As a former infantryman, I have mixed views about having my equipment away from me. One of the things that was stressed all through training was that your weapon must never be more than an arm's length away. You want to keep your important equipment close, too, even if it means having to hump the stuff all over creation. They didn't call us "grunts" for nothing.

I can see Seqway style devices carrying sensors ahead of and beside the troops. These sensors could do things like detect explosives, transmit images of what lies ahead, motion detectors (for guard duty) and maybe even carry people sniffers. They would be electronic scouts.

The real question about putting this technology into the field is how well it holds up under field conditions. The M-16 rifle is fine on the firing range but prone to jamming out in the field (at least the M16A-1 version I carried). We don't need more parade ground or lab weapons. We need equipment that can function in the dirt, mud, sand, and the swamps. Somehow, I don't think the Seqway will hold up well under those conditions. One of the lessons learned in Iraq was that many modern weapons don't hold up well in a sandstorm.