The Military and GPS Tracking

GPS tracking is one of the most interesting technological advances of our time. GPS stands for Global Positioning System, and is used just for that. GPS can be used to find anyone with a tracker anywhere in the world. This is because the whole system makes use of the satellites that occupy the space above the earth. With special signals, and a little triangulation, GPS tracking can help anyone figure out where they are and plan out where they should go next.

GPS tracking began as a project especially for the United States military. In the 1980s, the system was being developed so that the military would have better capabilities on the ground to keep on target. It could also be used to help find lost soldiers and to more quickly locate the wounded. GPS provided a powerful tool for the United States and its allies. And it is still used by the military today.

Even though civilians could use GPS tracking in the late 1980s and 1990s, it was not the same system that the military used. The GPS used by civilians was less accurate and quick. The military scrambled its signals so that only it had access to the highly precise GPS calculations used in operations. This is why GPS was slow to catch on among "regular" folks. However, that all changed in 2000.

In the year 2000, at the turn of the century and the millennium, then-president Bill Clinton ordered the military to stop scrambling its GPS tracking signals. This did not mean that all of a sudden civilians could access battle plans and find out where troops were. What it did mean was that anyone with the right equipment (which is sold just about everywhere and fairly easy to get) could have access to the military's system. This allowed anyone, individuals and businesses, to make use of the extremely accurate military system.

Since GPS tracking has been open to everyone, the marketplace has responded by making all sorts of consumer goods that allow people to find out where they are, and even track their kids and spouses. These is because the technology is so advanced that anything can be used for GPS tracking - even a cell phone.

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Source: http://www.postarticles.com/Article/The-Military-and-GPS-Tracking/2904