Editor's corner.

The Marines, like the other military services, have their own "transformation roadmap." Even though the Corps is innately a rapid-reaction force, it wants to become speedier and stealthier.

Moving in that direction will take lots of experimentation and wargaming, said the commander of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, Col. Frank A. Panter Jr. The lab is planning a major wargame for 2004, named "Olympic Dragon." The experiment will be dominated by such buzzwords as ''command and control on the move'' and will probe capabilities to create a "common operational picture" of the battlefield that can be shared by the entire Marine Air-Ground Task Force. The overarching theme in Olympic Dragon will be "ship to objective maneuver.

You can read more about the Marines' transformation plans on page 17.

The Navy, meanwhile, is making a case that it needs to improve its capabilities to fight in coastal areas and to secure access zones for the ground forces. Traditional warships are too large and, therefore, vulnerable to operate in the littorals. That is why the Navy wants a "Littoral Combat Ship." Beginning on page 20, Rear Adm. Don Loren, deputy director for surface ships, explains why the LCS is important to the Navy.

Also of interest this month is an interview with the Pentagon's deputy undersecretary of defense for the environment, John Paul Woodley Jr.

Not only is Woodley responsible for the...