Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned Newsletter

For those in an official capacity I urge you to obtain a userid and password at the Marine Corps Lessons Learned System. The new MCLLS web site is heads and tails better than previous efforts to disseminate lessons learned...

Also, please get involved in the lessons learned process - a lesson not shared is a lesson someone else learns the hard way.

While I have not visited the site in a while, the Center for Army Lessons Learned is worth a visit. Access requires an AKO account - but should be a painless process for those in an official capacity...

Posted here - MCCLL December 05 Newsletter.

Lot's of good stuff... For those eligible for registration - highly encouraged - same, same for the Center for Army Lessons Learned...

Posted here - MCCLL January 06 Newsletter.

Lot's of good stuff... For those eligible for registration - highly encouraged - same, same for the Center for Army Lessons Learned...

Posted here - MCCLL January 06 Newsletter.

Lot's of good stuff... For those eligible for registration - highly encouraged - same, same for the Center for Army Lessons Learned...

Quote:

---

Welcome to the February 2006 issue of the Marine Corps Center For Lessons Learned (MCCLL) Newsletter.

Our goal is to inform you of the latest MCCLL developments and provide updates on lessons learned by "those who have gone before".

Note that new security features have been added to the MCCLL website. After you have logged on to our website, the first time that you attempt to access one of the documents referenced in the newsletter, you will be asked to log in again with your user ID (Note: your user ID is your complete email address) and password. We apologize for this inconvenience, but this feature is designed to ensure that unauthorized users will not be able to access uploaded documents. As long as your browser is kept open, you will not be required to log in again when you access additional documents.

Unfortunately, if you are a .com or .net user, you will not be able to access documents in our system. We hope that you find the other features of our newsletter of interest.

Among the articles in the February issue of the newsletter are:

• MarineNET Pre-Deployment Training Offerings
• Life Cycle of a Collection Effort: Detention Operations
• Hypothermia During Wounded Transport
• Seven Months in Ar Ramadi: 2d Battalion, 4th Marines
• Summary of Military Advisor Support Forum Comments
• Iraqi Center for Lessons Learned

---

Posted here - MCCLL March 06 Newsletter.

Quote:

---

Lessons for Leaders:

In the past few months, the Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned (MCCLL) has produced a number of topical papers that address issues of relevance to new leaders (as well as more experienced leaders). Five of these papers have now been compiled into a consolidated report that is offered as a resource for commanders at all levels, as well as other interested Marines. This report is scheduled to be provided to attendees at the March 2006 CMC Commanders Course.

The first three reports included in this document summarize the results of a series of MCCLL-hosted conferences conducted from late May to August 2005: the GCE Commanders Lessons Learned Conference, the Non-Commissioned Officers Lessons Learned Conference, and the CSSE Commanders Lessons Learned Conference. (Note that a report documenting the fourth conference (with ACE commanders) will be published at a later date.) The fact that the first three conference reports have been so well received by the participants was a deciding factor in their selection as the foundation for the consolidated paper.

These conference reports have been combined with two other topical papers: a report
documenting the lessons provided to MCCLL by the 2d Battalion, 4th Marines and a report summarizing the MCCLL-sponsored focused collection effort with the 3d Battalion, 4th Marines. The resulting report, “Lessons for Leaders”, a Compilation of Reports for New Commanders, is now available on our website for review and downloading.

Selected observations from Lessons for Leaders:

The “Lessons for Leaders” report includes an executive summary that provides an overview of common observations that have been noted in lessons and observations from many sources by Marines who participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Some of the observations from the summary are:

• Organization
• USMC lacks an adequate force structure to perform some missions, such as EOD, MPs, CA, and PSYOPS. Marine forces should prepare for some non-traditional missions.
• There are insufficient FACs/JTACs or Air Officers for fighting in urban operations.
• Manning
• Fleet Assistance Program (FAP) requirements during pre-deployment training impede combat
preparations.
• Units frequently do not get manned to near T/O strength until just prior to deployment.
• Orders to school and normal billet rotation patterns prevent stabilized unit leadership.
• Training
• Every Marine needs to train for combat marksmanship and weapons handling.
• Small unit leaders may require refresher training to regain MOS technical and tactical proficiency
• The Marine Corps lacks sufficient quantity and quality of urban training ranges for MOUT (Note that this deficiency is currently being remedied).

---

Note - Linked lessons learned and other MCCLL material is for official use only and requires registration for access.

Posted here - MCCLL April 06 Newsletter.

Posted here - MCCLL May 06 Newsletter.

Posted here - MCCLL June 06 Newsletter.

Posted here - MCCLL July 06 Newsletter.

Featured Articles

• Supporting the Lessons Learned Community
• Traumatic Brain Injuries
• Update: Legal Services in Support of Counterinsurgencies
• Feedback: Small Craft Company
• Sensitive Site Exploitation
• TECOM Lessons Integration Division
• MCCLL IT Team
• Interviews: (1) Commander, CJTF Horn of Africa & (2) I MEF LNO to USAID

Posted here - MCCLL August 06 Newsletter.

Featured Articles

• Emphasizing Safety
• Command Element (CE) Lessons Learned Conference
• Military Police & Non-Lethal Weapons Collection Teams
• Feedback & Update: TTECG
• MCCLL Representative to JCOA
• MCCLL Continues to Recruit
• Through the Eyes of the Company Commander
• Religious Ministries Community of Interest
• Feedback: MOEs

Posted here - MCCLL September 06 Newsletter.

Featured Articles

• Submit Your AARs to MCCLL!
• Non-Kinetic/Counterinsurgency Operations
• Lessons from MACG-28
• Lessons from RCT-8
• Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle
• Company Commander’s Corner
• Setting Conditions for Success
• Moderators for MCCLL Discussion Groups!
• MCCLL Senior Analysts

The article on Non-kinetic COIN ops is excellent, as it comes from commentary by battalion commanders who have worked some of the toughest beats in Anbar.

Posted here - MCCLL October 06 Newsletter.

Featured Articles

• The current status of lessons submissions to MCCLL from units deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 05-07
• A topical paper summarizing the results of an extensive collection effort that addressed military police missions, Criminal Investigation Division (CID) requirements, and detention operations in OIF.
• A topical paper with recent lessons and observations concerning electrical generation and distribution operations and associated safety concerns in OIF.
• Topical papers summarizing specific focused collection efforts with the 2nd Intelligence Battalion and with Marine Wing Support Group 27.

Posted here - MCCLL November 06 Newsletter.

From the Director

MCCLL “Quick Look” Reports One of the main categories of products developed by the Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned (MCCLL) to help disseminate information rapidly to decision makers and Marine operating forces is a concise, quick turnaround report, referred to as a “Quick Look” Report. The MCCLL Senior Analysts develop these reports rapidly, sometimes in response to specific requests from data that has already been collected. If additional insight is desired, the Quick Look report can be expanded into a more comprehensive and longer topical paper.

This edition of our monthly newsletter highlights a series of Quick Look reports that MCCLL has published within the past two months. Many of these reports are based on recent focused collection efforts conducted with specific organizations. Six of the reports resulted from an extensive data collection effort headed by our Collections and Analysis Branch Head, LtCol Mark Silvia, that was conducted in Iraq earlier this summer, while another report is based on a collection effort that Mr. James Burke, the MCCLL representative to 29 Palms, performed with the intelligence section of the 2d Battalion, 7th Marines, in September. Although these Quick Look reports are not able to address any particular topic in depth, they focus on a few key points that reinforce or counter issues that have been raised.

Later in this newsletter, we feature a topical paper on communication battalion operations based on the deployment of the 8th Communication Battalion in OIF 04-06. This is an example of a report that was initially a Quick Look report that has now been expanded into a topical paper. The final Quick Look report is an example of a report prepared in response to a specific query, in this case a request from the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) for recent examples of positive news and how lessons learned are being used to improve training and readiness for the Long War. MCCLL Senior Analysts prepared a Quick Look report with several attachments to address this issue.

We hope that one or more of these reports falls into one of your own areas of interest.

Featured Articles

• MCCLL “Quick Look” Reports
• Intelligence Enhancements, 2d Bn, 7th Marines
• A Marine Company-Level Intelligence Cell
• METOC Community of Interest
• OIF 05-07 “Quick Looks”
  
  • Regional Reconstruction Operations Center
  • Tank Company Operations
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron
  • Reconnaissance Battalion
  • Force Reconnaissance Co
  • Engineer Support Battalion
• Iraqi Successes
• Communications Battalion Operations

Posted here - MCCLL December 06 Newsletter.

Featured Articles

• MCCLL Online Surveys
• Iraqi Lessons Learned Center Community of Interest
• Distributed Operations in Afghanistan
• Company Commander’s Lessons Learned Conference
• Searching the MCCLL Repositories
• Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations (NEO)
• Marine Aviation Observations and Lessons
• Contact List of MCCLL Representatives
• Civil Affairs Group Operations

Posted here - MCCLL January 07 Newsletter.

Featured Articles

• MCCLL Classified Repositories
• Scout Sniper Lessons Learned Conference
• Military Working Dogs
• Reserve Augments: Setting Conditions for Success
• Needed: After Action Reports!
• Coming Soon: Infantry Battalion C2 Training
• Medical Support in a Mountainous Environment
• Needed: Standard Operating Procedures!
• Marine Aircraft Group-16
• MCCLL “Binders”Support Training Requirements
• Contractors in the Battle Space

I recieved the latest (Feb) Marine Corps Center For Lessons Learned (MCCLL) Newsletter but will no longer be able to post them to the Council as they are now FOUO (For Official Use Only). Moreover, there have been some changes at MCCLL concerning access to their site - as follows (bolded emphasis mine):

Quote:

---

As of 18 January 2007 (in accordance with Department of Defense Instruction 8520.2, Marine Corps Order 5239.2, and MARADMIN Numbers 209/05, 155/06 and 581/06), the Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned (MCCLL) website at http://www.mccll.usmc.mil has transitioned to 100% Consolidated Access Card (CAC) access.

As of that date, users are no longer able to logon to the site with their username and password. For legacy users of the system, a process has been implemented that associates a subscriber's legacy user profile with their CAC certificate the first time that they log in using their CAC. New registrants to the MCCLL website (using their CAC) will now have immediate access to the site after a very short registration process.

Subscribers who attempt to access the MCCLL without a CAC will receive a message indicating that CAC access is required. There is also no longer a requirement for a subscriber to provide a .mil or .gov email address during registration in order to have full access to the site. The fact that a .mil address is no longer necessary opens up the MCCLL website to all of our junior officer and enlisted Marines that have not been issued .mil email addresses due to the expense incurred under NMCI.

However, restricting access to CAC does place an additional burden on our Selected Marine Corps Reserve (SMCR) and Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) Marines who do not have frequent access to a government computer with a CAC reader. These Marines will need to obtain a CAC reader, load their certificates, and begin using their CAC for access. Unfortunately, restricting access to CAC also essentially locks out our Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) Marines who are not issued Common Access Cards until they are activated.

We realize that this is a critical concern at a time when we are mobilizing IRR Marines for combat operations. IRR Marines generally require as much time as possible prior to activation to take advantage of the pre-deployment training systems that are provided to other Marines.

In addition, deployed Marine Corps units to Iraq and Afghanistan are not yet 100% CAC capable, although a push is underway to provide additional CAC readers in-theater. We apologize for any inconvenience resulting from this change, but in the current security environment, MCCLL had no choice…

---

Go figure - Marines at home, TAD, deployed or otherwise non-NMCI blessed are basically locked out of their own lessons learned system. What a shame as MCCLL under Col Monte Dunard had come such a long way since the old days. Dunard and folks have done a great job - and they deserve a big hat tip - obviously some 'powers-that-be' feel strongly that information not accessible to those that need it most is somehow a lesson learned. What a crock.

Couldn't agree more. I posted the piece on the "strategic" Lt under "trigger puller" at the SWJ b/c few Lts, SNCOs and NCOs have access to MCCLL. Then we wonder why we've done 6-8 rotations to OIF yet Marines continue to make significant mistakes thereby alienating the people during their first few months, only to realize they were to aggressive and then the next unit does the same...

Somehow our enemy is having disturbing success passing lessons learned, recruiting, funding ops, etc w/o SIPRNET, CAC readers, etc.

It's such a shame that we compartmentalize everything.

Quote:

---

The fact that a .mil address is no longer necessary opens up the MCCLL website to all of our junior officer and enlisted Marines that have not been issued .mil email addresses due to the expense incurred under NMCI.

---

This statement sort of implies that getting everyone a CAC card and reader is cheaper than getting everyone a .mil e-mail address. I don't buy it. The Army had no problems in mandating that every single soldier in uniform, regardless of rank, get an AKO e-mail ccount. Many thousands of soldiers have both their AKO us.army.mil account and another NIPR .mil account specific to their unit of assignment. But getting the CAC cards and readers out has been a pain in the ass.

As others have noted, it is also a fraudulent solution to a false dilemma. Since the "junior officer and enlisted Marines" have to access MCCLL via a CAC card and reader, for the vast majority, they have no better access now than they did via the previous restriction to .mil address registration. In fact, many previous registrants now have access that is greatly restricted compared to that which they enjoyed previously. I feel the pain myself - as an us.army.mil registrant I have long been a big fan of the MCCLL site and always plugged it to my Army peers. With the CAC restriction in place, I am completely cut off.

Thus far, AKO, BCKS and CALL are still accessible with the AKO log-in. As a retiree, I maintain my AKO account, and still have full access to AKO and BCKS - both of which maintain reams of FOUO material - but CALL blocks me out. Should the Army fully implement the CAC restriction, I will be truly screwed. It's amazing how much I've come to rely on my AKO account over the years....

The stock answer seems to have become, "Acquire a CAC card reader and install the software you will get from your unit."

There was a lengthy thread about this over at Lightfighter.net. Many posters were climbing the wall with the restrictions that the Army had imposed, while a select few seem to have had success getting the right software to make things work.

Why is this kicking our butt so bad? I've come to rely on my AKO account to a great degree as well, and I'm not even Army.

I'm curious as to who mandated the shift with MCLL. Even a drilling Reserve member doesn't have time to bounce through the archives when he is mobilized. There are simply too many pre-deploy training requirements already on their plates. I'm sure the units will get creative and find work-arounds, but this is nuts.

Is there a petition around that I can jump on?