCS system.

WHO OUR SOLDIERS ARE
Women represent 14.0% of the active Army, 23.2 % of the Army Reserve and 13.3 % of the Army National Guard (Sep 06).  As of 3 October 2006 there were 15,226 women serving in Iraq.  SGT Leigh Ann Hester, was the First Female to Receive the Silver Star since World War II. (June 16, 2005)  -- US Army Fact File

TACTICAL ITEMS CATALOG
One of the themes at lunch and in the hallways at the IVTT conference was how the inertia of large organizations, vested interests, and political influence can delay or prevent the adoption of useful technologies.  For instance, the clothing a person wears in battle can help or hinder their performance.  The obvious goal would be to provide soldiers with clothing that will help their performance as much as possible.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case and in response a person who has spent his career involved in the various parts of logistics told me about his online catalog of tactical items.  The catalog can only be accessed by special ops troops and lists clothing and equipment that others in their line of work have found to be the best but not available through normal channels.  As an example I was told about the process long underwear  (tactical underwear) went through to make it to the list.   At the PX a tactical T shirt to wear under her body armor vest costs a soldier $25.  Those that wear them say they are hot,  uncomfortable, and in a couple of days of wear (in combat) stink very badly.  On the other hand, the non-uniform long underwear shirt in the special ops catalog, costs less, is anti-bacterial, made of a material that wicks, and by request of the people who carry heavy packs long distances, has had had the seams moved away from where the straps rest.  They are also made with flat seams so that troops have the option of  wearing them inside out. 

The key to the items in this catalog is that they are the result of direct user feedback being applied to evolve the design of the things they use.  While most chains of command claim (and believe) that they are in touch with the needs of the front line fighters, the truth is that these chains of command are so long that distortions (accidental or intentional) render the information useless or worse - counterproductive.  This is true of all large organizations and with this being the case, the most reliable way to be successful and free from political influence, is to work outside of normal channels to provide what the customer needs.  

BUSINESS INSIDE THE BELTWAY
At lunch I was told by a faculty member of the US Army War College that what they do there is teach high ranking members of the armed forces how to deal with the high levels of power outside of the armed forces.   As a free lesson to me they pointed out the difference between what Congress says and what Congress does.   For instance Congress can say that a specific thing should be done in one bill and then in another bill not provide any money to do it - effectively cancelling their earlier decree.    In the case of Congress's proclamation that "one third of armed forces ground vehicles must be made driverless as soon as possible and before 2015" the faculty member said that when you work through all the exemptions, exclusions, and interpretations they arrive at a figure not of a half-million vehicles but something closer to two dozen.  This changes what would have been a major mobilization of robotics technology to defend the country into only a tiny demonstration project.  My first reaction to this news was openly hostile toward their interpretation, but since these people make a career out of dealing with the halls of power, and I do not, I had to defer to their opinion and start thinking of a work around to get the troops the numbers of vehicle guidance systems they need.   

Later, more about who attended the IVTT conference.

GO ROBOTS !

Posted by Paul Grayson on February 18, 2008 | Comments (0)