ARLINGTON, Va.—Looking out at his audience of U.S. Marines and Department of Defense science and technology (S&T) professionals, Assistant Vice Chief of Naval Research Col. Russell Rybka said, “I’m not a scientist or engineer. I’m just a simple Cobra [helicopter] pilot.
“However, I’m blessed to work with some of the brightest S&T minds at the Office of Naval Research [ONR] — people who provide the Marine Corps with the expertise and capabilities needed to sustain our readiness and lethality.”
Rybka, Vice Chief of Naval Research (VCNR) Brig. Gen. Simon Doran and other ONR leaders gave remarks during Modern Day Marine, held April 29-May 1 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Modern Day Marine is the largest military equipment, systems, services and technology exposition exclusively targeted to the Marine Corps.
ONR hosted several exhibits at the expo, showcasing how the command helps the Marine Corps achieve mission success in an increasingly complex military landscape.
This included a display of the ONR Global TechSolutions-sponsored Virtual Bridge and Nautical Trainer (VIBRaNT) system — which is designed to serve as a portable, virtual training tool for surface warfare officers and ship bridge crews.
Rybka’s talk was titled “Equipping Today’s Warfighter with Tomorrow’s Technology.”
Rybka outlined ONR’s mission, structure and the types of research it supports. He also highlighted its Expeditionary Portfolio, which delivers capabilities to Marines and Naval expeditionary forces, as well as ONR’s strong connection to the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL).
“ONR is in the business of solving hard problems through science,” said Rybka, “problems requiring intellectual rigor and a commitment to strengthening the Marine Corps and Navy as a whole.”
VCNR Doran participated in two speaking engagements.
The first was titled “30 Years of Innovation and Modernization,” which discussed how the Marine Corps must continually evolve given the changing global balance of military capabilities, a proliferation of emerging technologies and a growing assertiveness among the nation's strategic competitors. To address these core challenges, MCWL — which is celebrating its 30th anniversary — guides a process of innovation through concept development, experimentation, prototyping, research, analysis and wargaming.
Doran — who, in addition to his ONR duties, serves as MCWL’s commanding general as well as the Marine Corps’ Executive Agent for S&T — also participated in a panel titled “Requirements, Experimentation and Acquisitions.” This event spotlighted current initiatives driving force design, capability development and acquisition priorities, highlighting opportunities for industry collaboration in equipping the future force.
“MCWL, often in partnership with ONR, looks at what capabilities the future force may need — based upon potential adversaries — to develop what we can from science and technology using modeling and simulation, wargaming and experimentation throughout the Marine force as well as with our allies and partners,” said Doran. “We are the fusion and innovation engine for the Marine Corps.”
Finally, ONR Global TechSolutions Director Jason Payne addressed attendees during a presentation titled “Marines Ask, TechSolutions Builds.”
Payne outlined the mission of TechSolutions, which sponsors the development of rapid prototype solutions based on direct requests from Sailors and Marines, usually within 12 months.
He described how Marines could connect with TechSolutions to submit ideas and suggestions, provided an overview of how TechSolutions works with naval laboratories and warfare centers, cited examples of recent success stories, and encouraged attendees to learn more by visiting https://www.onr.navy.mil/Techsolutions.
“Our focus is developing technology to satisfy requests from Sailors and Marines,” said Payne. “We turn their ideas into prototype solutions to increase their mission effectiveness and Force lethality.”
Warren Duffie Jr. is a contractor for ONR Corporate Strategic Communications.