The state of tech in the CF

[onecat]

Okay this my question of the day. I‘m almost though my testing stage and I‘ll soon see for myself, but I want to ask the experienced people on this broad.

Where does the CF stand when it comes to hi-tech? Are they keeping pace with the limited budget, in the fields of computers, software, comm systems and like? Do let techs take outside training to keep up with new trends.

 

[Pugil]

While the Americans, Brits and French are testing combat machine manned by satellite, sophisticated missiles, new weapons while us we are spending million to develop a combat bra. That‘s where our technology is going.

 

[SpinDoc]

Oho, combat bra is small potatos (plus I think they discontinued the program, wise decision)...

You should see the boots with the CADPAT printed on them.

 

[Pugil]

The combat bra is now on the delivery status.

 

[RCA]

The combat bra is a thing in the past. Instaed women can get an allowance up to a fixed amount to purchase sports bras. (Although not being female, I wouldn‘t consider spoerts bras a luxury in the field.)
Read beween the lines. It wasn‘t a "combat" bra per se but a development the same as IECS underware. It was one of those things the media and the oppostion jumped up on and was blown way out of proportion.

 

[RCA]

There I went and broke a cardinal rule of mine and went off on a tangent on a mundane item and moved the discussion away from the original intent.

 

[Harry]

You might want to explore ISTAR, there is info on the DND site WRT the program.

It short it is based upon total digital linkage of the battlefield and direct lines to 2nd, third and National Support/Command and Control.

Pretty innovative stuff and should all the bugs be worked out, it will prove to be a world class system.

Seeing and sensing on tomorrow‘s battlefield
CJT List

 

[astrof]

Truth be told it varies quite a bit depending where you are and what you are doing.

For telecom field systems we are using the IRIS communications system and it is the first really digital military comms system out there. It is actually so good that the Brits have even bought into it, and the US Marines are looking at it last I heard. Information on it can be found at this link
http://www.gdcanada.com/iris/

Now in garrison we are about in line to slightly behind WRT many large enterprises when it comes to computers, telephones, and other tech and the way we use them. We do not have a lot of the newest and greatest to go around but most of it is quite useable and and sufficient for the mission. For example on our normal network nationally we should be converted to Windows 2000 by now, but we have pushed it to 300MHz workstations, which can be slow at times but still useable depending on what people are doing.

As for outside training, the military usually tries to teach everything in-house even for the ever quick pace of IT. There are occassional courses that have been run by educational institutions and the military has sent them on it, but for the most part if you want to keep up do it yourself. If you are Reg or Res the military offers money for educational upgrading but mostly on your own time, especially when you are just starting out in your career. When you are getting close to your 20yrs the military has a program that you can use called SCAN that allows you to go to school full-time while they still pay you.

 

[jhill66]

Check out the Comm Rsch trade and the CSE (Communications Security Establishment web site. It is on the DND site.