Armed with Science | Tag Archive

Marines Learn How To Detect Invisible Threats

Filed under Featured by jtozer on November 6, 2012 at 7:59 am {no comments}

I would love to say this is a post about ghost hunting, but that would be silly. Ghosts aren’t always invisible.

– JLT

An AN/PDR-77, a device used to detect and measure radiation, sits outside a simulated disaster site during a 2nd Marine Logistics Group training exercise aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Devin Nichols)

Deadly radiation kills if it goes undetected, so it falls upon specially trained Marine to alert units of the unseen danger.

More than 30 Marines from various units within the 2nd Marine Logistics Group learned how to counter radiation by using the AN/PDR-77 during the Monitor Survey Reconnaissance Course.

“Every unit is responsible for having a select number of Marines who are certified with this equipment,” said Sgt. Steven D. Potts, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense specialist with Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd MLG.

It could possibly save the lives of many service members, he added.

CBRN defense specialists trained the Marines to use the AN/PDR-77, a small, box-shaped sensor that detects alpha, beta, gamma and X-ray radiation.

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Solar Power for Soldiers

Filed under Energy, Videos by jtozer on May 21, 2012 at 7:14 am {no comments}

The U.S. Army Reserve officially opens it’s first fully functional solar powered training facility in Illinois. The new Joliet U.S. Army Reserve training center will be home to 600 quartermaster and transportation personnel. The $36 million, 60,000 square foot complex was built as a modernization effort and as a part of the Army Green Initiative.

Weapon System Trainer to Save Taxpayer’s Dollars

Filed under STEM, Technology by Carla Voorhees on February 2, 2012 at 8:53 am {no comments}

By Airman 1st Class Armando A. Schwier-Morales, 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

The first official KC-135 Stratotanker Boom Operator Weapon System Trainer (BOWST) in Air Mobility Command (AMC), slated to save the Air Force millions annually, opened during a ceremony Jan. 9 here.

Air Mobility Command boom operators and pilots celebrate the opening of the Boom Operator Weapon System Trainer Jan. 9, 2012, at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan. The BOWST is one way the Air Force is saving money and training while in a safe environment. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Maurice Hodges)

Training boom operators to perform in-flight refueling requires a tanker and a receiver. An eight-hour tanker sortie cost more than $49,000 without factoring in the receiver costs. The BOWST can train boom operators for approximately $600 an hour.

“The BOWST came about because the Air Force wants to drive down the cost of training and get out of the air and on the ground to save money,” said David Kramer, the CEA Systems site manager.

McConnell Air Force Base, an AMC base, fosters a culture of excellence, develops the next generation of leaders, sets and achieves goals and provides in-flight refueling anytime anywhere.

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Ten Technologies: A Brief Look at Military Evolution — Training Simulators

Filed under STEM, Technology by Carla Voorhees on November 9, 2011 at 2:23 pm {6 comments}

By Carla Voorhees,
Defense Media Activity

This is the eighth in a series of 10 technologies integral to the United States military since World War I.

U.S. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, confront avatars, or virtual humans, while clearing a room at the Office of Naval Research Infantry Immersion Trainer (IIT) located at the I Marine Expeditionary Force Battle Simulation Center at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 19, 2008. The IIT utilizes a mixture of real and advanced virtual technologies that are leading to advances in Marine Corps training and combat readiness. (U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released)

Training simulators can act as a dress rehearsal for critical skills prior to deployment.

The military uses many kinds of training simulators, ranging from the helicopter and aircraft simulators developed by the U.S. Air Force, to the maintenance trainers developed by the U.S. Army, to the I Marine Expeditionary Force’s Battle Simulation Center featuring the Office of Naval Research’s Infantry Immersion Trainer at Camp Pendelton, CA.

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Real PTSD Education from a Virtual World

Filed under Technology, Uncategorized by Julie Weckerlein on August 10, 2011 at 9:40 am {one comment}

By Dr. Greg Reger

Shortly after returning from deployment to Afghanistan, Sgt. Jackson finds himself at a local mall, struggling with his emotions. Images from a suicide bombing he witnessed fill his mind as he walks. Stopping at a restaurant, he’s on edge – can’t relax – his eyes constantly sweeping the area for a threat that will never materialize. Exhausted, he enters a mattress store. As he tries out a bed for his room at home, he falls asleep. There in the middle of the showroom, he re-lives the bombing in a vivid nightmare, waking in cold a sweat.

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Adults Benefit from Playing Video Games [PODCAST]

Filed under Life Sciences, Podcast, Technology by John Ohab on January 26, 2010 at 9:43 am {5 comments}

Think interactive video games are a waste of time or more suited for children? Think again. Research by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) indicates that video games can help adults process information much faster and improve their abilities to reason and solve problems. Dr. Ray Perez, ONR program officer, discussed video game-induced “fluid intelligence” on the Jan 20 webcast.

Listen or read the transcript. (more…)

Podcast #4: New Areas of Army Science – Building the Future for Our Soldiers

Filed under Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Podcast, Social Sciences, Technology by John Ohab on February 18, 2009 at 1:21 pm {no comments}

Dr. John Parmentola, the U.S. Army’s Director for Research and Laboratory Management, discusses new areas of science and how the discovery of new knowledge from research in these areas has great potential for developing new extraordinary capabilities for our Soldiers. The changing threat environment is continuing to put formidable demands on our current and future military capabilities; capabilities which are essential for defending U.S. interests globally, as well as for winning our nation’s wars. Fundamental to realizing superior land warfighting capabilities is the discovery of new knowledge from research in areas highly relevant to the Army mission.

Listen to the interview!

Read transcript(pdf)