Marine Corps Serves as Ultimate Warfighting Laboratory
Each of the U.S. military services faces its own unique challenges dealing with transformation amid the Global War on Terrorism, but the U.S. Marine Corps faces challenges common to some but different to all. In many ways, the Corps resembles the joint community more than it does any other service. It operates on land, from the sea and in the air, and those three elements must interoperate seamlessly as a single element.
However, the Corps’ solution to its challenges cannot mirror those of the other services, or even the joint community. It lacks their resources and infrastructure, so it must seek solutions from outside its ranks.
In this case, commonality with other service elements is an asset: the Marine Corps can tap the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force for new technologies and systems that apply to its own needs. And, of course, it works with the joint community on interoperable solutions. But the Corps also is looking toward the commercial sector to meet its needs, and it is the commercial sector that may hold the key to the technological future of the Marine Corps.
One of the Marine Corps’ top information technology requirements is the ability to network its forces at the lowest possible level while on the move. Achieving this will involve more than simply linking assets with some form of wireless connectivity. This network must be able to accommodate the new capabilities that have exploded on the military information system scene. Many of these capabilities, including everything over Internet protocol, require considerable bandwidth and more complex connectivity than currently is available for on-the-move operations.
The solution to this challenge may lie in the commercial sector, where the Corps is not shy about seeking answers. Experts at the Marine Corps Systems Command already are adapting needed technologies and speeding them to the front after determining their applicability for combat. These technologies can range from handheld communications devices to medical systems.
With the commercial sector serving as the font of innovation in the information technology arena, the solutions to networking challenges likely will need to come from industry. Many of these solutions are not yet apparent, and commercial researchers have many hurdles to overcome before they can offer a solution that will work on the battlefield.
The Corps continues to draw from the other services. The Army, Navy and Air Force all have dedicated laboratories that develop innovations suited to their missions. With the Marine Corps sharing some of those missions, it can tap many military off-the-shelf technologies for its own use, thus avoiding the expense—and waste—of redundant research and development. That is not a new tack, but the rapid pace of technology change in wartime has increased the sense of urgency. The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory often works with service and joint facilities to develop or adapt technologies.
This is not to say that the Corps goes to war with hand-me-downs. Many of the technologies that have their origins in other services’ inventories take different forms when they deploy with the Marines. With its land, sea and air assets, the Corps is a microcosm of the
But its limited resources mean that it does not have the luxury of trial and error. The Marine Corps needs new technologies quickly, and those technologies must be adapted for its multifaceted force. The Corps is hard at work doing just that; but as long as technology requirements continue to emerge, it will remain an ongoing quest.
—The Editor
More information on the U.S. Marine Corps is available in the April 2009 issue of SIGNAL Magazine, in the mail to AFCEA members and subscribers April 1, 2009. For information about purchasing this issue, joining AFCEA or subscribing to SIGNAL, contact AFCEA Member Services.
