In June of last year, the Army opened the 12B combat engineer position to female Soldiers. Today, women are going through the school house at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and joining units around the Army. Pvts. Brianna Moore, Chrisslene Tialavea, and Lashonda Ivy are all recent graduates of the 12B course. All three enlisted last…
Army Needs Appropriated Funds to Ensure Energy Security
While the Army is making great progress meeting its energy efficiency and renewable energy targets, this is not enough, said Richard Kidd, the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for energy and sustainability. What the Army needs are funds allocated specifically for energy security to improve the resiliency of installations in the face of growing…
Army Researchers Developing Self-Righting for Robots
When a Soldier trips over a rock, he picks himself up, dusts himself off, and presses on. Bomb-defusing robots, for the moment, are not so good at recovering themselves in the same way. Chad Kessens, a robot manipulation research engineer with the Army Research Laboratory, or ARL, part of the Research, Development and Engineering Command,…
Army Researching Uniforms That Automatically Decontaminate
One day, Soldiers may wear uniforms and chemical protective suits that decontaminate themselves and are cool enough to wear for extended periods. Researchers, such as chemist David McGarvey, Ph.D, at the Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, or ECBC, on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, are part of a team led by the Natick Soldier Systems Center…
Devices May Help Soldiers Nose Out Bio Threats
Researchers are refining for Army use a commercial technology that will allow Soldiers to accurately and rapidly detect an array of chemical and biological hazards – from mustard agent to anthrax – and then transmit those results to their higher command. Read: New Process to Save Army Money, Yield Cheaper Rounds At the same time,…
Giant blimp to patrol skies for missile threat
The army plans to launch the first of two tethered aerostats from a ground base just north of Baltimore in late December, 2014. The aerostat, part of the “Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor” system, referred to as JLENS for short, is a nearly 250-foot blimp-like vehicle that will stay aloft for…
Giant Blimp to Patrol Skies for Missile Threat
The army plans to launch the first of two tethered aerostats from a ground base just north of Baltimore in late December, 2014. READ: Army Takes Another Step Toward Self Sustainment The aerostat, part of the “Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor” system, referred to as JLENS for short, is a nearly…
Soldier Uniforms May Detect, Neutralize Biological Threats
Scientists at the Army Research Laboratory have developed and are producing in small batches synthetic peptides they believe will serve as great replacements for animal-grown antibodies currently used to detect biological hazards. Today, natural antibodies are used as part of handheld ticket assays that can be used to detect the presence of biological hazards such…