Commander challenges technologists for better solutions

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tim Meyer
  • U.S. Pacific Command Public Affairs
HONOLULU (AFNEWS) --  When is technology more than just a piece of equipment or an information system?

When a ground troop uses it to make a life-or-death decision in a split-second on the battlefield, or when an admiral sends an aircraft carrier as a show of force to mitigate or avoid conflict.

Technology also assists ground troops and commanders to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to foster and improve relations with allies.

"Its not always about the kill. A lot of times its about maintaining peace and building the cultural diversity that we are here to support throughout the world," said John Kubricky, undersecretary for Advance Systems and Concepts at the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Scientists met with Soldiers and Sailors of various ranks to understand and work toward meeting their technological needs at the 10th Annual Pacific Operational Science and Technology Conference and Exhibition April 2 to 4.

"Together we can utilize science and technology to achieve our primary objective -- which is nothing short of keeping the peace in our half of the world," said Adm. Tim Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, to more than 350 civilian and military personnel in attendance.

Admiral Keating described several examples of technology used for conflict, including the "bunker buster," laser-guided bombs used in the first Gulf War; the Gunslinger, a new weapons-assisting sensor system used to detect and locate gunfire from snipers; and the Spartan, an unmanned surface vehicle used by the USS Gettysburg.

He also mentioned the use of technology originally designed for war for compassionate missions -- providing disaster assistance and relief in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia and the humanitarian deployments of the hospital ship USNS Mercy to Southeast Asia last summer, and the USS Peleliu in the same region scheduled for later this year.

In his first public address after assuming command, Admiral Keating challenged the audience to provide affordable solutions to better enable the troops on the ground to both fight the war on terrorism and to maintain peace.

"As the heads of research for your respective services and organizations, I want to thank you for the efforts you each have made to support our troops and our war on terror(ism) thus far, and for the hard work we're going to ask all of you to do to help foster and sustain peace for everyone throughout the Pacific and throughout the world," he said.

Officials from Singapore, Australia, South Korea, and other countries attended the conference, as did U.S. government officials from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and other agencies.

"One thing we bring to the combatant commanders is the ability to address their needs within the budget cycle instead of parallel to it. So we can do in one to three years what normally takes 10 to 12 or even 15 years. That's the business model we are striving for," Mr. Kubricky said.

In the opening session, admirals and generals from U.S. Pacific Command said their roles, responsibilities and technological needs, and responded to questions from the audience. In a later session conference attendees took notes as a panel of enlisted warfighters, combat-experienced Soldiers and Sailors, some who have recently returned from deployments, offered specific suggestions for improvements to existing equipment and requested new products they would like to see developed.

Some of their requests included more flexible body armor, changing ammunition from 5.56 mm to 7.62 mm, standardizing towing systems for high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, or HMMWVS, replacements for the M-9 pistol and the HMMWV, and ground-penetrating radar.

"We have to make sure science and technology can move quickly, agilely, and effectively to deliver the right products to our ultimate customer -- the warfighter," Mr. Kubricky said.

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