When the U.S. military first went into Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11, commanders seemed unaware of the potential dangers inherent in the cell phones (not yet smart-phones) many warfighters took with them. After 13 years of combat and generations of technological advances, leaders of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) are looking at issuing combat smartphones and tablet computers to some combatants, at least down to the squad-leader level. Considerable debate remains on the nature of such devices, however, and on what they actually would add to combat missions, their limitations and vulnerabilities, and to whom they should be issued. What is undeniable is how these technologies have turned science fiction into fact. Cell phones surpassed Capt. Kirk's "communicator" in the 1990s and today's smartphones and tablets now have capabilities often exceeding Star Trek's tricorders.
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