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Marines get new comm gear to stay in touch while on the move

Marine Corps Times:

The Marine Corps on Thursday unveiled new Humvee-mounted technology to allow troops in the field to communicate with each other, their commanders, and even headquarters hundreds of miles away — all while driving over 30 miles per hour.

Experts say the advanced satellite and wireless technology, developed in large part by Hawaii contractors, will save Marine lives in battle.

It will also enable troops to communicate in areas where natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and last year’s giant tsunami in Southeast Asia wiped out local infrastructure.

“Having been a commander myself as part of the initial invasion into Iraq and the seizure of Baghdad, I can see how important this capability would be,” said Col. Steven Hummer, the commander of Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe.

On the road to Baghdad, Hummer said his team had to stop periodically, set up satellite communications antennas, and log on to download e-mail and make tactical telephone calls.

The new technology would allow Marines to do all of the above while moving.

The equipment, dubbed the “Mobile Modular Command & Control” or M2C2, would enable war zone commanders to see where their troops are heading and how close they are to the enemy.

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At a prototype demonstration on Marine Corps training ground, troops in a tent and aboard the Humvee sent “chat” messages to each other over a wireless connection protected by encryption codes.

We have come a long way since we were stringing comm wire around a position. Sure beats using a runner, which is what New Orleans was reduced to when the power went down.