MARADMIN 482/26
EXPERIMENTAL USE OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM ABOARD DESIGNATED MARINE CORPS INSTALLATIONS
R 071846Z OCT 26 MARADMIN 482/26 MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC DC INFORMATION WASHINGTON DC// SUBJ/EXPERIMENTAL USE OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM ABOARD DESIGNATED MARINE CORPS INSTALLATIONS// REF/A/DOC/MANUAL OF REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES FOR FEDERAL RADIO FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT/JAN2023// REF/B/DOC/FREQUENCY RESOURCE RECORD SYSTEM (FRRS) STANDARD FREQUENCY ACTION FORMAT (SFAF) PUB-7/MAY2025" NARR/REF A IS THE NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION (NTIA) MANUAL OF REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES FOR FEDERAL RADIO FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT. IT IS THE OFFICIAL GUIDE THAT GOVERNS HOW FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES USE THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM (EMS). REF B IS THE MILITARY COMMAND, CONTROL, COMMUNICATIONS, AND COMPUTERS EXECUTIVE BOARD (MC4EB) PUBLICATION 7. IT ESTABLISHES THE PRECISE DATA FIELDS, STRUCTURAL RULES, AND CODES USED BY ALL BRANCHES OF THE U.S. MILITARY TO SUBMIT AND PROCESS RADIO FREQUENCY ASSIGNMENTS. POC-DC I/S.M. NAGY/CIV/SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT ENGINEER/DC I IC4 ICE BRANCH/571-256-8843/[email protected]// GENTEXT/REMARKS/ 1. Purpose. To establish procedures for the experimental use of the EMS aboard designated Marine Corps installations. 2. Background. 2.a. The National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) serves as a National EMS regulator and establishes the rules and procedures governing Federal use of the EMS within the United States and Possessions (US&P). 2.b. Chapter 7, Section 11 of ref (a) authorizes experimental use of the EMS at designated locations without prior authorization when the experimental operation's nature or duration makes traditional EMS authorization impracticable. This authority is commonly referred to as "Seven Eleven or 7.11" due to the chapter and part from which the authority is derived. 2.c. No priority rights are established to use of a frequency under this authority. Experimental operations are secondary to pre-existing NTIA and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensees, authorizations, or operations of other services. Experimental operations must not cause harmful electromagnetic interference (EMI) to any authorized EMS user. Upon notification or identification of harmful EMI, experimental transmissions will cease immediately. 2.d. 7.11 authority cannot be used for the performance of Electromagnetic Attack (EA) or Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) testing, training, or exercises under any circumstances. EA and ECM require separate and distinct authority and must be coordinated in accordance with Section 7.14 (and Section 7.25 for authorized C-UAS force protection) of ref (a) and applicable Joint Staff directives. 2.e. 7.11 authority applies to EMS use only. It does not replace required aviation, flight, range, safety, acquisition, cybersecurity, environmental, or other operational approvals and authorities. 3. Concept of Operations. 3.a. The Marine Corps will use 7.11 authority to support EMS use associated with experiments, innovation, and integration activities for the development of science or techniques for which obtaining EMS approvals through traditional means is impracticable. 3.b. Impracticable: An action or performance that causes extreme and unreasonable difficulty, expense, or becomes unfeasible. 3.c. Innovation: The successful, scalable integration of a system or capability to shorten a kill chain, improve survivability, and other military practices. 3.d. Integration: The coordinated, synchronized application of two or more systems or capabilities to produce a unified, synergistic effect or technique. 3.e. 7.11 authority is an exception for qualifying experimental operations. The Marine Corps must still strive to support EMS dependent systems via traditional methods when possible. 3.f. 7.11 will not be used solely to support routine training, exercises, administrative use, operational employment, or to circumvent otherwise practicable EMS supportability procedures. Requests involving fielded POR or COTS equipment may qualify when the requesting organization identifies the experimental objective, variable or configuration under evaluation, expected output, and defined period of experimentation 3.g. Equipment Spectrum Certification (ESC): NTIA certification that the system conforms to U.S. allocations and technical rules. While ESC is a necessary part of responsible EMS regulation and management, it often involves exhaustive technical reviews of systems information and can cause significant bottlenecks for experimentation and innovation. 3.g.1. The Marine Corps will use 7.11 authority to overcome ESC friction and accelerate the transition from bench to field by delaying formal certification until designs stabilize. 3.g.2. Systems characteristics. By eliminating full reviews for temporary, highly-mutable prototypes, the Marine Corps will be able to experiment with frequencies, bandwidth, power levels, antenna configurations, etc. without requesting new applications for ESC or modifications to existing certifications. 3.g.3. Operating Locations. The Marine Corps will use 7.11 authority to overcome challenges attributed to desired operating locations not being featured on existing ESC, therefore making EMS approvals impracticable. Aboard installations designated for 7.11 authority, the Marine Corps will operate these systems until the operating locations can be updated on the respective ESC. 3.h. Frequency Assignment: Authority to operate in a stated EMS band, location/area, and timeframe using specified parameters. Experimental operations are typically meant to last for a restricted timeframe (e.g., a few hours, days, or brief test windows), the administrative lead time to secure a formal frequency assignment could far exceed the actual lifespan of the experiment therefore making obtaining EMS approvals through traditional means burdensome. To overcome this, the Marine Corps will use 7.11 authority to support temporary EMS use at the discretion of the Installation Spectrum Manager (ISM). 3.i. The Marine Corps will execute 7.11 authority in accordance with all guidelines and restrictions provided in section 7.11 of ref (a). 3.j. Authority to determine whether requested EMS use qualifies for and may be technically supported under 7.11 resides with the responsible ISM or Regional Marine Corps Installations (MCI) Spectrum Manager. This determination addresses spectrum eligibility, technical feasibility, deconfliction, and conditions of RF use; it does not constitute approval or acceptance of operational, range, aviation, safety, acquisition, cybersecurity, environmental, or other matters outside spectrum-management authority. Requesting organizations remain responsible for obtaining all other required command and functional approvals. 3.k. It is important to note that regardless of being designated for 7.11 authority does not mean all requests can be supported aboard respective installations. There may be instances in which the desired frequency or frequencies are not available for use and cannot be secured via deconfliction or coordination. 3.l. Locations approved for execution of 7.11 authority are identified in Annex C of ref (a). The Marine Corps will not exercise 7.11 authority outside of these designated locations. Marine Corps installations currently assigned 7.11 authority are: 3.l.1. Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Marine Air-Ground Task Force Training Center Twentynine Palms, CA. 3.l.2. Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA. 3.l.3. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA. 3.l.4. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC. 3.l.5. Marine Corps Training Activity Bellows, HI. 3.l.6. Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue, NC. 3.l.7. Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, CA. 3.l.8. Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, AZ. 4. Tasks. 4.a. Office of the Deputy Commandant for Information; Information, Command, Control, Communications, and Computers Directorate. 4.a.1. Provide oversight to the Marine Corps' use of 7.11 authority. 4.a.2. Maintain a Service-level 7.11 Logbook capturing the installation executing 7.11 authority, Frequency Resource Record System (FRRS) agency serial number, supported unit, submission date, transmission start and end times, range or operating area, and onsite Stop Buzzer contact information. 4.a.3. Make this logbook available to NTIA upon request. 4.a.4. Coordinate with the Navy and Marine Corps Spectrum Center, NTIA, and other stakeholders when issues exceed installation-level authority or require additional regulatory action. 4.b. Deputy Commandant for Installations and Logistics; Marine Corps Installations Command. 4.b.1. Provide oversight to the Installations use of 7.11 authority. 4.b.2. Ensure installation commands support local EMS deconfliction, range coordination, and immediate cessation of experimental transmissions when required. 5. Coordinating Instructions. 5.a. MARFOR, MEF, and Supporting Establishment Spectrum Managers. 5.a.1. Assess and determine the feasibility of support for EMS requirements under traditional EMS approval processes. 5.a.2. Submit a temporary frequency proposal for support of experimental EMS requirements to the cognizant ISM via Spectrum XXI (Spectrum 21) in FRRS as early as practicable and sufficiently in advance to permit required technical analysis, local deconfliction, and external coordination. When the planned frequencies meet the notification conditions in section 7.11.3 of ref (a), submit with sufficient lead time to permit the required notification at least 24 hours before planned operations. The ISM may establish additional local submission timelines based on coordination complexity. 5.b. Frequency proposal will be in line with ref (b) and will include, at a minimum: 5.b.1. A Marine Corps "MC" or "MCT" agency serial number. 5.b.2. The installation and specific range or operating area. 5.b.3. The planned transmission start and end times. 5.b.4. The purpose and description of the experimental operation. 5.b.5. Identification and available technical characteristics of the EMS-dependent system sufficient to support technical analysis and local EMS deconfliction, including frequency or tuning range, occupied bandwidth, modulation or waveform when known, maximum anticipated transmitter power, transmitter and receiver antenna characteristics, planned operating mode, geographic operating area, altitude or antenna height when applicable, temporal characteristics, and other information required by the ISM. When validated characteristics are unavailable, provide a conservative bounded operational envelope representing the worst credible configuration. 5.b.6. The requesting unit and unit point of contact (stop buzzer). 5.b.7. Name and telephone number of the onsite Stop Buzzer contact. This individual must have the authority and capability to immediately terminate all experimental transmissions. 5.c. Marine Corps organizations and units lacking dedicated spectrum management personnel will submit EMS support requests to the appropriate Installation Command or Regional MCI, following the procedures established by the respective installation. 5.d. ISMs and Regional Spectrum Managers. 5.d.1. Assess and determine the feasibility of support for EMS requirements under traditional EMS approval processes. 5.d.2. Ensure that 7.11 authority will not be executed for EA or ECM. 5.d.3. Ensure that requested frequencies do not fall within or overlap the excluded frequency bands identified in section 7.11.2 of ref (a). 5.d.4. Conduct analysis, determine ICM, and perform local EMS coordination and deconfliction as required. 5.d.5. Register a temporary FRRS assignment in Spectrum XXI using a "MC" or "MCT" agency serial number and station class of "EX". 5.d.6. When the planned frequencies meet the notification conditions identified in section 7.11.3 of ref (a), conduct the required external notifications at least 24 hours before planned experimental operations. 5.d.7. Log execution of 7.11 authority as identified in section 7.11.3 of ref (a) using the DCI-IC4 maintained SharePoint list hosted within the DCI-IC4 Secret Internet Protocol Router Network SIPRNet EMS Teams environment. 5.d.8. Upload a copy of the experimental FRRS assignment Radio Frequency Authorization (RFA), or approved SFAF to the SharePoint tracker for each approved operation. 5.d.9. Direct the immediate termination of any experimental operation that causes harmful EMI or fails to comply with the conditions of the approved authorization. 5.d.10. Periodically review repeated, recurring, or enduring use of the same system or configuration to determine whether the requirement has matured sufficiently to transition to traditional ESC, frequency assignment, or other applicable EMS supportability processes. 6. Points of Contact. Direct all questions to the MARADMIN POC listed above. 7. Release authorized by Lieutenant General J. A. Matos III, Headquarters Marine Corps, Deputy Commandant for Information.//