Free Republic

RAMADI, Iraq -- Their first silhouettes appear at dusk, moving briskly under dim moonlight or the rare streetlamp. Sometimes the crunch of their boots on trash-strewn streets will stir families dozing on lawns in the cool of evening. It's another night patrol by Marines in one of Iraq's most dangerous cities. When night falls on Ramadi, hundreds of Marines confined to bases during the day return to the streets. Daytime foot patrols are limited because of the threat of skilled snipers or roadside bombs, but the cover of darkness -- and night vision technology -- allows Marines to fan out...

Owning Even More Of The NightNighttime Color Viewing Is No Longer The Stuff Of Science FictionThe proliferation of night-vision systems throughout the US military services validates US forces' claims to "owning the night." Innovations abound in the night-viewing field, as evidenced by the increasingly sophisticated systems worn on soldiers' helmets and attached to their weapons, the more specialized devices designed for aviators, and those that go to sea on submarine periscopes. But in spite of the nighttime vistas that are opened up by night-vision devices, they share a common shortcoming: All are monochromatic. Soldiers, airmen, and submariners can detect movement...