Department of Defense Nonlethal Weapons and Equipment Review

Haiti for Operation Restore Democracy, by Task Force Eagle in Operations Joint Guard in
former Yugoslavia and Joint Endeavor in Bosnia, and by Task Force Falcon in Kosovo and for
training within the continental United States.
Because the U.S. Army has proactively anticipated user needs and developed the ability to field
urgently required materiel, it has been granted the lead role within NATO to comply with a
Defense Capability Initiative to provide NATO with nonlethal capabilities by 2005.
U.S. Marine Corps Nonlethal Weapons Program
Since 1997, Marine Corps Expeditionary Units have deployed nonlethal capabilities and training
worldwide. By responding to an urgent need from field commanders in 1997, the Marine Corps
became the first U.S. military service to provide nonlethal capabilities to the field. The Marine
Corps rapidly screened, tested, and selected nearly 50 items to be deployed within their original
14 Nonlethal Weapons Capability Sets.
Improving on their initial success, the Marine Corps pursues additional nonlethal capabilities
while refining and reequipping its original Nonlethal Weapons Capability Sets. Items within
each set are divided into four categories: personnel protectors, personnel effectors, mission
enhancers, and training devices. Each set is configured to provide a 200-person unit with enough
nonlethal equipment for training and deployment. By 2002, the Marine Corps had fielded 35
Nonlethal Weapons Capability Sets worldwide to bases and deployed forces.
The Marine Corps continues to expand its nonlethal weapons capability through continuing
analysis of critical mission areas and select research and development programs. Improved range
munitions, target effects studies, and other refinements have enhanced the Marines Corps’
capability to deploy nonlethal weapons. Training also has become a top priority. The Marines
offer a 2-week train-the-trainer nonlethal weapons instructor course at Fort Leonard Wood,
Missouri, that trains more than 300 service members annually from all branches of the military
and the Coast Guard.
The Marine Corps Nonlethal Weapons Program is currently spearheading the research and
development of technologies that satisfy two of the Joint Nonlethal Weapons Program’s core
functional areas: clearing facilities and incapacitating individuals. Such technologies include
a multisensory device to disable individuals within structures, a taser to incapacitate a single
individual, and a mobility denial system that deploys slippery foam to impede the movement of
foot and vehicular traffic.
The Marine Corps Nonlethal Weapons Program is headquartered at the Marine Corps Base in
Quantico, Virginia, near the Joint Nonlethal Weapons Directorate. The program is managed by
the Marine Corps Combat Development Center; its materiel developer is located at Marine Corps
Systems Command.
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