Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9507030147
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A17 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CAMP ABLE SENTRY, MACEDONIA LENGTH: Medium
The hand-held gadget, dubbed ``Soldier 911,'' is designed to let a soldier send an emergency signal without having to speak, a plus in multilingual U.N. operations. It is being tested by American troops with the U.N. peacekeeping force in this former Yugoslav republic.
Officials say the device could have helped Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady, whose F-16 was shot down over Bosnia several weeks ago, be rescued earlier. In addition, it has been programmed to warn American peacekeepers when they get close to Macedonia's unmarked border with Serbia.
The Army says the device will get distress calls to evacuation units quicker and gives a soldier's location to within 15 meters.
``Wherever the forces may be, he's one button away from support. And if he's lost, we can go and find him,'' said Lt. Col. Robert W. Kocher, the system's program manager at the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Va., who came to Macedonia in early June to introduce Soldier 911.
The device is being field-tested by the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, based in Baumholder, Germany. The 540 Americans - the only U.S. ground troops in former Yugoslavia - are part of a 1,100-soldier U.N. force deployed in an effort to prevent the Bosnian war from spreading south.
Soldier 911 weighs 2 1/4 pounds and looks like a two-way radio, except for the flat, playing-card-size satellite receiver on top.
It is a smaller version of ``global positioning system'' equipment that lets U.S. Army troops keep track of their position on the ground by fixing on satellite transmissions. The difference is that it is a transmitter, too, with a maximum range of 100 miles.
Pressing a red button sends out the emergency signal. If able, a soldier may press a series of other buttons or use the device's radio to give other details, including information to confirm the soldier's identity if necessary.
by CNB