Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON -- The armed services took a step to advance computer technology in the military by inviting chief executives from high-tech businesses to a ?hands on? demonstration of technology used by the military at the Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity, Oct. 14.

Camp Pendleton was one of five stops to different military bases made to help business leaders understand the overall mission of each military branch, and see how they can help enhance digital warfighting technology.

?It is hard for the companies to develop programs if we do not fully understand the mission,? said Thomas E. Noonan, chairman, president, and CEO of Internet Security Systems. ?Our biggest problem is we have no perspective.?

Before the demonstrations began, LtGen. Michael W. Hagee, commanding general, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force explained what the MEF, Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Marine Expeditionary Unit are and how they work together.

?We do it all ourselves. We fight as an integrated package, in other words we don?t sub contract,? he said jokingly.

Seeing the big picture was the mission for all the visitors.

During the demonstration, the intent was to point out technology issues and stress that the Marine Corps wants to ?equip the man? rather than ?man the equipment.?
The VIPs were broken up into three groups and rotated through static displays.
The Systems Integration Environment, which simulated a MEF command post, helped show the need for a seamless interface between Marine Corps computers and those from other services.

Each of the services has programs that do about the same thing, to have seamless interface between them they must make all of the programs compatible.
The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab exhibited unmanned ground vehicles, unmanned air vehicles, command air systems, and command and control technology.  The MCWL also displayed standard field laptops and the brick-size six-hour batteries that come with them.

CEOs were challenged to develop a smaller longer-lasting battery and secure reliable portable communications.

With all the computer-talk out of the way, the CEOs were able to move on to the non-lethal weapons station where they got hands-on firing the weapons at targets located on the fence.

Extending the range and effectiveness of non-lethal weapons was another challenge posed to the visitors.

?This (visit) has really helped in understanding what the Marine Corps needs and is trying to accomplish,? Noonan said.

That understanding, coupled with quicker product delivery, will help corporations serve the Marine Corps better, he said.