Page:SASC Iraq OIF Decker April 2004.pdf/2

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.

UNCLASSIFIED

(U) Statement For The Record

(U) Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee for requesting Marine Corps participation in this hearing on our intelligence programs and lessons learned from recent military operations. It is an honor to be here to discuss Marine Corps Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) programs funded by Tactical Intelligence and Related Activities (TIARA) funding and the Joint Military Intelligence Program (JMIP).

(U) During this past year, the Marine Corps, both active and reserve, engaged in operations around the globe. Our successes in executing Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare (EMW) depended on our Marine Air Ground Task Forces (MAGTFs) having a reach-back capability to leverage and populate theater, service and national intelligence repositories, while maintaining a tactically self-sufficient ISR network to support forward MAGTF fire and maneuver. We fund our ISR systems, generally referred to as the Marine Air Ground Intelligence System (MAGIS), in TIARA because although networked and joint enabling, they are integral to our tactical combat command elements and maneuver units.

(U) Marine Corps ISR exists to support EMW and, specifically, the commander’s planning, decision-making, and execution. Our previous Marine ISR modernization efforts emphasized increased collection and analytical capability at the maneuver level of command and reach-back support from theater, service and national organizations. We have sought, and we continue to seek, to transform how we fight by providing unprecedented ISR capability and access to all of our combat echelons--from our small units such as companies all the way to the

1

UNCLASSIFIED