Operationalize the MEF Garrison Network

For the Marine Corps to “fight tonight,” all assigned Marine units must be able to deploy rapidly without significant command and control (C2). Given this imperative, and following the strategy set out in Assured Command and Control 2017, the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) recently established a warfighting network that provides interoperable, reliable, and rapid access to information in any environment.¹ This ensures that Marines’ user accounts are loaded and configured on authorized physical and virtual servers and that tactical C2 equipment is continuously connected to the network in a ready state for immediate deployment.

The need for greater mobility and rapid deployment renders old C2 network deployment concepts inadequate. The Marine Corps cannot meet future warfighting demands with separate tactical and garrison networks; they must be streamlined to deliver assured C2 services. The future operating environment also requires protected C2 on an enterprise scale to give commanders the ability to collect, comprehend, and act on information. Currently, the Marine Corps lacks the force-wide ability to deploy forces rapidly while maintaining a single information technology user identity for each Marine with uninterrupted access to individual and organizational data.² At present, the Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF) cannot provide constant access to applications and services when the user leaves garrison—a connected computing environment that has local (base, post, station) network connectivity to a range of information services.

One Solution

To address this problem, III MEF no longer distinguishes between traditional “tactical” networks and “garrison” networks. This smartly leverages the existing Marine Corps Enterprise Network (MCEN) for tactical purposes in the Indo-Pacific Command (IndoPaCom) area of responsibility (AOR). As a result, III MEF achieves high-speed C2 with all the benefits of enterprise security. Even simpler, all III MEF Marines can deploy from garrison with their workstations and “plug-in” when deployed to tactical environments. This has transformed how III MEF prepares to fight. The concept is not new, but now it encompasses new technologies and best industry practices. III MEF believes the entire Marine Corps should follow suit, coining the concept “Deployed MCEN.”

As the Marine Corps Operating Concept (MOC) 2016 and Assured C2 strategy documents point out, the high-bandwidth requirement of dense networks places real constraints on information flow. Thus, the promise of “information ubiquity” is not likely to be realized in the next war. The most resilient networks are social networks, where decentralized decision-making happens, with only commander’s intent as a guide to execute maneuver warfare under contested C2 conditions.

Located in Okinawa, Japan, the 3rd Marine Division is the only forward-deployed division in the Marine Corps. Its geographic position close to a near-peer threat shapes the Marine Corps’ operational approach in the IndoPaCom AOR. The pace of theater security cooperation exercises and mission rehearsals for current operational plans often outstrips the capacity of units to consistently follow training exercise and employment plans. The need to generate combat power with little to no warning drives the division and other III MEF units to focus primarily on the warfighting principle of speed. 

For III MEF, speed of C2 enables rapid execution of all warfighting functions and operations. Speed implies the principles of offensive maneuver—seizing the initiative, striking the enemy, and striking him again—before he has a chance to reorient. C2 speed also is key for network resilience in contested environments, and it does not begin and end with the first or last shots. If 3rd Marine Division and other III MEF units must deploy rapidly to build up combat power (often on ships), they must demonstrate C2 speed. They did so recently—testing the “fight tonight” concept during  Exercise Cobra Gold 2018.

Cobra Gold 2018

In this multinational exercise hosted by Thailand, 3rd Marine Division served as the operational coordination element and Marine forces command element (MarForCE) while on the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6). The Deployed MCEN concept allowed 3rd Marine Division to use local garrison assets and maintain network access to the same enterprise services available in Okinawa while operating from the ship’s landing force operations center and other C2 spaces. This significantly reduced the equipment necessary to support a standalone combat operation center and enabled the communication support detachments to focus on network connectivity rather than providing equipment and other C2 services. During the exercise, network changes were transparent to end users and did not adversely affect the ability to access vital network services.

One of the biggest successes was integrating C2 systems into the MCEN. This simplified access for the MAGTF elements and allowed seamless distribution of C2 systems and services across the Deployed MCEN architecture. Integrated systems included enterprise chat services, C2 personal computer, tactical collaboration server, and the Advance Field Artillery Tactical Data System. For the first time, tactical C2 and fires systems were deployed over a traditional garrison network and extended to a Navy ship. Users could plug in on ship, deploy ashore, and then plug right back in without losing data or having to rely on a separate tactical network. This C2 network flattening dramatically increased the speed and lethality of Marine forces conducting amphibious operations.

Future Improvements

With the MCEN on board ships, the MarForCE discovered there was no transport path at the Pacific Regional Network Operations Center to distribute deployed MCEN enclaves over the Navy’s existing automated digital network system (ADNS). In the future, integrating MCEN enclaves at the center would allow MCEN services to ride on existing network circuits to all ships in the area of operations. A direct path back to the Marine Corps consolidated base stations over the Defense Information Systems Network–Tactical Edge (DISN-TE) would be ideal, but it was not established between the Navy’s convergence teleport network and DISN-TE; the Navy’s ADNS or wide area network circuit architecture currently does not support such an option. Implementing an MCEN tactical employment plan would alleviate most of the standardization, baselining, and integration issues that currently exist with Deployed MCEN in the Navy ADNS and future Navy Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) environments.

The Path Forward

III MEF will continue to use Deployed MCEN as its go-to network transport path to meet the high demands of its users and provide “hot-start” networks for Marine forces. The Marine Corps should adopt a similar network construct for both I and II MEFs as long as close coordination with U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command and the Marine Corps Cyber Operations Group occurs and the MCEN remains in compliance with enterprise cybersecurity requirements. Integrating units into the III MEF network design is simple because I and II MEF units are already using the MCEN. 

The possible development of regionally aligned virtual tactical processing nodes could allow greater access to Marine Corps enterprise services and critical C2 applications, eliminating the need to rebuild new network domains and server hosting environments. Virtual hosting platforms could ensure the most up-to-date security patches and configurations. Along with modified administrative permission policies, this would facilitate moving services, computer objects, and user account information without affecting users.

Virtual tactical packet networks could be transferred later to physical servers along with any critical local services for deployment anywhere in the world. Once a unit is tasked with a mission, network services and resources can be transferred into the deployable logical infrastructures and network equipment can benefit from virtual machines downloaded to the local servers prior to embark.

This new system is simple and more secure. It allows for the deployment of any Marine unit at a moment’s notice. And most important, it resolves most critical vulnerabilities outlined in the MOC and Assured C2 calls for action.