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I MEF concludes Internal Look

Marine Corps News

12/20/2002

Story by Gunnery Sgt. Claudia M. LaMantia

CAMP COMMANDO, Kuwait -- In the seven years since the I Marine Expeditionary Force command element last deployed, equipment has changed, uniforms are different patterns and many faces are new, but communication is still the key to successfully completing the mission.

The command is here, in part, to participate in the bi-annual Exercise Internal Look, which has been conducted since 1990, and is designed to evaluate the command and control capabilities of the U.S. Central Command headquarters and its component commands.

The simulated-supported exercise was designed to test the major forces required to fight together in the event of a war, according to Col. Larry K. Brown, assistant chief of staff G-3, I MEF.

The hub for the I MEF portion of the exercise took place in the Combat Operations Center, where the battlefield was viewed and controlled mainly via computers and phones.

Elements of the Army, Navy and the Air Force also deployed to the U.S. Central Command Area of operations to take part in the war games. Forces halfway around the world in the United States also participated.

"All services are good at communicating within themselves," but the challenge is getting them to talk with each other, said Brown.

Command-and-control systems enabled participants to share the same situational awareness with other units, so they could successfully complete the exercise.

Since the I MEF command element last deployed in 1995, there has been a "tremendous difference in our ability to see what the enemy is doing" and being able to share that information, added Brown.

As intelligence data grows, it creates a bigger demand on the ability to send information, and sometimes glitches in the system such as loss of electricity can hinder mission accomplishment. Not the case for these Marines.

Power failure won't stop this unit, because when there is an interruption they can revert to using radios and maps, said Brown.

An excellent environment for gaining experience also provided the communications Marines with plenty of work.

Marines manned two shifts 24 hours a day throughout the exercise, connecting network cables, setting up switches and applying computer software to countless computers, according to Sgt. Dennis S. Kendall, data technician system platoon sergeant, Bravo Company, 9th Communications Battalion.

This was in addition to the twice-a-day, two-hour training classes and physical-fitness instruction the unit had scheduled, but Kendall added that this is the "best hands-on experience in getting to troubleshoot all aspects of the MOS (military occupational specialty)" and practice situations specific to Kuwait.

With the exercise over on Dec 16, the Marines, sailors and soldiers at Camp Commando continue working and are prepared for future orders in the war against terrorism.

The deployment here "instills and reinforces the war- fighting spirit," said Lt. Col. David Pere, a senior watch officer, I MEF. "We're doing what we came into the Marine Corps to do."