Courtesy Photo | Commander Weerakamon Suanchan, operations planner, Royal Thai Marine Corps, addresses...... read more read more
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SATTAHIP, Thailand – Pacific Marines with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC) and III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF), along with members of the Royal Thai Marine Corps (RTMC) and Navy (RTN), participated in a cybersecurity subject matter expert exchange (SMEE) from February 19-23, 2024.
Leaders and experts in cyber and communications operations from both RTMC and U.S. Marine Corps units shared experiences, tactics, techniques, and procedures for defensive operations in a command, control, communications, and computers (C4) environment.
“I would like to highlight the positive attributes of this first iteration of the SMEE program,” said U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Matthew Wampler, transmissions systems operator, 3rd Marine Division, reflecting on the exchange. “As a radio operator, it isn’t foreign practice to participate in joint training exercises with NATO and non-NATO partners in their home countries. We are especially lucky in III MEF to have a scope that encompasses a large variety of countries that exercise truly intelligent methods of radio communications in austere environments.”
The event focused on defensive cyber operations, increasing C4 interoperability of U.S. forces and Thai partners, and strengthening mutual interests in the region.
Adding to this sentiment, U.S. Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Byron Pimentel, G-6 chief with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, emphasized the strategic importance of such collaborations. “MARFORPAC G-6/G-39 regularly establishes various C4 and cybersecurity SMEEs with Allies and partners across U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s area of responsibility. Our goal is to continue building partner capacity and strengthening relationships to assure command and control (C2), generate effects, and close kill chains.”
Throughout the exchange, MARFORPAC cyber and C4 collaborated with their RTMC counterparts on various aspects of cyber architecture, tactical communications concepts, cyber threat intelligence, and electromagnetic spectrum operations.
“Being able to sit knee to knee with the Royal Thai Marine Corps radio operators outside of an exercise was an outstanding experience to bolster ties at the non-commissioned officer level and share skills and experiences from exercises and operations around the globe,” said Wampler.
Subject matter experts from both militaries trained on cyber incident response and active defense to further fortify cybersecurity measures.
Furthermore, the exchange served as a venue to identify areas of future cooperation with foreign partners across the area of responsibility as well as developing cyber capabilities, competencies, and capacity within the RTMC cyber workforce.
“Having this unique experience for both the Marine Corps and RTMC only sets the stage for further engagement while strengthening a relationship that can transcend the turnover rate that both organizations bring to bear. I look forward to watching future Marines join the Royal Thai Marines through training and educating in an ever-changing communications environment,” said Wampler.
The active participation and communication efforts between Pacific Marines and Royal Thai counterparts represents a crucial step forward in advancing defensive cyber operations and reinforcing regional security and stability.
U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific is the largest operational command in the Marine Corps and the Nation’s expeditionary force-in-readiness in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Marines serve alongside the joint force and like-minded Allies and partners to preserve and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
| Date Taken: | 03.20.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.20.2024 19:49 |
| Story ID: | 466699 |
| Location: | SATTAHIP, TH |
| Web Views: | 173 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Strengthening Cybersecurity Cooperation in the Pacific, by 1LT Shannon ONeill, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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