CHARLESTON, S.C. — Dozens of engineers from Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic recently returned from Bold Quest Island Marauder 2023 at Camp Pendleton, California, after a month of developing technology experiments that tested and assessed the interoperability of combined joint force systems.

While Island Marauder is traditionally a Marine Corps exercise and Bold Quest a Joint Staff J6-led multinational event, this year’s iteration combined the two series to help participants push the limits on naval and joint integration.

NIWC Atlantic leaders said the experimentation directly supported Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2, a concept largely known as JADC2 but that often includes “combined” to underscore U.S. allies and partners of the joint force.

“Bold Quest Island Marauder demonstrated our enduring commitment to allies and partners as well as our warfighters and their ability to generate and share data across many systems, domains and the combined joint force — a key component of integrated deterrence” said Capt. Nicole Nigro, NIWC Atlantic commanding officer.

Considered a high-priority Department of Defense strategy, CJADC2 aims to connect all assets an
d sensors across sea, land, air, space and cyber into one global “sensor to shooter” network that delivers a decision advantage to commanders on the ground.

More than 1,500 members of the U.S. military and 17 partner nations participated in Bold Quest Island Marauder 2023, which included multiple live-fire demonstrations for distinguished visitors and observers, according to Andrew Mitchell, NIWC Atlantic’s lead engineer for Island Marauder.

Mitchell works under the command’s expeditionary warfare department, which provides technical expertise for many Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) technologies. Ashlee Landreth, who leads the department, and Peter C. Reddy, executive director of NIWC Atlantic, both attended Bold Quest Island Marauder in late September.

Mitchell said NIWC Atlantic teams set up operations inside the Battle Simulation Center during the event to help synchronize a notional Marine Air Ground Task Force element on ranges across Camp Pendleton and San Clemente Island with coalition intelligence and actions feeding joint fires missions.

MCSC programs integrated into the lab and field environment constructs of the demonstration included GCCS Tactical Combat Operations, Joint Tactical Common Operational Picture Workstation, Networking on the Move, Distributed Common Ground System - Marine Corps, Tactical Systems Oriented Architecture and the MAGTF Common Handheld.

A similar event is being planned to occur in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, next year.

Story originally posted on DVIDS