MARCIMS, the future of Marine Civil Affairs

Photo By Sgt. Ida Irby | Major Solon McGill, 1st Civil Affairs Group in Camp Pendleton, Calif., activates the Marine Civil Information Management System Oct. 15 during the Civil Affairs course at the Marine Corps Civil-Military Operations School. The system will help civil affairs Marines to share information from the field in real time.  

QUANTICO, VA, UNITED STATES

11.01.2015

Story by Ida Irby 

Marine Corps Base Quantico

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — Civil affairs Marines now have modern technology that allows them to share information from the field in real time.

Prior to the development and implementation of Marine Civil Information Management System (MARCIMS), Civil affairs Marines conducted civil-military operations with printout forms, email and the “green monster” notebook, said Staff Sgt. Michael Collins, Marine Corps Civil-Military Operations School instructor, as he described collecting data in the field. “This led to extreme compartmentalization.”

“The civil affairs community is small, but we are well trained and capable of so much more than handing out water or soccer balls,” said Collins. Civil affairs Marines in theater are often seen in a jovial state as they work on relationship building know as “winning hearts and minds.” However, “that is just a small fraction of the force multiplier that [civil affairs] Marines offer to commanders.”

Transcribing data during missions was a timely process that would often come with a “four-day turn around.” Modern technology, “will help commanders quickly decide which resources to allocate to different projects” in 24 hours or less, said Maj. Michael Ohleger, Marine Corps Systems Command MARCIMS project officer “We must quickly get information that is pertinent to the mission. We have a requirement to share the public-facing network with coalition partners, government agencies, and non-government agencies that support the community.”

During a 2008 deployment to Iraq, Ohleger was engaged in civil-military operations to build electrical infrastructure and water purification devices. Ohleger’s Marines also worked in support of the Iraqi National Army and their medical corps to provide medical and dental provisions, vaccines, check ups, and trash clean up.

“Many missions involved nation-building and governance, but more importantly provided life-saving services to the local population,” said Ohleger. Having a system that allowed his Marines to share information more easily would have benefited the mission, Ohleger said.

In 2014, Marine Corps Systems Command began developing the MARCIMS program. They established a requirement for an automated tool, which interfaced with a handheld device. The Samsung Galaxy Note3, MARCIMS mobile, is the app-interface tool used to gather information, while MARCIMS is a cloud-based portal used to manage data. The new device helps Marines gather data successfully to support civil-military operations. Using the application, Marines can send automated assessments, upload photos, videos, and audio files.

Ohleger and his team worked to field 100 device systems for under $300,000. The Corps’ decision to implement the modern technology included more than a year of equipment training and fielding. MARCIMS has been fully operational within the Marine Corps’ Civil Affairs community since July. Currently, the Marine Corps is the first and only defense organization using this cloud-based system to support Marines on the frontline.

Data from civil-military operations are structured into charts, tables and maps. “These tools create queries of data, which helps the commander direct informed decisions,” said Collins. “Having this automated web based system allows Marines anywhere in the world to access tons of information in real time. Until MARCIMS, this was impossible."

Without this new technology, only local personnel could have access to information stored in notebooks, local computers, and email traffic.

Teams work to provide information quickly and accurately; nevertheless it’s incumbent on Marines to be diligent when uploading sensitive material where civilian entities have access.

Within the upcoming year, project manager Ohleger is planning to begin the development of MARCIMS 2.0.

• Date Taken: 11.01.2015
• Date Posted: 11.02.2015 15:55
• Story ID: 180653
• Location: QUANTICO, VA, US
• Hometown: LAS VEGAS, NV, US