I need one of these at home
July 22nd, 2011 | Batteries EOD Logistics Navy Research The greenside | Posted by Bill McMichael
One day, military personnel and civilians alike will enjoy much-simplified electronic lives. Until then, most of us are stuck with a plethora of batteries, connectors and chargers for the electronic devices so vital to our lives. Most, that is, except for Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians, who should soon lose about 41 pounds worth of battery devices thanks to a lightweight power system developed by the Office of Naval Research’s TechSolutions Program.
The group, responding to a request from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Training and Evaluation Unit 2, partnered with Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, Ind., and Protonex Technology Corp.. to develop the Power Management Kit. Typically, an EOD team carries 50 pounds of battery devices to power its unique gear — a platoon’s worth would fill a four-foot by four-foot table, according to EODTEU 2.
The new PMK contains common military rechargable batteries, a solar-powered blanket, a one-pound Soldier Power Manager unit and “smart” cables to link the SPM with EOD equipment. The SPM charges batteries and powers up gear by harnessing energy from a variety of sources, according to the TechSolutions Program. The PMK also includes a graphical interface that displays information about batteries, power usage, state of charge and operational details.
All of that weighs just nine pounds.
The beauty of the setup is that any new equipment can be supported by simply adding a new cable — so, the SPM itself never needs an upgrade. Currently, most of an EOD team’s gear uses different power sources, so each requires the carrying of multiple single-purpose batteries to power up.
Five units have been shipped to EODTEU 2 for a trial.
Military spouse input needed
July 19th, 2011 | Health Life at Home Marital life Navy Research Spouses | Posted by Bill McMichael
The Naval Health Research Center is looking to enroll more than 10,000 military spouses in a new study of military family health. The Department of Defense Millennium Cohort Family Study aims for a more comprehensive understanding of how military families are coping with military life after nearly a decade at war.
The new study is the fourth part of the ongoing Millennium Cohort Study, being conducted by the Deployment Health Research Department at the Naval Health Research Center. Officials say the study, which began in 2001, is the largest prospective health project in military history.
It’s not open to everyone. The service member of the spouse must have received an invitation and have also enrolled in the Millennium Cohort Study at https://secure.millenniumcohort.org/. Participants are selected randomly from a military database.
Eligible spouses are being asked to complete a web-based questionnaire that asks about their mental and physical health, the quality of their marital and family relationships, their deployment and reunion experiences, their perception of how their sponsor is coping and how military life and deployment are affecting their children, if applicable. Spouses, once enrolled, will be asked questions periodically over three years, regardless if the service member is still in the military or not or no longer living with them. All information will be kept confidential.
Enrollment for the family study began June 7.
To enroll in the family study, go to http://www.familycohort.org/.
F-35C heads north
June 30th, 2011 | Aviation Navy Research testing | Posted by Joshua Stewart
The first F-35C test aircraft has left Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., for the first volley of carrier-suitability tests at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.
CF-2, the second test aircraft delivered by Lockheed Martin to the Navy, arrived at Lakehurst on June 25 and was flown by test pilot Lt. Cmdr. Eric “Magic” Buus. While there, the airplane will be used for jet blast deflector tests, including deck heating, deflector panel cooling and other aspects. Shipboard testing is scheduled for 2013.
But this isn’t exactly how things were planned, and this change-up, unlike others that have dogged the Joint Strike Fighter program, isn’t something to worry about. Originally a different test aircraft, CF-1, was supposed to head to Lakehurst first. However, tests earlier this summer went better than expected, allowing a change of plans, said Cmdr. Victor Chen, a Naval Air Systems Command spokesman.
“F-35C testing is currently ahead of schedule, allowing previously unplanned testing on CF-1 to eliminate the requirements that caused it to be the only aircraft that could support initial (jet blast deflector) testing. With both aircraft able to support, the decision was made to keep CF-1 at the F-35 integrated test facility at NAS Patuxent River in order to perform a software upgrade, modify flight test instrumentation and execute flight test points, which it did on its first Pax fly day,” Chen said.
Two test aircraft are expected to go to Lakehurst later this summer for more carrier-suitability tests, including catapult launches and roll-in and arrested landings.
For these patients, it’s never too late
May 6th, 2011 | Medical Navy Research | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
A handful of Navy medical personnel got to witness a bit of history when several 550-year-old patients came through the door last month for some lab work.
A 550-year old Peruvian mummy waits to enter an advanced CT scanner at Naval Medical Center San Diego last month. Five mummies arrived from a San Diego museum for the lab work to help archeologists learn about their medical history.//Navy/MC3 Samantha A. Lewis
That’s right – 550 years old, plus or minus a few years.
The patients were Peruvian mummies, one adult and four young children, according to the Navy. Their April 27 arrival at Naval Medical Center San Diego for some tissue and bone scans came courtesy of a joint project with the San Diego Museum of Man, which hopes to learn more about what sorts of ailments and health issues these Peruvians faced when they lived all those centuries ago.
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Manuel Cortez prepares a 550-year old Peruvian mummy for a CT scan at Naval Medical Center San Diego last month.//Navy/MC3 Samantha A. Lewis
“Differentiation of mummified tissues is of vital importance in the study of paleopathology and the evolution of human diseases,” Cmdr. Ronald J. Boucher, who chairs the center’s radiology department, said in a news release. “This scanner allowed for nondestructive discrimination of the dry and brittle soft tissue and bones.”
The mummies, who were recovered by anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka in 1915, were placed, one by one, in the Computerized Axial Tomography, or CT, machine for the scanning process. The project provided some real hands-on training for the medical center’s advanced lab equipment called a Flash Dual Source 128 CT scanner, which takes much more detailed images of bones and tissues than older, single-source scanners. In fact, the medical center has the only dual-source scanner in San Diego County, according to the Navy. No doubt it’s become a well-utilized machine for patients far, far younger in age than these Peruvians. Of course, it is probably best not to wait too long for that doctor’s visit.