Posted here - MCCLL March 06 Newsletter.

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.