II MEF Trains for Cyber Reconnaissance in High North

BODO, 18, NORWAY

03.31.2022

Story by Gunnery Sgt. Paris Capers 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

The value of Marine Corps Reconnaissance lies in stealthily entering potentially hostile territory, gathering information unobserved, and exiting a site while leaving no trace behind. While traditional Marine reconnaissance units are unlikely to ever lose their tried and true utility, a new force is proving to be as valuable to the service: Marine Corps cyber reconnaissance.

The Marines assigned to Defensive Cyber Operations-Internal Defensive Measures (DCO-IDM) Company within 8th Communication Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, ensure commanders within II Marine Expeditionary Force can access the information needed to make the best, most informed decisions in a dynamic security environment.

DCO-IDM Marines have the skills and tools to detect, deter and deny actions dangerous to II MEF, like unauthorized access, long before they register as a barrier to operations. During Exercise Cold Response 2022, they explore the peaks and valleys of tactical networks like the fjords of the high north.

“[Defensive Cyber Operations] is a threat based business,” said U.S. Marine Corps Major Kristofer Drake, a cyberspace officer currently serving as the commander of DCO-IDM Company. “We take on the perspective of an enemy and ask ‘What is [II MEF’s] biggest vulnerability?’ then we take the steps to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of those DOD information networks.”

Drake explained how he and his Marines operate as part of II MEF’s effects coordination center (ECC), which includes other Marines who work in the cognitive domain with specialties like electronic warfare and strategic communications. Working alongside these other functions, collectively known as information related capabilities, Drake and his Marines are able to tap into a multi-disciplinary stream of information to decide where their focus should be within the information network.

This is not dissimilar to how recon Marines operate in the physical domain, according to U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Brian Russell, who currently serves as the commanding officer of II MIG and the effects coordinator within the ECC. Russell asserts there are more similarities between the maneuver warfare of traditional forces and cyberspace maneuver performed by DCO Marines and others, despite it being a relatively new domain.

“What does cyberspace maneuver look like? It’s just a different type of terrain,” Russell said, explaining how concealed Marines scanning far off hillsides for enemy silhouettes in the physical world are mirrored by Marines scouring information nodes with electronic binoculars for signs and characteristics of adversary presence. “Say we think an adversary force might be at this location? Then we’d apply a reconnaissance asset to look at that. In this case, it happens to be a defensive cyber force.”

Not only are DCO-IDM Marines preventing adversarial influence on II MEF networks by taking and monitoring key terrain in cyberspace, according to Russell, but they continue to innovate and find new and unique ways to navigate, assess, deter and defend in the cyber domain.

“Marines are the original hackers,” Russell said, expanding on DCO Marines’ innate ability to find new and creative ways to use tools to achieve efficient and effective results.

Drake mirrored Russell’s sentiment, and spoke from his own experiences at DCO-IDM Company about why Marines considering a change of military operational specialty (MOS).

“The way [DCO-IDM] company at II MEF has engaged with joint services, Allies and partners sets us apart from other cyberspace units in the Marine Corps,” Drake said. “If [a Marine] is interested in serving in an operational occupational specialty, [Defensive Cyber Operations] is a great opportunity. You’re providing a capability to the commander that is very much a maneuver force and operational in nature, from cradle to grave.”

• Date Taken: 03.31.2022
• Date Posted: 04.01.2022 10:39
• Story ID: 417535
• Location: BODO, 18, NO