Focus: Marine Corps

The U.S. Marine Corps has faced the demands of new missions in dynamic environments, but today it is dealing with that challenge to an even greater degree. The Corps must be able to respond to virtually any type of conflict in any location around the world, and it must be able to operate in a joint or coalition environment. On land, at sea, in the air or deep in cyberspace, the Marines are structuring a budget-constrained force to confront a wide array of threats. SIGNAL Magazine’s March 2012 issue looks at how the Marines are meeting their latest challenges.

• The Marines are adapting an information system to provide a new range of capabilities to enhance air-to-ground command and control.  
• The new Marine Cobra3 prototype mobile data communications system may give mobile battlefield commanders full access to the same voice and data resources they have back at battalion headquarters.
• The Common Aviation Command and Control System (CAC2S) program aims to modernize the equipment of the Marine Air Command and Control System (MACCS).
• Cybersecurity experts protecting Marine installations across the country describe the growing challenges they face.

Focus: The Cyber Threat
The Defense Department’s new strategic guidance places a high priority on cyberspace operations, and for good reason. Many existing and potential adversaries know that they cannot take on U.S. and allied military forces directly, so they are turning to cyberspace to seize an advantage they would lack in conventional combat. Cybermarauders also are taking aim at the civilian critical infrastructure, where a few well-placed pieces of malware could bring down the power grid or the banking community. SIGNAL Magazine’s March issue focuses on the dynamic cyber threat and how experts are working to mitigate it.

• The Department of Homeland Security's Control Systems Security Program (CSSP) aims to protect industrial control and SCADA networks across the country.
• The commander of the U.S. Army's first Cyber Brigade describes the challenges his force faces in meeting the Army’s cyber mission
• Federal officials lay the groundwork for the fourth edition of CyberStorm, the comprehensive global test of cybersecurity

Semaphore Series: COMMAND AND CONTROL, Part Three
As a string of “Cs” and other letters have been added to the original pairing, the concept of command and control (C2) has been relegated to reduced emphasis in the world of command, control, communication, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). But, that may be changing as leaders realize that the need for C2 basics may never have been as great as it is now. SIGNAL Magazine presents part three of a four-part Semaphore Series on Command and Control in which four defense experts look at the importance of C2 and how it must be addressed in this technology driven environment.

• Adm. James G. Stavridis, USN, commander, U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, discusses the challenges of modern command and control in joint and coalition operations.

The March 2012 issue of SIGNAL includes more content covering traditional areas of interest:

• The commander of the U.S. Army’s NETCOM and the Marine Corps director for C4 discuss the challenges they face in linking ground forces.
• U.S. Army officials give a preview of the technologies to be tested in the next Network Integration Evaluation (NIE).
• The threat to the U.S. military’s technology supply train is no longer just theoretical.