Science Fiction Futures; Marine Corps Security Environment Forecast: Futures 2030-2045

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This is Marine Corps innovation. This is taking existing ideas, perhaps unrelated, and having talented writers-in-uniform turn them into riveting science-fiction stories in order to increase their impact.
In December of 2015, the Futures Assessment Division met with August Cole of the Atlantic Council Art of the Future Project and Colonel Jonathan Dunne USMC, Atlantic Council Commandant of the Marine Corps Fellow. What came out of that meeting was the idea that we could bring in uniformed service members for a one-day writing workshop with professional science fiction writers with the goal of bringing the MCSEF worlds to life. We put out a call for writers in the form of MARADMIN 023/16. Of the 74 applications that were submitted and screened, 18 were selected and notified via MARADMIN 049/16 to participate in the February 3, 2016, workshop. Max Brooks and Chuck Gannon joined August Cole in graciously donating their time to coach the writers and foster the narratives that came out of that workshop. Ari Popper of SciFutures lent his in-house science-fiction writer, Trina Phillips, to assist in editing the final stories, and Ari and Max also provided access to some of their terrific graphic artists.
The 2015 Marine Corps Security Environment Forecast: Futures 2030-2045 may be found at:
http://www.mcwl.marines.mil/Portals/3...
The stories that follow are just detailed incarnations of three of the worlds articulated in that document. The worlds imagined in the MCSEF are vast. The three stories presented here are instantaneous glimpses into those worlds which could exist 15 or 30 years in the future... or sooner... or later. We hope that you, the reader, can be informed, inspired, and encouraged about the future. And that, should any elements of these futures come to pass, it will not be the first time that you have thought about these scenarios. In all reality, those lance corporals and second lieutenants who read this today will be master sergeants and majors as we approach these time horizons.
University of Hawaii Professor Jim Dator said, “Any useful idea about the futures should appear to be ridiculous.” Good futuring is about projection, not prediction. It stimulates thought and debate. The best futures are the ones which prompt the reader to say, “That will never happen.” It makes the reader consider the possible and apply rational thought to what events may or may not enable that world to come to pass. We don’t have to get it right; we just can’t afford to get it too wrong.
The difference with this effort, when compared with other similar efforts, is that the primary authors are uniformed service members with coaching from professional writers. Not only does this process make the authors better writers, but it gives the reader a focused lens through which to imagine the future. We did not contract writers to conjure a series of stories. These stories are written by your brothers and sisters in arms. We at the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab think there’s something significant in that.
We hope you enjoy these stories as presented. As always, please share