mand and control, not only on the hardware and associated systems. This is an essential step, because the Marine Corps cannot execute Ship-to-Objective Maneuver as envisioned with currently planned command and control information technology capabilities.

In the past, the Navy and Marine Corps have aligned their concepts selectively. Several advanced warfighting concepts—such as the Concept for Future Naval Mine Countermeasures in Littoral Power Projection and the 1998 concept Sea-Based Logistics—have been developed, signed, and published jointly by the Commander, Navy Warfare Doctrine Command, and the Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command. For the future, to ensure that both Services continue along the prescribed path of the Naval Transformation Roadmap together, permanent reciprocal billets have been established and filled at both the NWDC and the MCCDC. Two key positions have been given responsibility for two assignments: that of the CG, MCWL, as the Vice Chief of Naval Research; and that of the Chief of Naval Research as the Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources on the Marine Corps staff. Such reciprocity is intended to solidify the collaboration of both Services in their work toward naval transformation.

There are numerous examples of combined efforts of the Navy and the Marine Corps in experimentation. The numbered fleet commanders normally conduct FBEs, usually in conjunction with training exercises (e.g., Kernel Blitz), AWEs, or carrier strike group (CSG) or ship or unit certification events. The Navy and Marine Corps each have training, certification, or experimental objectives in combined FBEs and exercises. During FBEs, the majority of the experimental objectives are Navy objectives. During AWEs the majority of the experimental objectives are Marine Corps objectives. Due to the large number of assets required and the operational and personnel tempo of units and people,³⁰ both Services frequently align various experimentation objectives with advanced warfighting concepts and near-term operational requirements.

Many of the FBEs have involved the efforts of both Services. Several Marine Corps experimental objectives were included and worked on as part of Navy FBEs and, in turn, several Navy objectives were included in Marine Corps AWEs, but in neither case were these objectives highlighted in the list of objectives appearing in the descriptions of the larger-scale experiments. These were primarily LOEs and LTAs. One such example addressed the long-term problem associ-