Thermography in a Combat Zone

A warm dark night in the middle of Fallujah, Iraq is enough to send chills down your spine. The city is never quiet, except for tonight. Tonight you can hear the gravel crunch under your boots as you take each step. There is 0% natural illumination, so our night vision goggles don't work. The worst thing you could do is turn on a light in the middle of the main street. You walk back to your truck and tell the gunner in the turret to mount the thermography camera to his gun. Upon doing that, he instantly sees forty to fifty insurgents surrounding the area, preparing to ambush. Immediately your gunner alerts you and the rest of the men. Thankfully, you are able to leave the area without a scratch to you, or your men. This is a true story.

Now I can't go into details about it because it is still under review by the Department of Defense. However, I can tell you about the thermography camera that we used. The thermography camera came in handy and saved our lives hundreds of times. This amazing technology gives troops on the ground the ability to see not just the enemy, but everything else that is important when night vision technology fails.

The most advantageous thing about thermography is that is gives you the ability to measure the heat of a surface. This proves useful when you are trying to determine how long a vehicle has been parked, or how long something has been sitting on the side of the road. Also, temperature calculations with thermography are non-contact. This means that the Marine, Sailor, Soldier or Airman can stay in an armored vehicle and use this technology. This greatly reduces the loss of life or injury.

There are several other applications for thermography in the military. Just as a small town, a military base needs to be able to repair electrical and heating equipment. This could also include energy audits to determine how the military can reduce spending by knowing how and where "thermal defects and air leakage" occur in buildings. As you could assume, the applications for thermography are countless. Thermography cameras are just one way we can use this technology. We can use thermography in other fields such as medical and firefighting. This could help us save lives and prevent us from taking risks that aren't necessary. If you haven't already, please look into this emerging technology and consider it. Just as it did for my fellow Marines and I, it could save your life.

by Nicholas P. Krege