Nonlethal weapons could gain ground in future missions.

• Author: Parsons, Dan

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTI-CO, Va.-- Filipino and U.S. Marines fought side by side 70 years ago against Japanese forces in some of the most murderous combat of World War II.

In May, about 6,000 men from both forces reunited at Crow Valley in the Philippines where they practiced not killing potential enemies.

During. Operation Balikatan, the two countries' Marines learned the ins and outs of deploying with nonlethal weapons, a set of devices that are gaining traction.

When soldiers and Marines get their hands on nonlethal weapons, as in the Balikatan exercises, they gladly employ them in place of slinging lead, said Col. Michael Coolican, whose job as head of the Joint Nonlethal Weapons Directorate is to evangelize for the technologies.

"What we're finding from the services -- when they do get to use what we. have and get to see what they are, at least in these controlled environments -- is tremendous buy-in to these weapons systems," he said.

Soldiers can easily learn to operate the arsenal of nonlethal weapons currently fielded, Coolican said. More difficult is teaching troops when and how to deploy them within their standard mission sets and how to conduct that training when time and funding are at a premium, he said.

Once the Marines wrap up their combat role in Afghanistan, they will transition back to their traditional mission of responding to global crises. Nonlethal weapons are tailor-made for many of the potential scenarios they will encounter in unsettled regions of the world where firing live rounds could spark major conflict, said Kelley Hughes, a spokeswoman for the directorate.

"Appreciation for nonlethal weapons' utility within today's complex environments ... is growing, as is recognition that nonlethals can help achieve national strategic objectives by minimizing civilian casualties and property destruction," she said. "Continued advocacy and education about nonlethal capabilities have seen a recent uptick in the demand signal."

The directorate's job is not to train soldiers or purchase weapons, but to identify and develop nonlethal technologies that are useful to the services and help combatant commanders figure out where and when to deploy them. Coolican said his priority during his two-year tenure was to spread the word that nonlethal technologies are just as effective -- or more so -- than bullets and hand grenades in certain situations.

"One of our biggest problems is not so much our image, but explaining to people why we exist, why the Marine Corps picks up this mission,"...