Technology Military

The Ascent of Military Technology

The rise of the industrial age was characterized by rapid change and mass production requiring fewer workers, and granted nations the ability to field large, similarly equipped armies. The advent of modern war presaged by the American Civil War (1861–65) and the Franco Prussian War (1870–71) ultimately culminated in the blood-drenched trench warfare of World War I. Because of the technological equivalency of both sides, the conflict was essentially a deadlock until one side ran out of resources or was outnumbered. The only solution to defeating a peer and overcoming the stalemate was maintaining an advantage through continuous military [Page 671]technological evolution. Subsequently, the interwar years and World War II saw the development of both unique military technology—tanks, bombers, aircraft carriers—and dual use inventions—penicillin, sulfa drugs, and long-range cargo aircraft.

The quest to maintain a military technological advantage changed the nature of research within America (and much of the world). Huge, government-funded research and development (R&D) facilities at the academic, commercial, industry, and federal government levels replaced the formerly small research laboratories at universities and corporations. One of the most familiar new products of this enhanced R&D process is the Internet, the prodigy of the ARPANET developed by the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to enhance collaboration between scientists at ARPA and civilian universities.

Military Technology Ideal for Disaster Relief

Governments frequently turn to military forces and military technology for disaster relief. Though this may sometimes be for political expediency, the bottom line is that lives are saved by rapid response, a task at which the military excels. The characteristics of speed, quantity, cost, and capabilities enable military technology to support the rapid deployment of highly trained and equipped, multi-capable forces. Though military technology is expensive to call upon, the cost characteristic refers to the military emphasis placed upon effectiveness (mission accomplishment) versus efficiency (budget focused). Specific civilian or commercial teams could react more quickly or with a greater capability than military technology, but seldom could any entity meet all four characteristics simultaneously.

Military technology is shaped by battlefield requirements. Military forces train and deploy knowing that an enemy will try to deny them the use of available infrastructure—conditions very much the same in disaster zones. Blocked roads, destroyed bridges, toppled buildings, and cracked runways pose the same obstacles, whether caused by conflict or nature. The extensive capabilities military technology brings to disaster relief are for naught, however, if other agencies and relief providers do not understand the capabilities or integrate them into relief operations. This key finding was continually repeated across numerous after-action reports on recent disasters—the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the 2005 Pakistani earthquake.

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