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Interoperability Cornerstone Defines Marine Corps Intelligence

Requirements cover operations in land, sea, air and cyberspace.

The U.S. Marine Corps is leveraging its expertise in tactical intelligence to interoperate with the other services in generating an overall intelligence picture. New Marine forces and platforms will be contributing to this new joint product.

“The Marine Corps is very much a joint player in the intelligence arena—we have to be,” declared Brig. Gen. Michael Groen, USMC, director of intelligence, U.S. Marine Corps. Speaking at the AFCEA/INSA Intelligence and National Security Summit 2014, held September 18-19 in Washington, D.C., Gen. Groen explained that the Corps always has had a focus on tactical collectors, and it is brining that to the battlespace.

He pointed out that Marine intelligence survives on its partnerships with Army and Air Force assets. He described defense intelligence as a seamless team, and the Corps is working with the intelligence community to build architectures to bring intelligence to the tactical edge.

The general said the Corps has two new ground-based special purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Forces (MAGTFs). One is based in Italy and focused on Africa; the other is being placed in the U.S. Central Command and will have widely dispersed units built to aggregate if mission needs call for it. Also, the first operational Marine squadron of F-35s will be deployed next year. All of these elements will have implications in the collection and use of intelligence.

These developments will be an important factor in dealing with the dynamic threat picture. “The things we see today may be abominations, but they are not aberrations,” Gen. Groen stated. “They are the new normal.”