GOGGLES TO HELP VA SECURITY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 12, 1993                   TAG: 9303120111
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
GOGGLES TO HELP VA SECURITY
The two sets of night-vision goggles donated Thursday by ITT to the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center will enable security officers "to see every part of our grounds" after darkness, John Presley, center director, said.
Presley told reporters the goggles "will enhance the security" of the center. Security has been tested in the last year as the bodies of four patients have been found on the grounds.
Laura Miller, associate director of the center, said she expects other VA units across the country "will be interested in the goggles." The two sets, made at the Roanoke County ITT plant, are priced at $3,100 each.
The devices will be used primarily by security officers, but if an emergency occurs they will be available for search teams, Miller said.
Neil Gallagher, president of ITT's Electro-Optical Products Division near Hollins, said each of the three generations of goggles has been improved since production started more than 30 years ago. The plant has relied on large military contracts but the uncertainties of defense cuts have forced the plant to seek commercial markets.
Gallagher said he's awaiting a three-month marketing study of the goggles' use by security officers.
A new Night Mariner device is designed to help boaters identify logs, buoys, crab and lobster pots and other obstacles in the water, he said. "We're not selling them to people who tear around in motorboats at 60 miles an hour," Gallagher said.
The boating device is planned "to enhance safety and give them security," he said.
The price of the military goggles is about $7,000, one-third of the level 10 years ago, and their performance has increased while the price has dropped, said John Domalski, U.S. marketing director for the ITT division.
The ability of the devices to see fine detail has grown by 25 percent and their sensitivity is up 35 percent, he said. The goggles are effective in spotting a man at night at a distance of 500 yards or a boat at 1,500 to 2,000 yards, Domalski said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB