MAY 2013 ISSUE NO. 11
INSIDE THIS ISSUE DIRECTOR’S corner This is what we bring to the fight, Page 2 asa(alt) leader visits Heidi Shyu talks to TARDEC, Page 3 RDECOM G-1 gives furlough update Todd Morris, Page 4 RDECOM senior enlisted advisor talks issues Page 6 u.S. Senator visits APG Maryland’s Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski visits, Page 7 RDECOM Chaplain: May is Family Wellness Month, Page 10 Research leads to optical-scanning discovery Page 11 Natick employees endure Boston Marathon tragedy Page 16 AMRDEC engineering director encourages cost-consciousness Page 23 Jay Leno drives Army’s Original FED Page 40
Secretary of the Army John McHugh takes aim with an M4 rifle equipped with the Virtual Pointer system during an April 18 demonstration by Amanda Skrabut (left) at the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate at Fort Belvoir, Va. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. John G. Martinez)
Secretary of the Army visits RDECOM night vision facility By Kim Bell CERDEC-NVESD Public Affairs FORT BELVOIR, Va. — Secretary of the Army John McHugh received a demonstration of some of the Army’s current and future technologies during a visit to the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s night vision and electronic sensors facility, April 18. “We want to ensure that we invest in innovations that continue to give us the technological edge that our forces need to take on whatever tomorrow’s mission might be,” McHugh said. McHugh saw firsthand the latest in the next generation of Soldier sensor technologies, which included night vision, targeting devices, and long-range surveillance systems. The directorate is part of
RDECOM’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center. “These technologies show great potential to increase Soldier lethality, survivability and situational awareness,” he said. “Together these developments have changed the way U.S. Soldiers fight.” Of special interest to the McHugh was Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, or NVESD’s, efforts to continually reduce size, weight, cost and power of night-vision and thermal technologies. “By reducing the load a Soldier carries, coupled with technology, is the right way to do more with less,” McHugh said. This is a key focus of the U.S. Army Materiel Command as the provider of ma-
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