subject: The New Land Warrior System [print this page] I was sitting here doing research to write to you about and I happened to see a program on the new Land Warrior Combat System being used by many of our Operation Enduring Freedom Ring Customers in Afghanistan. The biggest advantage that this system gives is what is called situational awareness. This is the constant knowledge of where you are on the battlefield, where your comrades are, and where the enemy is located. This awareness alone makes the system worth every dime that it has cost to develop because it really frees the up the leader to concentrate on fighting the enemy rather then worrying about all of the reporting that he would otherwise have to do.
Probably the biggest pain in the butt that I experienced when training and in battle was the fact that I had to keep my face buried in a map to keep track of where I was at all times. I just couldnt stay as focused on the things that were happening right in front of me as I needed to be. If I kept my mind on the battle for too long I would get lost and that was no good at all. The ongoing battle did not wait for me to know what was going on. It did what it does regardless of my situation. Things would happen so fast and if you werent on top of it then it would quickly get the best of you.
Fighting units would frequently get lost in battle because they were so busy chasing the enemy or being chased that they would lose track of where they were. This has led to fratricide (shooting your own people) which the military desperately tries to control. This was definitely not good for any unit especially faster moving mechanized infantry or armor units. There were many times I saw units become disoriented which caused the battle to be lost. In instances when it didnt cause loss it caused so much confusion that it made the battle plan infinitely more difficult to execute.
As the artilleryman I had to know exactly where we were and where everything else was in order to clear artillery fires or to call for them. There were times that we couldn't shoot at targets because we didn't know who they were. Friendly and enemy troops will get mixed up and will be in such close proximity to each other that there was nothing that you could do. Sometimes you would have units screaming at you for help but you couldnt accurately help them because they were uncertain of their exact location.
This system should drastically improve the combat effectiveness of our custom military ring customers who use it. I imagine that it has been paying big dividends in Aghanistan. I can tell you from my experience alone that it will save many lives of our fighting men.
The land warrior system allows the small unit leader to know exactly what is going on in the battle because it tracks all of the other leaders who are wearing it. It constantly keeps everyone in the loop updated as to where they are located and where every one else is located on the battlefield. Any leader who knows an enemy location can plug it into his unit very quickly and easily so that all of the other units will know also. It enhances communications by eliminating the need to constantly call in your location to your higher headquarters. Whenever artillery or air support is needed the Fire Support Coordinators dont have to worry about dropping artillery or bombs on their own people because they already know all of their exact locations.
The commander who is sitting in another location doesnt have to constantly harass his unit for location updates because he can see where they are. He also doesnt have to constantly harass them for intelligence because enemy locations are on the screen in front of him. All of these attributes translate into efficiency of operation for the troops who use this system. There is no doubt in my military mind that this system is well worth having. Military Ring Express
