Proof-of-concept prototype of a portable wireless battlefield ministration tracking system

To remain relevant and current with the evolution of warfare and battlefields in the 21(st) Century, in 1998, US Army had identified a need for an innovative approach to the delivery of the emergency ministration, pastoral care, and other battlefield religious support to the Warfighter. Through it Advanced Concepts and Technology (ACT II) program Topic Number 99-CSS-08, Army outlined the requirements to provide effective and innovative combat support services of a projection force's emergency religious operations: "to provide the Unit Ministry Team (UMT) with capability to digitally track and transmit emergency ministration and pastoral care information to a data collection point for use by casualty assistance offices and notification of next-of-kin." To respond to this requirement, in 1999, we researched and designed an architecture for a "Portable, Wireless Battlefield Ministration Tracking and Information System." Our proposed system solution provides the members of the Unit Ministry Team (UMT) and other appropriate personnel with the capability to digitally store and transmit casualty emergency ministrations and pastoral care information via hand-held and mobile wireless computing devices to a centralized data collection point. As part of this one-year research and development program, we developed a working proof-of-concept prototype of our propose solution which was successfully demonstrated. In this paper we describe the developed prototype and the associated demonstration scenarios.