21 May 2024

The Marine Unit Charged With Digitally Connecting Everything Over The Battlefield

JAMES DEBOER

The organizational structure of the United States Marine Corps' Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One (VMX-1) has mostly stayed the same since its creation in 2016. However, one big change came in 2020 with the creation of the Tactics and Integration Department (T&I). The birth of the department was the direct result of the planning guidance put forward by former Marine Commandant Berger, known as ‘Force Design 2030.’

To make Force Design 2030 happen, VMX-1 needed to make sure all Marine assets could communicate and fight together. The squadron was participating in several warfighting venues and ventures of future capability, but there was an assumption in the Marine Corps that everything was communicating on a level that was not necessarily true of reality. Former VMX-1 Commanding Officer Byron ‘Shrek’ Sullivan created the new department to absorb that integration mission and try to make those critical data connections where they did not already exist.

No comments: