Photo By Lt. Peter Walz | Inside the Combat Operations Center tent, Dustin Ortegon of QinetiQ North America,...... read more read more
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ANCON, Peru - When in a crisis, Americans dial 911 for assistance. When Marines are in a tight situation, they call the Combat Operations Center.
The COC is the hub of all unit planning, coordination, and dispatch that combines intelligence, logistics, operations, administration, air and fire support to create an effective command post.
It is a beehive of activity and information flow, running 24/7 to monitor the demands of an exercise or a real-world contingency.
As part of the 10 nation multinational training exercise, Partnership of the Americas 2010/Southern Exchange 2010, U.S. Marine reservists from Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 24, setup and established a new and improved COC to oversee and monitor multinational units operating in the area of Salinas and Ancón, Peru—the Peruvian Marines’ base.
Command and control is not new to the battlefield, but this technology is new to the U.S. Marine reserves. Master Gunnery Sgt. Erik Jackson of Odenton, Maryland said, “This is one of the few opportunities that communicators of Marine Forces Reserve have had to establish satellite communications and enable a fully functional COC.”
The Operations Trailer, or OT, combines cutting-edge technology with rapid deployment capability. It is a two-wheeled trailer that carries all the necessary equipment to setup and establish a high-tech COC including: essential servers, routers and encryption systems that can reach back to standard military radios or to the internet via satellite. The OT even comes with a tent, lights, A/C, and power generator making the COC a complete self-contained structure.
Inside, the COC looks like an internet café with rows of computers, but it is all business. One of the tools that the COC relies upon to oversee the battlefield is a computer mapping program used to pinpoint unit locations and monitor requests and updates received from the field. Forward units feedback updates about their status, strength, and capabilities. “The system allows us to monitor their combat effectiveness,” said Cpl. Garrett Jordan, Operations Clerk and Manager of the Combat Operational Picture.
Each element in the battlefield (whether a 1,000 member regiment from the U.S. or five-man team from another nation) can be displayed on the digital map with an icon that symbolically represents each force, allowing the viewer to identify unit name, function, location and is even color-coded to view status.
For example, if a unit suffered casualties during a combat operation, the icon would change from green to red, painting a real-time picture of the units’ limited ability. Jordon, from Kansas City, Mo., went on to say, “It is basically a health meter that tells us how effective they are.”
Another unique feature of the system is that it allows for staff to monitor the radio waves and talk directly to Marines on the battlefield from their own laptop workstation. Sgt. David Evans of Hedley, Texas stated, “This system allows us to put the radio in the hands of all the users instead of one Marine on radio watch.”
Having such quick access to the frontlines with integrated radio communications and digital mapping status gives the commander and his staff the ability to quickly support Marines—whether they are in crisis or just needing a warm meal.
The combined exercises, Partnership of the Americas 2010 and Southern Exchange 2010, will run simultaneously from July 2-24 in Salinas and Ancon, Peru. The exercises will focus on interoperability between the USMC and forces from 9 other partner nations, exposing them to fundamentals that will enhance partner nation capabilities in the execution of peacekeeping operations and humanitarian aid/disaster relief missions that are common amongst Marines throughout the Americas: marksmanship, patrolling, convoy operations, water survival, amphibious training, checkpoint operations, civil affairs, human rights training and military operations in urban terrain.
| Date Taken: | 07.12.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.12.2010 11:36 |
| Story ID: | 52712 |
| Location: | ANCON, PE |
| Web Views: | 781 |
| Downloads: | 373 |
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