Outside the Wire — The official blog of Army Times.

Who told you to think?

By Lance Bacon on October 29, 2010 Outside the wire

Who told me to think? My drill sergeant! That’s a key goal of basic training, according to Command Sgt. Maj. John Calpena, the top enlisted soldier at initial military training. Calpena said the post-Vietnam Army sought blind obedience and instilled fear of authority. The problem was soldiers went from a place where drill sergeants had total control to a place where they were expected to take total responsibility. Now, the focus is to produce soldiers who are trained to think. That means instead of simply shouting “Yes, drill sergeant!” when you have no idea what he means, these trainees will…

Focus on drill families

By Lance Bacon on October 29, 2010 Outside the wire

Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, deputy commanding general for initial military training, tells Outside the Wire that he is keenly aware of the price drill sergeants and their families pay. He said the command is working hard to “debunk the myth that going to TRADOC is taking a knee.” While it may seem a nice break from the high ops tempo the Army has faced for nine years, the fact is drill sergeants often work 16-18 hour days. It is a duty that is professionally rewarding, but challenging. As such, the three-star said he is looking at Quality of Life initiatives…

May we submit… Safety Ape

By Joe Gould on October 28, 2010 Outside the wire

Once in a great while… OK, every week, there comes a new YouTube sensation. Antoine Dodson. The 82nd Airborne Lady Gaga dancers. The trampoline bear. We say, why not Safety Ape? He loves near beer, hates daisy chains in your CHU and he’s 100 percent ready for prime time.

Small stuff on the big show floor at AUSA

By John Ryan on October 27, 2010 Outside the wire

The convention floor at the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington, D.C., this week was a maze of futuristic machines where one could have been distracted from these ready-to-use, affordable items capable of making tours at supply-stricken outposts more tolerable. Here are a few accessories I spotted between the defense industry mega-booths that you might consider buying on your own dime before deployments if unit supply hasn’t already issued them. Note: Cheaper versions of the equipment with similiar innovations may be available on the Web. Revision’s Sawfly eye protection The salesman at the booth folded the ballistic lens…

Bionic feet put spring in amputees’ steps

By Joe Gould on October 27, 2010 Outside the wire

At the Army Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center’s booth at AUSA, it was hard to take my eyes off a prosthetic hand so lifelike it looked like there was dirt under the fingernails. Beneath its silicone flesh was a mechanical pincer that, manipulated by the motion of an amputee’s arm and shoulder, opens and closes the thumb, pointer and forefinger. But after filling me in on the hand, TATRC research scientist Jason Ghannadian wanted to talk feet. Since the start of the current wars, there have been more than 16,000 amputations across the services, an overwhelming number of which…

ANA Special Forces team 'incredible'

By Kathleen Curthoys on October 27, 2010 Outside the wire

By SEAN D. NAYLOR — The Special Forces captain who worked with the first Afghan National Army Special Forces team had nothing but praise for his ANA counterparts during a talk at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual symposium. Capt. Mike Penn, who between February and August led a 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) operational detachment–alpha, or A-team, in Kandahar province’s Khakrez district, said for the first three months his 20-person element had no Afghan partners as they tried to build bonds with the elders of the rural district. That all changed roughly halfway through his deployment. “Three months…

Getting to zero: greening Army posts

By Joe Gould on October 26, 2010 Outside the wire

Katherine Hammack, one of the newest and probably the greenest Army official said the service is aiming toward “net-zero” energy and water usage at all installations. “We need to improve energy security, we need to become less dependent on fossil fuels and we need to do it now, and I’m proud to say our installations are stepping up our game, they’re becoming creative,” said Hammack, seated beside Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, Commanding General, U.S. Army Installation Management Command, on an AUSA panel here. Appointed assistant secretary of the Army for installations and environment on June 28, Hammack has more than…

How cool is your B.O.S.S.?

By Joe Gould on October 26, 2010 Outside the wire

Your boss tells you what to do at work, but your B.O.S.S. tell you what to do with your free time. B.O.S.S. is Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers, a Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation program that provides single soldiers with wholesome recreation, like cookouts, deep water cruises and white water rafting trips. Though its not a new program (it was set up in 1989), one wonders how well it dovetails with the Army’s efforts to steer soldiers away from “risky behaviors.” B.O.S.S. looks like the Army-issued alternative to those behaviors–which may or may not seem cool to you. “We…

The cost of defeating IEDs

By Lance Bacon on October 22, 2010 Outside the wire

Global spending on counter-IED systems hit $7.7 billion in 2009, according to this report. But that amount is expected to decline. U.S. spending is expected to hit a decade-low by 2020, according to the report. This is due to a number of reasons. First, many projects will have been completed. Also, full withdrawal of 50,000 remaining troops in Iraq is expected by the end of 2011, and withdrawal from Afghanistan is also scheduled to start next year. And budget constraints always play a role. If the use of IEDs remained a constant, that might be true. But there is a…

Outside the Wire is open for business

By Mike Hoffman on October 22, 2010 Outside the wire

Welcome to Outside the Wire, the Army Times’ new blog. We are covering all things Army in time for the largest gaggle Army conference of the year — the 2010 Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington D.C. This blog is much more than a bunch of bureaucrats meeting inside the Beltway, though. We intend to cover everything from the new Multi-Cam uniform’s performance in Afghanistan to the best sights for your M-4 to Army leadership to the best way to get Copenhagen tins to a FOB. And everything in between. It doesn’t work without you,…