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Oct

12

Final day of AUSA!

Posted by : Linda Dennis | On : October 12, 2011

Category: AUSA, Day 6, Ms. D's Notes, Quick Updates

We are all exhausted, but it is a good tired.  We have walked the aisles of the AUSA Expo, and we have seen firsthand drones, helmets, robots, guns, and also met some of the neatest uniformed people.  From the SSGT’s to the Generals, they have all welcomed us in! We have traveled from TRADOC, to First Army, to Korea, then Europe and back here to the United States.  We have seen patches that have told us where a soldier is from and where they might’ve served and all the while we keep seeing our glorious Flag on the shoulder.

Now it is time to wrap up.  We are told to get working now, all of us sitting down and writing up all of our notes, and preparing our content for this wonderful blog.  It’s easy to find a cushioned floor, and off we go with our laptops and cameras.  We have our reporter’s pads and pens.  Zia and Kat lead us to get organized.  Hammond makes sure we have the alphabet covered.

Soon, you will find on our blog the alphabet from A to Z, with each letter covering some element, company, or person at the AUSA Meeting!  You will find photos and captions, and the interviews – Q & A’s.  The Backpack Journalist Editors will work to continue to upload and add content, so check back often.  Visit our photo gallery also to take a peek at our portraits and a short bio about ourselves.

Ms. D and Scotty had told us about a special reception on Wednesday night.  So after we wrapped up our notes, off we went to walk the floor for one last time.  WOW.  Just about every exhibitor had something special to give away.  So we collected ball caps, backpacks, pens, pads, water bottles, heck even socks!  It was like one after the other filled with special little gifts to hand you.  I think some of us had to have another suitcase to get all the goodies home.  And, for sure – we will not need pens or pads for a while.

Perhaps the best little “swag” (that’s what someone called this stuff) was the little dolls that allow a deployed service member to put their photo inside for their little toddler to hold while they were away.  They come in the typical Army green, and also in blue.  And the spot on the head was just right to hold the Mom or Dad photo.  So adorable!

That evening, we all gathered for dinner, a quiet one we thought.  By the time we left the hall it was late, but not too late for good food.  And, did we mention that Pedro and Marynell had run to bring back a nice bag of cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes!  We each chose one (or maybe even two), said good night and went to our sleeping rooms to marvel over our bags of “swag”, and to figure out a way to get it all home, all this time thinking about AUSA and how it was truly an inspirational and informational event for us all!

Oct

12

Scorpion inside my helmet

Posted by : Quincy Winder | On : October 12, 2011

Category: AUSA, Day 6, General, Interviews, Man on the Street, News, Sights and Sounds

Raytheon (Technical Services Division), Indianapolis, Indiana

Eric K. Moore, Raytheon – RTC Systems Engineer

 

One of the neatest experiences I have
at AUSA is flying an F-16 combat aircraft to test out the new Raytheon Scorpion insert for a Helmet.

Did I say flying?

I’m actually in the demo area in the Raytheon Booth in its 4D simulator in the “situational awareness” suite.  As I’m fitted into the Scorpion Helmet, Ms. D asks if we can record my experience – she knows I won’t be able to take notes and “fly” at the same time!

She’s right.

The simulator includes a Down Display, the eye piece and the Helmet non-display with 3-d audio.

I sit in the cockpit where combat pilots sit, helmet on and Eric asks me if I can see the horizon?  The green line?

“Is it level?” Eric asks me.  And I answer, “Well, I don’t think so, but I‘ve never done this before!”

So Eric adjusts the helmet and rotated it a little, and then I can see all the symbols on the down display. As he rotates the helmet, he asks, “Better or worse?  See all these type of symbols on the down display.  Whenever you look at the up display, look at the horizon.  We’re on the ground.”

This is way cool. I’m in the cockpit and I’m the pilot with the Scorpion helmet and we’re getting ready to take off!   I see the horizon.

Eric continues:  “Once you get up in the air, when you actually need to see, ‘we’ (and he means the Scorpion) display more symbols. Let’s take off!  Here’s the throttle, push it forward and leave it there.  Hold onto the stick here. This is your air speed: 110 – 130.   Pull back really fast.  It’s sensitive!”

We’re lifting off!

Eric tells me I’m “doing it like a pro!”

I’m taking off – pushing the throttle – and then – a mass of birds!

Geez, I’m not quick enough!   “BIRD STRIKE!”  I’m the first guy to hit a flock of birds!  “BIRD STRIKE!”

It seems about that time a lot of people start standing around the simulator, watching my Bird Strike. They tell me I’m the first one to have a Bird Strike.  The windshield? “Broken.”

Back to the Scorpion Helmet and what my simulator experience is really about. The Scorpion’s completely digital and high tech. It’s modern technology equipment that connects to the aircraft’s computer system using sound and symbology (Eric used that word a lot!) and a lot more.

The helmet makes the pilot’s response time quicker.   It seems I’ve seen it before in a movie! “Today, the Scorpion’s modernizing the cockpit of the combat airplane,” Eric says.

The 3D system hears the missile as the pilot (me) does. And the 3D system sends a message to the plane’s computer weapons systems.

I’m able to quickly lock down on the missile just by using the direction of my head in the helmet!  So in combat, the Scorpion lets me quickly take care of that missile.

And I don’t even look down at the control panel in the cockpit.

I also learn that pilots can have multiple conversations coming into their ear pieces at once.  The Scorpion allows each conversation to have its own channel, so the pilot can clearly hear each separately.  And the helmet has so much more night vision and lots of digital technology flying support.

Eric decides I should get back to ground and start over!

This time I’m instructed to avoid the birds!

As I take off, I hear Eric tell me, “Full throttle again, avoid the birds.  Get the air speed to 160-170 and then roll back.  Nice, there you go! Nicely done, you’ve avoided the birds! So keep those hills in site.  You should be able to see the symbology on the Scorpion.”

I do, and next I hear the sounds of a helicopter flying around me. I jerk the helmet toward the sound and see it coming. The sound is crisp in front of me, dull from behind.

And it’s only 9:20 a.m. on Day 3 at AUSA!

Do I want to be a pilot now?

Not certain.

But if I could master this “math” that seems to try and conquer me, yes, I’d love to fly…if I could have a Scorpion inside my helmet!

 

Article by Quincy Winder, Edited by Zia Johnson