The 21st Century Soldier's World

At the close of the 18th Century, George Washington declared that preparing for war is a highly effective way of preserving the peace.

And now, as the U.S. military prepares for 21st Century war, CBS National Security Correspondent David Martin reports American foot soldiers are getting a high-tech edge.

It could very well be that American soldiers of the 21st Century will be wired and armed—not just with weapons—but with a point and click mouse.

Can you envision a company leader telling his troops to log on and to let him know when they've completed the process so they can proceed with their exercise or mission?

That's right. The high-tech soldier of the future may log onto a computer that connects him to a tiny screen attached to his helmet and a video camera on the muzzle of his rifle.

"The idea is to prevent the soldier from having to expose himself when he's looking around corners," says Captain Russ Switzer, company commander.

Switzer tested it out. "What I see right now is I have one of my soldiers standing there guarding the door, pulling security."

It's a neat little trick, but when the adrenaline's flowing, soldiers go back to the tried and true way of going around a corner.

For soldiers like Specialist Anthony Romeo of the 82nd Airborne Division, going to war with a mouse takes some getting used to.

"I'm into running around shooting at stuff. This is a bit new for me. I'm not ready to go to combat with it just yet."

But, so that his training won't have been in vain, Romeo says he hopes the time will come when he will be ready to take the new technology into combat.

It's all part of a $3 billion effort to make the foot soldier part of the information revolution. It sounds like a great idea, but coming up with a system that a soldier would actually wear into combat has turned out to be harder than the army thought.

The army spent $120 million on a system that had to be junked because it was too cumbersome for a soldier to use.

But Colonel Scott Crizer, product manager, says it's not a total loss. "In one aspect we have learned lessons, what we did with that company and the technologies they used."

And now they're trying a new system, which is much more portable, but it still has major problems.

"I did not think that I would hear my soldiers tell me their computer had crashed," said Sgt. Scott Peirsol, squad leader.

But, when it's on, it could change a foot soldier's way of war: No more wandering in the dark; no more trying to figure out exactly where you are. Now the map shows up in the eyepiece, complete with an indication from a satellite telling the soldier exactly where he is. And that camera on the carbine is good for more than just shooting around corners.

"If I have you on camera and you're in a hostage-type situation I can take a still image of you, e-mail that back to my platoon leader," says Sgt. Reichentwald.

nd if it all works out as planned, wired soldiers could be ready to go into combat by the year 2003.