Sergeant Major Diverts Surveillance Drone To Check For Uniform ViolationsThe air is hot and stuffy inside the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ground control trailer at FOB Masum Ghar, located in the heart of southern Afghanistan. Two soldiers from the 205th Military Intelligence Company deftly pilot their unmanned aerial vehicle over the wastes of the Panjwai District searching for targets, while Brigade Sgt. Maj. Steve Knott vigilantly watches over their shoulders.
The tension lining the men’s faces is a visible reminder of how stressful their three-month tour has been. The UAV crew has been tasked with overwatching a company of infantry, silently moving through the fields and grape-rows surrounding a high value target compound and preparing for their assault. In the trailer, Knott is straining his eyes, looking for anything out of the ordinary, no easy task given the grainy resolution of the screens.
Suddenly the sergeant major leans forward and jubilantly shouts, “Right there!” before jabbing his finger at the screen. The air is electric with excitement, and the pilots deftly reorient the drone’s cameras to focus on their prey.
Thousands of feet below the aircraft, the image clears to reveal Private First Class Todd Armstrong. The soldier is struggling to climb over a low wall that had just been cleared for IEDs, pulling security with his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), and simultaneously maintaining a low silhouette while carrying almost 70 lbs of gear.
The soldier’s boots are unbloused. Additionally, it appears that one of the sleeves on his combat uniform was rolled to allow better access to his wrist-mounted GPS.
Knott smiles a wolfish grin and sprints out of the trailer into the main BDE Tactical Operations Center, grabbing a hand-mic from the nearest radio operator and declaring, “We got another one!”
After calling the company commander on the ground and ordering him to halt his men in place, the sergeant major begins a hasty lecture about uniform standards and the dangers of improper supervision by leaders. He also tells his UAV operators to swoop even lower in their search for infractions.
Approximately 15 minutes into the sergeant major’s tirade, as the aircraft continues to buzz loudly over the stalled infantry, the unit commander interrupts the transmission to report that they had been compromised and were currently receiving heavy small arms and RPG fire.
“Roger, understand ‘troops in contact,'” Knott tells the commander. “But let me just add that you need to inspect your soldiers better prior to going on patrol.”
As multiple medical evacuation requests began to flood the radios, Knott leaves his post to wait at the landing zone for the incoming wounded to ensure they are still wearing the proper protective gear.
The firefight lasted mere hours, but the Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) included four Field Grade Article 15’s, two Letters of Reprimand, and seventeen counseling statements. When the weary Soldiers finally returned to base, they were directed to immediately stand in a formation where Sgt. Maj. Knott received the Army Achievement Medal for his action during combat.
New Battle Command Network Offers Unprecedented Micromanagement OpportunitiesFORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — The U.S. Army unveiled its latest digital command and control system, allowing commanders at higher echelons to make decisions at increasingly lower levels of responsibility.
“We hear all this talk about Carl von Clausewitz and ’empowering subordinates’ in ARDP 3-0″ said Brig. Gen. William Burleson, Commander of the Mission Command Center of Excellence, referring to the Prussian officer’s influence on the Army’s latest operations manual. “But what I think we’re forgetting is that Clausewitz never said anything about empowering subordinates. The guy was actually a huge micromanager. With this new battle command network, we can micromange our troops in ways Clausewitz never dreamed of.”
Officials at the Mission Command Center of Excellence demonstrated how commanders could monitor whether or not soldiers were wearing reflector belts through an “exquisite” computer network linked to imagery from surveillance drones. Other unique features allow generals to examine down to the individual soldier level, such as whether or not they had complied with mandatory Consideration Of Others (CO2) training.
Burleson added, “Leadership is based on mutual trust, and if you can’t trust us generals to make decisions, honestly, who can you trust?”
Army officials also noted that, by concentrating on mundane details like individual soldier equipment and company-level PT formations, senior Army leaders were freed from messy, time-consuming issues like budgeting, force levels, and formulating a clear exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army Chief of Staff, praised the new system.
“When I was a lieutenant — back before email — I could plan and execute an entire M-16 range by myself,” Odierno said. “But thanks to the advent of email in the 1980s, I had the ability to plan and approve the same M-16 range as a company commander. Now, thanks to our battle command networks, I can schedule, arrange, plan, and approve an entire M-16 range myself.”
“The great part about modern technology is that it allows us generals to re-live our glory days as 22-year old lieutenants.”
Duffel weer goed bezig.