TECOM launches Marine Corps robotics integration group and counter-drone team

The Marine Corps has created a new service-level organization to unify how Marines learn to operate and counter small drones, establishing the Marine Corps Robotics Integration Group to standardize training for Group 1 and Group 2 small unmanned aircraft systems and counter-small UAS across the force, according to MARADMIN 307/26.

Assigned under Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, MCRIG will serve as the focal point for unmanned-systems training integration, curriculum development, and education. The organization is charged with turning emerging drone capabilities into standardized programs of instruction, instructor certifications, and enduring training products deliverable across the Marine Corps. Group 1 and 2 systems generally encompass small, portable drones used for short-range reconnaissance and related missions.

“The battlefield continues to demonstrate that small unmanned aircraft systems are no longer niche capabilities; they are indispensable tools for reconnaissance, precision strike, force protection and survivability,” said Maj. Gen. Mark H. Clingan, commanding general, MAGTFTC, MCAGCC. “The Marine Corps Robotics Integration Group provides the institutional framework necessary to rapidly integrate validated capabilities into standardized training, ensuring Marines across the Total Force are prepared to employ and defeat these systems in future conflicts.”

The move aligns with broader efforts to adapt to rapid changes in warfare driven by inexpensive, commercially available drones. Under the new construct, MCRIG will receive validated capability packages—such as tactics, techniques and procedures, pilot courses, and training requirements—from organizations focused on experimentation and operational assessment. Once validated, MCRIG will develop curriculum, training support packages, and certification standards, then push them through designated regional hubs to deliver standardized instruction across the Fleet Marine Force.

Two complementary teams sit at the center of this pipeline: the Marine Corps Attack Drone Team and the newly established Marine Corps Counter Drone Team. Together they give Training Command a focused capability to study both sides of the small UAS fight—employment and defeat.

“The Marine Corps Attack Drone Team and the Marine Corps Counter Drone Team are designed to move at the speed of technology. Through the analysis of exercises, operations, and purposely designed events we gain critical information about how systems should be employed or defeated,” said Col. Charles Anklam III, commanding officer, Weapons Training Battalion. “Our responsibility is to rigorously test ideas, validate capabilities, and rapidly transition those findings to MCRIG, where they become standardized training that benefits every Marine. This partnership allows us to remain agile to the constantly changing threat, innovate quickly, and provide the fleet with consistently reliable, credible, and operationally relevant information to increase lethality and survivability.”

As an organic element of Weapons Training Battalion at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, MCCDT will serve as Training Command’s dedicated counter-drone training development cell. It is not designed to deploy as an operational force provider; rather, it will identify threats, test emerging solutions, validate practical tactics, and transition findings to MCRIG for service-wide implementation. MCCDT will integrate lessons from Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, MAGTFTC, MCRIG, government partners, industry, and the Fleet Marine Force, using operational assessments and force-on-force evaluations to refine counter-sUAS best practices. Once validated, recommendations will go to MCRIG for incorporation into doctrine, curriculum, instructor certifications, and standardized training products.

The relationship creates a disciplined innovation pathway: MCADT and MCCDT move quickly to experiment, assess, and validate tactics against emerging unmanned-systems challenges, while MCRIG ensures those lessons become consistent, repeatable, and enduring training across the Corps. Designated Training and Education Command regional hubs will execute MCRIG-approved courses and feed operational observations back into the system, creating a continuous cycle of learning that keeps training current and relevant regardless of where Marines are located.

The Marine Corps is seeking motivated, technically proficient, and innovative Marines to help build this capability. Interested Marines can review MARADMIN 307/26 for eligibility requirements and application procedures.

Media opportunity: The service will host a virtual media roundtable via Microsoft Teams on July 16, 2026, from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m. ET with Col. H. Parker Consaul IV, MCRIG director, and Col. Charles Anklam III, commanding officer of Weapons Training Battalion. Reporters must RSVP by 3 p.m. July 14 to [email protected]. Additional details and the Teams link will be provided to the RSVP list.