United States Marine Corps: Ground Sensor Platoon

History
Situational awareness is essential to military operations and it provides information that makes infantry units able to out maneuver his enemy. One of the Fundamental ways for ground units to attain this information outside of friendly lines is by employing listening and observation post (LP/OPs). These positions require not special training and are usually conducted by riflemen in an infantry platoon. This emplacement when used in a defensive position provides view points to beyond the units bivouac area and gives early warning to advancing enemy troops. In addition, these post can be also utilized in offensive operations by incorporating them on the flanks of an ambush position,vehicle checkpoints, and counter improvised explosive device operations (C-IED). The issue of deploying an LP/OP is that you give up personnel limiting your overall manpower and cutting down your fields of fire for your unit. In addition, they are cut off from the rest of the unit leaving them exposed and vulnerable to being killed or becoming a prisoner of war. The incorporation of remote sensors gave units their full strength back and limited battlefield casualties.

In 1966 by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara established the Defense Communications Planning Group (DCPG) in order to monitor the movements of troops and material from North to South Vietnam. In October of that same year the United States Navy tasked the DCPG to develop a remote sensor system to be used in Vietnam. These remote sensors would be used by the Air Force to conduct strikes on active enemy targets and support for Marines at Khe Sanh. The success of using remote sensors had at Khe Sanh, influenced the United States Marine Corps to create the sensor control and management platoons (SCAMPs) that fell under the G-2 intelligence division. Their mission was to provide and employ remote sensor equipment in an area of operations in order to support surveillance and contingency operations. Furthermore, remote sensors decrease the number of personnel used for monitoring, record movements of men and material, and reduce the risk of being detected while conducting surveillance.

Currently the their mission has stayed the same, however, the name of the unit has changed and is now currently called ground sensor platoons (GSPs). Ground sensor platoons are attached to the I,II, and III Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEFs) operate with three sensor employment squads (SESs) and an additional two sensor employment teams (SETs) consisting of four to five marines in support of the 1st and 2nd MEF. Furthermore, the 3rd MEF only operates with two squads with no SETs available for deployment. GSP marines are infantrymen and radio operators that have been formally trained in: Furthermore, they attend a 7-week Sensor Surveillance Operators Course (SSOC) at the Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center (NMCITC) in Denmark, Virginia. The main objective of the GSP is to employ tactical remote sensor systems (TRSS) that consist of ground sensors, retransmission devices, and sensor monitoring equipment that provides real time monitoring of the area of operations. The deployment of these sensors outside of friendly lines in the area of operations provides maximum reaction times for ground forces. Sensors that are placed in targeting mode are deployed along key enemy lines of communications or areas of interest to sensor activity and locate targets. In addition, sensors are activated by seismic, magnetic, infrared, or optical detectors of moving targets. These sensors are transmitted by FM radio relays to the operators monitoring equipment that determine location, direction, and speed of movement of targets. Furthermore, operators are able to determine the number of vehicles or personnel and a general identification of the types of targets, depending on the types of sensors they have deployed. Once the intelligence is gathered, it is sent to intelligence analyst as sensor reports and fire support agencies for documentation.
 * Intelligence
 * Mapping
 * Equipment
 * Planning
 * Monitoring
 * Reporting
 * Emplacement techniques

Remote Sensor Applications
 General Surveillance:  Sensors are deployed to give general information of the enemy by providing enemy strength, scheme of maneuver, area of interests, and insertion positions in the battlefield.

 Early Warning:  Sensors provide early warning of enemy movement and cover the flanks of forward units. Furthermore, they limit the reaction time of friendly units make them able to out maneuver enemy forces giving them the upper hand in combat.

 Target Acquisition:  Sensors are deployed along key areas of enemy communications in order to intercept their activities providing target locations. However, sensors can not determine between civilian, friendly, and enemy communications so they must be incorporated with another form of surveillance equipment. Once the target has been confirmed by multiple sources it can be tracked and monitored throughout the battlespace.

Capabilities of Remote Sensors
 Remote Surveillance:  Provides extended surveillance without deploying personnel outside of friendly lines. By using relays systems to maintain a line of side with the area of interest, surveillance can be gathered on enemy activity up to one hundred miles away. This gives the MAGTF command the ability to utilize his reconnaissance assets for other critical tasks at hand.

 Target Detection and Classification: 

Remote sensors can confirm or deny activity along with the type and volume of enemy movement in the area of operations of forward infantry units. These sensors provide general type, location, direction, and the speed of acquired targets,however, the degree of detail is based off of the sensors used and the proficiency of the GSP operator monitoring the information.

 Near Real-time Reporting: 

The automated sensors reports near real-time activity within the area of operations and can generate a sensor report within minutes of the transmissions activation.

 Continuous Operations: 

Remote sensors operate 24 hours a day and can last up to 30 days, while the relay system can last up to 45 day in the field. The battery life is the primary factor of these sensors, the life of these sensors is based on the amount of activations and transmissions they send along with weather conditions and other environmental factors.

 Stealth: 

Properly emplaced remote sensors are extremely difficult to detect. Built-in electronic countermeasures also make electronic detection and countermeasures against remote sensors unlikely. To enhance system security, individual sensors contain an alarm circuit which notifies the monitoring station if the sensor is tampered with.

Tactical Remote Sensor Systems
Tactical Remote Sensor Systems (TRSS) are directed dictated by the task organization and table of equipment document (TO/TE), was a MEF intelligence asset and therefore very difficult to utilize at the small unit tactical level given that there were only 6 TRSS systems allocated per MEF. According to the Marine Corps Global Combat Support System (GCSS), one system cost $1,020,847.30. Equipment in a sensor set consisted of both a vehicle monitoring system (A2306) and unattended ground sensors (A3255). Each TRSS unit consists of 24 Seismic Intrusion Detectors (SID), 24 Infrared Intrusion Detectors (IRID), 24 Air-Delivered Seismic Intrusion Detectors (ADSID), four portable monitors, and one Sensor Mobile Monitoring System (SMMS).

 Seismic Intrusion Detectors:  The seismic intrusion detector (SID) is the basic detector. A seismic geophone on the SID monitors and detects ground vibrations caused by personnel or vehicles passing by the emplaced sensor. This sensor can monitor personnel up to 25 meters and vehicles as far as 100 meters, however, the detection radius is effected by the soil types, but it can be calibrated to specific environments.

 Magnetic: 

Magnetic sensors are used to distinguish between personnel and vehicles. They detect the disturbances of magnetic fields surrounding the sensors due to presence of metals. Furthermore, they can detect directions of movement based on the disruption of the magnetic field and can detect personnel up to 3 meters and vehicles up to 25 meters.

 Infrared: 

Infrared sensors is another type of sensor that is used by GSP operators to count the number of personnel and vehicles that move through a sensor string in an area of operations. These sense ambient temperature changes caused by movement through it field of view and can also determine the direction of moving objects. Furthermore, the range of detection of personnel is up to 15 meters with a range of vehicle detection at 100 meters. The must be placed above ground with a unobstructed field of view.

Encoder Transmitter Unites
Transmitters are used to send information back to the GSP operators monitoring device. The are used with all three types of hand deployed sensors, but two can only be attached at one time. These transmitters are programed to use one of the 599 available VHF radio channels and can not be changed without recovering the device. Furthermore, these transmitter periodically transmit messages to confirm proper operating status and a encrypted messages to confirm they have not been tampered with.

 Relays: 

Relay systems provide line of sight communications connectivity between sensors and monitoring sites, extending the range of the tactical remote sensing systems. The relays systems that the GSP use consist of a receiver/transmitter, control circuitry, power source, and antenna. Furthermore, they can be programmed to store data or report real time information back to command elements that are able to change operating modes remotely using VHF.

Monitoring Equipment
Monitoring equipment receives the data that the sensors and relays pickup and generates an automated sensor report. These reports are verified by GSP operators and then distributed to the appropriate agency. There are two types of monitoring systems that TRSS use, one is a mobile monitoring system and the other being portable monitors. Both of these monitoring systems can receive, decode, and display sensor data.

 Sensor Mobile Monitoring System: 

This monitoring system provides reporting capabilities that can store, process, display, and report data from sensor activity. This sensor system is self contained and mounted on back of a HMMWV for monitoring and processing. Furthermore, this platform has two workstations, that can each provide monitoring up to 504 sensors. Each individual workstation can be displaced to monitor sensor data in standalone mode and can be monitored from remote locations.

 Portable Monitors: 

These are handheld receive/display units that decodes and displays sensor identification code transmissions. The primarily used to check field monitors and perform operational checks at the sensors implant site. However, it can be used to monitor sensor activations on a limited basis, but the data received must be monitored manually.