Ammon Test Bed for Defense System

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Ammon has been chosen as the only U.S. city to be used in a test of new Department of Defense software.

The Post Register reports that a branch of the defense department held a test run of the disaster response program there on Friday. U.S. Southern Command's program manager Ricardo Arias says he was looking for a small city that could emulate some of the Latin American locations he works with. Arias says he was also looking for a city that wanted to improve how things are done, and calls Ammon an innovation place that embraces technology.

The software is called GeoSHAPE. It uses a mobile phone application that allows people in the field take photos and write reports, all seen by a commander tracking everything from a computer.