Final Thoughts as the Class Comes to to an End......

Before taking this class this semester, I thought that my knowledge of digital technology was pretty good.  My first wakeup call was when we had to set up a twitter account and a blog and I found myself almost a bit lost.  What I came to find as the semester went on was that having a twitter and having a blog is a great way to get information across that you think should have more coverage then it is getting.  It’s a great way to get your point across because the internet is such a great tool to spread the word to the masses.  Although I’m not sure if I’ll keep a blog once this class ends, it is definitely a tool that I have now that I didn’t have before this semester started.

Something that I didn’t really expect to learn from the course was how to take a good photograph.  It’s more than just about finding a pretty thing to photograph, it’s about the rule of thirds, lighting, and all those other concepts that we talked about.  As you can see, my skill has definitely improved from when I first took that picture with my cell phone.

From my experience this semester though, I find that there are many positive aspects of digital information.  One that I experienced firsthand was the virtual classroom that occurred right before thanksgiving.  It just goes to show how far technology has advanced to a point where people can participate in class from their homes, although a negative aspect to that are the distractions that can occur when they are at home.  The different aspects of digital information, like the internet, mixed with traditional means of gathering information have made multi-tasking almost a must-have skill for the future.  Especially with laptops in the classrooms, students well need to multi-task like never before.

Another positive aspect that I see is the way digital information speeds everything up.  Relating to my last blog posting, the high speed exchange of digital information has made it easier than ever for families and friends to keep in touch with love ones who are deployed in combat zones.  I know for me, being in touch with my family and friends on a semi-regular basis made my time over there much more bearable. 

With this exchange of digital information, there are negative aspects as well.  We learned in class how easy it is for hackers to take our information from places like our phone and computers.  After learning about how Bluetooth can be used to take information from phones, I started to make sure my Bluetooth function was off unless I was using it.  While I was in class, I put my phone in discovery mode and found other devices in the room.  I am definitely much more careful with the Bluetooth on my phone now.

For my friends that did not take this course, I would say that they should really take advantage of the things that can be done now with digital information.  Things are just done so much quicker now and you can get your voice out there if you use things like blogs and twitter.  I would warn them also though, to know how to keep safe because there are people out there who can and will steal your personal digital information if given the opportunity too.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this course, but in the end, it’s is one of the few classes that I have ever taken at the University of Maryland that I was glad that I took because the information I learned is applicable to life right now.  

My Friend, the "Expert"

When the assignment was given to find an expert relating to my blog, my first thought was that it might be a little challenging to find someone who was an expert in the field of future military technology.  My search for an interviewee ended when I decided to interview Corporal Tom Sullivan, a good friend of mine who is a combat videographer.  A lot of his job goes beyond the title of his job and actually has a lot to do with technology.

Many of the videos that we see in documentaries and the history channel were shot by people like my friend Corporal Sullivan.  Although in earlier times before the internet, these videos would’ve had to be edited then sent to somewhere to be broadcast.  In this age of technology, videos can be almost instantly viewed.  From his interview, I think the thing he was amazed with most was that with the technology that we have now, the time between taking the video and having it seen by the masses has been shortened significantly.  He mentioned websites like flickr and Facebook where photos and videos can be uploaded and seen.  He also mentioned something that I mentioned in my very first blog post, that the internet allows loved ones to communicate back and forth with each other, a huge boost in morale.  This instant way of communication really opens up a lot of possibilities.

Perhaps in the future, we could have cameras mounted on actual service members as they are in the midst of a firefight, allowing commanders away from the fight to direct their forces in the most effect manner possible.  This instant video communication could be a great asset to military commanders as a way to quickly assess the conditions of an operation or firefight.  In a previous post I described the blue force tracking system for vehicles, but something like that could be applied to actual service members on the ground.  This way they could be tracked in real time.  Although something like this sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, I believe that this is the way that we are progressing.   If they can do it for vehicles, then they could definitely do it for people.  The tracking systems, at the moment, are very expensive (almost $3000 per system) so I see that as one obstacle for implementation.  In my personal opinion though, any information gathered using these mean should only be used after the fact, as a way to review what worked and what didn’t work.  I feel that if you put a person in charge who’s away from the fight in front of a bunch of screens, it almost dehumanizes the people they are commanding because they’re not seeing people, but looking at screens.

The biggest newsmaker right now is the new “smart” rifle, the XM-25 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101201/sc_afp/usmilitaryweaponsafghanistan).  It is a weapon, about the size of a rifle,  that is shoots microchipped ammunition that can target and kill enemies behind wall or cover.  If there are enemy forces firing from a building for example, traditional tactics would have you either drop HE (high explosive) on the building or have friendly forces clear the building.  These two tactics both have significant chances of loss of life, both friendly and civilian.  With this new smart rifle, if you know that the enemy is behind cover, you can shoot the round through a window or wall and program it to explode a foot or two after it.  The Army states that, compared to older technology, there will be “very limited collateral damage.”  So far, only the Army (which, I think we all agree, is only 2^nd best to Marines) uses this weapons.  My only concern with using such a technologically advanced personal weapon is the loss of skills.  If a computer on the rifle does all the calculations for you and all you have to do is point and shoot, what happens to your marksmanship skills?

The Marine Corps had this problem when it implemented the RCO (rifle combat optic) on M16’s and M4’s.  What was found was that there was a loss of marksmanship skills and habits because shooters felt that they didn’t need it because they were using it with a scope.  With that finding, the Marine Corps put a bigger emphasis on the fundamentals of marksmanship.

The advancement of technology in recent years has greatly affected the way wars are fought.  A common misconception is that with technology things are easier and technology can replace things.  Further emphasis needs to be put on combining traditional techniques/technology with current technology.