By Cristen Jonassen
For the Camera

A Boulder-based startup has a product it says makes the technical side of war a little easier for those who wage it.

Warrior Solutions' software, which just hit the market this year, is already being used by the army to organize the heap of data used by today's soldier.

"We are trying to help the army become digital at a small unit level," said President and CEO Catherine Lawrence.

Platoon Warrior is Warrior Solutions' software for a desktop or personal digital assistant.

The nine-employee company was founded in December 1999 by retired U.S. army personnel, and is self-funded with some angel investors. It has been selling its product to the U.S. Army since June.

Earlier this year, the firm had hoped to raise $1 million in venture funding, and hoped to grow to a $70 million company by 2003. Lawrence says the company now is exploring more than one funding option.

Platoon Warrior is the first in a series of products the firm plans to provide to other U.S. military branches and armed forces abroad, Lawrence said.

The software is a suite of applications designed for platoon leaders that helps to eliminate the paperwork they are required to carry. The program is loaded onto personal computers and handhelds that use the Palm operating system.

The Platoon Warrior software includes two functions, Platoon Personnel, for the desktop and handheld, and the Platoon Leader's Guide, for the handheld only.

The Platoon Personnel application maintains records for the platoon leader.

"The (Platoon Personnel) product will help the platoon leader to keep track of personal information on soldiers, such as weapons qualifications, blood type, next of kin, GT scores and other information vital in the field. It makes generating reports automatic," Lawrence said.

The leader's guide includes lists and aides for field and training operations and a table of instructions for war fighting.

"There are over 100 manuals that can be loaded in the Palm, which will eliminate large amounts of paperwork for the platoon leaders," Lawrence said.

But it may take a long time before the software is fully accepted, a University of Colorado expert says.

"It will take time for the present set of general officers to retire before this type of technology is accepted as a standard. The present senior leaders are from the paper-and-pencil generation and will not positively receive this technology at the platoon leader level," said Lt. Col. Richard Thomas, professor of Military Science at the University of Colorado.

December 22, 2001