A marine’s Afghan AAR (XII): Technology can’t replace being there
Here CWO2/Gunner Keith Marine warns that high-tech surveillance gear is nice to have, but can’t be seen as a substitute for getting out there yourself, and can get in the way, too. Technology. Used appropriately, can be a force multiplier. Unfortunately, Marines look at our technology as short cut tools. If I got my trusty ...
Here CWO2/Gunner Keith Marine warns that high-tech surveillance gear is nice to have, but can't be seen as a substitute for getting out there yourself, and can get in the way, too.
Here CWO2/Gunner Keith Marine warns that high-tech surveillance gear is nice to have, but can’t be seen as a substitute for getting out there yourself, and can get in the way, too.
Technology. Used appropriately, can be a force multiplier. Unfortunately, Marines look at our technology as short cut tools. If I got my trusty G-Boss aimed down that road, I don’t need to patrol it or if there is a boom in the area, no reason to go and investigate as I will just track it on my handy G-Boss. No doubt these things are impressive tools and can help considerably but nothing compares to a Marine being there or seeing it with his own eyes. I don’t know how many times I have seen stuff on G-Boss that I was 100 percent convinced a hostile act is occurring but when I got down there, I found the guy was slaughtering a goat in the middle of the road at five in the morning and that historic IED spot was just the place to do it at or just farming at night because it’s hot in the day time. Things aren’t always what they appear, especially when it’s two clicks away and at a sloping angle. We used to claim that the difference in the Marine Corps and other services was that we trained the man and equipped him, where the other branches just manned the equipment and it did the job. Most of our leaders are doing the right thing but some have become trapped into the economy via G-Boss and Scan Eagle.
The image on Scan Eagle does more harm than good; I can’t honestly tell what is going on the screen. The sound will compromise continually and the folks from MEB love flying it over your patrols and when you tap into the image it is only focused on your guys, not the surrounding area. Easy fix for this is to get on the radio and tell your CP, to get on the mirc and task them to go somewhere else. Have them push off where it will not notify everyone of your patrols location but they can support contact. Push them to an area where you expect the bad guys to be operating in since you aren’t there. Have those following convoys to catch the enemy trying to backfill a route with IEDs that has just been cleared.
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