Marine Corps Gazette

Net-Centric Marine
The time has come to enter the 21st century
by Maj Paul L. Stokes, USMC(Ret) & MGySgt Anthony L. Russell

W

e need to train Marines to operate in an ever-evolving, complex command, con-

trol, communications, and computers (C⁴) environment consisting of people, desires, information, and services inter-connected by an integrated network designed to achieve maximum benefit of resources, synchronization of events, and effective mitigation of second and third order of effects, thereby giving the commander the information he desires at the right time and place.

>Maj Stokes retired in August 2006 after 31 years of active duty service. A former gunnery sergeant and Chief Warrant Officer 3, he has served in a variety of leadership and communications billets at the team through theater levels. He has been serving as the MCCES Deputy Director, Operations, since January 2007.

>>MGySgt Russell has been a Marine communicator for 18 years. Originally a rifleman, he changed MOSs in 1991 and initially became a computer programmer. He subsequently rose through the ranks and eventually became a communications chief (0699). He has served in a variety of commands at the base through CTF levels. He has been serving as the SNCOIC of the MCCES Senior Courses Training Section since June 2008.

The Challenge

Since the mid-1990s network-centric (net-centric) warfare (NCW) has been the driving force behind the design, procurement, and fielding of command and control (C²) systems throughout the Department of Defense (DoD) in general and the U.S. Marine Corps in particular. In many respects these efforts have been highly successful to the point that there are more radios, computers, telephones, and satellite systems in a Marine infantry company today than there were in a Marine infantry battalion during the Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF) “march to Baghdad” in 2003. But this success has come at a price in the form of increased cross-training requirements for our enlisted communications (06XX) Marines. A combat effective 06XX Marine must be able to send/re-ceive digital messages via a tactical radio, operate a tactical voice telephone system, and set up, connect, and operate a laptop computer in a combat operations center (COC) as part of a C⁴network. In other words, he needs “to do it all,” regardless if it’s voice, video, or data.

During the October 2008 Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) C⁴

Network-Centric Warfare:
“What do I know, who else needs to know it, have I
told them, if not—what is the fastest way to get it to
them? What format do they need it in, and when they
get it—will they understand it?”
—MCCES/C Training and Education Center of

4

Excellence Campaign Plan Fiscal Year 2009

Operational Advisory Group (OAG) conference, Marine Corps Systems Command (MarCorSysCom) provided a series of briefs on the fielding of communications gear and services from the present to fiscal year 2016 (FY16). These briefs generated a great deal of discussion because they clearly outlined the fact that the recent proliferation of new C⁴systems mandates that we overhaul the training program for the 06XX military occupational specialty (MOS) community. Subsequently, the C⁴OAG determined that the points of main effort for the Marine Corps communications community to transform itself into a 21st century warfighting resource are:

• Establishing a net-centric training program for the 06XX training and education continuum.

• Realigning the enlisted 06XX occupational field (OccFld) to support net-centric operations.

• Updating the 06XX MOS Training and Readiness (T&R) Manual events to better support current and future operations.

In order to ensure that our communications Marines are trained and ready for current and future C⁴systems and service requirements (voice, data, and video) the Marine Corps must integrate net-centric training throughout the 06XX training continuum.