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The U.S. Army Special Forces is equipping 18 A Teams (officially known as ODAs, or Operational Detachment Alpha) with Land Warrior electronic equipment. But the Special Forces gear will have one special addition; satellite communications. Normally, Land Warrior comms use line-of-sight (FM) radio. But in the hilly Afghan terrain, and with the dispersed tactics used by Special Forces, satellite communications makes more sense. This is yet another field test for the cancelled Land Warrior project. Last Summer, the army sent an infantry brigade, equipped with Land Warrior gear, to Afghanistan. All this is happening, in spite of the fact that,...

I'm not military, but my understanding is that a Purple Heart is for those wounded in action. Do these dead and wounded qualify? If not, would it be proper to lobby for them to receive the medal.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov. 3, 2009 – Afghan soldiers in armored Humvees led a combined convoy of Afghans and Americans down Highway 1. As dawn broke, they passed an Afghan National Police checkpoint and dismounted by an Afghan army combat outpost. Their objective was Shah Hasan Kheyl, a village about a half mile off the road. Army 1st Lt. Sean Snook emerges from an orchard with his fellow paratroopers Oct. 3, 2009, in Afghanistan’s Zabul province. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Starting in August, small, embedded training teams dispersed throughout Afghanistan started getting...

The image of young women in a hot , dusty combat zone toting automatic weapons is still startling to some. But right now there are 10,000 women serving in Iraq, more than 4,000 in Aghanistan. They have been fighting and dying next to their male comrades since the wars began. "I can't help but think most Americans think women aren't in combat," says Specialist Ashley Pullen who was awarded a Bronze Star for valor in 2005 for her heroic action in Iraq where she served with a military police unit. "We're here and we're right up with the guys." Technically...

As Col. Allen West said in his recent blog, "it us one year away". And so it is. http://thesilentmajority.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/west’s-tun-tavern-hear-lt-col-ret-allen-b-wests-podcast/#comment-4692 Time to edumacate ourselves on the specific candiates. Sunday 8 pm est! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/freedom Call in at 646 478 5613 We are honored to welcome back to our show vet Will Breazeale running for the House from North Carolina and Jesse Kelly from Arizona, also running for the House. Time to Clean House!

Female sailors can broaden their role in the Navy by serving on submarines, an activity currently prohibited by the Armed Service, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has advised the Senate Armed Services Committee. According to Defensetech.org, a site run by Military.com, a group boasting a membership of 10 million veterans and active duty forces, Adm. Michael Mullen told senators in a recent survey that he's long been an advocate for improving diversity in the Armed Forces. "I believe we should continue to broaden opportunities for women. One policy I would like to see changed is the one...

Video: Precision Urban Hopper leaps over fences, makes enemies cringe by Darren Murph posted Sep 15th 2009 at 10:46AM It's only been a few months since we heard from the whiz kids over at Boston Dynamics, and honestly, we've been waiting on pins and needles to see what miracle would emerge from its labs next. Said outfit has just been awarded a contract by Sandia to build the next generation of the Precision Urban Hopper, which will be a four-wheeled jumping robot that can navigate autonomously.

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2009 – Over the past month, soldiers of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, have been learning new skills and taking on new challenges as they adapt to a different mission in Iraq. Rather than combat, the soldiers have been working hand in hand with provincial reconstruction teams that are assisting Iraqis as they build key infrastructures in Dhi Qar, Maysan and Muthanna provinces. The soldiers provide security while reconstruction team members work to improve conditions in this war-torn country. “Working with the [provincial reconstruction team] has been pretty meaningful, just...

Sgt. Fedra A. Toy instructs Iraqi Soldiers on how to properly administer an intravenous injection during a five-day Combat Life Saver course at Contingency Operating Base Adder, June 17. Photo by Sgt. Crystal Reidy, 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). COB ADDER — Two U.S. units partnered to provide Combat Life Saver (CLS) skills to the Iraqi Army (IA) during a recent five-day training course here. Medics from the 287th Sustainment Brigade and 4th Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 1st Armored Division, partnered to provide CLS training to four medics from the IA 10th Special Forces Commando Battalion.The goal was to conduct a...

]-->Army Sgt. Jennifer Watson, non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the Casualty Liaison Team at Joint Base Balad, stands in Hero's Highway. Each patient brought via helicopter to the Air Force Theater Hospital passes through Hero's Highway. Watson, a native of Peru, Ind., is deployed here from Fort Campbell, Ky. Photo by Staff Sgt. Dilia Ayala, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. JOINT BASE BALAD — The emergency-room trauma call and the medical staff's immediate action upon his arrival is only a memory to her now; sitting quietly at the bedside of her brother-in-arms, she carefully takes his hand, thanking him for his service and...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, July 10, 2009 – Airmen here hit a major milestone July 8 when they completed their 2,000th combat mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jose Rodriguez, right, assists Air Force Staff Sgt. Andres Jaramillo in securing bolts during a function check on the EC-130 Compass Call at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, July 6, 2009. Both are members of the 41st Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit and are deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Felicia Juenke   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. An EC-130H Compass Call...

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2009 – From the use of newspapers and pamphlets to stoke the American Revolution to embedded journalists in the War in Iraq, the media has played a major role in every American conflict. A story often lost in the mix is that of military journalists -- men and women in uniform whose weapon of choice isn’t an M4 carbine with a laser sight, but a D3 with a 17-to-200mm lens. Members of the Air Force’s Combat Camera team spoke in a July 7 “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable about their role in documenting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan....

Troops in Afghanistan Combat Militants American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 2, 2009 – Coalition and Afghan forces conducted operations against militants and defeated them today in Afghanistan, military officials said. Combined forces killed several militants in a firefight in Paktika province during a mission to capture a Taliban commander operating in the northern region of the province. In the area’s Mata Khan district, forces identified a vehicle carrying the wanted Taliban commander and other suspected militants at a remote location near Abd Ol Kala village. When the combined force approached the militants’ location, the armed combatants began firing on...

British forces have ceased combat operations in Iraq, handing over the role to U.S. troops. In London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid special tribute to the British service personnel who lost their lives during the six-year campaign. As buglers played, the British command flag was lowered at their base outside of Basra and power was transferred to U.S. forces. Marking the historic significance, the commander of Britain's 20th Armored Brigade, Brigadier Tom Beckett said goodbye. "We are sad to leave our Iraqi friends but we leave knowing we have done our job, done it well and that we have prepared...

Note: The following text is a quote: Gates Discusses Tough Decisions, Congressional Oversight By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service CARLISLE BARRACKS, Pa., April 16, 2009 – In his two-and-a-half years as Defense secretary, Robert M. Gates has had many hard decisions to make. But none, he said here today, compare to the difficulty of his part in sending men and women into combat. “The rest of it all pales by comparison,” Gates told students at the Army War College here. “Knowing what I have to do, but knowing the consequences.” Approving combat deployments, Gates said, is not an ethical...

BAGHDAD — U.S. Soldiers of the 6th Iraqi Army (IA) Division’s Military Transition Team (MiTT) recently hosted a combat lifesaver class intended to help the IA to shoulder more of the load as Coalition forces responsibly withdraw. MiTT members taught a variety of first aid techniques including treatment of head trauma, fractures, impaled objects and controlling bleeding. “Basically [the goal of the] training that we conducted is…to combine the experience of the Iraqi medics along with the American medics,” said Sgt. 1st Class Gary Petty, medical advisor, 6th IA Div. MiTT. “We’re trying to get them trained on trauma-type situations;...

In this file photo, U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Adrienne Brammer documents a joint patrol between U.S. and Iraqi Army Soldiers in Muhandiseen, Oct. 30, 2008. Photo by Staff Sgt. JoAnn S. Makinano, U.S. Air Forces Central. SATHER AIR BASE — When thinking of the word combat, many have visions of fire fights, violent conflicts and warfare.  For a few Airmen and Soldiers, the word combat means being armed with a camera.For these members of the Multi-National Corps - Iraq C39 Joint Combat Camera (ComCam) team, based out of Baghdad, taking still and motion imagery isn’t just a hobby …...

2/24/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Airmen with the 43rd Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, a unit that has almost five years of continuous deployment, clocked their 20,000th combat flight hour early Feb. 17. The 43rd EECS aircrews and the EC-130 Compass Call aircraft they fly provide communications jamming support to U.S. and coalition ground forces in Iraq. "The support we provide to the ground forces is unlike anything else in the Air Force," said Staff Sgt. Andrew Weber, a 43rd EECS airborne maintenance technician, or AMT. "I would say hopefully we've done our share in protecting those guys on the...

HEIDELBERG, Germany, Jan. 28, 2009 – The first of about 8,000 soldiers began cycling through Installation Management Command Europe's high-adventure, adrenaline-pumping Warrior Adventure Quest recreation program earlier this month. Marc Jarvis, U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach, Germany, assists soldiers with ski selection during a test run of Installation Management Command Europe's Warrior Adventure Quest program, Jan. 12, 2009. The one-day event took about 30 soldiers and a handful of garrison staff members for a day of Alpine skiing and snowshoeing. U.S. Army photo by Jim Hughes  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The U.S. Army Europe troops recently returned from...

The Pentagon has decided that it will not award the Purple Heart, the hallowed medal given to those wounded or killed by enemy action, to war veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder because it is not a physical wound.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2008 – The general who leads what he calls “an engineer fight” in Baghdad credits attention to sanitation and reconstruction of essential services with creating a dramatic turnaround that’s having a ripple effect throughout Iraq. “It doesn’t matter if you are in direct support of lethal operations or on the nonlethal side, it is almost always an engineer leading on both sides of the house right now,” Army Brig Gen. Jeffrey Talley, engineer for Multinational Division Baghdad, told American Forces Press Service by phone from his headquarters. A reservist who in civilian life is an engineering professor...

SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 18, 2008 – One day before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Army senior leaders put into place a plan to overhaul the service’s combat medic training. Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Haney delivers a review of the combat medics’ performance in the “blood lab” at the Department of Combat Medic Training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The medics must work through the lab using a combination of soldier and medic skills administering aid, but watching for hidden dangers such as homemade bombs and enemy weapons. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

Hey Freepers! Just noticed that Mel Gibson's "We Were Soldiers" is going to be on in just a few minutes: 2:30 pm East Coast on TNT. Care to join me?

Obama will consider combat positions and selective service registration for women The female college students who enthusiastically supported Barack Obama for president might not know that he wants women to register with the Selective Service at age 18, just as men do. Or that he wants the military to officially open combat positions to women. Although the topic was drowned out by campaign rhetoric and statements on policies that college students find more congenial, his position on registration of women is clear. And Obama’s national security spokeswoman stated before the election that Obama intended to change current policies on women...

The number of attacks in Iraq is at its lowest level since January 2004, and this is proof of the growing capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, the vice chief of staff of the Iraqi Joint Forces said yesterday. Gen. Nasier Abadi, briefed reporters in Baghdad along with coalition spokesman U.S. Army Brig. Gen. David Perkins and Brig. Johnny Torrens-Spence of the British army, deputy commander general of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq. “The enemy has lost his ability to fight in frontal operations or offensives in big groups,” Abadi said through an interpreter. Threats now come from individual attacks...

October 11, 2008: Six years ago, China began introducing flight simulators for its military pilots. It now has about a hundred of them, although most are crude by Western standards. That is, they are, for the most part, not full motion simulators (with electrical motors realistically moving the cockpit around and a dome over the replica cockpit, showing other aircraft and the terrain below.) China already has sixty of these, mainly for commercial aircraft. But these can also provide training for pilots of military transports. But simulator training for military pilots is seen as critical for the future success of...

The United States military's Northern Command, formed in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, is dedicating a combat infantry team to deal with catastrophes in the U.S., including terrorist attacks and natural disasters. The 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry, which was first into Baghdad, Iraq, in 2003, started its controversial assignment Wednesday. The First Raiders will spend 2009 as the first active-duty military unit attached to the U.S. Northern Command since it was created. They will be based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, and focus primarily on logistics and support for local police and rescue personnel,...

Capt. Bruno de Solenni, R.I.P. [Kathryn Jean Lopez] A brother of a friend of mine (Pia) was killed by an IED in Afghanistan this weekend, along with two Afghan interpreters. A fellow soldier was injured. I was just reading a letter Bruno's hometown paper published before he died; what he has to say and who he was and what he sacrificed and the grief his family suffers are reminders of the tremendous burden so few of us bear for freedom: The bad days are when you put your buddy in a body bag and you don't even recognize him because...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — During a recent air assault operation in the Diyala province, the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division medical team once again demonstrated its excellence. The group, which consisted of one physician, three physician assistants, one mental health provider, a preventive medicine officer and numerous skilled combat medics, delivered seamless and exceptional medical care, despite harsh conditions. Several of the team members flew by helicopter, carrying everything needed to set up a rapid aid station with them. A rapid aid station is able to provide immediate treatment for any injuries sustained during the early phase of an...

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2008 – War fighters from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom are testing new battlefield systems that can discern friend from foe during the “Bold Quest Plus” joint military demonstration conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The demonstration’s purpose is to provide warfighters with combat-identification technologies that maximize mission effectiveness while minimizing the chances of fratricide, John Miller, operations manager for coalition combat identification at U.S. Joint Forces Command, based at Norfolk, Va., said today during a conference-call interview with reporters. The command is sponsoring the demonstration at Eglin, which began July 11. Miller...

The military is reviewing soldiers' complaints that their standard ammunition isn't powerful enough for the type of fighting required in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army's highest-ranking officer said Thursday. But Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said it was too soon to say whether the Pentagon will switch. Current and former soldiers interviewed by The Associated Press said the military's M855 rifle rounds are not powerful enough for close-in fighting in cities and towns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Speaking with reporters at a conference in Huntsville, Casey said leaders are constantly soliciting feedback from soldiers in...

BALAD, Iraq, May 27, 2008 – Iraqi security forces are taking “shooting” to a new level as they learn to use cameras in their quest to bring security and stability to their country. Iraqi special operations forces practice clearing a building during their combat camera course in March. Seven members of the ISOF graduated the first Iraqi instructed combat camera course May 6, 2008. The 10-day course teaches the soldiers the basics of the camera and how to successfully document activities and missions within their brigades. The first week of the instruction led the soldiers through the inner working...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq — The battlefield of today is much different than in wars past with an enemy who prefers to cower in hiding and use his weapon of choice, the improvised explosive device; a diabolical tool of destruction, ominously waiting road-side to mangle unsuspecting Coalition vehicles. Combating this ever popular threat are the brave men conducting route clearance throughout Iraq such as the Marines of Reaper platoon, Company A, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 1. The Reapers deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in October of last year for a seven month tour supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom with Regimental...

Housework helps combat anxiety and depression 19 April 2008 From New Scientist Print Edition. FEELING down? You might be able to dust away your distress. Just 20 minutes a week with the vacuum cleaner or mop is enough to help banish those blues, and sport works even better. That's the message from Mark Hamer and his colleagues at University College London, who wanted to find out what benefits arise from different types of physical activity. They examined data from questionnaires filled in by almost 20,000 Scottish people as part of the Scottish Health Surveys, carried out every few years. Some...

MOSUL — On Sunday March 23, Combat Outpost (COP) Inman, a new COP in West Mosul manned by the 2nd Iraqi Army (IA) Division, suffered a blow that al-Qaida in Iraq had intended to be fatal to the strategic post; a suicide-truck-bomb crashed through the gates at approximately 7 a.m., detonating in the main compound, killing 13 Iraqi Soldiers and wounding 35. “All the damage the terrorists have caused to the people and their homes, I do not understand these men, why would they do that?,” said Nami Ibhrahim, a Soldier in the 2nd IA Division, clearly more concerned about...

If you listen closely you will hear the insurgents screaming Allah Akbar be4 they start shooting at marines

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq, Jan. 2, 2008 – Today’s Army is an interdependent network of soldiers who are as unique as the jobs they do, with more than 150 military occupational specialties available to choose from. When a unit deploys to a combat zone, the soldiers within it depend on each other more than ever, along with their occupational knowledge, to keep operations running smoothly. Army Staff Sgt. Craig Sotebeer, an emergency care medic with the Medical Troop, Regimental Support Squadron, 2nd Stryker Regiment, inspects the contents of his combat lifesaver bag at Camp Striker, Iraq, in preparation for a...

How Many Five Year Olds Could You Take In a Fight? This short survey will tell you approximately how many five year old children you could fight at once. Results are based on physical prowess, training, swarm-combatting experience, and the flexibility of your moral compass. Here are the ground rules: You are in an enclosed area roughly the size of a basketball court There are no weapons or foreign objects Everyone is wearing a cup (so no kicks to the groin) The children are merciless and will show no fear If a child is knocked unconscious, he is "out." The...

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Dec. 20, 2007 – A deployed airman recently joined an elite group of aviators after flying his 200th combat mission and reaching 1,500 combat hours. Air Force Master Sgt. Anthony Roy conducts a preflight inspection on an EC-130H Compass Call aircraft Dec. 8, 2007, at a forward-deployed location. Roy is an instructor flight engineer with 43rd Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron and is deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. Photo by Staff Sgt. Tia Schroeder, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Master Sgt. Anthony Roy, a 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron instructor flight engineer deployed from Davis-Monthan...

NANGARHAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 12, 2007 – Army Pfc. Sarah Becker has spent most of her year deployed as an Army medic gaining the respect of soldiers across Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. Army Pfc. Sarah Becker, 173rd Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), Special Troops Battalion, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Military Police platoon, greets local children before teaching a first aid class conducted Dec. 1, 2007, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Photo by Pfc. Daniel M. Rangel, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “It’s a very prestigious thing to be called ‘Doc’ when you’re around people that you work with,” said Becker, of 173rd...

The Longest Morning By Jeff Emanuel Published 11/1/2007 12:08:23 AM This article is the cover story of The American Spectator's new, November 2007 issue. To subscribe to our monthly print edition, click here. Samarra, Iraq THE DAY OF AUGUST 26, 2007, began like any other for the soldiers of Charlie Company, 2-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment (from the 82nd Airborne Division) -- with a mission in the city. Over a year into its deployment to Samarra, Iraq, and now working on the three-month extension announced by Secretary of Defense Gates in the spring, the company knew the city like the back...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — High blood pressure, bad backs, bum knees and other mundane health problems put three and a half times more troops on planes to hospitals in Germany or the United States than do snipers and roadside bombs, say front-line experts in Iraq . "There's nothing about being deployed or being in an austere environment that protects you from the normal maladies that people encounter in the United States ," said Lt. Col. Ron Ross , a preventive medicine officer with the U.S. Army's 62nd Medical Brigade in Iraq . From the invasion in March 2003 through Oct....

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind., Sept. 6, 2007 – When soldiers are wounded in combat, the most immediate medical care available generally is given by other soldiers on the battlefield, most of whom are not combat medics. Army Sgt. Clint Higgins, a Combat Lifesaver instructor with 205th Infantry Brigade, helps students taking the Combat Lifesaver Course practice lifesaving skills Aug. 23 at Camp Atterbury, Ind. During the final exercise, students are required to practice many of their newly learned skills including inserting IVs, applying tourniquets and pressure dressings, treating mental trauma, and moving wounded soldiers to a safe area. U.S. Army...

...beyond my ability to shoot and think, I would be a burden on any infantry force in a desperate situation in which everyone needs to pull his own load and assist others with theirs. I think this is true for most war correspondents, though many would never admit it. Infantry campaigning is difficult, and it has been ever since man first picked up a few stones, shouldered a club, and moved against a neighboring tribe. And despite modern weapon-systems and many of the new modes of delivery — helicopter, various ground conveyances — that difficulty has not changed. Of course,...

More than 90 percent of the Army's new recruits since late July have accepted a $20,000 "quick ship" bonus to leave for basic combat training by the end of September, putting thousands of Americans into uniform almost immediately. Many recruits who take the bonus -- scoring in many cases the equivalent of more than a year's pay -- leave their homes within days, recruiters said. The initiative is part of an effort by Army officials to meet year-end recruiting goals after a two-month slump earlier this year. With the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, the Army hopes the extra cash...

(IsraelNN.com) Half of the IDF's young combat officers are religious Jews, according to statistics published in Ma'ariv Sunday. The report also says that about 40% of the cadets of the most recent Officer Course in BAHAD 1, the IDF's officer training school, were religious (this number refers to all officers, as opposed to just combat officers). "This says something very good about about the sons of the religious Zionist movement," opines the writer of the piece, senior correspondent Ben Caspit. "They are becoming the IDF's backbone. Their presence in the army is several times larger than it is in the...

Pakistan: 310 killed in militant fight By BASHIRULLAH KHAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 22 minutes ago A month of fierce fighting near the Afghan border has killed about 250 militants and 60 Pakistani troops, the army said Friday, hours after the deaths of six soldiers in a suicide attack and roadside bombing. Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in fighting terrorism, has deployed about 90,000 troops in the border region to try to contain al-Qaida and Taliban militants and their local supporters, who often target security forces. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is under growing pressure from Washington...

Mother: Son did not kill innocent Iraqis Family reflects on ordeal involving Candler soldier ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The parents of a North Carolina soldier charged with killing three Iraqis and planting weapons on them say their son turned down a plea offer and maintains his innocence. Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley, of Candor, is one of three soldiers charged with murder and obstruction of justice. The deaths occurred between April and June south of Baghdad. "In your worst nightmare, you don't think something like this could happen," Jannette Hensley said Tuesday. The Hensleys are from the Asheville area and have...

U.S. Army combat medics, Spc. Aimee Collver (foreground) and Spc. Vanessa Bolognese (background), both with the 25th Infantry Division’s 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Personal Security Detachment, help pull security during a mission in Amerli, Iraq, July 11, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Mike Alberts Female Combat Medics Fight Every Day, Earn Respect Missions find success with support of dedicated female soldiers. By Spc. Mike Alberts 3rd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs KIRKUK, Iraq, Aug. 1, 2007 — Temperatures exceeded 115 degrees during the five-hour mission in Amerli that day. More than 50 soldiers were on site and...

FOB KALSU — They are small and lightweight, yet their tiny bodies can carry a great burden. The PackBot and Talon robots, industrial robots designed by the iRobot Co., are tactical mobile robots used by the military for search, reconnaissance and bomb-disposal missions. "Robots give us the ability to do procedures on improvised explosive devices without risking Soldiers," said.1st Sgt Dean Smith, 705th Ordnance Company, Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. "They are tools we use to save lives – ours and others." While the robots on today's battlefield might be a long way from the Terminator, RoboCop or C3PO of science...