Evaluating army geospatial data collection tools

During the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, there were thousands of different types of equipment delivered to Army units to support their efforts. These “rapidly fielded” systems did not follow the standard Department of Defense procurement process to become what is termed a “Program of Record”, or PoRs, meaning a program which has a funding stream to continue fielding and support. Now that the war effort is winding down, these systems will either be terminated or become PoR. One such system is the Buckeye system. This system provides very high-definition 3D photo capabilities which can provide Army units with near real-time pictures of the terrain which they are about to walk through or, in the case of helicopters, land on. To become a Program of Record, the Army must determine if the system provides the most cost-beneficial solution. In this paper, we evaluate the value of systems which can be used to evaluate terrain data for Army units using a process known as the Systems Decision Process.