I can't believe it... what a waste of money... Also, what happend to the good old days where you got one 5 minute phone call a week?  They need to be thinking about training, not texting little miss rottencrotch back home.


http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/09/23/hey-soldier-youre-in-the-iphone-army-now/

Or it could turn into a tool for China to spy on us. Dumb asses. There is a reason for the Barry Amendment.

I've met General Hertling, briefly.

I made exactly three calls in BCT.  For five minutes.  I had a terrible time keeping the single mothers to the same rules as everyone else...

What could possibly go wrong?

Who knows? The wired generation have been fighting these wars for quite some time now. Maybe not worrying about home when they're actively training  will improve focus. Depending on when they're allowed to use it of course.

This.





Or it could fail miserably.



 

WTF?

I got 2 phone calls during the 12 weeks and that was only because I got good grades on my knowledge

My fake borrowed tax dollars at work.

That's fucking retarded.  The Army already issues Blackberrys to leadership down to the company level in some units, as well as laptops, but why the hell would you give iPhones to every kid in basic?

Now, as a commander in the reserves, if I could issue prepaid cell phones with locked and restricted calling lists to each of my Soldiers, that would be something I could use.  iPhones?  Fuck that.

The idea, apparently, is to put all of the training materials (IET handbook, etc) into the phone...





It's an e-document system, more than entertainment...




There's also an accountability-for-small-high-value-govt-property angle: God help one of those PVTs if he looses Uncle Sam's phone, too...



Most likely, the Army will lock down the phones to make them useless for unauthorized purposes.





 

If they lose the phone they will lose a half months pay for two months...

That's a great idea.  With internet management so you can modify the settings at will.

It's a perfect idea!!!

Put all the Boot manuals on the phone, and you know they can't get online and fuck around...

Because that iphone won't get signal!

I've been issued a BlackBerry and laptop, and it's nothing to write home about. It's locked down tighter than a submarine.



I'd imagine the iPhone being the same way. As a matter of fact, it'd be nice if they could issue iPhones instead of Blackberry's because the BB is a POS.



 

I hear they have long battery lives

The BlackBerry is still the #1 smart-phone by units-in-use, BECAUSE it can be so heavily 'managed'.



The reason that major organizations love BBs, is because of RIM's 'Blackberry Enterprise Server' product, and the associated ease of management/restriction/etc...



The BB is 100% built around large-corporate use.



 

Out of all solutions they chose an Iphone?

Seems counter-productive to me.

There a lot of single mothers joining the military?

I agree, it is very friendly for Enterprise management, and corporate e-mail. However, the iPhone and Android have caught up to BlackBerry for push email. It's just that BB, even 6.0, is so antiquated that it makes the expensive BB quite useless for anything other than phone calls and email. I couldn't use GPS or browse the web, use Bluetooth (hands free device), or Tether. This stuff comes in handy while on TDY.
 

Boy, i read stuff like this and i can't help but think about some of General Pullers thoughts on warfighting.

And the Army did most of that to your BB, or you've got an old one...



A completely unlocked BB (8900, anyway) can do all of those things.





 

I've been doing all that with BB's for a while now with no problems at all and I've got the most hated of all BBs, the Storm 1.  I can use the GPS with a variety of programs, browse the web and use all kinds of BT hands free devices including headsets, hands free devices and have it sync with my PC.  And mine isn't even unlocked.



Either your BB is broken or disabled in some fashion, or you're not smart enough to figure it out.  And since it's not hard to figure out at all, I'm going with "It's broken or disabled in some way".



 

The Army's BES IT Policy, for his unit/installation, most likely says 'NO' to everything but push-email and phone calls.
 

Yes.

"Drill Sergeant, I only joined the Army because I have five kids and they need free health care!"

I got one phone call in the entire 13 weeks of training, and that was a scripted sentence I read when I arrived at MCRD Parris Island. Semper Fi.

It's a data terminal, not a phone.  Ipads and phones are the next level of information connectivity.

If it's locked down so they can't abuse it, why not. They could unlock the email feature during free time so they could send/recieve emails from home - text only. Unlock the phone for a 5 minute phone call on sundays. Let them make emergency calls if some dumbass wanders into the woods on an FTX or someone has a medical emergency or something in the barracks in the middle of the night.

Better yet let the cadre turn the microphones on remotely and listen in on any shenannigans and track and log everyone's position by remote.

Well I think it's a great idea, however not for trainees. When I was active I had to have a cell phone and the majority of the calls I made on my phone were work related. Either that or give soldiers some kind of communication expenditure add on to their pay, similar to BAS or BAH.

I really want an iPhone, but damn near everyone I know that's owned one has cracked it to smithereens

Not quite the pinnacle of durability, IMO

yay. more stuff i dont want my taxes paying for

+ fucking 1

lots of free porn surfing and fapping anywhere within cell coverage

How the hell do they expect a private not to break an iphone? A private is capable of breaking, dunking, burning or getting mud in anything...not to mention losing stuff.

Damn, they used to make single parents give up custody. (which was a good idea)
 

It's not big enough.

That's about what I figured. If it can only be used for authorized military purposes, then I don't really see a problem. From what I've heard about the Army, it might be nice for a soldier to be able to research how to improve their marksmanship during those "hurry up and wait" times.

No phone calls except for the "Mom/Dad this Recruit has arrived at MCRD Parris Island. This Recruit will send you this Recruits address and you should recieve it in a week."... Click

Semper Fi!

So while standing in formation a private's iPhone will start ringing with whatever dipshit pop / rap tune is the favorite of the week set as his ringtone. Followed by "Excuse me Drill Sergeant this is really important I have to take this call"'. Or they can Twitter their experiences at the Gas Chamber and post pics online.

If the purpose is to have e copies of manuals then why not a IPad, Nook, or Kindle. Yeah that's the way to train soldiers for combat with AQ or the Taliban.

Because the IPad is too big to fit in a cargo pocket.





Most likely, the Army will lock the iPhones down tighter than an unoccupied arms room... So it will be useless for 'socialization'....



Just look at what they did to the ARFCOMMer's blackberry - turned off EVERYTHING but phone and e-mail functions (to the point where he thought BBs couldn't do any of that stuff)... And the folks with nerfed blackberries are NCOs and Officers....





 

LOL, more likely the Army will lock them down in the arms room for safe keeping.  Because, of course, Soldiers break shit...

Oh yes they do...



Like M16A2 barrels... And M249 feed trays/handguards.... And...



 

No, just stupid fucks that get pregnant to avoid deployments.

I was being sarcastic with the iPad comment. I think the whole idea is a waste and is an example of the Army's tendency to get all caught up in technology when simpler, cheaper, more effective methods exist. Paper books still work and don't break like a smart phone. KISS is the way I see it.

Technology is fine but basic skills are still what makes a soldier effective on the battlefield. Anything that doesn't add dramatically to that is unnecessary. Smart phones aren't going to add significantly to the effectiveness of our Army. It's a recruiting gimmick to attract young potential recruits. Might as well give them a PS3 loaded with Call of Duty to aid in marksmanship while they're issuing smart phones.

Some of you guys are missing the bigger picture.

These phones are already sophisticated enough to:

1. Provide instant land navigation data and delayed satellite imagery access

2. Crossfeed realtime reconnaissance data like predator or flir or whatever video

3. Enable encrypted instant text and voice communication over a battlefield internet system

4. Take, upload, and/or crossfeed realtime static and video imagery, as well as audio

5. Act as a somewhat decent audio translator in any language you like, with the easy ability to add more

6. Act as a somewhat decent VISUAL translator, such as taking a picture of a sign or a notebook page and processing it

7. Allow the easy construction of and navigation through 3D battlespace constructs.  Get an idea of what the next street over looks like before you go there.

Think of a squad level blue force tracker integrating motion detection feeds from an orbiting F-35 platform or whatever, displayed on a 3D navigable map surface with proper terrain features and elevation integrated, and then being able to plan AND TEST your actions through it.  Battlespace simulator and realtime presentation, if you like.

8. The obvious benefit of easy access to every document ever written and every map ever made, also every picture ever taken, every audio interview ever performed, every video possible, message boards with discussion on each document and revision.  Wikipedia's been out for a decade, is there a wikifieldmanual for community notation and discussion of field manuals?  Think about that, having authorized users discussing the latest and greatest lessons learned within the documents themselves, viewable by every newbie in his boot camp bunk and contemplating having to be in the same predicament in six months.  Build the capability and you can always tighten the noose for discipline purposes, but you have to have the capability.

9. Storage of the owner's medical and personnel records.  For NCO's and officers, storage of his entire unit's medical and personnel records, and all the other paperwork associated with military units and operations.  AND you can instantly crossload that data to other people, or upload it to central secure servers so that you're just sharing access to the data.  Wtf's a file cabinet?

10. Calendars, alarm clocks, schedule managers, bulletin boards, etc.

Understand that I'm only stopping here because I'm bored.  I could come up with a hundred more items on this list, and every one of them would be doable with the EXISTING technology on a CURRENT iphone.  Not to say that there are apps for that, but there's no technological reason that there couldn't be.

Certainly within thirty years, and possibly within fifteen, you will see wearable devices deployed by the military that emulate all these functions.  The reality is that there's no need for a smartphone when you can build the equipment into a pair of safety glasses with a HUD and earphone/mic.  And then you know for certain where you're looking.

Video games have introduced some of these technologies to amusing effect, although some of you redneck faggots might sneer at the idea.  I think Battlefield 2 introduced, for instance, the idea of a giant "Spotted" communication menu option.  Look at an enemy tank, hit Spotted, and it sends out a unit-wide communication alerting them that you've spotted a tank, AND displaying the tank on their map.  The F-35 helmet has the theoretical capability of expanding that so that, once you send out that message with the tank's range-found precise location, it can display a graphic representation of the tank on your HUD even though it's behind obstacles and smoke and a fucking city and the wall of your APC and whatever else.  No reason a safety glasses HUD couldn't do the same thing.  If it knows where you are and where you're looking, and it knows where the tank is, just paint a little red tank on your HUD where the tank is, or a little arrow to it off the edge of the HUD if it's not in your field of view.  And a range and type indicator next to it, if need be, or whatever else you can think of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwvnhFgzIKI

The question isn't whether you'll see smartphone-like devices deployed en masse within ten years.  The question is what specific devices they'll be, and how we can ensure that they're secure for our purposes.  And also whether the assholes in charge will have the imagination to allow these capabilities to be properly explored, rather than quelling them because "that's not what the army's supposed to look like, the army's supposed to look guys with two canteens, a garand, and a cartridge belt, and maybe a steel helmet if they're lucky!"

And don't think that making such a thing in the US is any guarantee that it's safe from prying eyes or backdoors.  Helps, but that's all.

So yes, this pilot program is way more than you think it is.  Some of these idiotic officers certainly are thinking that a smartphone is just a handy way to store FM's.  But there are a lot of people out there are who are seeing the capabilities and shitting themselves in anticipation.

And, incidentally, there is absolutely no reason to believe that we will be the first country to widely deploy such devices, or that the first country will be one of our allies.

Army pissed away millions on Land Warrior and didn't come up with a fraction of a percent of the capabilities that an existing iPhone 3GS comes out of the box with.