US Marines need to put away their cell phones, forget about their lattes get back to using techniques that work — dig a foxhole, cover up, stay quiet and be be on guard, Marine Corps Commander Gen. Robert B. Neller said in a CSIS report. CNN cable news wire quoted the Commander’s warnings:
“We realized that we didn’t have the right solution because, you know, Seaman Hicks decided she wanted to check her Facebook page, and so she walked out on the weather deck at night with her phone, and what’s that phone got? It’s got GPS. So anybody in the world is going to know there’s some GPS somewhere out floating across the ocean, most probably on a ship,” Neller said.
“When was the last time … when you saw Marines or soldiers operating in Iraq or Afghanistan when they camouflaged their face or they broke up the outline of their helmet with camouflage so they couldn’t be seen? When was the last time you saw that?” he asked.
“We’ve been operating out of fixed positions. We have not moved across the ground. We have not maneuvered. We have not lived off the land,” Neller said. “We’ve been eating in chow halls and drinking green bean coffee. That’s pretty nice.”
“You’re living out of your pack, you’re going to stop at night, you’re going to dig a hole, you’re going to camouflage, you’re going to turn off all your stuff, and you’re going to sit there, and you try to sleep,” he said. “And you’ve got to be careful to not make any noise, and you’re going to try to have absolutely no signature. Because if you can be seen, you will be attacked. That’s the difference, and that’s where we’ve got to get.”
Neller said the Marines and Navy had seen exercises in which their personnel’s use of mobile devices could give away positions to adversaries.
In one case, a Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), was compromised.
“What do you think the largest electromagnetic signature in the entire MEF headquarters emanated from? The billeting area. Why? Because everybody had their phone on. So we’re going to have to take everybody’s phone away from them?” he asked.
“I know that sounds silly, but it’s not silly,” Neller said at the conference. “So, okay, Marines: We’re going to go to the field for 30 days; everybody leave your phone in the car and tell your significant other or your mom, your aunt, your uncle, that you’re not going to get 75 texts each day and answer them.”
The Navy has come up with plans to reduce its reliance on modern electronics to make its force harder to trace, going so far as to have sailors re-learn navigating by the stars instead of using the Global Positioning System, he said according to the CNN wire report
A Marine Weighs In
The Commandant’s message makes a good point, SOF contributor said. His full comments are below.
We have been lulled into a false sense of security, due to 20 years of war with primitive and asymmetrical opponents.
While I was in Iraq and Afghanistan, I was never issued a gas mask or MOP gear. (I have to admit, I was glad I didn’t have to lug that shit around! But, still, we are not practicing to fight an equal force.
In Afghanistan, I had a cell phone (upon which I made international calls) and a lap top with internet connection.
In Iraq, (and Afghanistan) every vehicle has GPS and most tactical vehicles have a “Blue Force Tracker” which is kind of a computer with Internet connection. The “Command Post of the Future” would not require even a Regimental Commander to be located in the Combat Zone. I’d say, with current technology, except for issues relating to moral, no one above the rank of LtCol. need be deployed to a combat zone.
On one occasion in Iraq, my MiTT Commander wanted to avoid traversing the same road twice in one day. So, he consulted the Blue Force Tracker (which displays a map with all friendly vehicles) and he selected a route from our location (in “Indian Country”) to Baghdad. The route he selected included a bridge over a canal. (There are many canals in Iraq, as irrigation is used extensively.)
This canal extended North to South for many miles (there was no way around it between us and Baghdad).
So, we traveled deep into “Indian Country” following the road that ran along the west side of the canal.
As “luck” would have it, one of our 4 vehicles broke down. The well drilled crews quickly rigged the stricken vehicle for towing and we “continued the mission”.
Imagine our chagrin, when we came to the location on the “map” where the Blue Force Tracker showed a bridge – there was no bridge! We were “trapped” in enemy territory on the wrong side of the (impassable) canal with night approaching.
Here’s where someone asks, “What did you do then?”
And, I reply, “The enemy ambushed us and we were all killed!”
But, seriously, the Major simply followed the canal until we “found” a usable bridge and we made it to Camp Liberty in Baghdad before full dark.
However, it was a stark lesson about depending on technology in combat.
Major Voso never made that mistake again!
Semper Fi
BACKGROUND
U.S. Army Special Ops to Use iPhones in Tactical Assault Kits
by J.R. Ashe Shooting Illustrated
The U.S. Army Special Operations Command is planning to switch from Android smartphones to iPhones for its Tactical Assault Kits in an effort to improve communications reliability, according sources reporting Department of Defense news this week.
The news outlet DoDBuzz.com reported the switch from Android, and specifically Samsung devices, is largely due to reliability issues for Army special operations forces that engage in unconventional warfare, special reconnaissance, direct action, foreign internal defense and counterterrorism missions.
The United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), the branch charged with overseeing the various special operations forces of the U.S. Army, will reportedly switch to the iPhone 6S in its tactical assault kits, which are used by soldiers on special missions.
The report suggested the Army found the iPhone superior for apps designed to present maps and live feed of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) or a drone, in addition to other quickly accessible information, like a weapons and ammunitions guide. Other apps assist with high altitude jumps; another can detect radiation. While Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) helped develop the program on Android due to the operating system’s open platform, Apple’s hardware is apparently superior enough to warrant the switch, according to reports.
“When trying to run a split screen showing the route and UAS feed, the Android smart phone will freeze up and fail to refresh properly and often have to be restarted, a process that wastes valuable minutes,” DoDBuzz.com reported, citing its source.
Online tech blogs and Apple/Mac sites were abuzz with the news of the apparent switch this week.
Apple gear has been issued for use by the American military for years. In 2010, the U.S. Army gave soldiers iPods in Afghanistan and Iraq, equipping each with language modules for Iraqi Arabic, Kurdish, Dari, and Pashto. Further, in 2013, the Department of Defense suggested iOS 6 devices were safe to connect to Pentagon networks and to be used for low-level security clearance work. Before that, it used 470,000 BlackBerry devices, 41,000 Apple ones and 8,700 products running Android, according to Gizmodo.com.
The Army has not officially confirmed the switch.