New Content Distribution System for US Marines

New Content Distribution System for US Marines

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Marine Corps public affairs officials have developed a new method to get breaking news to the masses. The Public Affairs Live Media Engagement System (PALMES) is smaller and lighter than its predecessor system, with more reliable connectivity. The Marine Corps has authorized the deployment of 25 such units among its expeditionary forces.

“We want to get content out there as soon as possible to the public who wants it, and today people want news immediately,” said Staff Sgt. Charles McKelvey, public affairs systems program analyst at Marine Corps Systems Command, which developed PALMES.

According to c4isrnet, the new system costs $100,000 less than the previous system and is yet considerably more capable.

“In public affairs, our job is to communicate, and the internet is how we do that today,” McKelvey said. With that connectivity, communications teams have ready access to social media, a key ingredient in the present public affairs mix.

PALMES also offers a more portable alternative. A single Marine can set up the system in less than 10 minutes, explained Capt. Kenneth Kunze, a project officer at Marine Corps System Command, where it typically took three to four people an average of one hour to put together the previously used system.

Internet connectivity via satellite also makes it easier to push out live, streaming video, a capability that has been sorely lacking. Prior to PALMES, video from Iraq or elsewhere in the field had to be fed to the Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System for global distribution. Sometimes this could delay distribution by days.

PALMES also offers a more streamlined hardware package. “The complete system in its transit case weighs 100 pounds and it is completely checkable on commercial air,” McKelvey said. The system consists of a wireless microphone, video camcorder, video encoder and a ground satellite terminal. The collapsible satellite dish can be transported in a 40-pound backpack. The previous system (PANLS) was four to five times heavier.

The Marine Corps also is working with the Defense Information Systems Agency to develop a virtual private network (VPN) that would allow public affairs professionals to distribute video direct to the commercial sector, without having to go through the security checkpoints that can slow traffic in military networks.

“If we go into the regular government network, the level of access control makes it difficult to push live video: The firewalls stop us from pushing a live broadcast to commercial television,” Kunze said. “The VPN will give us an open pipe to safely and securely send that video without introducing any additional delays.”