The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have certainly caused the military to modernize much of the communications infrastructure. Unfortunately, when I was serving in the Marine Corps, I also felt that the military was often getting ripped off by the prices they were paying for new gadgets to help us fight. I remember once there was a big push to provide all the infantry battalions with PDAs that Marines would carry around and could use to send messages and take notes. The PDA was simply a Compaq iPaq that had heavy duty plastic molded around it so it could be called ruggedized. The PDA actually worked worse than if I had purchased one from Best Buy because the manufacturer had also added an extra battery so that it would work longer on battery power. The only problem was that if the battery ever drained completely it would cause the PDA to lock up. The only way to get it turned on again was to send it back to the manufacturer. Oh, and the great thing was that the military was paying upwards of $1,500 for this device, when I could have bought one from Best Buy that worked better for a little over $300.
So I'm glad to see that the military is using commercial off the shelf hardware and software. This is saving them lots of money, and they are probably getting a more functional product. Best of all it isn't a Microsoft solution, I mean certainly our enemies will have to be a little jealous when they see Soldiers and Marines walking around Afghanistan with iPods at their sides.
