Image courtesy of Submarine Cable Map. By Major Matt Cavanaugh Several weeks ago I noticed that the Atlantic Council was running a competition via their “Art of Future Warfare” Project. Their idea is to “use...
Read MoreImage courtesy of NATO. By Major Matt Cavanaugh Regular readers will know that just before the holidays (late November), I wrote a two page document that intended to form the basis for a rapid and simple introduction to the...
Read MoreImage courtesy of Tremr. By Major Matt Cavanaugh Make no mistake, this is not an assessment one offers with a smile. But it’s a fact: ISIS (or ISIL) has achieved victory in Northern Iraq and Eastern Syria and does meet...
Read MoreIf a soldier gets hit in a war and no one is around to film it, does it really matter?
Following two highly publicized police encounters – one in Ferguson, Missouri and the choking death of Eric Garner in New York City – the New York Times carried a story that raised the issue of police body cameras. Technologically (and economically), it is now feasible for the average “beat” cop to wear a camera integrated into body armor and clothing while on duty. President Obama has pledged to “request $75 million in federal funds to distribute 50,000 body cameras to police departments nationwide.”
To quickly run the math:
$75 million/50,000 body cameras = $1,500 each
Now let’s look to what it costs to outfit an American military soldier. According to a 2007 estimate, it was roughly $17,500 to outfit a US soldier (*worth noting that at the time it cost the Chinese People’s Liberation Army roughly $1,500!). By now, it is reasonable to extrapolate that US figure to $20,000. If my raw math is accurate, and this is in fact the actual ratio, then body cameras would represent an additional expenditure on the order of a 7-8% which is roughly the equivalent cost of a latte flavor shot at Starbucks. But do we want this “flavor shot?” Should we want body cameras?
Read MoreImage courtesy of UK Ministry of Defence is of a US Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey Aircraft from the USS Kearsarge, lands onboard HMS Illustrious during Cougar 13. By Major Matt Cavanaugh The Army War College’s Strategic...
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