Inner-City Born, Disabled Vet Perfects Long Sought After Joint Tactical Radio System
Through the decades, autonomous and semi-autonomous military and first response agencies each developed the communications systems they’d use in the field. Because each agency sought out the equipment that would best serve their individual needs and challenges, these systems were, for all intents and purposes, incompatible.
What resulted was a myriad of systems that left real time interagency communications difficult at best and, as often as not, downright impossible. When joint operations were required, the results ranged from frustrating to deadly.
Joint Tactical Radio System or “Jitters”
To finally integrate these systems, the military started a program with the sadly prophetic name: “Joint Tactical Radio System,” or, as it’s pronounced, “Jitters.” Despite decades of research and development, and billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded contracts – including a mind-boggling six billion to a company, Boeing, with no history whatsoever in the field – the program was finally abandoned, with Michael Gilmore, the army’s top arms tester declaring in testimony before congress that “The radio demonstrated little military utility.”
The problems that had plagued – and endangered America’s heroes and those they are charged with protecting – remained.
Perhaps the most galling part of all this is that it didn’t need to be. When these shortcomings in communication hit home with terrifying and deadly consequences on 9-11, a disabled veteran – Dennis Matthews – operating out of his backyard laboratory with no government funds, began to address the problem.
Within a few years he had a working prototype that was exactly what the government had been looking for and, in fact, in ways it was better than anything they’d ever imagined. Matthews’ system not only provided fully integrated real-time audio but video and other data transmission to everyone from Central Command thousand miles away to the lone soldier in the field as well.
Boeing Was Outdone By One Man
Despite meetings with everyone from those involved with the project at Boeing and elsewhere to Congressman Dana Rohrabacher’s top intelligence and technology aides, Matthews’ was rebuffed for every reason imaginable save one: that it didn’t work. It did. And everyone knew it.
Whether it was an exercise in CYA at Boeing (better to say it’s impossible than to admit that Boeing was outdone by one man in his backyard), or government inertia or something else, the bottom line was and remains that what the military has spent billions of dollars – and lost thousands of lives in the interim – to create exists and is ready for demonstration at a moment’s notice.
The Lives of America’s Heroes
This is too important a matter – the lives of America’s heroes and the people they are charged with protecting – to allow it to go on for another day. Mr. Matthews will make himself available for any and every reasonable request for information and interviews. America and her heroes deserve it!
Specifications, demonstrations and more at: http://www.lcenb.com/
