Phases

Two years ago, defense leaders summoned the Defense Science Board to take an independent look at the Pentagon's strategy to combat roadside bombs. The effort has been known as the board's "Phase II" task force on improvised explosive devices, and the group was to act as a "sounding board" to the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, former Pentagon acquisition chief Kenneth Krieg wrote in a March 21, 2007, terms of reference document.

Recently, defense officials began announcing meetings for a "Phase III" DSB effort.

But the new "phase" does not reflect any sort of new tack or research angle in the panel's counter-IED work, officials said. According to Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin, Krieg's old "Phase II" terms of reference still apply.

Naturally, the folks at JIEDDO have knowledge of the matter, too. "To clarify, this is not being considered a phase III activity, but simply a continuation of the phase II task force," JIEDDO spokeswoman Irene Smith wrote in an e-mail.

Current research topics include competitive strategies and red teaming; training technology, including "virtual, constructive, and live simulations;" and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance architectures, Smith wrote.