A
communication system winning praise for keeping safe
Stryker Soldiers in Iraq is expected to grow into a
system Fort Hood troops and other heavy maneuver
units can use in the coming years, an Operational
Test Command analyst said.
The Land Warrior System, which was tested by OTC,
connects ground Soldiers with the Force XXI Battle
Command, Brigade-and-Below communication system,
said Cliff Kummer, an operations research systems
analyst with OTC’s Close Combat Test Directorate.
“This allows the ground Soldiers to know where they
are in relation to the unit and vice versa. The unit
knows where their dismounts are,” Kummer said.
The system was tested at Fort Lewis, Wash., in July
2006 and is being used in Iraq by Soldiers of the
4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker
Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.
The system, though a little heavy, has proved its
worth to some Soldiers, who say the system has
boosted their confidence.
“If given the choice, I would not go outside the
wire without it,” Sgt. Daniel Garza, a squad leader
in the battalion’s Company A, told a program
executive checking on the system’s use in Iraq.
Garza said he thought the system was too heavy to
consider while he tested it last summer.
Weight was identified as a disadvantage when the
system was tested; however, that is expected to
improve with time, Kummer said.
“Initially, there was some resistance,” Kummer said.
“Soldiers could see the practicality of it. They
complained about the weight and the reliability of
the system. This system was the best from many years
of work on the system. As (Soldiers) learned new
techniques of using the system, acceptance of the
unit has gone up, and as they have adapted, they
don’t want to live without it, according to the
reports I’ve read.”
An OTC assessment team currently deployed to Iraq
and Afghanistan is collecting information about the
system that could be used to improve it, Kummer
said.
The system has several features designed to keep all
Soldiers on a team informed of their surroundings. A
head-mounted display can be attached to a Soldier’s
helmet, and an eye piece that displays maps,
messages and other information can be positioned in
front of either eye or pushed out of the way, Kummer
said.
“It can be configured for the user,” Kummer said.
“Everyone’s position around you updates while they
are walking. Mission orders with graphics can be
loaded on the system, as can satellite pictures and
maps.”
Users can zoom in on satellite pictures or maps,
Kummer said. The system also allows Soldiers to send
text message back to their vehicles. Because it
provides common information for all Soldiers, it can
be used to communicate which rooms have been cleared
simply by changing colors in a picture of a
building, for example.
The system also features several radio
communications that keep Soldiers in touch with
those around them and commanders elsewhere, Kummer
said.
The system does not enable a Soldier to call for
fire, but that is expected to be addressed in the
upcoming Ground Soldier System, which currently is
under development.
The Ground Soldier System will be available for
Bradley fighting vehicle crews, Kummer said. The
next test of the Ground Soldier System is scheduled
for 2010, he said, and Soldiers can expect a system
that is far more advanced than the Stryker-based
Land Warrior System.
“As technologies advance, we are going to see
technology that is like looking at an iPod instead
of a Walkman,” Kummer said.
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