MARINE CORPS BASE TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. – The Marine Corps has begun fielding a replacement to a decades-old communication system.
The Next Generation Troposcatter, or NGT, is a transportable, secure beyond-line-of-sight data transmission system capable of operation in a satellite communication (SATCOM)-denied or degraded environment. The NGT replaces the Tropospheric Scatter Microwave Radio Terminal, or AN/TRC-170, which has been in the field since the 1980s.
The NGT Program Office kicked off fielding and New Equipment Training (NET) at the Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School (MCCES) in Twentynine Palms, California this August. The NET included three weeks of training – the first two focusing on operators and the final week covering maintainer requirements. Participating Marines included trainers from the Air Control Training Squadron (ACTS) and Communication Training Battalion (CTB) who will train future Marines at MCCES on the system, as well as maintenance personnel from the MCCES Headquarters Company.