United States Marine Corps Expeditionary Rifle Squad Communications

Abstract

This CAPSTONE Report documents the Systems Engineering (SE) efforts of "Team Marine," from JAN 2009 to SEP 2009, in developing a recommendation to the US Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC), on the best course of action to "Enhance the USMC Expeditionary Rifle Squad Communications System." The squad leader is the cornerstone for USMC tactical operations. Clear, concise, accurate and reliable communications to and from the squad leader is the key to squad operations, performance and tactical effectiveness. Today's fielded communications system for the squad leader requires the use of two separate radios, each with different encryption algorithms, different user interfaces, and different data processing capabilities. This primitive design has thrust the squad leader into a complex Human Factors environment with disparate components that have not been well engineered or integrated. Team Marine applied and tailored the systems engineering (SE) process based on NPS course work and professional experience. This SE process enabled the team to completely understand and model the current system in terms of architecture, capabilities and functions. The process led the team and stakeholders to conclude that an evolutionary approach of system integration was preferred over the traditional Manufacturer A vs. Manufacturer B run off. The team's recommendation is to pursue an integrated communications system, based on existing and emerging components, as the best course of action. The first incremental step of the recommendation is to upgrade the existing elements by adding an automated communications processor with enhanced human to system interfaces.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA513783

Entities

People

  • Brenda Roach
  • Brian Song
  • Jeffrey Dixon
  • Jonathan Reap
  • Kathryn Hunt
  • Krunal Amin
  • Larry Bochenek
  • Peter Manternach
  • Richard Elgart
  • Yancy Jeleniewski

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cognitive Workload
  • Command And Control
  • Communication Systems
  • Computer Programs
  • Cryptography
  • Data Processing
  • Engineering
  • Information Exchange
  • Information Processing
  • Information Systems
  • Mobile Phones
  • Position (Location)
  • Radio Equipment
  • Risk Analysis
  • Systems Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation
  • User Interface

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Military Science
  • Systems Analysis and Design