Earmarks: Armed Services

Purpose:  To restore, maintain, and house aircraft on loan from the US Air Force in order to preserve and protect them for future generations of Americans. 
Suggested  Recipient:  Strategic  Air & Space Museum
Suggested  Location:   Ashland,  Nebraska
Taxpayer  Interest:  These aircraft are property of the United States Government – the United States Air Force, specifically.  As property of the USAF it is appropriate to use some federal funding to properly restore these assets so that visitors of all ages may better understand how freedom in America was preserved by fighting World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and the hundreds of thousands of Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen keeping the peace during the Cold War.

Purpose:  to model how blast waves from explosions cause short and long-term brain injury to warfighters and to develop devices and equipment to mitigate the damage.
Suggested  Recipient: University  of Nebraska-Lincoln
Suggested  Location:  Lincoln,  Nebraska
Taxpayer Interest:  IEDs have caused an increase in brain injuries to U.S. troops, with closed head injuries far outnumbering penetrating brain injuries among patients at military hospitals.  This project addresses the need for research to accurately understand how IED blasts cause closed head injury which will allow for the development of more effective blast protection equipment to protect against these kinds of assaults.

Purpose: To develop, demonstrate, and test ultra-dense magnetoelectronic memory devices, high-frequency electromagnetic-wave detectors, and new materials for energy conversion and storage.
Suggested  Recipient:   University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Suggested  Location:   Lincoln, Nebraska
Taxpayer  Interest:  The Department of Defense has identified nanotechnology-based warfighting as a priority research area, which will result in devices that will ultimately contribute to protecting American soldiers.  This project will lead to dramatic improvements in sensing devices and circuits for detection, identifications and discrimination of battlefield environments; intelligent information technology; and nanomaterials for small-scale power sources for individual soldiers.

Purpose:   To develop advanced software engineering safeguards that can be embedded in software programmed by military personnel to help them prevent and detect errors and produce more dependable military systems that save lives and money.
Suggested  Recipient:  University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Suggested  Location:   Lincoln, Nebraska
Taxpayer  Interest:  These technologies will protect programmers and operators from introducing most forms of errors into the programs they create, and, when errors do occur, help them detect errors before they can adversely affect system operations, saving the military and the taxpayers millions of dollars in programming development costs. This work is in very early development and federal funding will enable UNL to develop prototypes that can be tested with military partners.

Purpose:  To provide telepsychiatric diagnostic and evaluation services to military personnel in all situations, from the battlefield to the veteran’s civilian home at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Suggested  Recipient:  University of Nebraska Medical Center
Suggested  Location:   Omaha,  Nebraska
Taxpayer  Interest:  The 2007 Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health reported that U.S. troops suffer “daunting and growing” psychological problems, and that the number of military mental-health professionals is “woefully inadequate” to meet its needs.  The report stated that up to one-half of returning soldiers report psychological symptoms, yet many do not receive care due in part to the declining number of military mental health professionals.  With a declining number of psychiatrists in the military and a growing workload, this project will use university expertise and technology to provide diagnostic and evaluation services to military personnel and veterans, so they can receive mental health services they need.

Purpose:  To develop a fast-acting liquid, blood-clotting product to use in trauma-related hemorrhage, which will lead to the development of a technique for tissue regeneration.
Suggested  Recipient:   University of Nebraska Medical Center
Suggested  Location:    Omaha, Nebraska
Taxpayer  Interest:  For troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, uncontrolled hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable combat-related deaths.  Most of these deaths occur in the field before the injured can be transported to a treatment facility.  The liquid bandage, engineered from natural sources, is applied directly to the wound and is completely absorbable, less expensive, more effective, safer, and has more potential applications than the currently used cloth bandage or other alternatives.  It is easily transportable by soldiers and can be safely stored for more than one year.

Purpose:  To further develop a computer-aided system that simplifies complex orthopedic surgical procedures by enabling them to be performed more accurately and quickly without using cumbersome and expensive mechanical equipment.
Suggested  Recipient:  University of Nebraska Medical Center
Suggested  Location:   Omaha,  Nebraska
Taxpayer  Interest:  This technology will provide the Department of Defense with an excellent tool to do complex surgical orthopedic procedures in remote areas and developing countries.  The new technology requires minimal equipment and expertise, yet produces excellent results.  The system also has a telemedicine component so planning and implementation of the surgery and system training could be assisted remotely by a specialist.  The military does not always have specialized orthopedic surgeons available, this system would be beneficial because it requires less surgical expertise, is less risky, and has greater success than traditional methods.

Purpose:  To research critical and vulnerable control networks, known as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, in order to enhance their security by encryption, communications authentication, system monitoring, and software integrity.
Suggested  Recipient:  University  of Nebraska-Omaha
Suggested  Location:   Omaha,  Nebraska
Taxpayer  Interest:  SCADA system interests also pertain to our nation’s critical infrastructures in the electric, water and wastewater, oil and natural gas, and transportation sectors that are highly interdependent and widespread.  A regional failure in any one infrastructure could potentially cause cascading failures in other infrastructures.

Purpose:  To construct the Joint Forces Headquarters - Emergency Operations Center
Suggested  Recipient:  Nebraska  National Guard
Suggested  Location:   Lincoln,  Nebraska
Taxpayer  Interest:  The addition will be a four-story structure with mechanical and electrical equipment that utilizes cost effective energy conserving features in the design, such as energy management control systems and high efficiency motors, lighting and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Purpose:  Virtual Business Accelerator for the Silicon Prairie (VBA-SP)
Suggested  Recipient:   University of Nebraska-Omaha - Nebraska Business Development Center /  Dawnbreaker
Suggested  Location:   Omaha,  Nebraska
Taxpayer  Interest:  The need to facilitate commercialization for small business innovations is evidenced by the recent authorization and creation of the Commercialization Pilot Program within the Department of Defense (DOD).  However, the need to specifically target rural businesses still exists.  The VBA-SP will identify, select and bring to maturity technologies of critical need to the DOD with dual-use applications.  Through the VBA-SP the DOD will substantially improve access to technology originators who today are effectively geographically-disconnected from the DOD rapid commercialization process and its current innovation support infrastructure. A pilot for the new American enterprise paradigm, VBA-SP will bring forth the underutilized Heartland talent as a cost-effective alternative to off-shoring of American skilled labor.

Updated 6.11.09