11–20 of 82 posts
Not bad for a motorpool guy. The place that I remember really needing some programmers was on the MI (military intelligence) side. They spend all of their time looking for patterns in data, and in 2009 it was still mostly done by hand. Plus that is where most of the smart Soldiers end up.
Not bad for a motorpool guy. The place that I remember really needing some programmers was on the MI (military intelligence) side. They spend all of their time looking for patterns in data, and in 2009 it was still mostly done by hand. Plus that is where most of the smart Soldiers end up.
Why doesn't the Military hire more computer science graduates then?
Now imagine you're not offering stock, and are offering well below market rates, but at least they'll have meals made for them.
The HQ was processing things like medical evacuations, support fire missions, contact reports. The way it was done was very inefficient, frustratingly so. For instance, a medical mission would go like this.
A unit would report an IED strike with critical injuries. The unit would pass a MEDEVAC request by radio to their company -> batalion -> brigade HQ (us). We would then be the dispatch center for the helicopters and synchronization of airspace and hospital and all.
When the request would come in, it would typically be ~30s to 1m after the actual strike. I would yell at an airman that would get up his chair, walk to the center map and with his rule, measure the distance in miles between the hospital landing pad and the strike. He would then compute ETAs and for the helicopters based on various parameters. He would then ask the helicopter HQ to send a chopper on site. He would then slowly type a message in a proformat, post that in the channel. That's ~5m later.
When I was there, I've picked up VBA (VB for Applications), the macro system behind Excel. I didn't even know what a programming language was back then.
This 5min latency in sending the request to choppers, and giving back ETD/ETA info to the unit on the ground would result in people dying off their wounds, or staying in dangerous/exposed locations longer than strictly necessary (waiting for chopper ETAs). This 5min latency was putting people at risk and killing folks.
So I wrote a tool to automate this man's job, in VBA. I picked up the language on site and reduced that latency to ~15s. Being the canadian army, they don't give medals but I got this:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/antoine.im/AIR+WING+COMD+COMMENDATI...
Then, I wrote tools to automate many other parts of the HQ, like a database to handle multiple concurrent critical incidents or a tool to manage airspace for fire missions. Then I realized I liked this programming thing much more than running around with guns. Then I came back to Canada and started a degree in software engineering. Then I'm here today.
There is likely a near limitless number of ways that military information tech could be improved and streamlined, due to the usual tendency for large bureaucracies to have stale systems and the increased opaqueness that the military operates under...and also, the relative lack of programmers in the recruiting pool...but it's encouraging (and surprising!) to see that at least a few Army higher-ups care enough about te…
I'm not sure how things are like now (I got out in '09), but things were definitely opaque and bureaucratic when I was in. It was intensely frustrating as well, because the tools I had to use were horribly inefficient. That's why I was so happy when the BMO turned a blind eye to what I had done, because the important thing was that I was getting results. It's good to have enlightened leadership.
Perhaps you did not have time to use Grace Hopper's language COBOL to truly understand opaque bureaucracies.
This is the reason that I say that most people need to learn to code, even just a little bit. Regardless of what career path you choose, it's highly likely that you'll at least use a computer for some of it, and being able to write macros or simple programs to automate things can make you stand out from your peers.
In 2009-2010, I was an infantry officer working in Kandahar (Afghanistan) Airfield's brigade HQ; a canadian HQ then. My job was to receive all the reports from the ground and fan that info out thorough the HQ and our higher ups/sides. The HQ was processing things like medical evacuations, support fire missions, contact reports. The way it was done was very inefficient, frustratingly so. For instance, a medical missio…
Really speaks volumes about how key it is to take the initiative upon yourself to solve problems and advance your own knowledge. Thanks again.
Not bad for a motorpool guy. The place that I remember really needing some programmers was on the MI (military intelligence) side. They spend all of their time looking for patterns in data, and in 2009 it was still mostly done by hand. Plus that is where most of the smart Soldiers end up.
This is the reason that I say that most people need to learn to code, even just a little bit. Regardless of what career path you choose, it's highly likely that you'll at least use a computer for some of it, and being able to write macros or simple programs to automate things can make you stand out from your peers.
My concern is that while macros or simple programs would let people do things more productively or do things that would not be feasible manually, they also let them make bigger and more costly mistakes. We need to figure out how to get the former while minimizing the latter.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why doesn't the Military hire more computer science graduates then?
Have you tried to hire programmers? Now imagine you're not offering stock, and are offering well below market rates, but at least they'll have meals made for them.
This is the reason that I say that most people need to learn to code, even just a little bit. Regardless of what career path you choose, it's highly likely that you'll at least use a computer for some of it, and being able to write macros or simple programs to automate things can make you stand out from your peers.
I'll tentatively agree, with the reservation that I would like to see some studies on the effects of this before we go all out teaching everyone to code a little. My concern is that while macros or simple programs would let people do things more productively or do things that would not be feasible manually, they also let them make bigger and more costly mistakes. We need to figure out how to get the former while mini…
