The hi-lo mix of tomorrow's U.S. military

■"Pentagon Envisioning a Costly Internet for War: Arsenal of the Future," by Tim Weiner, New York Times, 13 November 2004, p. A1.

■"For the First Time Since Vietnam, the Army Prints a Guide to Fighting Insurgents: An acknowledgment that the war on terror may require a new kind of doctrine," by Douglas Jehl and Thom Shanker, New York Times, 13 November 2004, p. A12.

When I first saw the top article, I got all spooked: what is this new war internet and why hadn't I heard anything about it? OMYGOD! It's like a new Star Wars or something! How could I be so out of the loop?

Then I read the article and found out it was just a rather hyperbolic description of the GIG, or Global Information Grid, which is an acronym I've seen bandied about in Pentagon briefings for . . . oh . . . say . . . a decade.

As for it being the "Internet in the sky" or the "war internet," hmmmm. I guess that's descriptive in the same way that Star Wars serves as shorthand for the collective self-delusions of the missile defense crowd.

What happens with something like GIG is that, as part of its overarching sales job to Congress, the description of the whole thing gets blown hugely out of proportion, making it sound like this gigantic monster of a network that someone, someday will flip one big ol' switch on. This is pure chimera. The GIG is being put together much like any vast network gets put togetheróin bits and pieces over the years. Some of it exists now and has so for years. More is always "just around the corner," and "new, improved capabilities" are always "coming online any day now."

In short, the GIG is going to unfold like Microsoft's operating system global empire unfolds: in successive waves or versions. It will never be complete, and it will always endure constant upkeep and improvement. This article makes it seem like some binary possibility of the future: It could work, or fail dramatically! Stay tuned!I

In truth, the GIG will always muddle by and it will always constitute a dramatic improvement over whatever what in our inventory five years earlier. It will cost billions, but it will largely be worth it, because staying ahead on big-time war is a great thing for the U.S. military to do. And yes, it will suffer loads of failures and set-backs, but unlike that Star Wars bullshit, this thing will actually work and serve a real function.

Meanwhile, however, the SysAdmin force will receive new hard-copy manuals on how to conduct anti-insurgency ops, thanks to Iraq. Not exactly a "God's eye view of the battlefield," but you know what, you don't get to be God in SysAdmin work. You just get to walk that nasty beat 24/7, banging your nightstick against lamp posts (light 'em if you've got 'em!)