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Located in a corner of the sprawling Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., is a command that few Marines probably have ever heard of, but which can acutely affect how many of them do their jobs or spend their leisure hours.
The command is the Marine Corps Network Operations and Security Center (MCNOSC), one of the more unusual Posts of the Corps.
What the MCNOSC does can impact the three-star commander of a Marine expeditionary force and his staff planning and conducting a major combat operation or a peacetime exercise. And it can determine the outcome of an off-duty enlisted Marine's attempt to send an e-mail to a family member or a friend.
"The MCNOSCs main mission is to direct the operation and defense of the Marine Corps' Enterprise Network [MCEN]," which is the Corps' primary data communications system, said Lieutenant Colonel Augusto "Gus" Cata, the MCNOSC executive officer.
Performing that mission can range from assisting a base's help desk in resolving a routine glitch in its Internet access to detecting and warding off a vicious cyber attack that could harm the entire network.
Sergeant Kevin Kelly, an enterprise management technician at the MCNOSC, handles the first kind of situation.
"We troubleshoot problems, [such as] people not able to log in, groups, bases not able to send e-mails," said Kelly, 22, from Weatherford, Texas. People with problems usually contact their local help desk, which may have to turn to MCNOSC, he said.
"Most problems we can fix remotely. We try to involve the local help desk so they get more experience, knowledge," he added.
Sgt Esther Parent works in MARCERT-the Marine Corps Computer Emergency Response Team - which deals with the network security issues.
"We have devices that monitor for the whole Marine Corps," said Parent, 24, of Irvona, Pa. "We're kind of the first response team. Once we see something, we act on it and report it."
Parent said what is exciting about her job is that "everything we do is different. It's not really routine day to day. That's the good thing about working here. It's always something new."
Kelly and Parent are two of the 160 Marines-139 enlisted and 21 officers-at the Quantico location. But they are outnumbered by the 113 civilian Marines...