November 21, 2017

Industry Developing New Social Media Simulation Tools for Military Analysts

Featuring Paul Scharre

Source: National Defense

Journalist Yasmin Tadjdeh

As Black Hawk helicopters transported Navy SEALs to Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011, an IT consultant working late into the evening heard the spinning of the aircrafts’ rotors.

To hear choppers flying at that hour of the night was unusual, so he went to Twitter to share his thoughts: “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event),” he said from his handle @ReallyVirtual. A few minutes later he fired off another tweet, “Go away helicopter ­— before I take out my giant swatter.”

Sohaib Athar was unknowingly live-tweeting a covert raid to take down one of the most sought-after terrorists in the world.

Read the full article here.

Authors

  • Paul Scharre

    Senior Fellow and Director, Technology and National Security Program

    Paul Scharre is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. He is author of Army of None: Autonomou...