“This impacts all of the future of the Marine Corps on the battlefield. The small, fast, and light units that need to shoot, move, and communicate…their ability to do all three is vital to the mission. This is a problem that needs to be solved,” says Sgt. Christopher Kock.
Sgt. Kock, 1st ANGLICO, I MIG, I MEF, has experienced challenges conducting operations when he needs to quickly understand the electromagnetic environment—such as understanding when there may be malicious attempts to jam his communications. Sgt. Kock, along with several other Marines from the east and west coasts, was invited to spend a week at a Navy laboratory in landlocked Indiana to work directly with technical experts to find a solution.
Sgt. Kock says participating in this week-long, rapid prototyping event was a new experience.
“I haven’t witnessed something like this in the Department of Defense before,” says Sgt. Kock. “Boots on the ground giving direct feedback to the great minds that think of these systems—this is something I didn’t know existed.”
Warfighter Driven Challenge: Software Defined Radio
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) hosted this Warfighter Driven Challenge (WDC) which brings scientists, engineers, and warfighters together to work on a problem statement directly from the field. The WDC took place in April and brought together subject matter experts (SMEs) from Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific and NSWC Crane—as well as warfighters from I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) and II MEF in the U.S. Marine Corps. The event was funded by the Office of Naval Research Global (ONRG) TechSolutions program and took place at NSWC Crane’s High Velocity Innovation Center (HiVe), which is designed as a flexible space to facilitate collaboration.
NSWC Crane has conducted many WDC events over the last five years, with this WDC focused on creating a solution to a communications systems-related problem that infantry Marines regularly face in the field. The problem statement submitted to ONRG TechSolutions described the need for technology that could “quickly sense the electromagnetic environment and identify congested or contested communications.”
Having a reliable tool to provide this information allows warfighters on the front lines to make rapid and rational decisions. CWO2 Jonathon Krahnke, a Marine from II MEF with 17 years of service, says he was excited to see the problem tackled during the event.
“Once I read through the problem statement and saw a group of experts intent on addressing the challenges that the ground tactical user experiences—I was excited,” says CWO2 Krahnke. “I was more impressed with the brainpower in the room and how they tackled the problem…then seeing a working prototype with our thoughts implemented…I was impressed.”
The typical process to develop and acquire technology for the warfighter could take several years—and material solutions often emerge after the needs of the Fleet have changed due to rapidly evolving threats or the technology becoming obsolete. The warfighter is also often removed from the technology development process—which could lead to the technology not meeting the specific needs of the Fleet.
CWO2 Dustin Schuitt has 15 years of experience in the Marine Corps and traveled to Crane from his home station at II MEF, Camp LeJeune, North Carolina. CWO2 Schuitt participated in this WDC and says the available avenues to find solutions can be challenging.
“We don’t typically do this with civilian engineers—within the military we can identify a problem and possible solution, but it is difficult getting funds to build solutions,” says CWO2 Schuitt. “So we ask, what’s next? When we reach out to have a problem solved that we face during the mission, the process of building out a solution can take…
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