Editorial: High Tech, but . . .
In this month’s Gazette we have interesting insights into the rapidly changing nature of technology both in training and on the battlefield. In “The Infantry Immersion Trainer” by Pete Muller, et al., we have a view of the dramatic change technology has made in training infantrymen in close quarters battle. Aviators have had high-fidelity simulators for years. Slowly but surely we are moving the virtual world into the training of infantry Marines, and it is about time.
LtCol Kevin M. Barth, in “The Tactical Decision Center,” illustrates how simulation and technology are being used to train logisticians in tactical decisionmaking and the operation of combat logistics operations centers. Through the use of technology the Marine is transported to an operation center in combat and immersed in the systems he will use and the decisions he will have to make in real-world operations. This is all accomplished without ever leaving Camp Johnson.
It is critical that we field training simulators across all elements of the MAGTF that will enhance training as well as stretch precious training dollars. By and large Training and Education Command has done a commendable job, given limited resources, of injecting technology into training and making it, where applicable, deployable. At some point though the training that was conducted on a simulator must be validated in the real world not just the virtual world.
All of the technological advances, however, are not in training. Army Reserve MAJ John Bohlin provides us with an update on robotics on the battlefield. On page 31, in “Robotics on the Battlefield,” he refers to the deployment of robotics as “the next historic shift in battlefield technology.”
This is just the tip of the iceberg in changes that are coming down the pike that are difficult to contemplate. In “Communicating the Kill” on page 25, Capt Christopher S. Tsirlis predicts that “the use of mobile communications devices will explode over the next 5 to 10 years.” It may not take that long. It won’t be long before tactical communications devices the size of hand-held personal data assistants proliferate. Every platoon commander and platoon sergeant will have one. T
here is no denying the utility that high tech brings to training and the battlefield. However, there is a danger that we place an unwarranted faith in the technological solution to every issue. Today mortar platoons are able to calculate firing data using the mortar ballistic computer. As evidenced by the picture on page 43, it is the imprudent platoon that does not also use the decades-old technology of the M16 plotting board and sharp pencil to back up and cross-check the technology. Often new use of old technology is a leap forward in and of itself. The update in “COMBAT HUNTER” on page 79 illustrates how a centuries-old piece of equipment, such as binoculars, can be made more effective.
The day is long gone when a commander can excoriate the use of computers in his combat operations center (COC). If the commander does not have the computers he or she does not have intelligence or fires and is incapable of directing subordinate units. Rather than emulating Luddites we should emulate Jules Verne. However, it is the prudent commander who still keeps the map boards, acetate overlays, and charts updated and also keeps the battle lanterns handy so that when the tactical quiet generator fails, the lights go out in the COC, and the computer screens go blank he can still fight.
