Soldiers to be issued smartphones at Basic Training

I beleive soldiers standing in formation for extended lengths of time only increases their ability to stay focused and lengthens their attention span.

Of course this is only Basic. Advanced skills will include LP/OP, hide sites, radio watch, sniper platforms, etc., where consentration can be measured from several hours to a few days with little chance of "entertainment".

[nousdefions]

..... they won't have to rip velcro to get to the phone to check the facebook.

http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-brie...remote-control

Enjoy!

[219seminole]

My college-senior daughter and I were talking last week about doing research for her classes. As she pulled out her phone and googled, I said, "You know, your generation doesn't have to know as much as previous generations. I had to learn and remember things. All you need to do is google for the answer." (She is an A student, so she does know a lot of things.)

In the Army context, are the young troops going to be able to google when the stuff hits the fan? Got to keep the thing charged up.

[Pete]

Google "How to react to an ambush"

TO LATE

[mark46th]

Who is going to carry the generator and seat for these things?

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by MK262

... Not only that: the iPhone is made in China. If it becomes a key tool for the U.S. Army, it could reduce the chance of war between Beijing and Washington.


Source: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010...hone-army-now/

...and it'll allow China better access to those pesky firewalls we keep throwing up.

[Paslode]

Originally Posted by bandycpa

True. I went off on a bit of a tangent there. My apologies.

Good question about what happens to the recruit if service is interrupted. When information is inaccessible and common sense must prevail, will they be able to adapt to the situation?

Further than that, will focus on the task at hand be sacrificed in favor of updating your FB status or texting your buddy about how "bored you are"?

Sometimes, the more knowlege we have access to, the dumber we become.


Bandy

The reason I asked....

One time we had a power outage, the server, the light and phones went down all went down. And everyone was standing around with their thumbs up their ass waiting for things to return to normal.

I hooked the phone system to a portable generator and we could receive calls.....sarcastically someone said, great we have phones but we have nothing to enter orders on or check stock.

I then had to go to the supply closet and pull out 10 year old dusty order pads and pencils.....and explain how we conducted business the old school way.


For many people life stops without the convenient gadgets they have grown up with and rely upon.

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by Paslode

I think we kind of got off topic....kind of, but maybe it is related.

And what happens when technology fails, and all the foolish old guys with their time tested antiquated methods are no more.

As a "foolish old guy" I remember when everyone was getting GPS's and watching how many people got lost in the woods when they couldn't get a sateillite signal. This was at Ft. Polk (JRTC) in the mid 90's.

And while I like my ACOG and laser pointy thingies...my iron sights never ran out of batteries...and the lenses never got scratched.

[greenberetTFS]

Originally Posted by 1stindoor

As a "foolish old guy" I remember when everyone was getting GPS's and watching how many people got lost in the woods when they couldn't get a sateillite signal. This was at Ft. Polk (JRTC) in the mid 90's.

And while I like my ACOG and laser pointy thingies...my iron sights never ran out of batteries...and the lenses never got scratched.

I'm one of those "foolish old guys" too,WTF are they going to do when their GPS craps out and someone brings them a compass and map and says,get us out of here!..........

Big Teddy

[PedOncoDoc]

Originally Posted by greenberetTFS

I'm one of those "foolish old guys" too,WTF are they going to do when their GPS craps out and someone brings them a compass and map and says,get us out of here!

Probably crap out themselves.

[GratefulCitizen]

Don't have internet at home, don't have cable, have a low-tech cell phone with text messaging disabled, and it's often turned off.
Lack of connection prevents my household from being bothered by the outside world.

My kids know how to enjoy simple things.
We take them down to the lake and they collect sticks which make good pretend guns, spears, and swords.
They also collect shiny rocks and shells from fresh water clams.

(They still do have computers and know how to use them.)

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People get stressed and distracted by all the electronic lights, bells, and whistes to which they dutifully chain themselves.
That is exactly these tools become: CHAINS.

Whatever the reasoning for giving the devices to recruits, control would probably be primary among them.
However, when human thought and behavior is too channelled and subject to central control, immense opportunity is lost.

A great power human beings possess is creative imagination.
That creative imagination will find solutions to supposedly unsolvable problems.
More importantly, creative imagination will recognize and sieze opportunity.

(The QPs probably have considerable experience in using creative imagination to solve problems and sieze opportunity...)

These recruits had a handicap imposed upon them during their youth.
Don't understand why it should be continued into military training.


Won't ever do such things to my own children.
If the only tools they have are sticks and rocks, they'll still see them as tools.