Provincial Reconstruction Teams tasked with rebuilding ruined infrastructure and institutions are trying to take the lead in the U.S. strategy to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan. But the PRTs’ seemingly peaceful missions belie the extreme dangers they face every day, with security concerns often hobbling their efforts to make a significant impact. Small, lightly equipped and […]
Logistics
When we think about military systems commands we normally conjure up images of weapons ranges and test pilots. But the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center is involved in pursuits arguably less glamorous but no less important to the war effort. Among NSRDEC’s missions is the research, development, testing and engineering of […]
You may talk of gin and beer When you’re quartered safe out ‘ere An’ you’re sent to penny fights and Aldershot it But when it comes to slaughter You’ll do your work on water An’ you’ll lick the bloomin’ boots of ‘im that’s got it Some things have not changed since Kipling wrote Gunga Din […]
Last Thursday, the Christian Science Monitor reported on an unusual memo from the staff of Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer, the highest-ranking Marine officer in Iraqs troubled Anbar Province. According to the Monitor, and to more comprehensive treatments in Inside Defense and Defense Industry Daily, Zilmer asked the Pentagon to find a way to […]
If I were to ask you to name your all time favourite iconic concrete structure, you’d probably come up with the same answer as me: the Seattle Kingdome. But what if I were to ask you to name your favourite “low mass, strengthening fibre matrix temporary concrete shelter”? — again you’d probably think Kingdome — […]
