Photo By Lance Cpl. Jerrick J. Griffin | Lance Cpl. Luke Malone, 19, Bethalto, Ill., rifleman, Company G, 3rd platoon, 2nd...... read more read more
Subscribe
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Communicating in the warzone can be as easy as sending a text message.
Battlefield text messages are just one aspect Marines with 1st Marine Logistics Group's Military Police Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 17 learned about in the two-week Incidental Radio Operators Course, April 2.
"This is a course operating units need to go to," said Cpl. Daniel A. Anchondo, 21, Brescott, Ariz., MP Co., CLR-17, 1st MLG. "What if the operator gets hurt or killed and nobody else knows how to use the radio. Who's going to report back to the command? Everybody in the unit should know how to use the radio, not just the radio operator."
The Signal Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, or SINCGARS, family of radios uses technology similar to Bluetooth to bring this trendy means of communication to the battlefield. Bluetooth is a technology that uses wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances.
"The benefit I get from this course is learning to use the equipment [Marine] use in the field," Anchondo said.
SINCGARS is 16 pounds lighter than the AN/ARC-164 radio system and boasts a new armor, making the system capable of surviving a nuclear environment. The addition of the LCD screen allows the user to read data instead of struggling to hear voice communication over the noise of the battlefield.
Marines can also store data in a removable keypad which can only be used when placed into a radio. The portability function further serves to prevent enemies from gathering intelligence.
The class provided students with full hands-on training of the vehicle-mounted and handheld versions of the radio. Instructors also conducted practical application to measure how well class members installed the data and transferred it to other radios.
Students set different frequencies to use the voice communicating feature of the radio. They installed data and practiced sending messages to ensure proficiency with the radios.
Texting in the battlefield may seem strange, but maintaining sound dicipline can mean the difference between life and death.
"Being able to send text messages with the radio reduces the risk of being heard by enemies," Anchondo said.
Added features also mean more classes. Learning all the capabilities of the radios proved a difficult task for the Marines in the course.
"The hard part about the class was setting the frequencies and naming the files," said Cpl. April F. Smith, 21, Healdton, Okla., MP Co., CLR-17, 1st MLG. "It's so many steps to remember, that's what makes it difficult."
"[Marines] make it out to be harder than it really is," said Staff Sgt. Keith Cabrera, 40, Bronx, N.Y., radio chief, Combat Training Center 1, Marines Corps Communication-Electronics School, Training and Education Command.
He also added that installing data into the radio was hard for him when he first learned it, but when he figured out the process of adding and sending the data, it became muscle memory.
Service members have to communicate while on the battlefield, said Lance Cpl. Joseph Morley, MP Co., CLR-17, 1st MLG. That's the whole purpose of taking the course.
Due to the advancement of technology, communication is now just a text message away.
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 04.13.2009 13:00 |
| Story ID: | 32341 |
| Location: | CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 701 |
| Downloads: | 167 |
This work, Communication is the key: Combat Logistics Regiment 17's Military Police Company Marines participate in Incidental Radio Operators Course, by LCpl Jerrick J. Griffin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
