The U.S. military is known for its cutting-edge technology, but crew members in charge of ordering food for U.S. Navy vessels still use computer systems requiring ancient floppy disks.
“You can’t hardly even buy those computers that run floppy disks anymore,” says Frankie Rios of Mechanicsburg-based Navy Supply Information Systems Activity, which provides information technology services to the Navy.
Given that, plus the fact that modern sailors are used to more advanced technology, a team in Mechanicsburg was charged with coming up with a replacement for this 20-year-old system. The current system requires sailors on each vessel to email documents ashore and download data onto floppy disks. But the upgrade allows those on the water and onshore to communicate through an efficient network. The system keeps track of inventory, generates recipes and reduces the number of people who have to be on a vessel to make sure its sailors are fed.
“Somebody sitting in San Diego could be ordering food for the ship, even if the ship is in Norfolk, (Va.),” says Rios, project manager on the upgrade.
While it used to take about eight hours for crew members to order enough food for months-long deployments, this task takes just 30 seconds. Functionalist Josh Eggleston says the system will even send a warning if the crew is about to order vegetables that will spoil before sailors can eat them.
The system is being tested on a few vessels and on shore now before it’s implemented throughout the naval fleet over the next year or so.
Sources: Josh Eggleston and Frankie Rios, Navy Supply Information Systems Activity
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen