While in India this past December, I sat in on some presentations made by academics, mainly engineers and scientists, that outlined new computer models and cognitive systems being developed to improve success on the battle field. Most of what I heard was about the automation of command and control; new systems designed to improve the sharing of information among computers. The presentations were compelling, but as someone more interested in cell phones and email than C++, what I really became curious about is how soldiers share information in war zones.
This past week, The New Yorker published a compelling article about that very subject. Writer Dan Baum profiles two Web Sites, Platoonleader.org and Companycommand.com (links won't work without special access, it seems) created informally in 2000 by majors Nate Allen and Tony Burges to help army officers share information and lessons learned with each other.
Dan Baum:
The sites, which are accessible to captains and lieutenants with a password, are windows onto the job of commanding soldiers and onto the unfathomable complexities of fighting urban guerrillas. Companycommand is divided into twelve areas, including Training, Warfighting, and Soldiers and Families, each of which is broken into discussion threads on everything from mortar attacks to grief counselling and dishonest sergeants. Some discussions are quite raw. Captains post comments on coping with fear, on motivating soldiers to break the taboo against killing, and on counselling suicidal soldiers. They advise each other on how to kick in doors and how to handle pregnant subordinates. Most captains now have access to the Internet at even the most remote bases in Iraq, and many say they’ll find at least ten or fifteen minutes every day to check the site. They post tricks they’ve learned or ask questions like this, which set off months of response.
Read Battle Lessons by Dan Baum in The New Yorker