By Anthony C. LoBaido
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com

Oct. 1, 2001

LADYVILLE, Belize -- The warrior of the future, as portrayed in films like "Universal Soldier," is often depicted as a part-man, part-machine entity called a cyborg. However, in the real world of soldiering, the future is arriving in smaller doses.

Take, for example, the new experimental microchip ID program of the British Army.

“It is believed to be the first such program of its kind in history,” a spokesman for British Intelligence told WorldNetDaily.

“If proven successful, it will revolutionize not only identification and tracking, but [also] administration and bureaucracy in the armed forces.”

The microchip is placed in the back of the neck in a relatively painless procedure. A red patch forms over the insertion point, but will fade away within a week. While the chip is active, soldiers would be tracked by the central electronic management system or “ERMS” in Glasgow.

The idea of being implanted with a microchip of course does not have wide appeal in the British Armed Forces, or any other segment of society. In the United States, some have opted to microchip pets or children for safety reasons. The Digital Angel system has also garnered headlines for its ability to track humans.

The British Army’s experimental program is called APRIL, or Army Personnel Rationalization Individual Listings. It is the offshoot of the UK’s “Passports for Pets” program. The same technology is used for both.

Ministry of Defense officials in London told WorldNetDaily that the “entire British Army could be microchipped by the year 2010,” if the trial program is successful.

“The chip, which is implanted in the neck, would have many uses," explained British Col. M.W. Jones, "one of which would be to replace the current ID card. This would protect the identity of those in the armed forces and prevent lost ID cards falling into the wrong hands. A continual database would show the whereabouts of every serving member of the armed forces, giving commanders much greater control on the battlefield.

“We could ‘swipe’ casualties to get their medical records, blood group or next of kin. There would no longer be a need for an individual’s documents to be carted around the world.”

A reduction in bureaucratic costs is expected to make the program attractive to the British government.

Monitoring soldiers' whereabouts while on leave, or facilitating the recapture of AWOL soldiers, are also issues to be considered. Electromagnetic pulse weapons could leave the chip inoperable, say critics.

One British soldier, who asked that his name not be used, said: “It’s creepy, they would be able to track us wherever we go. To meet a girlfriend or to a nightclub. It’s like George Orwell’s '1984.'"

Ministry of Defense officials say one feature being developed for the new microchip is an “off” function that will make the soldier untraceable when he goes on R&R or joins the Special Forces.

Why is it important to keep the identities of the Special Forces secret?

“We are very, very secretive about our Special Forces,” British Maj. John Knopp said. “Much more so than other armies. Even their training is kept secret.”

While the French use the Foreign Legion to carry out clandestine activities, the British government uses the SAS for similar activities, including recent assassinations in the Balkans war, say British Army personnel and other observers.

"No journalist gets near the SAS," says Alan Harvey of the South African patriot-in-exile group, the Springbok Club. "They are a rare breed. Both the Ministry of Defense and British Intelligence guard their identities with great care."

The Ministry of Defense has been approached by supermarkets, theaters and restaurants in an effort to be kept abreast of new technological advances in the field.

Says British Army Lt. Charlie Grist, “Technology can only take you so far, even in the modern army. It is the man, the soldier that still counts most.”