Topic: Cyborg Soldiers

[EvB]

We've heard of remote viewing, LSD trials, pheromone sprays that make "the enemy" irresistible to same sex comrades (to lower moral - since we all know there are no homosexuals in the military - shhhhh) on more - now, we have semi-cyborgs.

Haveto wonder if they consulted the damned Dames.

Has anyone here been in the military or known anyone in the military they trusted who actually experienced any of this stuff?

[Nboy]

And that's not all they are up to...
http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2009/05/dplus2009_11641-1.pdf

Soldiers will be able to move seamlessly among real, augmented, and virtual environments. Using virtual reality (VR) systems and serious gaming technologies will be the primary mode of delivery for personnel selection and training. Training will be embedded and available anytime, anywhere.

[mythrar]

Has anyone here been in the military or known anyone in the military they trusted who actually experienced any of this stuff?

i'm in the military.  i'm just an infantryman (dumb grunt) but i have friends in Special Forces and the Ranger Battalions and a couple friends in Marine Force Recon and Navy SeAL's and I have never heard about any of this and neither have they (or so they say.) 

i also have a friend in the air force who is decently high rank and a general's aide who reviews dispatches sent to the general and determines which require his attention and which can be handled by lower staff members.  he also has not heard anything about this.

its probably programs that have been outsourced to educational institutions and the common soldier/marine/seaman/airman of less than field grade officer rank would not know anything about it.  kinda like ed dames.  he was a major (field grade officer) so he knew stuff and was in charge of stuff that the average enlisted guy wasn't privy to (and as a field grade officer is subject to reactivation at any time the government deems him still physically and mentally capable of discharging the duties of his rank.)

i can attest to the various non-lethal technology that you see on 'future weapons' and shows like that cuz they send squad leaders and higher to classes where we learn how to use it and evaluate its real-world practicality so all that stuff is real but very little is being depolyed on today's battlefield.

of course this doesn't mean that it isn't happening cuz they do tell me stuff that's classified ( i have a secret clearance) that i am cleared to know and some of it is pretty crazy and blows my mind and makes me thankful that i'm just a dumb grunt.

-M

[EvB]

i also have a friend in the air force who is decently high rank and a general's aide who reviews dispatches sent to the general and determines which require his attention and which can be handled by lower staff members.

My (much older) brother was career air force. He ended up teaching electronics, but started out in meteorology.  He told me a few years ago that when i was born, and he was stationed in Iceland, that what they were doing was measuring and studying the hole in the ozone layer. I was born in the mid 50's.

I got the impression that it wasn't so much "top secret" (though I'm sure they were not supposed to blab) as that the people actually DOING the work were unimpressed.  They just watched, and reported.  The possible consequences - well - that wasn't part of the job.

All that to say "who the hell knows who really knows what?!"

[mythrar]

All that to say "who the hell knows who really knows what?!"

yeah no shit. 

i'm pretty sure even the ubiquitous "they" don't know what they know.

that's the problem with lies.  at some point you eventually lose track of whatever truth you were trying to protect in the first place.

-M

[EvB]

that's the problem with lies.  at some point you eventually lose track of whatever truth you were trying to protect in the first place.

A little scary - but VERY true!

[Borr]

I don't know about cybernetic implants or super-soldier serums, but I have often wondered if the military has ever toyed with putting their special forces operators on the same steroid and supplement regimens that professional baseball players use. I'm not being sarcastic. I know in the long run that the roids and horse vitamins will destroy your health, but they are a proven and effective way to get a lot of strength and stamina is a short amount of time.

[PhantasticSanShiSan]

I don't know about cybernetic implants or super-soldier serums, but I have often wondered if the military has ever toyed with putting their special forces operators on the same steroid and supplement regimens that professional baseball players use. I'm not being sarcastic. I know in the long run that the roids and horse vitamins will destroy your health, but they are a proven and effective way to get a lot of strength and stamina is a short amount of time.

I've thought the exact same thing quite a bit, and actually figure that it's inevitable that it will happen eventually.  They WILL engineer soldiers.

[Borr]

Well, now that I think about it, gene doping is very much a possibility. The Olympic committee is quietly crapping their pants about gene doped athletes making it into the next Olympics because it's effective and hard to detect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_doping

That, combined with the latest hoopla in cognitive enhancing drugs could make for some real life Captain Americas.

[PhantasticSanShiSan]

Crazyness. Wow.