Attended Tactical Ground Sensors

Today, force protection is a growing concern of the armed forces. In part, unfortunately, because of the June 25, 1996, Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 airmen and injured over 400 others. Something must be done immediately to better protect our forces and resources as the military is being deployed more and more into places like Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, Somalia, Bosnia, and Haiti. In the future, less is likely to be know about the physical environment where forces will be deployed, and even less, perhaps, will be known about the threat facing these forces. To effectively deal with this future, the military will need the significant advantages obtainable from Attended Tactical Ground Sensor Systems (ATGSS). The thesis of this paper is that because of the technological advancements in ATGSS, more consideration should be given on how to employ them to enhance force and resource protection. This assertion rings true after closely examining what happened at the Khobar Towers, as well as reviewing such things as combined forces exercise reports, key acquisition documents for physical security equipment (PSE), and ongoing PSE research and development activities. The good news is that it is not too late for the military to begin taking advantage of the important contributions of ATGSS. Before exploring ATGSS applications for military operations other than war, and wartime and law enforcement operations, this paper begins by looking at what ATGSS are available to the military today. Only marginally sufficient to aid in force protection, current ATGSS are in serious need of upgrade or replacement. Next, the ATGSS technological advancements being pursued will be highlighted. These advancements are astonishing in many regards and could standardize the way future security is provided.