Troops mockingly call the modification "Pope Glass" because it brings to mind the ballistic-proof glass box the late Pope John Paul II traveled in after being wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt.

The jerry-rigged protection has become a signature on the turrets of Humvees across the main U.S. base in insurgent-plagued Ramadi, where troops are adding ever-more armor to protect against snipers, small-arms fire and roadside bombs.

"I would have been gone if that glass hadn't been there," Sugai said. "I probably wouldn't have a head."

The Vermont National Guard's Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 172nd Armor, became the first to start using the so-called Pope Glass after one of its support Soldiers, 40-year-old Spc. Scott Betit, added on his own with a colleague's help after his initial run through Ramadi in late July.

I'm always proud to see that troops come up with ideas that save more lives. They are the ones in the field and often are the best judge of what will help them get their jobs done. I'm sure they are all willing to go into battle, but I'm also looking forward to a day when they won't have to at all, instead using remote control vehicles and weapons to engage the enemy.

This week, Sugai went on a patrol west of Ramadi in a so-called CROW - a Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station. From the back seat, he manned an MK-19 40mm grenade launcher mounted above, operating it via a joystick. Trash-strewn streets appeared on a color screen in front of him. A camera is attached to the gun, which spun around at his command.

I'm betting that's the war of the future right there.
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