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Marines Aim to Pack Light, Travel Right

Networking gear has become too large and heavy for effective amphibious operations.

U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific is looking for smaller, lighter communications and networking gear as it returns to its roots as an amphibious force, their commander offers. Lt. Gen. John A. Toolan, USMC, said that new capabilities for assured interoperable networking must be balanced against size and weight limitations for the rapidly deployable force.

Speaking at the Thursday breakfast address at TechNet Asia-Pacific 2014, being held December 9-11 in Honolulu, Gen. Toolan admitted to being spoiled by the effective communications he had in Afghanistan. However, in some cases, leaders have developed unrealistic expectations of command, control, communications and computer systems. Heavy communications systems, along with a large contractor footprint to keep them running, do not translate to amphibious operations. Amphibious ships do not have a lot of space, he related.

"We must resist the temptation to acquire a Ferrari when a Jeep Wrangler is more appropriate."

Communications on the move also has its limitations. Ground forces often had to stop by the side of the road to set up satellite dishes for connectivity. With the demand for full-motion video “out of control,” the Marines need large bandwidth communications on the move.

“We want an infrastructure that can provide opportunistic communications while lightening the load,” he declared. “Future information content will serve as the basis for which nearly all timely decisions will be made in combat.”