Friday, October 31, 2014

Navy Upgrades Ship-Based Electronic Warfare | DoD Buzz

Navy Upgrades Ship-Based Electronic Warfare | DoD Buzz: The Navy is upgrading its suite of electronic warfare technology currently on surface ships across the fleet in order to keep pace with emerging threats, service officials said.

The Navy has configured an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, the USS Bainbridge, with what’s called Block 2 of its SLQ-32 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program, or SEWIP – a suite of upgraded electronic warfare sensors able to detect a wider range of threat signals than the existing system.

Block 2 SEWIP is an upgraded version of the existing AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare system designed to provide early detection, signal analysis and threat warnings against anti-ship missiles and other threats, Navy officials said.

New Strategy Would Cut F-35s, Boost Bombers and UAVs | Defense content from Aviation Week

New Strategy Would Cut F-35s, Boost Bombers and UAVs | Defense content from Aviation Week: Today’s U.S. power-projection forces, and those currently planned for the future, will not be able to operate effectively or efficiently against anti-access/area-denial (A2AD) weapons and doctrine being developed by China and other adversaries, according to a new report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) that details a new approach to defense strategy known as Third Offset.

Instead, the Pentagon should immediately refocus its development efforts on a global surveillance and strike (GSS) system based on long-range, very stealthy aircraft—including the Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) and a new family of unmanned combat air systems (UCAS)—and submarines. Tactical fighter, surface combatant and heavy land-force programs should be cut back, the report suggests, to pay the bills and rebalance the force.

The CSBA report carries far more weight than usual because it was drafted under the leadership of deputy defense secretary Robert Work (AW&ST March 31, p. 20) and his senior advisers, according to a source directly involved in its production. It is intended to launch a detailed discussion of a major change in national strategy, inside and outside the Pentagon. Author Robert Martinage, a former senior Pentagon official, “can neither confirm nor deny” the extent of Work’s involvement, he tells Aviation Week.

Israel backing out of US V-22 aircraft sale: report

Israel backing out of US V-22 aircraft sale: report: Israel's defence minister is dropping the purchase of US V-22 Osprey aircraft, raising concerns that this could further chill already frosty relations with Washington, Israel Hayom daily said Thursday.

The mass-circulation freesheet, considered close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Moshe Yaalon's decision went against the Israeli military's wishes.

The paper linked the move to budget constraints, lessons learned from the 50-day summer war in the Gaza Strip and the recent conclusion of an agreement to buy a second batch of costly Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters.

The V-22 Osprey is an advanced vertical takeoff and landing transport aircraft.

Israel Hayom said the planned purchase of six Ospreys would have made Israel the first country outside the United States to deploy them.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

VIDEO: Fire Scout passes sloped landing test | C4ISR & Networks | c4isrnet.com

VIDEO: Fire Scout passes sloped landing test | C4ISR & Networks | c4isrnet.com: The MQ-8C Fire Scout has passed its precision sloped landing tests that demonstrated the rotary-wing UAV's ability to land on the pitching deck of a ship.

The tests, conducted at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, Calif., used the sloped landing platform that certified the MQ-8B for sea-based operations, according to a Northrop Grumman announcement.

"The sloped takeoff and landing tests are designed to be as real as it gets to actually operating on a Navy ship," said CAPT Patrick Smith, Fire Scout program manager at Naval Air Systems Command. "The autonomous MQ-8C Fire Scout system is able to precisely track and understand the roll and pitch of the surface which resembles at-sea conditions."

Report: US Army Should Embrace Anti-Access/Area-Denial Mission | Defense News | defensenews.com

Report: US Army Should Embrace Anti-Access/Area-Denial Mission | Defense News | defensenews.com: The US Army is embracing a more expeditionary identity, but earlier this month, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recommended it return to an old mission on the home front: coastal defense.
Now the think tank Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments is expanding upon that idea in a report released today — “Beyond Coast Artillery: Cross Domain Denial and the Army,” authored by Eric Lindsey — advocating a new role for the Army, cross-domain denial.
As with Hagel, who spoke at the Association of the US Army’s annual meeting here in mid-October, the report recommends the Army employ land-based forces to deny access to other domains, such as the air and sea. More than defend coastlines, the Army could employ a forward anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) force to constrain the movement of enemy forces.

Littoral Combat Ship outfitted with Airbus DS radar

Littoral Combat Ship outfitted with Airbus DS radar: The U.S. subsidiary of Europe's Airbus Defense and Space has installed and put into operation a TRS-3D naval radar for the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship.

The radar was installed and integrated aboard the Milwaukee (LCS 5), the third Freedom variant LCS, under a contract from Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for the vessel.



The TRS-3D is a three-dimensional, multi-mode naval radar for surveillance, self-defense, gunfire support, and helicopter control. It automatically locates and tracks both air and sea targets.

Airbus Defense and Space Inc. said eight TRS-3D radars, are now in various stages of installation aboard Freedom variant ships.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Army scientists striving to develop Ebola vaccine | Article | The United States Army

Army scientists striving to develop Ebola vaccine | Article | The United States Army



No vaccines or drugs are available yet to protect people worldwide against Ebola Virus Disease, but two potential vaccines are in human safety testing, and scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases were a critical part of their development.

During an interview last week, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, known as USAMRIID, scientists described their vaccine and drug-development research, development processes and products in development for the Ebola virus, and other infectious diseases.

USAMRIID, based in Frederick, Maryland, has pioneered research since 1969, to develop medical countermeasures for warfighters against deadly pathogens they might encounter as bioweapons on the battlefield. But lately, its work has gained a more immediate use as a medical tool for ensuring global public health security.

Dr. John M. Dye Jr., chief in USAMRIID's Viral Immunology Branch, said dozens of vaccine candidates are being created worldwide, "especially with this outbreak, and all of them have to go through an FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regulatory pathway." USAMRIID is taking the most advanced vaccines forward as quickly as possible, to try to stem the Ebola outbreak, he added.

Dye, who has worked at USAMRIID for a decade, said that over the past 10 years, scientists there have made great advances in vaccines and therapeutics.

"The vaccines we've been working with here all express one particular protein of the virus, and many of these vaccines have been shown to be 100 percent [effective] in nonhuman primates, or monkey studies," the viral immunology branch chief said.

CLINICAL STUDIES

USAMRIID has worked with the two Ebola vaccines now in clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and many others over the years, he added.

"Pretty much every vaccine that is currently being assessed for FDA approval has been through USAMRIID at one point or another," Dye said.

Most of the vaccine candidates target Ebola Zaire, one of five species of Ebola virus, and the one that's now causing the West Africa outbreaks.

Other species, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, include Sudan virus, Tai Forest virus and Bundibugyo virus. The fifth, Reston virus, has caused disease in monkeys, but not in people.

In their medical countermeasures work, USAMRIID scientists already had created a trivalent vaccine -- one that contains three components. They are Ebola Zaire, Sudan virus and Marburg virus --- another highly lethal virus that's in the same filovirus group as Ebola.

The trivalent vaccine is still going forward, Dye said, but a vaccine for Ebola Zaire was spun off in a separate program, "where they're taking just the Zaire forward and then we're continuing work on the trivalent cocktail -- Zaire, Sudan and Marburg -- with the idea that eventually we're going to have to cover all those bases."

The problem, he added, is that each component in the trivalent vaccine has to go through its own set of clinical trials and FDA approvals for use in people, and that takes time.

"This outbreak is [Ebola] Zaire and, honestly, we were lucky it was Zaire," Dye said, "because we have the most information and the most therapeutic options and the most vaccine work for Zaire. It's the one we've been working on the longest."

One vaccine candidate in clinical trials is based on recombinant, or genetically engineered, virus from an animal disease called vesicular stomatitis. An Ebola virus protein is modified into a vesicular stomatitis virus, and that virus acts as a vector, or carrier, to deliver the Ebola protein into the human body. The vaccine is called VSV-EBOV.

HUMAN TESTING UNDERWAY

Human testing to evaluate safety of VSV-EBOV is underway at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, are conducting an early phase trial to evaluate the VSV-ZEBOV candidate for safety and its ability to generate an immune system response in healthy adults who receive two intramuscular doses.

At the same time, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research is testing the vaccine candidate as a single dose at its Clinical Trials Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, NIH officials said.

The other vaccine in clinical trials is a recombinant chimpanzee adenovirus, or cold virus. An Ebola virus protein is engineered into a chimpanzee adenovirus to deliver the vaccine, called ChAd-EBOV, into people.

In early stage clinical trials, again designed to assess vaccine safety and immune response, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of NIH, will test two versions of the NIAID/GlaxoSmithKline vaccine. One is a bivalent, or two-component, version containing genetic material from Ebola Zaire and Ebola Sudan. The other is a monovalent, or single-component, version that contains only genetic material from Ebola Zaire.

It's important for USAMRIID to keep working on vaccines for all the filoviruses, Dye said, "because we don't know what the next outbreak is going to be, but it's important to realize that just because we have a response against Zaire doesn't mean we've covered everything that we need to."

Dr. Travis K. Warren, principal investigator in the Division of Molecular and Translational Sciences, said, "the response we're generating for Ebola virus is also going to contribute to the efforts for Marburg virus, Sudan virus [and] for these broad-spectrum viruses, because we will begin to develop the drug product, the supply of the drug product and the safety information that will be applicable to many different programs."

In a statement on its website, the World Health Organization said the two Ebola vaccine candidates in clinical trials also will be tested soon in clinical trials in Africa and Europe. The WHO statement added that officials will work with all stakeholders to accelerate the vaccines' development and safe use in countries with outbreaks.

WHO convened an Oct. 24 meeting in Geneva, with high-ranking government representatives from Ebola-affected countries and development partners, civil society, regulatory agencies, vaccine manufacturers and funding agencies to decide how to fast-track testing and deployment of vaccines in enough numbers to affect the Ebola epidemic.

Meeting attendees came to consensus on the following points:

-- Results from phase 1 clinical trials of the most advanced vaccines are expected to be available in December, and efficacy trials in affected countries will begin in the same timeframe.

-- Pharmaceutical companies developing the vaccines committed to ramping up production capacity for millions of doses to be available in 2015, with several hundred thousand ready before mid-2015.

-- Regulatory authorities in countries where the vaccines are manufactured and in Africa committed to supporting this goal by working under extremely short deadlines.

WHO reported that as of Oct. 23, along with more than 10,000 confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola virus disease and nearly 5,000 deaths, at least 450 health care workers have been infected with Ebola virus disease, and 244 have died.

"If we do have experimental therapeutics and vaccines that could help," Dye said, "it's going to give some peace of mind to those who are going into [affected] countries" to treat patients.

"Probably the most important thing we can do at this time," he added, "is to provide some sort of treatment option or vaccine to health care workers who are risking their lives, so they can pass that along in the health care they are providing."

US eyes cyber 'deterrence' to stop hackers

The US military is looking to flex its muscles in cyberspace as a "deterrence" to hackers eying American targets, the nation's top cyber-warrior said Tuesday.

Admiral Mike Rogers, who heads the Pentagon's Cyber Command as well as the National Security Agency, evoked a policy often put forward for avoiding nuclear warfare, because holding powerful weapons is seen as a deterrent.

Rogers said that as part of his role as the head of Cyber Command, he wants to send a message to potential cyber-attackers that there are consequences for their actions.

"Right now, if you are a nation-state, if you are a group, if you are an individual, my assessment is that most (hackers) come to the conclusion that it is incredibly low-risk, that there is little price to pay for the actions that they are taking," Rogers told a cybersecurity conference at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

"I'm not saying I agree with that but I believe most look at that and in light of that feel that they can be pretty aggressive. That's not in our best interests in the long term as a nation to have that perception. We need to try to change that over time."

- Offensive tools in cyberspace -

Rogers said the US military has a "legal framework" for the use of any offensive cyber-weapons, noting that a decision to use these tools needs approval from the president and secretary of defense.

But he said US officials are in the midst of discussions on defining offensive military actions in cyberspace and how to implement them.

"What I hope we can develop over time is a set of norms and rules that get us into an area where we can get a better definition of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable (in cyberspace), and even into the idea of deterrence," he told the conference.

The comments came the same day that security researchers, in two separate reports, said the Russian and Chinese governments are likely behind widespread cyber-

NATO chief wants strong defence as basis for ties with Russia

NATO chief wants strong defence as basis for ties with Russia: NATO wants a constructive relationship with Russia but for that to happen it must engage Moscow from a position of strength, alliance head Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday.

The US-led military pact had helped ensure stability in Europe, he said, but now, with its intervention in Ukraine, Russia was "trying to roll back the progress we have made".

Nonetheless, whatever the problems caused, the fact remained that "both NATO and Russia are here to stay. So we simply cannot ignore each other," Stoltenberg told the German Marshall Fund think-tank.

"One way or the other, we will have a relationship. The question is what kind."

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian premier who took the NATO helm earlier this month with the Ukraine crisis top of the agenda, said his experience proved it was best to deal with Moscow from a position of strength.

Navy Demonstrates New Autonomous Ground Vehicle with Modular Mission Capability

Navy Demonstrates New Autonomous Ground Vehicle with Modular Mission Capability



The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) and Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) Reconnaissance and Detection Expendable Rover (RaDER) team recently demonstrated the autonomous operation of the first RaDER prototype.

The successful demonstration was conducted at SPAWAR's Point Loma Test Facility in San Diego.

"This was our first opportunity to show all the stakeholders what we have been working on for the past two years," said NSWC PCD RaDER Project Engineer Jeff Dinges. "It is extremely exciting to see a concept demonstrated two years after the project was conceptualized."

The RaDER concept was developed at NSWC PCD and initially funded as a Naval Innovative Science and Engineering (NISE) effort for 2013. The RaDER is designed to provide a low-cost, autonomous, modular-vehicle capability for fielding numerous explosive hazard defeat (EHD) and counter-tactical surveillance and targeting (CST) mission packages.

"I believe this is what the NSWC PCD NISE efforts are all about," said Dinges. "The RaDER analysis team performed the research to identify gaps in the Marine Corps' strategic objectives and developed the RaDER concept to fill a gap. The NISE committee believed in our concept and funded us to develop it into a functional prototype."

As the NISE effort progressed, the NSWC PCD team began working closely with Product Manager Engineer Systems (PdM ES) Joe Klocek's team at Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC).

"We were able to develop requirements with a target transition organization during the engineering process," said Dinges. "This team effort between MCSC, the PdM ES and NSWC PCD helped refine the requirements for the platform and future mission capabilities."

As fiscal year 2013 was coming to an end, MCSC, PdM ES funded the RaDER effort to allow for the integration of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare and Combating Terrorism Department (Code 30) advanced ground system autonomy technology onto the RaDER platform.

"The ONR Code 30 developed ground system autonomy technology met all of the requirements we had for our platform", said Dinges. "Cost was a large focus of our effort. The low-cost ground system autonomy technology was a perfect match."

As fiscal year 2014 began, the NSWC PCD team was in the fabrication stages of the project.

"Many long hours were spent completing the mechanical and electrical design", said Dustin Bride, NSWC PCD lead mechanical engineer. "We performed all the modeling and analysis on the computer before we started cutting metal. We made every effort to minimize fabrication time and cost through the process."

Once the mechanical design was complete, NSWC PCD and SSC Pacific teams worked to integrate the autonomy kit onto the vehicle.

"It was a challenge to adapt the ONR 30 autonomy system to the RaDER platform without access to the vehicle but the two teams worked closely with one another and pulled it all together," said Mike Bruch, chief engineer for robotics at SSC Pacific.

"The RaDER is a low-cost platform with an autonomous navigation package," said Dinges. "The platform uses a number of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) parts to keep costs low while also decreasing the logistics footprint. RaDER has a unique chassis design to meet multi-mode transportation, quick deployment and modular mission capability requirements."

According to Dinges, some of these missions include route reconnaissance and clearance detection, proofing and situational awareness.

"We analyzed over 13 different mission packages to integrate onto RaDER," said Dinges. "Even with a modular mission capability platform producing 750 watts of sensor power, RaDER maintains an all-terrain capability with four-wheel drive and a fuel-efficient three-cylinder diesel capable of over 150 miles of range."

Although RaDER development is still underway, Joe Klocek indicated he would prefer to get the platform in front of the Marines for their feedback.

"I certainly see a need for this type of system," said Klocek. "It's gone from concept to reality in a short period of time. We need to continue the development of the RaDER and let the operating forces utilize the system in a tactical environment to help generate the concept of operations for this unique capability."

According to Dinges, the RaDER effort shows how NSWC PCD NISE efforts and creative teaming combine to achieve successful science and technology efforts.

"In today's cost and time constrained environment, we demonstrated how a small investment can foster innovative thinking," said Dinges. "The technical teams from NSWC PCD and SSC Pacific achieved great success in transforming RaDER from concept to reality."

Monday, October 27, 2014

Officials break ground on hospital to replace Landstuhl - News - Stripes

Officials break ground on hospital to replace Landstuhl - News - Stripes: After more than a year of delays, American and German officials heaved the first shovels of dirt Friday to mark the symbolic start of construction on a nearly billion-dollar U.S. military hospital here.

Expected to open in 2022, the new facility will replace the Army’s aging Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and the Air Force’s medical clinic at Ramstein Air Base, both of which were built in the 1950s and cost millions of dollars a year to maintain.

Work at the new hospital site began in earnest in February after the U.S. military and its German counterparts laid out plans to mitigate the project’s environmental impact, allaying the concerns of environmental groups whose lawsuits had stalled the project.

Since finishing tree cutting in February, workers have begun demolishing unused buildings, including a railhead, warehouses and dozens of bunkers that once housed ammunition.

The United States spent some $16 million planting trees, relocating animals and building habitats and breeding grounds for other creatures to mitigate environmental damage.

“The heavy construction, which is really the movement of the earth and shaping of the earth, will be beginning later this fall or early in the new calendar year,” said Lloyd Caldwell, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ director of military programs.

That early work entails laying utility lines for the new facility. The construction of the hospital and companion buildings will start sometime in the next couple of years, Caldwell said.

Personnel chief: Army may be drawing down too fast | Army Times | armytimes.com

Personnel chief: Army may be drawing down too fast | Army Times | armytimes.com: The Army will continue to reduce promotions and force out soldiers in 2015, even as manpower officials voice concern the service may be drawing down too fast and deeply.
“We are very concerned that because of the strategic considerations, we may be driving very close to the curb as we move forward,” said Lt. Gen. James McConville, the service’s chief personnel officer (G-1), in an interview with Army Times.
The budget picture remains unclear at the same time the service is ramping up global missions. This has led to uncertainties relating to the future size of the Army, and as a result, McConville cannot accurately project how many soldiers will be forced out of service by the retention boards that will meet in 2015.
In terms of planning for the drawdown, McConville said, “we made some assumptions in 2012 regarding what the environment was going to be today,” but that picture has changed with what we are seeing with the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the Russian incursion in Ukraine and the Ebola outbreak in Africa.”

Army 'funding cliff' may mean more demand for deployments, reserve soldiers, leader says | Army Times | armytimes.com

Army 'funding cliff' may mean more demand for deployments, reserve soldiers, leader says | Army Times | armytimes.com: The Army likely will look to the National Guard and Army Reserve to fill steady-state missions as it deals with increasing demands for soldiers around the world.
“The demand for Army forces has really been pretty high,” said Maj. Gen. Gary Cheek, the Army’s assistant deputy chief of staff for operations. “The velocity of global instability has really got us concerned that we’ll have a problem both with capacity as well as capability, and the readiness to do that.”
Many of the missions the Army is responding to – containing the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, coordinating the mission in Iraq and providing assurance and deterrence in Europe in the face of Russian aggression – were “not anticipated,” Cheek said Friday while speaking to reporters at the Pentagon.
Seven of the Army’s 10 division headquarters are committed, Cheek said, even as the Army faces a “funding cliff” if sequestration returns that will have a “huge impact on capacity and readiness.”

Thursday, October 23, 2014

U.S Navy sending Aegis-equipped destroyers to Japan

U.S Navy sending Aegis-equipped destroyers to Japan: Two U.S. Navy destroyers with ballistic missile defense capabilities are being forward deployed to Japan, the U.S. Navy announced.

The ships with Aegis systems are the USS Benfold (DDG 65) and USS Milius (DDG 69), both of which are currently homeported in San Diego, Calif.

The two ships will become part of the Forward Deployed Naval Forces based at Yokosuka, Japan.

The USS Benfold will deploy to Japan next summer, while the USS Milius will make the move in the summer of 2017.

"The move directly supports the announcement made by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in April of this year that the Navy would commit to sending two additional BMD-capable ships to the defense of Japan by 2017," the Navy said in reporting the re-basing.

The Navy said the two destroyers will have completed all midlife modernization before the change. They will be equipped with the latest Aegis Baseline 9 combat system, which includes state of the art air defense, ballistic missile defense, surface warfare and undersea warfare capabilities. Other upgrades will include a fully-integrated bridge, improved machinery, damage control and quality of life improvements, an advanced galley and commercial-off-the-shelf computing equipment.

Russian fighter suspected of terrorism and held in Afghanistan to be prosecuted in U.S. - The Washington Post

Russian fighter suspected of terrorism and held in Afghanistan to be prosecuted in U.S. - The Washington Post:



A Russian captured fighting with insurgents in Afghanistan and held for years at a detention facility near Bagram air base will be flown to the United States to be prosecuted in federal court, according to U.S. officials.

The move marks the first time a foreign combatant captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan and held by the U.S military at Bagram will be transferred to the United States for trial, a decision the Obama administration has weighed for months. With combat operations winding down, the administration’s authority to continue to hold the man was in question, and U.S. officials said Russia had little interest in getting him back.

The detainee, known by the nom de guerre Irek Hamidullan, is suspected of leading several insurgent attacks in 2009 in which U.S. troops were wounded or killed. He was captured that year after being wounded in a firefight.



Congress was recently notified that Hamidullan would be transferred to the United States, officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the decision to prosecute him had not been released publicly.

Congress has barred the transfer to the United States for prosecution or continued detention of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but has not enacted a similar law preventing the movement of those held in Afghanistan.


A spokesman for the Justice Department’s National Security Division declined to comment. It is not clear what terrorism charges Hamidullan will face.

USAF Langley Hospital adds 'Ebola-zapping' robot to inventory

USAF Langley Hospital adds 'Ebola-zapping' robot to inventory



Standing at 5 feet 2 inches tall, USAF Hospital Langley's newest staff member doesn't initially have a commanding presence. However, after five minutes, its impact has the potential to save countless lives around the world.

The 633rd Medical Group received a germ-zapping robot, nicknamed Saul, which harnesses the power of technology to kill off viruses - including the Ebola Virus Disease. Through a demonstration, Geri Genant, Xenex Healthcare Services implementation manager, shared with Airman the robots functions and capabilities.

Shortly after the president issued an executive order addressing the critical issue of Ebola, the 633rd MDG responded with cutting edge technology to protect the health of the Service members, their families and the community.

The hospital staff partnered up with Xenex, the company that created Saul as part of a response plan designated to ensure the 633rd MDG is equipped to handle viruses like Ebola.

"We are very proud to be the first Air Force hospital to have this robot," said U.S. Air Force Col. Marlene Kerchenski, 633rd Medical Group Surgeon General chief of nursing services. "Saul will provide an extra measure of safety for both our patients and our intensive care unit staff."

According to Genant, after patient and operation rooms are cleaned, the robot uses pulses of high-intensity, high-energy ultraviolet rays 25,000 times brighter than florescent lights to split open bacterial cell walls and kill dangerous pathogens commonly found in hospitals.

Although each room is cleaned by hospital staff wearing proper protection equipment and using cleaning chemicals, harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi still linger in some areas, especially those human hands can't reach. As an additional patient safety measure, the Xenex robot can then disinfect a room in five minutes and destroy Ebola-like viruses on any surface in two minutes, according to Dr. Mark Stibich, Xenex's founder and Chief Scientific Officer, as reported by CBS Houston.

"Xenex has tested its full spectrum disinfection system on 22 microorganisms, studying nearly 2,000 samples in several independent labs all over the world," said Gentant.

Saul is able to kill a single strand of ribonucleic acid, a virus similar to Ebola, two meters out in any direction, within five minutes at an efficiency rate of 99.9 percent, Genant explained.

"Hospitals that have used this have been able to bring infection rates down in many cases 60 percent," she continued.

Recently the surgical team was trained on this robot, with the goal Saul will rotate throughout the hospital.

"Our surgical services groups have already been trained on this, so we will use them as well as our service representative for a train the trainer type program, said Kerchenski."

Throughout the coming weeks, this technology will be used as a preventative measure to help eradicate and control viruses.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Poland Wants to Buy U.S. Stealth Missile If Affordable - Bloomberg

Poland Wants to Buy U.S. Stealth Missile If Affordable - Bloomberg: Poland wants to buy cruise missilesfrom the U.S. Air Force “without delay” if the price comesdown, according to a spokesman for the embassy in Washington.

Under a streamlined procedure for NATO allies,congressional committees this month approved a proposed packageof as many as 40 of the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missilesmade by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) and upgrades to Poland’s fleet ofF-16 fighter jets to carry them, together valued by the Pentagonat as much as $500 million.

While the proposed price “is at present too high,” formalapproval “has given us the opportunity to start detailednegotiations,” Rafal Perl, a spokesman for the Polish embassy,said an in e-mail.

“We hope that the negotiations will be productive and thatboth sides will very soon reach an agreement,” he said.

The approval culminated two years of discussions with theWhite House, Pentagon and Congress for Ryszard Schnepf, Poland’sAmbassador to the U.S., he said yesterday at a BloombergGovernment lunch.

“I had many conversations” with U.S. officials “beforeit happened,” Schnepf said of the effort, which predatedUkraine’s crisis with Russia.

How 3D Printing Could Help Replace Russian Rockets - Defense One

How 3D Printing Could Help Replace Russian Rockets - Defense One: Dynetics, of Huntsville, Ala., and Aerojet Rocketdyne, of Sacramento, Calif., are already building a replacement engine that could power the Atlas V for military launches and future NASA manned space launches. Much of the engine has been built using a 3-D printing technique know as additive manufacturing.

“Going to additive manufacturing is going to be one of the biggest cost and time savers on this engine,” said Steve Cook, director of corporate development at Dynetics. The team has built a key rocket engine part, know as the pre-burner, with a new manufacturing process for this type of part. What typically takes 15 months, Cook said, they did in 15 days.

“It’s what is used to generate the hot gas that turns the turbo pump on the main engine,” he said.

The company plans to test the part before the end of the year.









Additive manufacturing could save substantial time and money in engine development, but the technology is still unproven, said Marco Caceres, senior analyst and director of space studies at the Teal Group consulting firm. “Right now, what the Air Force needs with regard to a new engine is precisely that, to save a lot of time and money,” he said.

U.S. holds test on Aegis tracking capability

U.S. holds test on Aegis tracking capability: The U.S. military has demonstrated that Lockheed Martin's Aegis weapon system can destroy a ballistic missile solely on tracks from remote airborne sensors.

Results of the demonstration by the Ballistic Missile Defense Agency and the Navy will be used to enhance the Ballistic Missile Defense System and support the advancement of Phase 2 of the Phased Adaptive Approach for missile defense in Europe, where a land-based variant of Aegis is to be deployed.

In the technology test, a medium-range ballistic missile target was launched on Oct. 16 from a range facility in Hawaii. The USS John Paul Jones, positioned west of Hawaii, detected and tracked the missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar using the Aegis Baseline 9.C1 (BMD 5.0 Capability Upgrade) Weapon System.

Several fire control, discrimination, and engagement functions were also exercised, as well as an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a multi-spectral targeting system.

No Standard Missile-3, however, was actually launched against the target.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

New Biological Technologies Will Grant Troops Super Powers

New Biological Technologies Will Grant Troops Super Powers: Tomorrow’s troops may look more like the superheroes from the Avengers comic books than G.I. Joes. As medical and biotechnology advances, the military’s research organizations are putting more emphasis on creating super soldiers with improved performance, strength and the ability to better survive serious injury.

Everything from Wolverine’s self-healing powers to Iron Man’s suit is within the realm of possibility.

Leading the charge is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which launched its biological technologies office in April. One goal is “cultivating new discoveries that help maintain peak warfighter abilities and restoring those abilities as quickly and fully as possible when they are degraded,” a DARPA news release stated.

Programs include high-tech, robotic prosthetics and a device that can be implanted in a soldier’s brain to help restore memories lost after an injury. DARPA is also developing a putty-like material that can be packed in and around compound fractures, allowing doctors to eschew setting the injury with plates, rods and screws. The putty would harden to a bone-like structure, enabling normal, load-bearing use of the limb within days.

New Energy Technologies Could Provide Military With Inexhaustible Power Sources

New Energy Technologies Could Provide Military With Inexhaustible Power Sources: The Defense Department is the largest single user of energy in the United States, if not the entire world. That dependence costs the military billions of dollars in fuel a year and requires troops to undergo dangerous delivery missions.

In a future war, the Defense Department will need renewable energy sources that can juice up soldier equipment, sustain weapon systems and power bases, all while reducing the department’s logistical tail and reliance on fossil fuels, experts said.

“Napoleon said that an army runs on its stomach. Well, the truth is the army of today runs on oil,” said Andrew Holland, senior fellow for energy and climate at the American Security Project, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

During fiscal year 2012 — the most recent data available — the Defense Department spent $16.4 billion on 104 million barrels of liquid fuels for various operational energy uses, according to the office of the assistant secretary of defense for operational energy plans and programs.

The military derives its power almost exclusively from petroleum, Holland said. That dependence tethers the armed services to expensive oil and forces them to transport large quantities of fuel in dangerous and sometimes contested areas, he said.

Nuclear fusion reactors may offer troops plentiful energy on demand in a safer and less expensive way, he said.

B-52s headed to Europe for second time this year | Air Force Times | airforcetimes.com

B-52s headed to Europe for second time this year | Air Force Times | airforcetimes.com: U.S. Strategic Command will sendB-52 Stratofortress bombers to participate in Exercise Noble Justification this month in support of NATO allies and partners.
The bombers will practice “command, control and employment of simulated conventional weapons operations” as part of the maritime component of the NATO exercise taking place in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, according to a release.
“The participation of U.S. bombers in Exercise Noble Justification, which was specifically requested by NATO leadership, provides truly unique opportunities for our bomber crews to strengthen and improve interoperability with our allies and partners while working toward mutual goals,” STRATCOM commander Adm. Cecil Haney said in the release.
The B-52s will be the third deployment of bombers to the European continent in the last five months — in June, two B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, joined two B-52s from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and one B-52 from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, in RAF Fairford, England, for military exercises in the region.

Navy takes different approach to painting vessels | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Navy takes different approach to painting vessels | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com: They call it "haze gray," the war paint of the Navy's fleet, designed to make its vessels tougher to see.

It's hard to fathom how many millions of gallons of it have been slathered on the sides of Navy ships over the years.

"If it moves, salute it; if it doesn't, paint it," was a motto of sailors in previous generations, said Rob Hogan, director of steel manufacturing at Newport News Shipbuilding and the son of one such sailor.

But what may have been viewed as a simple, if detested, chore years ago has morphed into a highly sophisticated enterprise driven by engineering.

Within the past decade or so, an increasing share of what used to be called "painting" has been pushed into the earliest stages of shipbuilding, when vessels aren't even vessels yet, just pieces in the building-block stage.

"We've moved beyond the days of bustin' rust, with a needle gun and a wire brush," Hogan said during a recent tour of the two dozen shops and open areas he manages in the sprawling Newport News yard, where between 120 and 170 people work in the "surface prep and treatment group."

Army seeks long-range UAV | C4ISR & Networks | c4isrnet.com

Army seeks long-range UAV | C4ISR & Networks | c4isrnet.com: The Army is preparing to design a long-range, hand-launched UAV.

The request for information is for a Long Range Reconnaissance and Surveillance (LRRS) UAV. The Army wants endurance of at least two hours and a range of at least 10 kilometers, with eight hours and 30 kilometers the ultimate goal. The UAV shuold have a ceiling of no less than 10,500 feet, and up to 16,000.

It also must be launched by hand, catapult, bungee or other simple means, according to the RFI.

Memo: Hull Based on San Antonio Design is Navy's Preferred Option for Next Generation Amphib - USNI News

Memo: Hull Based on San Antonio Design is Navy's Preferred Option for Next Generation Amphib - USNI News: Arlington (LPD-24) under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding. Huntington Ingalls Industries Photo

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has signed an internal memo recommending the service base its next generation amphibious warship (LX(R)) on the existing San Antonio-class (LPD-17) warship design, first reported by the Inside the Navy newsletter on Monday.

Mabus’ approval of the memo, which he signed last week, validates more than a year of Marine Corps lobbying for a new amphibious ship based on the existing 25,000-ton San Antonio design.

“Through a focused and disciplined process that analyzed required capabilities and capacities, as well as cost parameters, it has been determined that a derivative of the Amphibious Transport Dock (LPD-17) hull form is the preferred alternative to meet LX(R) operational requirements,” read the document.

The lead ship of a San Antonio derived LX(R) would cost about $1.64 billion with follow-ons costing about $1.4 billion for a total of 11 ships, according to information from the service.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Holograms Next Step in Realistic Training for Tomorrow’s Troops

Holograms Next Step in Realistic Training for Tomorrow’s Troops: Ground troops today train in mock villages, where two-dimensional insurgents and civilians pop out of windows or doorways, and the soldier or Marine must instantly decide to shoot or hold fire.

Holographic technology, which is beginning to make inroads in the entertainment industry, could replace those 2D cutouts with virtual characters so realistic that it would make the trainee “crap his pants,” said James Jacobs, senior vice president of entertainment technology at Anakando Media Group, the parent company of HologramUSA.

The company has made headlines by placing the image of the dead rapper Tupac Shakur on a stage. It has teleported the cast of the ballet Swan Lake to other locations and, more recently, had WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange — currently holed up in an apartment in London’s Ecuadorian embassy — give a live interview in the United States, appearing here as a hologram and taking questions from the interviewer as if he were sitting next to him.

HologramUSA came to Washington, D.C., in August to make inroads in the government and political marketplaces, and hired a local lobbying firm to help it spread the word.

The company hopes holograms become a tool for candidates in the 2016 election as they were earlier this year in India, where newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi transported his hologram to platforms on trucks to speak to and engage with voters in far-flung provinces.
As for the military market, Jacobs said training and simulation is the most obvious application.

Army Operating Concept expands definition of combined arms | Article | The United States Army

Army Operating Concept expands definition of combined arms | Article | The United States Army



The Army Operating Concept, published Oct. 7, expands the idea of joint combined-arms operations to include intergovernmental and special operations capabilities, said Gen. Herbert R. McMaster Jr.

The new concept includes prevention and shaping operations at the strategic level across domains that include maritime, air, space and cyberspace, he said.

It's a "shift in emphasis," said McMaster, deputy commanding general of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command for Futures and director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center. He spoke at a "Warrior's Corner" presentation Tuesday, during the Association of the U.S. Army's Annual Meeting and Exposition.

The Army Operating Concept -- TRADOC Pamphlet 525-3-1, titled "Win in a Complex World" -- suggests how commanders in the future could combine war-fighting functions such as maneuver, fires, sustainment and intelligence. It introduces two new Army tenets to do this: simultaneity and endurance.

Simultaneity means the Army must operate across multiple domains at the same time, including cyberspace, McMaster said.

Endurance is seen as a particular Army strength, he said. "The Army gives the joint force endurance." This includes resilience to cope with adversity and losses; it means having the staying power to hold for the duration.

The new Army Operating Concept is an "evolution" of joint combined-arms operation, McMaster said. The new doctrine is also compatible with Army Doctrine Publication 3-0, "Unified Land Operations," published in October 2011, to update Field Manual 3-0.

"In each of these categories, you can cross-walk with (Field Manual) 3-0 and you'll see complete compatibility," he said. The new concept simply expands ideas outlined in the Army Doctrine Publication.

It builds on lessons learned over 13 years of conflict, McMaster said. It institutionalizes the need to be familiar with "cultural complexities" of the operating environment. It articulates the need for flexibility to operate in an uncertain environment. And it includes hard-learned lessons of asymmetric warfare.

Special Operations is added as an Army core competency. The Army needs dynamic combinations of special operations and conventional forces to be able to accomplish its missions, McMaster said. "And we have to be able to task organize on the fly in order to be able to do that."

The Army Operating Concept expands the Army's idea of combined-arms operations, he said, to include the "broad range of activities that are necessary." It expands the idea of combined arms to include not just Army capabilities, but joint, inter-organizational and multi-national capabilities.

He explained that "inter-organizational" is another word for "civilian" capabilities and the Army must be able to work alongside other government and non-governmental agencies.

In the past, the Army "deliberately divorced" operations and tactics from strategy, McMaster said. "We can't afford to do that anymore," he emphasized. The Army must be able to work with all platforms of national power to shape the environment in order to reach the desired end state.

America's overmatch and technical advantages are increasingly challenged in today's world, McMaster said. Potential enemies are emulating U.S. capabilities and adopting technology.

"We don't want a fair fight," he said, adding this is where help is needed from industry.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Army, Navy getting tougher combat helmets

Army, Navy getting tougher combat helmets: Thousands of combat helmets are to be delivered to the U.S. Army and Navy by 3M company Ceradyne Inc. under U.S. government orders.

A total of 35,000 Enhanced Combat Helmet are earmarked for the Army and 2,500 for the Navy. The U.S. Marine Corps are receiving 77,000 helmets under an order given to the company in the fall of last year.

"The helmet, which is equivalent in weight to current fielded helmets, provides over 35 percent improved ballistic fragmentation protection compared to others currently in use," 3M said. "This means additional protection from ballistic threats that has never before been possible in a military helmet."

The new orders bring the total contract value for Enhanced Combat Helmets and associated spare parts to $107 million.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

US military's robot space plane due to land this week

US military's robot space plane due to land this week: The US military's mysterious robot space plane is expected to land this week after a 22-month orbit, officials said Tuesday, but the craft's mission remains shrouded in secrecy.

The unmanned X-37B, which looks like a miniature space shuttle, is due to glide back to Earth after having launched on December 11, 2012, on a mission that military officers say is strictly top secret.

"Preparations for the third landing of the X-37B are underway at Vandenberg Air Force Base" in California, said a US Air Force spokesman, Captain Chris Hoyler.

"The exact landing date and time will depend on technical and weather considerations," Hoyler said.

A defense official said that the space plane will likely touch down sometime this week and that future missions would seek to extend the vehicle's technical capabilities and time in orbit.

Stryker combat vehicles getting hull, engine upgrades

Stryker combat vehicles getting hull, engine upgrades: The U.S. Army plans to upgrade additional flat-bottomed Stryker combat vehicles to the "Double V-Hull" configuration beginning in 2017.

The upgrade, which will involve not more than 360 existing vehicles, will give the Army a total of four out of nine Stryker Brigade Combat Teams with the strengthened hulls.

Lt. Col. Jason Toepfer, the program manager for Stryker development, said at the 2014 Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Exposition this week that the conversions would take place at facilities such as the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama and will cost about 30 percent less than purchasing new Strykers.

"I think that's pretty remarkable, the fact we are able to leverage the organic industrial base that we have at our depot, at Anniston ... and converge them to create a fully-functioning, capable vehicle, without having to start from scratch," Toepfer said.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Special Operations unit on verge of fielding most advanced Chinook helicopter ever - The Washington Post

Special Operations unit on verge of fielding most advanced Chinook helicopter ever - The Washington Post: Members of the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment are known for flying Navy SEALs, Army Rangers and other elite members of the U.S. military into combat at a moment’s notice, even when they might take fire themselves. But they sometimes do so with twin-rotor Chinook helicopters that have been in use for years, and are looking to modernize.

The regiment, famously known as the Night Stalkers, recently received the first of eight “new-build” MH-47G Chinooks from manufacturer Boeing as part of a $300 million contract. The helicopters include advanced flight controls, improved agility and a tougher airframe that is machined as one piece, rather built piece-by-piece from sheet metal. They also include larger fuel tanks that increase the aircraft’s range.

The regiment has flown the “G” model for about a decade, but this one is different, said Steve Parker, Boeing’s vice president for cargo helicopters and the manager of its H-47 production. Whereas other MH-47Gs were rebuilt from earlier MH-47 “D” and “E” models of the aircraft, these were built from the ground up, with Special Operations communications gear and avionics incorporated.

“It’s going to be a 100-year aircraft before it’s done,” Parker said of the Chinook during an interview at the annual conference of the Association of the United States Army in Washington. “We’re just continuing to implement new technology on it.”

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

How Do Insurgencies End? | Small Wars Journal

How Do Insurgencies End? | Small Wars Journal: How Do Insurgencies End?

Assessing the Existing International Security Literature

Russell Croy

Abstract

Many nations struggle with protracted wars and insurgencies, yet some of them end relatively quickly while others continue for decades – how does the literature explain the variation? The ability to understand how and why insurgencies end can provide better insight for counterinsurgent stakeholders and for more accurate applied foreign policy prescriptions. This paper seeks to explore the issue by examining current theories in relation to two distinct examples: The Second Chechen War and the Darul Islam movement in West Java, Indonesia post-WWII. This paper finds that while scholars have contributed heavily to today’s understanding of insurgencies and influenced experts in the field of international security, they do not provide a strong, generalizable theory on how insurgencies actually end. Moreover, this paper argues for the importance of reframing the discussion from how insurgencies are “defeated”, to how they “end” to avoid approaching the topic from a traditional, military-centric perspective that may perhaps overlook other political, economic, and social components that could also be responsible for insurgencies ending.

Pentagon Signals Security Risks of Climate Change - NYTimes.com

Pentagon Signals Security Risks of Climate Change - NYTimes.com:

The Pentagon on Monday released a report asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises.

The report lays out a road map to show how the military will adapt to rising sea levels, more violent storms and widespread droughts. The Defense Department will begin by integrating plans for climate change risks across all of its operations, from war games and strategic military planning situations to a rethinking of the movement of supplies.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, speaking Monday at a meeting of defense ministers in Peru, highlighted the report’s findings and the global security threats of climate change.
“The loss of glaciers will strain water supplies in several areas of our hemisphere,” Mr. Hagel said. “Destruction and devastation from hurricanes can sow the seeds for instability. Droughts and crop failures can leave millions of people without any lifeline, and trigger waves of mass migration.”

Friday, October 10, 2014

Using Light Frequencies to Sniff Out Deadly Materials from a Distance

Using Light Frequencies to Sniff Out Deadly Materials from a Distance: DARPA yesterday issued a solicitation for proposals responsive to its Spectral Combs from UV to THz (SCOUT) program, which seeks new capabilities for highly sensitive remote detection of multiple biological or chemical agents in liquid or gaseous forms. A proposers day is set for Oct. 15 via webcast.

Spectroscopic chemical sensing, which measures the frequency of light absorbed or scattered from a substance to help determine its molecular identity, can be used to detect traces of biological and chemical agents and residue from explosive materials.

Current capabilities in operational military environments, however, lack the sensitivity and broad spectral coverage needed to detect and distinguish among deadly chemicals and the "frequency clutter" generated by common components in the atmosphere.

The SCOUT program aims to overcome these shortcomings by harnessing optical frequency comb (OFC) technology, which is akin to using thousands of lasers simultaneously (like extremely fine teeth on a hair comb) to enable both high sensitivity and wide spectral coverage for detecting multiple types of substances at extended distances.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Navy to commission missile defense base in Romania - News - Stripes

Navy to commission missile defense base in Romania - News - Stripes: The Navy will commission its new missile defense base in southern Romania on Friday, one of two European land-based interceptor sites for a NATO missile shield vehemently opposed by Russia.

The base represents a rare expansion of the U.S. footprint in Europe, and the even rarer construction of a new Navy base from the ground up.

The base in Deveselu will be the first to feature the Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense system, a land-based version of the sophisticated radar tracking system installed on U.S. warships since 2004. Scheduled to become operational by the end of next year, the base — which is housed within a larger Romanian military installation — will be staffed by several hundred U.S. military, civilian and contract employees. A second site, in Poland, is scheduled to become operational by 2018.

Capt. William Garren will become the site’s first commander on Friday, officials said.

The site is part of a NATO missile defense shield pursued by two U.S. administrations as a defense against short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles from Iran and other rogue states. But Russia has long criticized the project, claiming it was aimed against its own ballistic missile arsenal. The dispute has taken on new significance with recent fighting between Ukraine and separatists near the Russian border and the sharp deterioration of relations between the West and Moscow.

Northrop Grumman unveils mine-hunting sensor | C4ISR & Networks | c4isrnet.com

Northrop Grumman unveils mine-hunting sensor | C4ISR & Networks | c4isrnet.com: Northrop Grumman has demonstrated its AQS-24A maritime mine detector.

The sensor was used in the Arabian Gulf in conjunction with the Navy’s mine hunting unmanned surface vehicle (MHU), according to a Northrop Grumman announcement.

“The MHU was remotely controlled and executed a preplanned mission by transiting to an operational area, deploying the AQS-24A, executing a search pattern and recovering the sensor,” the company said. “Real-time situational awareness data and sensor sonar data were sent via tactical data link to the command and control station to ensure safe operation while maintaining mission objectives.”

The Navy is eager to showcase the potential of robot mine-hunting for tactical as well as diplomatic reasons. “We are encouraged by the progress made with MHU 1 and 2 in the 5th Fleet,” said Capt. David Honabach, a program manager for the Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office. “We are also pleased that we could successfully demonstrate this capability to a key coalition partner in the Arabian Gulf region and look forward to Flight 2 mine hunting unmanned surface vehicles for future success.”

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

U.S. troops' Ebola mission may last a year | Military Times | militarytimes.com

U.S. troops' Ebola mission may last a year | Military Times | militarytimes.com: Thousands of U.S. troops may be living in tent cities in Liberia and supporting the fight against Ebola for “about a year” or until the deadly outbreak appears to be under control, the top military commander in Africa said Oct. 7.
“This is not a small effort and it’s not a short period of time,” Army Gen. David Rodriguez, the chief of U.S. Africa Command, told reporters at the Pentagon.
About 350 U.S. troops are now in West Africa and total deployments may reach 4,000 during the next several weeks. The size and scope of the mission has expanded from initial estimates in September, when officials said it would last about six months and require about 3,000 troops.
Pentagon officials emphasize that troops will not provide medical care or have direct contact with Ebola patients. The military mission is to support civilian health care efforts through construction of new facilities, providing logistics support and training locals in prevention methods.
Rodriguez said protocols for ensuring U.S. personnel do not contract the potentially deadly disease will include wearing gloves and masks but not complete full-body protective suits. They will wash their hands and feet multiple times a day.
And military health care team members will be taking their temperatures and asking them a series of questions every day to identify any troops who may show symptoms linked to Ebola, he said.

ISIL Determined to Acquire Biological Weapons - Blog

ISIL Determined to Acquire Biological Weapons - Blog: The U.S. military has evidence that Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria are seeking biological weapons, an Army official said Oct. 7.


"Intelligence has recently discovered that ISIS intends to pursue biological agents and also is trying to figure out how to weaponize bubonic plague through the use of infected animals," said Brig. Gen. Maria Gervais, head of the Army's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School.



That threat — and those posed by improvised explosive devices, bulk chemical agents, the deadly Ebola virus and continued development of weapons of mass destruction — point to the need for an effective CBRN defense, she said Oct. 7 at a roundtable discussion in Washington, D.C.



"The greatest threat to this country is at the intersection of technology and radicalism," she said. "The chemical …regiment is more important than ever."


But amid continued budget constraints and downsizing, the Army's chemical biological, radiation and nuclear defense force faces concerns about whether it can adequately handle threats faced abroad and in the homeland, Gervais said.


"We must ensure that we are prepared to bring our unique CBRN capabilities to the fight, and we must continue training the Army and the joint force to not only survive, but also to win in the CBRN environment," she said.

Northrop Grumman Pitching New Humvee Chassis to Army - Blog

Northrop Grumman Pitching New Humvee Chassis to Army - Blog: Northrop Grumman has designed a new Humvee chassis that would restore the vehicle’s original mobility and payload capabilities while maintaining its current level of protection, a company executive announced Oct. 7.

The service has not signed on those upgrades yet, but Northrop executives hope that its performance in testing will convince the Army to invest in the new chassis, said Greg Schmidt, vice president and general manager for Northrop Grumman Technical Services’ mission solutions and readiness division.

The threat of improvised explosive devices and roadside bombs during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan prompted the Army to outfit its fleet with heavy, but protective, armor. “What this did is it greatly degraded or limited the capabilities of the Humvee,” including decreased fuel economy and mobility, he told journalists at a news conference in Washington, D.C.

That, in turn, resulted in a longer logistical tail, including more fuel tankers and larger convoys, Schmidt said. “You can see where this really becomes a spiral.”

The company has already installed the new chassis on four vehicles through a cooperative agreement with the Army, two of which have been delivered to the service for trials, he said. Northrop is putting the other two vehicles through endurance testing at sites in Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada.

The new chassis enables the vehicle to accelerate to 66 miles per hour in 22 seconds and increases gas mileage to 18 miles per gallon, he said. Northrop is working with automobile component manufacturer Meritor Corp. and Pratt & Miller Engineering. Cummins is supplying the engine.

Foreign sales may offset U.S. cost of Raytheon radar-US Air Force | Reuters

Foreign sales may offset U.S. cost of Raytheon radar-US Air Force | Reuters: The U.S. Air Force said foreign sales of 50 to 100 of the new long-range radar systems to be developed by Raytheon Co could help lower the cost of U.S. purchases in coming years.

Dave Allen, the Air Force's lead engineer for the next-generation radar program, said in an interview on Tuesday that the program was designed from the start with "anti-tamper" features and other equipment to enable easier exports.

Allen declined to name potential customers, but said many countries would need to replace current radar systems built by Raytheon and its rivals, Northrop Grumman Corp and Lockheed Martin Corp as they reached the end of their service lives, normally about 20 to 25 years.

Raytheon declined comment on possible targets for foreign sales of the new radar system, the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR), which will serve as the Air Force's primary long-range, ground-based sensors for detecting and tracking aircraft and missiles.

Foreign sales may offset U.S. cost of Raytheon radar-US Air Force | Reuters

Foreign sales may offset U.S. cost of Raytheon radar-US Air Force | Reuters: The U.S. Air Force said foreign sales of 50 to 100 of the new long-range radar systems to be developed by Raytheon Co (RTN.N) could help lower the cost of U.S. purchases in coming years.

Dave Allen, the Air Force's lead engineer for the next-generation radar program, said in an interview on Tuesday that the program was designed from the start with "anti-tamper" features and other equipment to enable easier exports.

Allen declined to name potential customers, but said many countries would need to replace current radar systems built by Raytheon and its rivals, Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) as they reached the end of their service lives, normally about 20 to 25 years.

Raytheon declined comment on possible targets for foreign sales of the new radar system, the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR), which will serve as the Air Force's primary long-range, ground-based sensors for detecting and tracking aircraft and missiles.

U.S. Army in Africa to fight Ebola

More than 50 personnel from U.S. Army Africa are on the ground in Liberia responding to a request from President Barack Obama to assist in the fight against an Ebola outbreak in the region.

A 25-bed clinic for aid workers and two mobile labs have arrived in the country to diagnose the disease, and U.S. Army Africa is also setting up training for health care workers.

On Sept. 16, President Obama issued the following directive:

"At the request of the Liberian government, we're going to establish a military command center in Liberia to support civilian efforts across the region -- similar to our response after the Haiti earthquake. It's going to be commanded by Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, commander of our Army forces in Africa. He just arrived today and is now on the ground in Liberia. And our forces are going to bring their expertise in command and control, in logistics, in engineering. And our Department of Defense is better at that, our Armed Services are better at that than any organization on Earth."

"President Obama has made it clear the U.S. is committed to all governments in the region, and Liberia has the full backing of the U.S.," United States Ambassador to Liberia Deborah R. Malac said.

Currently, U.S. Army Africa, or USARAF, personnel are working under the direction of the U.S. Agency for International Development, known as USAID, and through U.S. Africa Command in an international humanitarian effort known as Operation United Assistance.

Williams, USARAF commander, explained his command's involvement in Operation United Assistance.

"We are partnering with the Armed Forces of Liberia and they're eager to help their fellow countrymen. Our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines, are working side by side with our Liberian host and will build on our already special relationship," Williams said.

Key in USARAF's mission is the establishment of a 25-bed clinic for aid workers.

"The construction

Raytheon reports USAF contract for 3D radar

Raytheon reports USAF contract for 3D radar



A new expeditionary radar system for detecting and tracking drones, aircraft and missiles is being developed and supplied by Raytheon to the U.S. Air Force.

The initial engineering and manufacturing contract for three, three-dimensional expeditionary long range radar, or 3DELRR, is worth $19.5 million. The total contract, including all options, is worth an estimated $71.8 million, including the service's procurement of three additional radar systems and product support."By choosing Raytheon's 3DELRR solution, the Air Force is purchasing an affordable, exportable radar," said David Gulla, Vice President, Global Integrated Sensors at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems. "Raytheon's 3DELRR design is interoperable with coalition systems and capable of meeting the requirements of many international customers."Raytheon said the radar system will replace radars -- such as Vietnam-era AN/TPS-75s -- rendered obsolete by current and emerging threats.Raytheon said its 3DELRR solution is a gallium nitride-based (GaN) radar that operates in the C-band radio frequency spectrum. The use of GaN boosts the radar's range and sensitivity, while using C-band provides flexibility since the band is relatively uncongested.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Islamic State fight could breathe new life into the A-10 - News - Stripes

Islamic State fight could breathe new life into the A-10 - News - Stripes: Months after staving off a trip to the boneyard, the embattled A-10 Thunderbolt II is headed to the Middle East where it could be used to fight Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria.

An Indiana Air National Guard unit that flies the Cold War-era gunships, known as Warthogs, is planning to deploy about 300 airmen and an unknown number of its aircraft to the U.S. Central Command region early next month, says a Sept. 17 news release from the unit.

The 122nd Fighter Wing, located at Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base, Ind., has 21 aircraft, though it’s uncertain how many will be deploying, a spokesman said Thursday.

The Air National Guard release doesn’t mention where the group is headed or for what purpose.

The Air Force wants to retire the A-10, an attack aircraft intended for close air support, to pay for its new — and costly — multipurpose F-35 stealth fighters. Retiring the decades-old fleet of about 300 A-10s would potentially save about $4.2 billion over five years, Air Force leaders have said.

But Congress this summer spared the plane from defense cuts. And now some experts say they wouldn’t be surprised to see the almost-mothballed A-10 pulled into the air war in Iraq and Syria, a possibility that could further heat the debate on the plane’s future.

Islamic State fight could breathe new life into the A-10 - News - Stripes

Islamic State fight could breathe new life into the A-10 - News - Stripes: Months after staving off a trip to the boneyard, the embattled A-10 Thunderbolt II is headed to the Middle East where it could be used to fight Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria.

An Indiana Air National Guard unit that flies the Cold War-era gunships, known as Warthogs, is planning to deploy about 300 airmen and an unknown number of its aircraft to the U.S. Central Command region early next month, says a Sept. 17 news release from the unit.

The 122nd Fighter Wing, located at Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base, Ind., has 21 aircraft, though it’s uncertain how many will be deploying, a spokesman said Thursday.

The Air National Guard release doesn’t mention where the group is headed or for what purpose.

The Air Force wants to retire the A-10, an attack aircraft intended for close air support, to pay for its new — and costly — multipurpose F-35 stealth fighters. Retiring the decades-old fleet of about 300 A-10s would potentially save about $4.2 billion over five years, Air Force leaders have said.

But Congress this summer spared the plane from defense cuts. And now some experts say they wouldn’t be surprised to see the almost-mothballed A-10 pulled into the air war in Iraq and Syria, a possibility that could further heat the debate on the plane’s future.

Islamic State fight could breathe new life into the A-10 - News - Stripes

Islamic State fight could breathe new life into the A-10 - News - Stripes: Months after staving off a trip to the boneyard, the embattled A-10 Thunderbolt II is headed to the Middle East where it could be used to fight Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria.

An Indiana Air National Guard unit that flies the Cold War-era gunships, known as Warthogs, is planning to deploy about 300 airmen and an unknown number of its aircraft to the U.S. Central Command region early next month, says a Sept. 17 news release from the unit.

The 122nd Fighter Wing, located at Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base, Ind., has 21 aircraft, though it’s uncertain how many will be deploying, a spokesman said Thursday.

The Air National Guard release doesn’t mention where the group is headed or for what purpose.

The Air Force wants to retire the A-10, an attack aircraft intended for close air support, to pay for its new — and costly — multipurpose F-35 stealth fighters. Retiring the decades-old fleet of about 300 A-10s would potentially save about $4.2 billion over five years, Air Force leaders have said.

But Congress this summer spared the plane from defense cuts. And now some experts say they wouldn’t be surprised to see the almost-mothballed A-10 pulled into the air war in Iraq and Syria, a possibility that could further heat the debate on the plane’s future.

Pentagon opens Ebola-testing lab in Africa

Pentagon opens Ebola-testing lab in Africa: U.S. troops opened an Ebola-testing laboratory in Liberia Thursday, the first of several medical facilities it has sent to battle the virus in Africa.

In all, the Pentagon has dispatched 231 personnel to Africa, more than 200 to the Liberian capital of Monrovia. They are the leading edge of as many as 3,000 troops who will construct laboratories and treatment centers for the disease that has ravaged west Africa. They are not expected to treat victims of the disease.

The virus has killed more than 3,300 people in the region, with Liberia hit hardest, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 1,998 confirmed deaths in Liberia.

Among the Pentagon's Ebola efforts:

• A second laboratory is scheduled to open Friday. Both are manned by personnel from the Naval Medical Research Center.

• A 25-bed hospital for infected medical personnel is expected to open on Oct. 18.

• Construction of two treatment centers for other Ebola victims will begin over the next few days and should be completed by the end of the month.

This Could Be the Navy SEAL's Boat of Tomorrow - Defense One

This Could Be the Navy SEAL's Boat of Tomorrow - Defense One: A boat that water skis on torpedoes could offer a Learjet-like ride for Navy SEAL teams moving into rough enemy waters. It may also prove to be a more stable platform for next-generation weapons systems like the Navy’s direct energy gun (or laser) that target better on stable seas. One day, it could be patrolling the Strait of Hormuz alongside much bigger, more expensive ships. But before that can happen, Juliet Marine Systems, the New Hampshire-based company marketing the system to military, has to make it run faster.

US Army Forming 'Low-High' Budget Plans | Defense News | defensenews.com

US Army Forming 'Low-High' Budget Plans | Defense News | defensenews.com: Amid continuing uncertainty over future defense budgets and potential budget caps, the US Army’s force development chief says he has made one five-year spending plan for sequestration and one for a reprieve.
Maj. Gen. Robert Dyess said the uncertainty over the long-range fiscal forecast has not only hindered defense firms’ planning efforts, but required his office to craft two versions of the service’s program objective memorandum: “POM low” and “POM high.”
Unsurprisingly, Dyess prefers POM high. Speaking Thursday at a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum on the future of soldier equipment, he called on the audience at the think tank to lobby against the budget cuts known as sequestration.
“I’d like to be able to say there is a steady stream of resources that are going to flow, or to tell industry what it looks like, but unfortunately I’m unable to do that,” Dyess said. “When Congress asks me what can we do for you, ‘Hey, you can take sequestration off the books.’ ”
While funding for soldier equipment is steady, with a slight increase in 2016 — under POM high — Dyess said he could protect funding for only science and technology research in POM low. Under that plan, 120 acquisitions programs across the Army are vulnerable, particularly the large ones, he said.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria on DoD's radar | Military Times | militarytimes.com

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria on DoD's radar | Military Times | militarytimes.com: The Pentagon figures prominently in President Obama’s new national plan to fight lethal, antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Under an executive order issued by the White House on Sept. 18, Obama outlined a national strategy to address the growing problem of illness and death caused by germs that can’t be controlled with existing medications.
The order brings together seven Cabinet departments as well as other agencies to implement a five-year plan to address antibiotic overuse and misuse in the U.S., improve health surveillance of infectious diseases and develop new diagnostic tests and medications to treat bacterial infections.
“The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria represents a serious threat to public health and the economy,” Obama wrote. “Detecting, preventing, and controlling antibiotic resistance requires a strategic, coordinated, and sustained effort.”
The secretaries of Defense, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture will serve as co-chairs of a 14-plus-member task force to oversee development and implementation of the plan.
As part of the effort, the Pentagon will maintain a repository of resistant bacteria strains, update procedures for collecting, storing and cataloging germs, and continue its work through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to develop new antibiotics and research experimental therapies for destroying bacteria.

Sikorsky Unveils Raider Prototype | Defense News | defensenews.com

Sikorsky Unveils Raider Prototype | Defense News | defensenews.com: Sikorsky unveiled its first S-97 Raider prototype Thursday, kicking off the test flight phase of the experimental helicopter program.
The helicopter giant’s West Palm Beach, Florida, facility hosted the event, which featured executives from the firm showing off the first full production model. The company will begin ground testing shortly and expects to have first flight of the system this year.
“Just four years ago, we announced plans to build the S-97 Raider and teamed with some of the best companies in the industry, understanding the need to ensure aircraft development would not falter as government defense budgets shrank in response to economic pressures,” company President Mick Maurer said in a press release. “Sikorsky is proud of its leadership in this area, and of the leadership the S-97 Raider represents among the world’s military rotorcraft.”
The Raider is Sikorsky’s planned entry to replace the US Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior fleet, but if it can deliver on company promises, it could find itself with a much wider audience.
The Raider prototype is based on the X-2 technology that Sikorsky developed in the late 2000s, with some key differences. Where the X-2 demonstrator was a one-person, 5,000-pound platform, the Raider is roughly 11,000 pounds with room for six troops for combat assault missions; if those troops aren’t needed, that space can be used to hold extra equipment or ammunition.

US State Department Opens Door to Maritime Defense Weapon Sales To Vietnam | Defense News | defensenews.com

US State Department Opens Door to Maritime Defense Weapon Sales To Vietnam | Defense News | defensenews.com: The United States will allow the sale of lethal equipment and weaponry to Vietnam for maritime defense purposes, the US State Department announced Thursday.
The executive decision, which ends an overall ban on lethal weapon sales to that country and which has been in place since the end of the Vietnam War, begins immediately.
It also comes at a time of growing tensions in the South China Sea, including a situation over the summer where China set up an oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam.
The definition of what maritime security assets are is nebulous and will be decided on a case-by-case basis, as are all potential sales of military equipment. That will ensure the US maintains control and prevents Vietnamese military forces from gaining assets that could be used to quell internal dissent.
It also leaves wiggle room for Vietnam to procure aviation assets, State Department officials said. The country is likely to have an interest in helicopters or planes that can be used for maritime surveillance, opening up the possibility of Vietnam pursuing a range of platforms, from prop planes like the A-29 Super Tucano to Boeing’s large P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft.

Navy Ready for Briefing on Small Surface Combatant, SecDef Not | Defense News | defensenews.com

Navy Ready for Briefing on Small Surface Combatant, SecDef Not | Defense News | defensenews.com: After months of preparation, the US Navy was set Thursday morning to brief Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on its recommendations for a new Small Surface Combatant (SSC), and a delegation led by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus waited to make a personal presentation.
“Everything’s ready to go,” one source said of the Navy’s presentation.
But the SecDef never appeared. According to several Pentagon sources, he was delayed by a prior engagement, and the briefing is waiting to be re-scheduled — no easy task, given the hectic schedules of many of the principles.
The results of an SSC Task Force charged with coming up with a more heavily-armed warship to succeed the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) have been one of the more eagerly-awaited secrets in naval circles this year. Those in the know have been exceptionally tight-lipped, and those outside the loop hope that with the Hagel briefing completed — and the recommendations approved — the Navy will be forthcoming about where its small surface warship programs are headed.
Decisions on the SSC need to be made soon — in time, Hagel has directed, “to inform” the 2016 budget, due to be sent to Congress in February.

Army chief talks new deployments; 'grave' readiness concern | Army Times | armytimes.com

Army chief talks new deployments; 'grave' readiness concern | Army Times | armytimes.com: Soldiers will soon see new deployments and rotations to hot spots around the world, even as the Army slashes its active-duty force to fit a tightening budget.
“Today we have soldiers deployed on missions in Europe, in Asia, in the Middle East, in Africa, all doing very important missions simultaneously,” said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno in an exclusive interview Sept. 25 with Army Times.
One of Odierno’s top concerns is making sure these soldiers are ready and properly trained before they deploy, he said, but that’s getting tougher and tougher. Heavy and rapid budget cuts are steadily chipping away at the force, and readiness is the next victim.
Russian aggression, the increasing threat of the Islamic State group and the impending deployment of “probably thousands of soldiers” to fight Ebola has Odierno worried.

US lifts 40-year arms ban to boost Vietnam sea defense

US lifts 40-year arms ban to boost Vietnam sea defense: In a decision likely to anger China, the US is partly lifting a 40-year ban on arms sales to former foe Vietnam to help boost defenses in the tense South China Sea.

The historic easing of the ban in place since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 will only apply to maritime equipment, State Department officials stressed, and comes amid warming ties and as Hanoi makes "modest" improvements to human rights.

"What's driving this is not a sudden desire to transfer military equipment to Vietnam writ large, but a specific need in the region," said one official, highlighting what he called Vietnam's lack of capacity in the disputed waters and America's own national security interests.

"It's useful in trying to deal with the territorial disputes in the South China Sea to bolster the capacity of our friends in the region to maintain a maritime presence in some capacity."

Some 40 percent of the world's seaborne trade passes through the sea which is claimed in part by Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia, as well as China and the Philippines.

US lifts 40-year arms ban to boost Vietnam sea defense

US lifts 40-year arms ban to boost Vietnam sea defense: In a decision likely to anger China, the US is partly lifting a 40-year ban on arms sales to former foe Vietnam to help boost defenses in the tense South China Sea.

The historic easing of the ban in place since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 will only apply to maritime equipment, State Department officials stressed, and comes amid warming ties and as Hanoi makes "modest" improvements to human rights.

"What's driving this is not a sudden desire to transfer military equipment to Vietnam writ large, but a specific need in the region," said one official, highlighting what he called Vietnam's lack of capacity in the disputed waters and America's own national security interests.

"It's useful in trying to deal with the territorial disputes in the South China Sea to bolster the capacity of our friends in the region to maintain a maritime presence in some capacity."

Some 40 percent of the world's seaborne trade passes through the sea which is claimed in part by Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia, as well as China and the Philippines.

Army Reserve Soldier nominated for Nobel Prize | Article | The United States Army

Army Reserve Soldier nominated for Nobel Prize | Article | The United States Army



Sometimes people share their knowledge and experiences without knowing the impact of their words.

Army Reserve Sgt. Randy Sandifer is one such individual.

Sandifer, a Pinola, Mississippi, native, joined the Army Reserve's 412th Theater Engineer Command December 2001, as a personnel services specialist, his junior year of high school, completing basic training between his junior and senior years, and Advance Individual Training immediately following his graduation. Sandifer dreamed of being a scientist, so began his schooling with that goal at the University of Mississippi, as a forensic chemistry major. Then, just barely into his 20s, Sandifer received deployment orders to Iraq.

"At first, it took me off guard, but at the same time I had to answer those orders. I was very young. I was 21 or 22 when I got those orders," said Sandifer. "Once I got over there, I had to find a role and my role was at first supporting the detachment as administrator, but I ended up volunteering to work here, work there. I ended up working in the soil laboratory, and on the environmental team."

Sandifer didn't know it at the time, but volunteering in the laboratory and on the environmental team would result in future opportunities he wasn't expecting.

"I knew by being in those two laboratories that my time would go by faster, because I was keeping myself occupied, plus I was gaining experience in the laboratory," said Sandifer. "I knew at the end of the day I wanted to be a scientist, so working in those two laboratories helped me build my foundation."

Sandifer taught himself how to use the equipment and the proper techniques to support the mission.

The mission he and the environmental team were given was to clean up environmental hazards at Abu Ghraib prison, and ensure these hazards were not present at other locations.

To complete this, Sandifer and his team collected and tested soil samples for hydrocarbons.

"Before you are able to exit [an area of operation], it has to be to a certain standard, and that standard was the hydrocarbons in the soil couldn't be over 1,000 parts per million, so this was a huge task," Sandifer recalled. "Within this task, I had to test for the presence of hydrocarbons, then I had to go back and test for the parts per million of hydrocarbons, from my tests they wrote recommendations to excavate the soil and put down new soil or just clean it up.

"Then I had to go back and test again for the parts per million, making sure it was under that threshold of 1,000 parts per million," he continued. "Once it was under 1,000 parts per million, then the prison was able to be closed down. It was a significant factor because they were waiting on my testing."

Sandifer completed his mission and returned home. Once home he began giving speeches about what he did in Iraq, and the environmental impacts.

"I talked about the things I did over there, but not only the immediate understanding of what I did, but also how in the future, the benefits of the things I did over there and how it showed the United States, in a good eye, to the rest of the world," said Sandifer.

During a speech at the University of Mississippi, in 2006, unbeknownst to Sandifer, there was a graduate student in the crowd taking his message to heart. In 2014, that student, now a professor, nominated Sandifer for the Nobel Prize.

Professor Jonathan Hutchins, assistant director of the Social Justice Initiative said, "Consequently, understanding the complexities of Mr. Sandifer's efforts can easily be measured if he had not provided such level of environmental analysis for global environmental sustainment. The environmental effects would have been horrific if it were not for the non-violent scientific dedication exhibited by Mr. Sandifer," in his nomination letter.

Sandifer hadn't realized someone had embraced what he spoke about, in 2006.

"(Hutchins) just heard (the speech) and I guess he just kept it in mind," said Sandifer. "Now, most recently 2014, given all the things surrounding global warming, I was talking about that back in 2006, and not being environmentally aware of our footprint, how it will be detrimental. Not just detrimental in the United States but the United States being in other countries, for world purposes how it will contribute to global warming."

At the time of his speeches, Sandifer felt it had probably fallen on deaf ears, and it wasn't until recently he came to believe people are finally listening.

"As I was talking about it, I knew it could happen, but in that time frame most people didn't believe in global warming," he said. "It was not until recently people were like, 'This is something we really need to pay attention to. This is real.' But, oftentimes, when you can't see it, can't smell it, but you can see the effects of it, then there is something there, but you don't know exactly what it is. You are seeing the climate change and the weather change, well, there is a reason for that. And that reason is global warming."

Sandifer never expected to be nominated for such a prestigious honor.

"I was (surprised to be nominated), because I didn't think someone would hear the things I was saying, and remember them years later," said Sandifer. "Sometimes, when you're talking about something, in that time frame in 2006, there were a lot of other scientists in the crowd and they were like, 'Oh, no, that's impossible. There's no such thing.' But then some were like, 'Oh, yeah, that's a good point.' And now in 2014, here we are, and they're seeing, yes, global warming is real."

While Sandifer appreciates the nomination, he said just being an Army Reserve Soldier and serving his country was enough for him.

"Just a small amount of hydrocarbon being in the soil can throw an ecosystem completely off," he explained. "Dealing with the Iraqis, and how they function, their ecosystem feeds directly to their livelihood because they raise livestock, they farm, they do so much in the environment they are in. They still live off the different rivers that run through there. Those hazardous materials being in the soil could seep into the water supply and go into the individuals' natural resources so it was just keeping with the whole theme of we're trying to leave Iraq better than the way we found it. I did so environmentally."

The opportunity to help the Iraqis was important to Sandifer, but that opportunity also opened other doors for him.

"I went on from the 412th to the Army Crime Laboratory, which was always a dream of mine to work in forensic science at the Army Crime Laboratory, and July 2010, I was very fortunate to become a member of the Expeditionary Forensic Division under the United States Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory. Under this particular division, I deployed overseas to Afghanistan and provided capabilities."

"Without my start in the Army Reserve, that wouldn't have been possible," he explained. "Being able to complete my deployment, my duty to have that level of responsibility at the time, being in those two laboratories, propelled me in terms of my job candidacy, in terms of getting a position with the Army Crime Laboratory."

Sandifer also acknowledges the Army Reserve paved the path for his Nobel Prize nomination as well.

"I really appreciate it, and just being able to have the opportunity I would have never gotten if I wasn't a part of the Army Reserve," said Sandifer. "I'm very fortunate to have been a part of the 412th, and even more fortunate to be a part of the Army Reserve. I could have been in a whole different unit in a whole different [military occupational specialty] and ended up in a whole different situation, but things happen for a reason, and it put me in a situation where I could show my skills and my desire to learn and to work and to produce. That's what I did when I was overseas."

Sandifer said if it wasn't for the foundation built by volunteering in the laboratories in Iraq as an Army Reserve Soldier, he doesn't think he would have had so many opportunities to fulfill his dreams of being a scientist. He is very thankful to his leadership in Iraq in allowing him the chance to work in the laboratories and build his skills as a scientist.

Upon finding he was nominated, Sandifer worked to improve his chances.

"I've had multiple letters of endorsement and multiple letters of nomination, because after finding out I was being nominated I wanted to see if I could get other letters of nomination to support my case," said Sandifer. "It was a short amount of time, but a lot of people sent in letters of recommendation, which solidified me being there. I don't know what the results are going to be."

Sandifer may not be in the running this year as the Nobel Committee can hold nominations over until the next year for a variety of reasons. Sandifer also will not know if he made the cut because the committee does not release nominees who were considered for 50 years. But, Sandifer is content just being in the running.

"It could be this year or it could be next year, but just being nominated is a blessing in itself," said Sandifer. "The chance I win, I think that's huge because it really just put to the forefront the things myself and the [Army Reserve 412th TEC] team that I was with, what we were doing and how significant it was."