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U.S. 2nd Fleet Exercise Flexes Agility

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050202-03
Release Date: 2/2/2005 12:25:00 PM

From Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The staff of Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet/NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic (C2F/CSFL) completed their first Maritime Command Limited Experiment (MARCOLE) Jan. 14.

Over the course of five days, the staff took major strides in implementing and validating the distributed staff concept afloat. This inaugural effort represented the first in a series of experiments and exercises to develop modularized command and control (C2) to ensure the Navy can get to future fights faster and retain the initiative.

The experiment put a core staff of about 60 of the 300-plus C2F/CSFL staff aboard their flagship, USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7). The remainder of the staff continued to operate a "reach-back" headquarters at Naval Station Norfolk's waterfront, where its greater shore communications capability enhanced the ability of 2nd Fleet to coordinate with other staffs and interagencies.

"As the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) has indicated, we as a Navy must embrace concepts of operations that will enhance our speed and agility," said Vice Adm. Mark Fitzgerald, commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet/NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic from the flagship's Joint Operations Center. "The beauty of this concept is that we can tailor the skill sets of the forward element to meet the requirements of any number of different missions. The capabilities that we are developing are all about surging the right maritime C2 and bridging tomorrow's possibilities to today's Navy."

Embarked aboard Iwo Jima, the underway period provided an opportunity to fully stress the staff battle rhythm and electronic information bandwidth in order to capture, measure and subsequently refine the development of the distributed staff's organization, process and technology to support a dynamic, deployable Joint Force Maritime Component Commander.

"We are breaking new ground with MARCOLE," said Fitzgerald. "The early steps we took during this first exercise have given us a better picture of where and how we can refine our distributed staff organization, including integrating combined and joint forces."

By combining new collaborative information technologies in a novel way, the 2nd Fleet staff found there may be great potential in operating a forward staff element embarked aboard Iwo Jima, while simultaneously relying upon the "reach-back" staff element's ability to expand the reach of the forward element through its more persistent communications architechture ashore. This linkage permits the robust intelligence and planning function ashore to gather and process larger volumes of data into useable information and knowledge for the commander afloat.

"Through the use of video teleconferencing and other collaborative tools, we can accomplish our mission while requiring only a portion of our staff to get underway," said Information Systems Technician 1st Class Kevin Sessoms, one of the technicians who participated in the exercise. "It's a more efficient way to get the job done in terms of manpower and flexibility."

While many of the technologies used during the experiment are advanced, like Voice Over Internet Protocol phones and collaborative information-sharing tools across networks, some of the effort was as simple as refining organizational disciplines, like adhering to "digital rules of engagement" where staff members have to remain sensitive to bandwidth limitations between the forward and reach-back elements.

"Our Collaboration-At-Sea tools worked extremely well," said Information Systems Technician 1st Class John Grace. "There were some minor training issues during the exercise, but as it progressed and people got used to working with the tools, those issues were resolved."

As the concept moves forward, the Navy will conduct a series of increasingly complex experiments and exercises to develop and validate a modular capability for commanders to quickly embark the capability on any number of ships, ranging from aircraft carriers to big-deck amphibious ships to one day the littoral combat ship. The concept will better position the Navy to respond with speed and agility to conduct any mission around the world.