New Rules Govern Military Promotions
The U.S. Defense Department has initiated a joint qualification system (JQS) that helps identify military personnel who can work successfully in joint and interagency environments. The department will use the program to better incorporate officers’ joint experiences and qualifications into assignment, promotion and development decisions. The JQS will recognize skills necessary for U.S. military efforts to respond to national security threats as well as to interagency, combat operations and humanitarian crises. In addition to earning the Joint Qualified Officer designation through traditional means, officers now can earn qualifications by accumulating equivalent levels of joint experience, education and training. Beginning October 1, 2008, any officer who aspires to become a general or flag officer must complete a full joint duty assignment and be designated a joint qualified officer. Reserve component officers also can earn joint qualifications.

Jets Set Sail
Unmanned aircraft will soon begin their first landing and takeoff tests aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. These historic evaluations are part of the Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program that will validate the ability of robotic aircraft to operate autonomously at sea. The goal of the UCAS-D effort is to mature the technology, integrate it into carrier systems and provide the necessary data to support a potential acquisition decision. On August 3, the Navy awarded the Northrop Grumman Corporation a six-year, $635.8 million contract to conduct at-sea launches and recoveries with the X-47B UCAS. The company will build two aircraft for the program. The first UCAS is scheduled to fly in late 2009; the first at-sea carrier landings are planned for late 2011.

Purified Hydrogen for Fuel Cells
Scientists from Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University and Michigan State University have found a technique that could purify hydrogen for use in fuel cells. Researchers discovered an innovative type of porous material that already has been identified as useful for cleansing contaminated water. The scientists created and characterized porous semiconducting aerogels and then submerged a fraction of a gram of the aerogel in a solution of mercury-contaminated water. It removed more than 99.99 percent of the metal. The researchers believe the aerogels can remove the impurities from hydrogen gas that can damage the catalysts in potential hydrogen fuel cells.

Defense Intelligence Creates Collaborative Environment
Leaders at the U.S. Defense Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have agreed on a joint vision that aims at improving interoperability and information sharing between the organizations. A services-based environment will be created to assist in collaboration for implementing business and information services as well as service-oriented architecture. Commercial practices will be used to offer applications as services rather than as stand-alone functionalities. The vision is to establish the information-sharing environment based on standards, rules and interoperable secure infrastructure services. No date has been set for establishing the collaborative environment.
 
Sensor-Cell System Speeds Emergency Response
The Institute for Defense and Homeland Security is examining a system that integrates sensor and cellular networks to detect public safety threats. The alert system incorporates a standards-based network-centric framework that connects sensor networks to cell phone users located in a specific geographical area. Sensors primarily focus on detecting chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats. The institute, which operates under the auspices of the Center for Innovative Technology, currently is evaluating Red Cell, a solution American Systems created. After its assessment, the institute plans to sponsor a pilot project that could lead to an operational system.

Airborne Laser Tracks Target
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Airborne Laser (ABL) successfully detected and tracked an airborne target while in flight. During the test held this month at Edwards Air Force Base, California, the modified Boeing 747-400F used its infrared sensors and its track illuminator laser to find and track a target board located on another aircraft. The target plane then fired a beacon laser at the ABL aircraft to allow the laser to measure and compensate for atmospheric beam distortion. The ABL then fired a surrogate laser for its high-energy laser weapon at the target to simulate a missile shoot down. In future flight tests, the ABL will use its own illumination laser instead of relying on one from the target aircraft to measure and compensate for atmospheric distortion.

Digitizing Fires Calls
The U.S. Joint Forces Command’s Joint Systems Integration Command is assessing a technology that would allow warfighters on the ground to request air support digitally. This process currently is carried out using voice transmissions, which can be confusing and can lead to errors. Using Joint Command and Control Joint Close Air Support technology, warfighters requesting a ground target bombing would enter the target’s coordinates into a computer, and the data would move through the chain of the command automatically. An operational assessment of the technology will take place during the Bold Quest exercise next month.

Physiological Monitor Undergoes Field Tests
The U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine is working with the National Guard 1st Civil Support Team–Weapons of Mass Destruction (CST-WMD) to test another use for the warfighter physiological status monitor (WPSM). The devices enable remote monitoring of warfighters’ heart rate, respiration and core temperature on the field. However, during two recent training exercises, the CST-WMD used them to demonstrate that they also are useful in first responder work. The current version monitors human vital signs; however, future prototypes may be used to predict work/rest cycles and schedules for end users. Based on this information, relief coordinators could determine when first responders need to be rotated in and out of the field during a crisis.

Small and Medium Businesses Set to Buy
More than one-third of U.S. small and medium businesses (SMBs) anticipate a 10 percent to 20 percent growth in telecommunications and network service spending next year, according to a recent study. In addition, more than half of the U.S. and Canada SMBs plan to adopt converged solutions to upgrade networks. The study also revealed that these companies tend to wait until a technology is proven to have a reasonable return on investment before they invest heavily in them. Improved productivity and efficiency followed by cost savings were the top purchase drivers. AMI-Partners conducted the study on behalf on the Computing Technology Industry Association. It included companies in government, financial, manufacturing, health care and other industries with 20 to 499 employees.

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