Backtalk: Army upgrades

Army upgrades
Lt. Gen. N. Ross Thompson

If you owned a 1978 Chevy Impala, you’ll remember that it was big, powered by a 12-mile-per-gallon V8 engine. Its advanced safety features were lap seatbelts and drum brakes. It had a push-button radio and — if you were lucky — an eight-track player.

Three decades later, you may be driving a crossover sport utility vehicle powered by a 35-mpg hybrid engine and rolling on 20-inch, run-flat tires. Its advanced safety features include voice-activated controls, a crash avoidance system, side and rear video cameras, heads-up night-vision display, a full suite of airbags and an onboard computer connected to a communications network with GPS technology, satellite radio and OnStar. Basically, you have a world of information at your fingertips.

Just as the commercial market is transforming to meet market demands, the Army is transforming to meet its soldiers’ needs in an era of persistent conflict.

These are complex activities and have not escaped skepticism.

Recent news reports describe just how challenging a task it is to modernize an Army at war.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/community/opinion/army_backtalk_modernization_060208/



uhc comment: If the only tool you have is a hammer, bang away.