thedrifter
03-05-08, 08:08 AM
Biometrics on the battlefield: Technology developed on Fort Huachuca helps troops in Iraq
By Bill Hess
Herald/Review
Published on Wednesday, March 05, 2008
FORT HUACHUCA — While terrorists continue to run, America’s armed forces are making it harder for them to hide because of a growing biometrics database, according to an official on Fort Huachuca on Tuesday.
Past, current and future technology is used, much of it by adapting commercial off-the-shelf equipment.
“There’s always a better mousetrap that comes along,” said Kathy DeBolt, chief of the Language and Technology Office at the Intelligence Center.
One of the newer traps is a hand-held device used to take a person’s fingerprints, scan an individual’s irises and take a photo of a face. DeBolt said that if a “red light comes on,” that person may be wanted. The device is used at the squad level in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Red means a person is potentially really dangerous to our national security,” she said.
The device, which is the size of an old Polaroid camera, rapidly searches stored information, allowing a group of about 10 soldiers to determine if a person is being sought.
Called the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment — HIIDE for short — the device also can be used to input information on a person into a database, DeBolt said.
As technology progresses, items such as HIIDE get “smaller and we can put more things on it,” she said. One system currently costs about $10,000.
In May 2001, she was a major, and at the time, something was needed in Bosnia to keep track of those who could have caused problems by moving from one installation to another. Little did she and others know, the initial thought of using biometrics would become critical four months later when terrorists attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
Working out of what was then quaintly called the “Bat Cave,” a small area in a building on post with a team of six people, DeBolt saw emphasis and manpower increase as the war on terrorism expanded.
Today, about 60 people are involved in the office, helping in the development and testing of biometrics equipment to add newer, better and faster programs to counter terrorists around the world, said DeBolt, who retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel.
One of the initial devices to come out of the think tank and research and development office was the BAT — Biometrics Automated Toolset — which hooked up a camera, fingerprint device and a bulky iris scanner to a computer. As capabilities changed, the attachments became smaller, though it still requires using three separate items to obtain biometrics from a person, which are now fed into a laptop. The HIIDE, which is a work in progress, puts capabilities to obtain information at the lowest Army level — the squad.
The Army has been in the lead in pushing biometrics, and devices were ready to deploy when the United States attacked Iraq in 2003. But the Marines proved the BAT system as being important in processing captives.
DeBolt said the Marines found out the Army wasn’t going to use the BAT and asked to be allowed to. Because there was joint service involvement in its development, the request was approved.
The Army officer who didn’t want to deploy the systems — 18 of them — was of the opinion there wasn’t enough time to integrate new automated equipment in the fight, she said.
To this day, DeBolt said she did not think it was the right call.
The Marines became enamored by BAT, proving its worth. When preparing to leave Iraq, they wanted to know how much it cost so they could sell it to an Army Military Police unit that was working at the same prison in Iraq — Abu Ghraib.
The request shocked her because the Marines were given the systems at no cost.
The Marines said that by having the Army unit pay for it, the money could be used when the Marines returned to Iraq.
Eighteen units were sold to the Army for about $5,000 each.
Even though DeBolt didn’t think the Marine unit would be returning to Iraq that soon, she was proven wrong. The Marines spent $2.3 million for upgraded biometrics systems mostly developed by the Army. The Marines now consider them “battlefield systems.”
The Marines have used the system in clearing out troubled spots in Iraq, such as Fallajah, by taking biometrics of residents and setting up checkpoints, which people must use to go into the city, DeBolt said. The Marines also have used it to clear smaller villages, providing protection for residents of those communities.
The Marines use the expression “berming” for when they go in and clear out a community and then provide protection for the residents. This means they set up a barrier around a village and limit the entry and exit points. Using biometrics, they can determine who is and isn’t supposed to be in the area.
While the Marines consider biometrics as a battlefield system, the Army considers it an operational system, DeBolt said.
Biometrics systems are faster than green ledger books once used to annotate prisoners and others who could do harm, DeBolt added. The ledger books were used until the late 1990s.
Information inputted into the biometrics systems can be used, for example, if a bomb is set off in an area. DeBolt said people who were in the area are in the database, and it can show who may be involved in the incident.
The systems create a “biometrics enabled watch list,” she said.
People released from custody after serving a sentence may attempt to return to their old ways, and having them listed helps keep track of their movements, DeBolt said.
“We are releasing people in Iraq. We can’t lock up the whole world,” she said.
The biometrics systems is finding one high value target a day, and between 5,000 and 7,000 people a day are being put into the systems, DeBolt said.
Biometrics are critical to intelligence work, but care must taken that what is put into the systems are not shared with unauthorized people or agencies, DeBolt said.
The future of biometrics will include putting more devices, such as voice recognition, that will help more precisely identify wanted people, DeBolt said.
“Like I said, they can run, but they will not be able to hide,” she said.
Senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Ellie
By Bill Hess
Herald/Review
Published on Wednesday, March 05, 2008
FORT HUACHUCA — While terrorists continue to run, America’s armed forces are making it harder for them to hide because of a growing biometrics database, according to an official on Fort Huachuca on Tuesday.
Past, current and future technology is used, much of it by adapting commercial off-the-shelf equipment.
“There’s always a better mousetrap that comes along,” said Kathy DeBolt, chief of the Language and Technology Office at the Intelligence Center.
One of the newer traps is a hand-held device used to take a person’s fingerprints, scan an individual’s irises and take a photo of a face. DeBolt said that if a “red light comes on,” that person may be wanted. The device is used at the squad level in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Red means a person is potentially really dangerous to our national security,” she said.
The device, which is the size of an old Polaroid camera, rapidly searches stored information, allowing a group of about 10 soldiers to determine if a person is being sought.
Called the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment — HIIDE for short — the device also can be used to input information on a person into a database, DeBolt said.
As technology progresses, items such as HIIDE get “smaller and we can put more things on it,” she said. One system currently costs about $10,000.
In May 2001, she was a major, and at the time, something was needed in Bosnia to keep track of those who could have caused problems by moving from one installation to another. Little did she and others know, the initial thought of using biometrics would become critical four months later when terrorists attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
Working out of what was then quaintly called the “Bat Cave,” a small area in a building on post with a team of six people, DeBolt saw emphasis and manpower increase as the war on terrorism expanded.
Today, about 60 people are involved in the office, helping in the development and testing of biometrics equipment to add newer, better and faster programs to counter terrorists around the world, said DeBolt, who retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel.
One of the initial devices to come out of the think tank and research and development office was the BAT — Biometrics Automated Toolset — which hooked up a camera, fingerprint device and a bulky iris scanner to a computer. As capabilities changed, the attachments became smaller, though it still requires using three separate items to obtain biometrics from a person, which are now fed into a laptop. The HIIDE, which is a work in progress, puts capabilities to obtain information at the lowest Army level — the squad.
The Army has been in the lead in pushing biometrics, and devices were ready to deploy when the United States attacked Iraq in 2003. But the Marines proved the BAT system as being important in processing captives.
DeBolt said the Marines found out the Army wasn’t going to use the BAT and asked to be allowed to. Because there was joint service involvement in its development, the request was approved.
The Army officer who didn’t want to deploy the systems — 18 of them — was of the opinion there wasn’t enough time to integrate new automated equipment in the fight, she said.
To this day, DeBolt said she did not think it was the right call.
The Marines became enamored by BAT, proving its worth. When preparing to leave Iraq, they wanted to know how much it cost so they could sell it to an Army Military Police unit that was working at the same prison in Iraq — Abu Ghraib.
The request shocked her because the Marines were given the systems at no cost.
The Marines said that by having the Army unit pay for it, the money could be used when the Marines returned to Iraq.
Eighteen units were sold to the Army for about $5,000 each.
Even though DeBolt didn’t think the Marine unit would be returning to Iraq that soon, she was proven wrong. The Marines spent $2.3 million for upgraded biometrics systems mostly developed by the Army. The Marines now consider them “battlefield systems.”
The Marines have used the system in clearing out troubled spots in Iraq, such as Fallajah, by taking biometrics of residents and setting up checkpoints, which people must use to go into the city, DeBolt said. The Marines also have used it to clear smaller villages, providing protection for residents of those communities.
The Marines use the expression “berming” for when they go in and clear out a community and then provide protection for the residents. This means they set up a barrier around a village and limit the entry and exit points. Using biometrics, they can determine who is and isn’t supposed to be in the area.
While the Marines consider biometrics as a battlefield system, the Army considers it an operational system, DeBolt said.
Biometrics systems are faster than green ledger books once used to annotate prisoners and others who could do harm, DeBolt added. The ledger books were used until the late 1990s.
Information inputted into the biometrics systems can be used, for example, if a bomb is set off in an area. DeBolt said people who were in the area are in the database, and it can show who may be involved in the incident.
The systems create a “biometrics enabled watch list,” she said.
People released from custody after serving a sentence may attempt to return to their old ways, and having them listed helps keep track of their movements, DeBolt said.
“We are releasing people in Iraq. We can’t lock up the whole world,” she said.
The biometrics systems is finding one high value target a day, and between 5,000 and 7,000 people a day are being put into the systems, DeBolt said.
Biometrics are critical to intelligence work, but care must taken that what is put into the systems are not shared with unauthorized people or agencies, DeBolt said.
The future of biometrics will include putting more devices, such as voice recognition, that will help more precisely identify wanted people, DeBolt said.
“Like I said, they can run, but they will not be able to hide,” she said.
Senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Ellie