FORT BENNING, Ga., (Oct. 30, 2013) -- Members of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency stepped out of the technology world last week to experience a day in the life of a combat Soldier.
DARPA director Arati Prabhakar and a team of 15 program mangers visited Fort Benning Thursday and Friday to view training exercises and talk to Soldiers across the Maneuver Center of Excellence. Based in Arlington, Va., DARPA's mission is to research and develop new technologies for use by the U.S. military.
"Our day job is to work on technologies for the next generation," Prabhakar said. "To come here and experience how the Army is training Soldiers and get a glimpse of what they go through has been very helpful."
Part of the visit included observations of rappelling, assault courses and basic trainees on Sand Hill, land navigation exercises at McKenna MOUT, riding in a Bradley fighting vehicle and firing weapons with the Army Marksmanship Unit.
The team ranged from chemists to physicists, psychologists and computer scientists across the technological spectrum. For many, it was their first time visiting a military installation and using combat weapons. John Chapin, a program manager for DARPA, said he gained better insight toward the development of efficient equipment and communications capabilities.
"Many of us come to do research and development to help national security and defense, but we don't have any military experience ourselves," Chapin said. "Being in the back of a Bradley and seeing all of the weapons and gear was really useful for me. You have to figure out how to make things smaller and combine multiple functions in one piece of equipment."
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