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Marines Look to Strengthen Tactical Networking

Advanced capabilities are migrating down to smaller and smaller units.

The U.S. Marine Corps is focusing on network advances that empower warfighters to an unprecedented degree. The result will be that smaller groups of Marines will have more capabilities than larger units had just a few years ago.

Speaking in a panel discussion at West 2015, being held in San Diego, February 10-12, Maj. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, USMC, commanding general, 1st Marine Division, emphasized this focus on the warfighter. “Power down, power down, power down” he said of networking priorities. “Let’s get the information we need on a reliable network into the hands of the warfighter on the ground.”

The Marines now are talking about doing company-size deployments instead of battalions, he noted. These companies would include experts, such as intelligence analysts, who would be able to perform advanced tasks because of greater network capabilities. The general cited the Corps Expeditionary Force 21 program as a major element in shaping the Corps for future operations.

Gen. Nicholson noted that the Corps is not taking network access for granted. Marines now are training by cutting off all digital networks and going to voice only. “It’s not going to get jammed by some cyberhacker” he said of traditional radio frequency voice communications.