Marines using cheap commercial tech to hide command posts in plain sight – By Sam Skove (Defense One) / Jan 5, 2024
Command posts must be survivable to be effective, one commander says.
Marines deploying to Asia for recent exercises learned to hide their command posts using local cell phone networks and other commercial tech, part of a growing push within the military to adapt to modern battlefields.
The Marines’ command posts, whose tell-tale radio emissions could give away their position to an enemy, were able to execute most tasks through “host-nation Wi-Fi,” Col. Thomas Siverts said in a press briefing Friday.
Siverts commands Marine Rotational Force – Southeast Asia, which deployed for the second time ever from September to December, training in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
The unit, modeled after other long-established Marine rotational forces, focuses on security cooperation with U.S. allies and partners, but can also respond to regional crises.
