Two new US Military apps for WP7, Military Ranks XRef & Digital Leader's Book ($0.99 & $1.99)

Public Sector Developer Weblog - Two New Applications Released for Windows Phone 7 

"The Military Ranks Cross-Reference Reference application allows an individual to visually search for a rank in any branch of the US Military services and will display the rank's title and pay grade, along with a picture of it. It will also display a specific rank's equivalent in the sister services, useful for searching when you know the rank in one service and need to map it to another. Future releases will include ranks of foreign countries and organizations such as NATO. To see this application on the Microsoft Zune Marketplace, visit Military Cross-Reference.

The Digital Leader's Book application is intended to augment or replace the physical (green) book that military leaders carry around in their cargo pocket. It will provide the leader with instant access to the most frequently used information about their soldiers. This information is a key factor in the leader being able to effectively lead, manage and care for their subordinates. The application will leverage the capabilities of modern smart phones such as camera, GPS, real-time mapping and directions, as well as the phone itself. Some of the information that can be stored and put at the fingertips of soldiers and leaders includes:

• Contact information
• Names and birth dates of children and spouse
• Anniversary dates
• Military schools attended and dates
• Military awards received
• Scores and dates of various types of qualifications and tests (such as common tasks, weapons, and physical fitness)
• Links to various online reference publications and military awards
• Tracking of individual counseling
• Present for duty reporting
• Risk management assessment

Unlike existing leader books, however, this application can be used by individual soldiers to track their own personal information to help them better manage their own career. In this scenario, the application will provide the ability for soldiers to selectively share data with his or her supervisor. ..."

Military Ranks XRef ($0.99)

 

Leader's e-Book ($1.99)

 

It's stuff like this that drives home for me just how fair technology has come. I spent 11 years in the US Military ( 5 1/2 Army, 5 1/2 Cal National Guard) from the mid 80's through mid 90's (i.e. very early PC, pre-internet & pre-cell era) and seeing stuff like this hammers home the relentless change that technology drives (the Army I remember was built on paper, paper and more paper... oh yeah, and some weapons and stuff too ;)