CAS - Marine Corps Association

Ideas & Issues (avIatIon)
CAS
KILSWITCH and the way ahead
by Capt Travis “Shak” Barksdale
I
n response to emerging threats
to American security interests on
the continent of Africa, the Marine Corps has defned a regional
requirement for crisis response (CR) and
assigned a special purpose MAGTF (SPMAGTF) to execute the mission. The
development of this new force is consistent with the Commandant’s planning
guidance to restructure in order to better execute the Corps’ role as the Nation’s expeditionary force-in-readiness.
Aptly identifed as “SPMAGTF-CR,”
this new force is currently forward
deployed at a staging site to facilitate
a response to any crisis within Africa
Command (AfriCom).
Based in Moron, Spain, SPMAGTFCR is structured with a ground combat
element (GCE) composed of an infantry company landing team as well as an
aviation combat element equipped with
MV–22 Osprey and KC–130J Hercules
aircraft. The force can be directly tasked
by the AfriCom commander to execute
any contingency operation on the continent, but the focus of the force’s readiness
is on embassy reinforcement and tactical
recovery of personnel mission sets.
Because the Marine Corps did not
have any existing permanent force structure in Africa, SPMAGTF-CR operated
in a thoroughly austere environment
during the establishment and execution
of operations on the continent. The conditions were compounded by the geographic size of the area of responsibility
and the socioeconomic conditions of
objective locations. Each of the planned
CR sites for which the SPMAGTF was
responsible lacked infrastructure and
resources that could be used to facilitate
the execution of the warfghting functions (most notably command and control (C2), fres, and intelligence) such as
those available in historic or established
military environments. Following a de34
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>At the time of this writing, Capt Barksdale was the Air Offcer, 2d Recon. While
deployed with SPMAGTF-CR, he served as the air offcer for the CR contingency
and as the forward air controller, B Company, 2d Recon, SPMAGTF-CR GCE.
cade of protracted counterinsurgency
warfare in the mature support environments of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM, working in
the austere conditions of Africa forced
the SPMAGTF staff to reexamine the
suitability of current tactics, techniques,
and procedures (TTP) for the execution of the CR mission (most notably
the contemporary TTP utilized for C2,
which were identifed as inadequate to
support operations).
KILSWITCH logo. (Image provided by author.)
While serving as SPMAGTF-CR’s
air offcer, I recognized that the Marine
Corps has become accustomed to the
Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and
IRAQI FREEDOM infrastructure of a
forward operating base centrally located
within an area of operations (AO), such
as in Ramadi, Iraq, or Marjah, Afghanistan, and that resultantly the force has
come to rely on conventional forces con-
ducting operations within a consistent,
accessible range from the forward operating base’s resources. Lacking such
infrastructure and resources to support
CR missions, SPMAGTF-CR developed a “hub-and-spoke” concept. Using
this concept, the SPMAGTF establishes
a hub, or staging base, from which the
command element operates; currently
the hub is Moron, Spain. Then, when
required, the SPMAGTF will move
the response force forward to spokes,
or other supportable locations (such as
Sigonella, Italy), where it will posture
for an undetermined amount of time
and be prepared to respond to or defend
against a crisis in its assigned AO such
as Libya. Depending on the mission
and threat, the response force can vary
in size from a platoon to a company
(plus enablers). In order to implement
and execute this concept, the questions
we had to answer were as follows: How
do we work long-range communications? How do we, as a fghting force,
conduct C2 deep within the African
continent from places such as Moron
or Sigonella? How, from an over-thehorizon location, does one control close
air support (CAS) and intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance assets
while effectively battle-tracking friendly
forces in an objective area hundreds or
even thousands of nautical miles away?
Conversely, what is the best way for a
response force on the ground, in an austere environment, to have the highest
situational awareness of the battlefeld
and be able to execute sound, informed
Marine Corps Gazette • July 2014
tactics effciently while lacking robust
and/or reliable communications with
higher headquarters? Our answer for
a majority of this, with the exception
of long-range communications, was to
use Android operating system tablets
and a software application called Kinetic Integration Lightweight Software
Individual Tactical Combat Handheld
(KILSWITCH).
Government developed and owned,
Digital Precision Strike Suite’s (DPSS’s)
KILSWITCH was created specifcally
for joint terminal attack controllers
(JTACs), forward air controllers (airborne), and CAS aircrew. The core of
the software is a touch interface digital map engine with mission-specifc
tools. By capitalizing on the form factor
and function of Android mobile computing devices (phones and tablets),
KILSWITCH offers JTACs, aircrew,
and small unit leaders many of the mission planning and execution capabilities that were only available with the
use of more robust combat operations
center computer systems. Some of the
features that were of the greatest use to
the SPMAGTF-CR operators include
the following:
• Rapid display of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) map
and imagery data (in organic Department of Defense formats) within a
GPS-enabled moving map display.
This capability facilitates the exploitation and operational use of NGA
geospatial intelligence at the lowest
tactical level.
• Easy generation of precise location
and elevation data for any imagery
signifcant feature, to include targets.1
• Ability to seamlessly search and
scroll Marine Corps Intelligence Activity–developed compound maps or
gridded reference graphics (GRGs) by
sheet, sector, and compound.
The software operates on any computer, tablet or smartphone utilizing
the Android 3.2 (or newer) operating
system. Subsequently, when operated
on 7- and 5-inch devices, the capability
is compact enough to ft on a Marine
aviator’s kneeboard inside a cockpit
or inside the cargo pocket or dump
pouch of a Marine operating on the
ground.
Marine Corps Gazette • July 2014
The view from the Embassy. (Photo by author.)
As a member of 2d Reconnaissance
Battalion (2d Recon), I was exposed
to the KILSWITCH software during a predeployment training exercise.
An instructor from Marine Aviation
Weapons and Tactics Squadron One
(MAWTS–1) Air Offcer Department
(AOD) was evaluating the software for
planning and execution. I discovered
that MAWTS–1 is partnered with Naval Air Systems Command’s DPSS (the
KILSWITCH was created specifcally for joint
terminal attack controllers.
software’s creator) program in order to
develop and evaluate emerging tactical
software tools for JTACs and aircrew.
The DPSS program also created and
maintains the precision targeting software called Precision Strike Suite–Special Operations Forces, which is a used
extensively by JTACs and fre support
personnel in the U.S. Services and coalition militaries. For over 10 years, the
DPSS program has been supporting the
Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Army,
and Special Operations Command fre
support communities with imagery and
targeting software.
After a half-day’s exposure to the
software, I coordinated to personally
use a KILSWITCH tablet for the duration of my training exercise. I immediately recognized that the tool could
be useful not only to JTACs, but to
other members of 2d Recon as well.
Subsequently, I briefed my command
on the capability and gained approval
to attempt an open purchase of tablets
in order to equip our reconnaissance
company in support of our deployment
as the GCE for SPMAGTF-CR. After
a challenging and lengthy administrative process, I was able to purchase 20
commercial, off-the-shelf Android tablets, 10 of which would be taken on
deployment for operational use, with
the remaining 10 allocated to the battalion for training in the United States. I
coordinated with MAWTS–1 AOD and
the DPSS program for some hardware
recommendations and basic training on
how to maintain the software, as well
as how to instruct the members of my
company on the their use.
B Company, 2d Recon, as the company landing team for SPMAGTF-CR, deployed with 10 KILSWITCH-equipped
Android tablets. The SPMAGTF did
not deploy to a mature operating environment with a standing combat operations center and associated systems.
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Ideas & Issues (avIatIon)
The streets of Tripoli. (Photo by author.)
As a result, KILSWITCH immediately proved useful because it offered
us an effective way to execute precise
battle-tracking and facilitate C2 operations. More specifcally, KILSWITCH
provided a standardized means for
SPMAGTF-CR operators to rapidly
and accurately plan. They were able
to derive coordinates for contingency
sites, compounds, airfelds, and various
named areas of interest with the precision necessary to support execution.
The software allowed us to overlay infltration and exfltration routes as well
as accurate landing zones for various
Department of Defense aircraft.
When I arrived in Libya, I was dumbfounded when I found out that that, between the Embassy, the regional affairs
offce, and other government agencies,
everyone was operating with different
versions of GRGs that they had individually developed. As an operator on
the ground and aviator who has fown
in combat, seeing multiple nonstandard
GRGs for a single location alarmed me.
The variety of products, imagery, and
formats could and would likely result
in confusion. The solution was a single,
standardized product for each location
that could easily be distributed to all
agencies.
After communicating with all of
the players in the AO and expressing my desire to create a standardized
product, I immediately reached out to
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MAWTS–1 for help. After contacting
the AOD, it was clear that MAWTS–1
was eager to help support our mission.
Through the AOD and the Intelligence
Department at MAWTS–1, CR was
able to rapidly create unclassifed, offcial-use-only, standardized GRGs that
were distributed to all players in the
Libya AO. Electronic versions of these
GRGs were also loaded and displayed
with KILSWITCH on our Android
tablets, allowing us to operate in the
Now that we had a
standardized tactical
graphic (GRG) for all
players to use. . . .
austere Libyan environment. Within 2
weeks, SPMAGTF-CR had implemented standardized GRGs that described
the Libyan areas of interest by sector,
subsector, and compound. This ensured
that all supporting aviation units and
aircrew, to include those in the United
Kingdom and Italy, could tactically
communicate effciently if and when
air cover was needed.
Distribution of the GRGs was one
of the most challenging and critical
tasks executed in order to integrate CR
mission support. Because of the geographically dispersed locations of the
joint forces supporting the SPMAGTF,
it was essential to make sure that standardized products were distributed to
all agencies in the battlespace, as well
as the higher echelon Marine and joint
commands. These commands included,
but were not limited to, AfriCom, Marine Forces Africa, Special Operations
Command Africa; Air Operations Center, Theater Special Operations Command; the fghter wings in England
and Italy; and the U.S. Air Force rescue squadron and pararescue jumpers.
The unclassifed GRGs were created
based on the historical precedent set
by Marine Corps Intelligence Activity
in its development and distribution of
unclassifed GRGs to support Marine
and joint forces in Helmand Province,
Afghanistan. These unclassifed GRGs
were ideal because of the lack of Secret
Internet Protocol network access across
the spectrum. To further facilitate this
process, MAWTS–1 and DPSS delivered to CR additional Android tablets
(with the KILSWITCH application and
GRGs) to be disseminated to all supporting agencies on the ground until
they could acquire their own assets.
Overall, the KILSWITCH software
and standardized GRGs improved the
Marines’ ability to integrate with all
other supporting agencies and execute
the CR mission in Libya.
Now that we had a standardized
tactical graphic (GRG) for all players
to use, it was imperative that we had
the ability to rapidly employ them in
austere conditions. The demands of
the CR mission required the management of many different map sheets for
a single AO; again the Android tablet
and KILSWITCH were used to manage
all of the data. Having the ability to be
foot or vehicle mobile and in seconds,
with the touch of a fnger, pull up a specifc compound in a specifc sector with
accurate targeting data, all the while
looking at the GRG electronically, was
an unmatched capability.
Several operators from Special Operations Command and other government agencies currently use a variant
of the KILSWITCH software called
Android–Precision Assault Strike Suite,
Marine Corps Gazette • July 2014
which was developed by DPSS in cooperation with the Navy’s special warfare
community. This version of the software
was in use by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation’s (FBI’s) hostage rescue
team in the United States. While coordinating with FBI members in Libya,
the agents noticed the Marines’ use of
KILSWITCH software and GRGs, and
discussed their familiarity. In order to
improve integration between agencies,
we coordinated for devices, and they,
as well as other supporting agencies,
began using the software. For the FBI
and other government agencies, the
newly created GRGs combined with
KILSWITCH provided an effcient
way to investigate and report suspicious activity in the vicinity of shared
objectives in a fashion not yet seen in
the AO. This is the same capability our
Marines currently have on the ground
and the same capability that other government agencies now possess because
of the team effort and collaboration
across the board.
In summary, KILSWITCH and
Android tablets increased our operational capability and minimized execution timelines. The GRG served and
continues to serve as a single-source
graphical language that facilitates the
integration of geographically separated
joint assets during the execution of the
CR mission in Africa. When combined
with standardized products like the
GRGs, the battlespace becomes much
easier to maneuver through in a fuid
and dynamic setting. I encourage all
units across the Department of Defense
and other government agencies to use
KILSWITCH, especially when working
in isolated environments that do not
possess the tactical footprint or reachback in the way of a higher command
under which we are doctrinally used to
operating.
Note
1. KILSWITCH software is being submitted
to the NGA to evaluate its capability to generate Category I target location error coordinates
using precision fres images.
Marine Corps Gazette • July 2014
Using KILSWITCH. (Photo by author.)
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