Lt. Col. Harbin, right, and Maj James Hoffman use a Rover laptop and receiver in the streets of New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina . The Rover cameras helped the team spot stranded people and pets in the lower ninth ward.
Posted on 09/13/2007 6:10:02 AM PDT by RDTF
In the summer of 2003, an Air Force pilot named Greg Harbin was doing desk duty at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
Day in and day out, Harbin sat in front of five computer screens, scanning photographs and video sent by unmanned planes flying 1,200 miles away, over Iraq and Afghanistan.
His job was to take that information, along with reports from ground troops, and identify fresh targets -- Taliban fighters or Iraqi insurgents.
But one thing puzzled him.
When regular units called for an attack by a Predator drone, the request went to Harbin, and then, if approved by a general, to "pilots" in Nevada, who fired the missile by remote control. The process often took as long as 45 minutes.
By contrast, special operations forces could call in attacks by unmanned Predator aircraft in less than a minute.
The difference, Harbin learned, was that a handful of special ops units were equipped with a device called the Rover, which gave them the same view as the pilots in Nevada. This greatly simplified communications.
Why don't all American fighting units have the Rover? he asked himself. Then he put the question to his boss, Lt. Gen. Walter E. Buchanan, commander of the Air Force in the Middle East. Buchanan's reply: Why indeed.
-snip-
One day, it would save his life.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Excellent article...worth the time to read.
ping
Very good read. Nice technology.
Great story and it is nice to see that the bureaucracy doesn’t slow everything up. Thanks for posting.
Incredible ingenuity and courage. Wiring the laptop to the Humvee battery in the middle of a firefight. Just wow!
Now this is a man who deserves a lot more than just one Bronze Star. This is a true American hero.
ping - great read
TY - great read - greater technology - need more of it.
So it is not just the laptop ... likely there is additional communications gear that is required as well. You cant use bluetooth or wifi to talk to a helicopter that is 5,000 feet above you.
In addition to what taxcontrol said (all valid), I’m sure it has to be *extremely* durable compared to a normal laptop. Plus I’m not sure my laptop would fire up if I hot-wired it to a Humvee battery. But I bet the comm gear is the most expensive, like taxcontrol said.
Lt. Col. Harbin, right, and Maj James Hoffman use a Rover laptop and receiver in the streets of New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina . The Rover cameras helped the team spot stranded people and pets in the lower ninth ward.
EMP hardening might be in there, too.
milspec
Wouldn’t it be great if this article would actually be published in the print edition! Really stirring reporting!
If not mistaken I think it is - right on page 1
The author was an embed with the 101st Airborne in 2003 —
War Profiles: Julian E. Barnes ‘92, embedded journalist
Published On Thursday, June 05, 2003 12:00 AM
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=348413
Bump for later.
Excellent!
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