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brrrrr!

Marines arrive in Norway for Exercise Battle Griffin

Submitted by: Marine Forces Europe
Story Identification #: 200531174935
Story by Master Sgt. Phil Mehringer

HAIA, Norway (March 1, 2005) -- The depth of the snow near the field training area during Exercise Battle Griffin stands nearly 2 meters. The temperature is a crisp, steady, 12 degrees Fahrenheit - brrrrr!

Although the sun is lengthening its daily routine in and around central Norway, dangerous conditions are extreme. Teams have been out testing the snow and electronic transmitters have been issued to all land force participants in case of an avalanche.

In these conditions, just getting to the training ranges is a success.

The Marines of Marine Air Ground Task Force 25 assembled near the city of Trondheim in preparation for the 180-kilometer road march to the field-training site near the town of Bodo. The 1,200 Marines arrived in Norway, departing from 31 cities and 20 states to support the exercise. They married up with equipment stored in caves in the region, spent a few days adjusting to the climate, and started the drive north.

The Command Element for MAGTF 25 is Headquarters Company, 25th Marine Regiment, led by Col. Joseph L. Osterman, based out of Worcester, Mass. The bulk of the Ground Combat Element is 2d Bn, 25th Marine Regiment with Marines from Company D, 4th LAR in support.

The Aviation Combat Element consists of six F/A-18s from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 112 and two KC-130s from Marine Aerial Refueling Squadron (VMGR) 234. Supporting units belong to Marine Air Control Squadron 23 and Marine Air Support Squadron 6. Combat service support is provided by Marines from 4th Force Service Support Group.

"We must take every opportunity to capitalize on the multinational dimension of the exercise to improve interoperability, while ensuring that safety is paramount," said Osterman. "No training objective is worth unnecessary risk and the loss of personnel and equipment."

For the next several weeks, the area of Bodo, Norway, will play host to nearly 10,000 military members from 15 nations, participating in an exercise testing a multinational task force's ability to respond to humanitarian crises in a cold weather environment. There will be several more thousands of military persons at sea, conducting simulated embargo control and mine operations.

The scenario developed for the exercise is similar to what NATO forces experienced during the Kosovo campaign. Ethic tensions boil to a point and the UN delivers a Security Council resolution to send NATO troops to establish security and stabilize the area.

"My intent is to maximize our training opportunity in a joint and combined environment, focusing on MAGTF doctrine and the full spectrum of warfare", added Osterman.

Battle Griffin is a Norwegian invitational exercise conducted yearly, rotating from different regions of the country. The exercise is scheduled to conclude March 9, when the Marines will retrograde to their stateside-based units.

For additional information about the Marines participating in Battle Griffin 2005, click the following link: http://www.battlegiffin.no

Airborne network to link sensors, shooters, decision makers

3/2/2005 - HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (AFPN) -- Electronic Systems Center officials here are working on a new airborne network that will revolutionize airborne communications and bring network-centric warfare to the air.

"The intent ... is to translate information superiority into combat power by linking sensors, decision makers and shooters to share all available information," said Dave Kenyon, technical architectures and standards division chief. The system will employ an Internet-based airborne network to allow information-sharing among large numbers of users in the air and on the ground, he said.

Today, aircraft exchange information via data links, which communicate specific information to specific radios in specified message formats, said Marc Richard, the division’s chief engineer.

In contrast, network connectivity provides global access to information and the ability to pull or push information to all others connected to the network. If two aircraft are connected to the network, they will be able to exchange information, even if they do not have a direct connection, officials said.

“The challenge for the airborne network is to make what works easily in a ground-(based) environment work in an airborne-dynamic environment,” Mr. Richard said. While wires and fiber optic cables provide the “backbone” for ground-based networks, space-based optical lasers and aircraft carrying advanced communications systems will form the backbone of the airborne network, he said.

“We envision that larger aircraft and possibly unmanned air vehicles, equipped with greater communications capability and connections to space and ground, will form the backbone-in-the-sky,” Mr. Kenyon said. “This network will be constantly (reconfigured). Every platform is a user as well as a service provider, meaning capabilities increase as additional aircraft enter the network.”

Smaller tactical aircraft, with limited space, will be equipped with terminals that can transmit, receive and relay data among each other and to the larger backbone aircraft, officials said.

Making these connections and reliably sending data are key challenges toward creating a self-forming, self-healing airborne network, officials said. While much of the equipment needed for the network is in various stages of development, the airborne network is still in the foundation stage, they said.