The U.S. Army is rolling out collaboration software that will allow soldiers around the world to instant-message and Web-conference with each other, capture and transmit screenshots, and edit documents together, service officials said.
Called Green Force Tracker, the new software has been fielded to 7,500 people across the Army.
"We're hitting between 5,000 and 6,000 chats per day," said Lt. Col. Mathew Riordan, product manager for the Army's program office for EIS Enterprise Information Systems. "There is a lot of communication. Someone in theater can easily chat with someone in Warren, Mich."
Riordan said the Army has spent $1 million on the software and plans to quadruple the amount in the coming years to put it on some 45,000 desks.
Green Force Tracker is an Army adaptation of IBM's Lotus Sametime commercial instant-messaging software. The Army increased the ability to "group" users so that soldiers could find one another on the system.
"Basically, what we did was took their product and added a thing called groups," Riordan said. "When someone goes into the system, they can go in to chat online. There are 351 public groups showing who is online. You can add your office and see anyone that is online."
The Army - which plans to use the software at garrisons, posts and forward bases - is now loading the software onto computers in Kuwait in order to bring more Green Force Tracker terminals to forward operating bases in Iraq.
"We have to focus on getting these technologies to the garrison side of the Army," Riordan said. "We really have to focus on that because you can be looking at a report and have a question. With this system, you can get an answer instantly."
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Martin Downie said Green Force Tracker could speed up logistics by connecting forces in combat with units in the United States.
One analyst said Green Force Tracker could make a huge difference by connecting soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan with the units that preceded them in their mission areas.
"If I go to Iraq, I can reach back and ask about a mullah or a mosque or an intersection," said Daniel Gouré, vice president of the Lexington Institute, a Fairfax, Va.-based think tank. "It can really help the knowledge base. This is the Army really thinking."
Gouré said the expansion of Green Force Tracker might even cut down on deployments.
"It will be easier to find someone who has the requisite knowledge you are looking for," he said. "Also, this will allow you to use people with specialized skills in the Guard and Reserve without having to mobilize them."
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