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 When Integrated Vision’s efforts in extreme outdoor mobility for wheelchair users led to a prototype that was “most like walking and carrying heavy gear”, this caught the interests of our Special Forces. These warfighters recognized that the soldier on foot is increasingly overloaded and exposed, particularly when operating in the urban environment. This was an area increasingly projected as the battlefield of the future against smaller, yet determined enemies.
While keeping an eye on how to return technologies to the disability community, the events of 9/11 shifted to greater focus on the coming needs of our soldiers (with the disability community seeing a military focus as advantageous to getting them an advanced and better product).
As the Jake™ developed in interaction with US Special Forces, it became increasingly clear that the power of this new concept (half vehicle and half soldier) was how its technology combinations changed the game as a system rather than as a singular unit. It was seen as a catalyst to new, networked soldier-robotics tactics. But these efforts to work within our military acquisition process identified that there was no ‘box’ for a multi-unit-teaming systems approach and, thus, doctrine shift, despite high interest. Without funding, or confirmation to industry partners of written requirements, the program faced the tough decision on folding the cards and following standard advise and ‘going home’, or of following the clarity of the need we were seeing.
The Jake™ is both simple and complex. It is based on simple principles, yet requires the latest technologies to achieve the full power of its new design and new combinations of these cool technologies. Then, the greatest challenge is achieving the freedom to assess the Jake™ in its full form and as a multi-unit, tactical system.
Presently, getting this in the hands of our young soldiers is limited by a process that must have determined written “requirements” before starting. This is dictated by current government rules. Here, we have a situation where the innovations the soldiers will develop are difficult to incorporate into the finished Jake™ -- at least not until several committees meet many times, contract revisions are made and change orders are written, and approved in more committees, charges are budgeted for the changes, etc. A great time later, perhaps years, these changes might be incorporated -- likely by then, out of date or off track of what the soldiers wanted.
 We need to clearly understand that significant (as compared to evolutionary) change is very difficult within our current government procurement system. With this being the case, and our troops in harm’s way needing what the Jake™ offers, we need to find another way. By calling on the power of the American people, we can generate action that itself generates close interaction with all elements of our services and later integration into their programs that grow from this. The intent is to minimize the known limitations of current government requirements that inherently stifle creativity during this critical first period of defining the ‘full soldier power’ Jake™ chassis and inter-related systems.
Note: The Jake™ is not an incremental change to something currently available and will not fit processes allotting funding only when meeting present requirements, requirements written based on advancing current platforms. This is clear from the past five years of the Jake™ program where, within such criteria, the Jake™ is found too “soldier systems” for vehicle programs, too “vehicle” for soldier programs, too “here today” for DARPA, too “manned” for robotics, and too “systems-based” and “not yet off-the-shelf” for direct acquisition. It is the square peg that doesn’t fit in the round hole.
Our troops deserve the opportunity to tap all new combinations of technologies and create new tactics. Jake™ is a team player and can do things our existing stuff can’t. Our young tech-savvy soldiers will bring Jake™ alive like nothing our older generation can ever imagine.
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| "if this is going to add to their safety, give them more firepower, enable them to do the job they are supposed to be doing, America will be behind it". Larry Sanford, Mechanic, New York |
 In 2005, this program was dedicated to four very special Marines who gave their all in Iraq. When the sacrifice is close to home, many things become clearer and being close to this group and their families adds sustaining force when it has appeared we couldn’t keep going. If they can do that, we can be tough enough to meet the challenges here to do this for their buddies still out there in the fight for us. And we believe much of America understands this.
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