Even as the United States continues to lead a coalition of countries in the battle against terrorism in Southwest Asia, another effort quietly continues to root out evildoers in the southeast portion of the continent. But unlike their counterparts in the deserts and mountains, the troops fighting in the jungles have a secondary position to their country hosts. Also present is a strong focus on non-war activities such as medical care and capacity building that demonstrates to citizens the dedication of both their government and that of the United States to improve their lives. The result of all this work has been a decrease in terrorist activities as well as enhanced quality of life for people in the region.

Complexity is at the core of nearly every mission for the U.S. Marines serving in the Asia-Pacific region. Even something as simple as the international dateline must be taken into account when the U.S. Marine Corps plans operations within its area of responsibility. From the communications perspective, the diversity of countries it interacts with poses significant challenges to its network operators and planners.

There is a quote used by countless writing teachers worldwide, and credited to almost as many writers, which reads, “I would have written a shorter letter, but didn't have time.” It’s time to bring that quote up to date given the way we fire off messages in a split second via email, instant messages (IMs) and “Tweets” (Twitter message). Today’s version should read, “I’m sorry that message was so dumb; I didn’t have time to make it smarter.”