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PAUL DE LA GARZAThe Special Operations Command and defense contractors rub elbows at a show full of whiz-bang gadgets.
TAMPA - To help fight America's wars in the 21st century, the military is getting inspiration from the Stone Age.
Concealed inside a compartment made to look like a big, sand-colored rock, the Army's Remote Observation / Confirming Sensor can secretly detect the enemy along "trails, approaches, remote facilities, landing strips and other sites."
The RO/CS, which transmits an image of what it sees via miniature camera, was among hundreds of weapons systems on display Wednesday at the Tampa Convention Center as part of Special Operations Forces Week.
Sponsored by the Tampa-based Special Operations Command, which oversees the military's elite commando units, SOF Week is intended to bring SoCom and industry together.
The event attracted about 270 defense contractors, including giants like Boeing and General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, and about 1,100 company representatives.
"Industry is always our partner," said Scott Bowles, the SoCom official who organized the exhibition. "We cannot build new weapons systems without them."
During SOF Week, Special Operations commanders from around the world also gather in Tampa to be briefed at SoCom, and to exchange information with other government agencies, including the State Department and the CIA.
On Wednesday night, a black-tie dinner was scheduled to honor retired Brig. Gen. Harry C. "Heinie" Aderholt, a commander of Air Commandos in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
Among the guests expected to attend were H. Ross Perot, the Texas billionaire, and Survivor's Rudy Boesch, the retired Navy SEAL.
Nothing compared with the star power of the weapons systems.
"It's cool stuff," said Frank Brzezinski, program development manager for intelligence and radio products at Raytheon in St. Petersburg.
"It's fun stuff."
Brzezinski held a prototype of a handheld computer that gives soldiers in the field access to a gaggle of information, including the position of nearby satellites, and the location of enemy forces.
In a neighboring aisle, a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, which measures about 3 feet and is launched by hand, allows soldiers to check for enemy positions over a hill.
A laptop computer enables medics on the front lines to hook up via video conference with doctors in the rear to get medical advice.
A thermal identification patch, worn by soldiers on the side of their helmets, lights up when seen through night vision goggles. The patch, which measures about 1 square inch, allows U.S. forces to identify a friendly combatant.
Then there are gizmos for life's daily necessities.
Ferno Mir, based in Melbourne, Fla., makes a portable toilet the size of a briefcase, which can be carried by backpack.
The waste accumulates in a bag that contains 13 separate enzymes, and can biodegrade within six weeks, said Mark Harris, Ferno Mir director of government marketing. At $257 a pop, the company has sold 20,000 units to the Pentagon.
"It's one of those products everybody needs, so you might as well have it," Harris said.
Even though the company makes surgical tables for SoCom, Harris said, "This is pretty much the No. 1 draw to my booth."
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, the SoCom mission has expanded, as has its budget. Many companies, in fact, have set up divisions or groups to deal with homeland security.
With SoCom, defense contractors see business opportunities. At the SoCom annual trade show, established in 1994, defense contractors display and pitch their wares.
"This is an opportunity for us to show SoCom some of the new products that would be helpful to them, which is what everybody else here is doing," said Jerry C. Bacon, director of business development for Anteon Corp. in Tampa.
Instead of briefing a few officers at MacDill Air Force Base, Bacon said the trade show allows exhibitors to reach a broader audience.
"You know what else is good?" Bacon said. "You get to see what your competitor is doing."
Gene Adcock, a senior military consultant with Night Vision Equipment Co., based in Allentown, Pa., said his company attends the trade show to stay familiar with the ever-changing faces at SoCom.
The company manufactures the thermal identification patch, among other products.
"It's just waving the flag, like we call it," Adcock said, referring to the company exhibit at the convention center. As far as business is concerned, "to say we've had a great year is an understatement."