26 U.S. MARINES IN THE PERSIAN GULF, 1990-1991 been impressed by the U.S. Army's use of teams of laser-designating Bell 011-58 Kiowa scout and Hughes AH-64 Apache attack helicopters as independent maneuver elements against armored and mechanized forces in training. Airborne laser designation for the force's Hellfire anti-armor missiles was not yet a Marine Corps capability. Although Task Force Cunningham demonstrated a new concept, it was difficult to move the unit around in the defense during the exercise, and even more so on the offense. The added command element complicated air tasking procedures as well, especially for the control of fixed wing aircraft. In the end, the consensus of commanders and staff was that the scheme limited the amount of air Support that ground commanders could draw upon, and that it was better to keep helicopter assets in general support for more flexibility. On the other hand, Kurth was later inspired to place ground laser designation gear aboard some of 3d Marine Aircraft Wing's Bell Ull-iN Huey helicopters to give his Hellfire-equipped Sea Cobras added capability.18 Phase IV was primarily NavCent cross training and Phase V was a critique and discussion of lessons learned. Imminent Thunder's main issues centered on air and communications issues. In the joint air control arena, there was a need for closer coordination and refinement of aircraft control and use. Some of these lessons would not be fully appreciated until after the commencement of hostilities two months later. Imminent Thunder also revealed the difficult and complex state of communications. As fortune would have it, 1990 was a transition year for Marine Corps communications. For I MEF's chief communicator, Colonel Robert G. Hill, the assistant chief of staff G-6 for communications and computers, the exercise, and indeed the entire Gulf operation, was a constant scramble to balance scarce equipment against the needs of a force spread far beyond the distances specified in doctrine. For example, although computer-compatible, high-speed digital switching equipment was replacing older analog switching gear, both types were stilt in service. This complicated the interface or "connectivity" of the two systems both internally and with the outside. Within the force, there was great reliance on voice communications conducted via venerable workhorse high (HF) and very high frequency (VHF) radio. High frequency suffered from its traditional problems of fading and noise while VHF was limited to line-of-site ranges. Digital secure voice telephones (DSVT-68) were in use, but demand exceeded supplies. Some of Hill's enterprising subordinates partially made up the shortfall by stripping secure executive telephones, General Electric STU Ills, from offices in the U.S. and wiring them into the Saudi international telephone system. The clarity of this secure secondary network was actually better than the primary military Autovon link. The exercise also proved the worth of the latest technology. The linkup of computers through local and wide area networks, man-pack AN/LST-5 satellite communication (SatCom), and encrypted facsimile (secure FAX) all functioned well. To solve the problem of navigating on a featureless desert, the hand-held Hughes Position Locating and Reporting System (PLRS) gave users a preciseFirst Page | Prev Page | Next Page | Src Image |