Officers

 

As Boot 2nd Lt's they will start the program in TBS, which is right after OCS.  TBS, The Basic School is a six month Infantry & Small Unit Tactics School required for all Marine Officers regardless of MOS.  The Meat of the Program begins at 1st Lt and will be expected to complete the program by the time the Marine is in the Zone for Major; a period of about 6 or 7 years.

 

Enlisted

 

On the enlisted side, all E-5/Sgt's starting their 2nd enlistment will be assigned a Micro-Region and Language at Sergeant's Course.  Enlisted Marines will be expected to complete the course by the time they are in the Selection Zone for E-7/Gunnery Sgt; also a period of about 6 or 7yrs.

 

The Program

In both TBS & Sergeant's Course the Marines are introduced to cultural concepts and their application in military operations, which is refered to as Operational Culture.  Operational Culture is defined by the Program as:

 

Those aspects of cultural knowledge information and skills most relevant to successful planning and execution of military operations across the spectrum of conflict, including pre-hostility/shaping operations; hostilities and post-hostilities, including reconstruction and stabilization operations; peace making and peace keeping; humanitarian assistance/disaster relief; and multi-national operations. Operational Culture is relevant to nearly all kinds of Marine operations.

 

In English, its an intro into the Concept of using Cultural Knowledge as a weapon to recognize & exploit threats & opportunities available to Small Unit Leaders.  And how to do this within an overall Operational context.  In other words keeping their tactical action in line w/the Operational goals.

 

And here you had me all excited that all Marines would have to learn about 1970s-era Chinese politics.  Chalk it up to being a poli sci major I guess.

 

Anyway I'm looking at OCS and TBS right now for the Corps, and I think that TBS is eight months instead of six.  If you could find a Bruce Lee for every squad though that would be cool too.

This is not special operations related.  It should have been posted on the Marines board.

 

This thread was a follow up on information that was discussed in another thread on this board fr/ a yr ago.  Back then I said when there was more info on this Project then I'd post it...on this board...b/c thats where the interest originated.

 

 

Didn't mean to short change TBS, just while writing I realized some wouldn't recognize the Initials or its purpose, so I referred back to info I had on it when I got out of active duty 3yrs ago which was 6mths in length.

 

As far as the BL reference when MCMAP was 1st introduced it was hard for some to distinguish btwn MCMAPs intended purpose, using MA as a vehicle to strengthen Mental, Physical, & Moral discipline, from the misunderstanding that the Marine Corps was trying to make squads of Karate fighters.

 

As time went on &ppl outside the Corps started to see the results of a comprehensive program, not one just made up of combatives, more ppl understood the Programs intent & the Karate squads crap died out.

 

Its the same w/ the CMRS, its a comprensive, long term program.

But K.I.M. that 200hrs of a combo of classroom & online instruction alone in lang, culture, history, & topography spread over 6+ yrs & multiple deployments is comparable to many college programs.

 

TECOM's Road Map gives a list of classes that can be added to transfer it to a 2 & 4yr degree in International Affairs.

SCCO, what do you think of MCMAP? How much time is devoted weekly to H2H stuff in an average Combat arms unit in the Corps?

 

 

 

Will any attempt be made to place marines with certan area expertease in certan units, eather to give each unit a wide mix of the 17 areas or to concentrate people with the same or similar area knowlege in a unit?

Well presently the 9 Marine Regiments are being organized to specialize in certain regions, but this will take a few yrs.  But KIM that completion of the program will be around the rank of Gunny & Major which are really Staff Planning ranks.

 

I think at the Tactical Unit Level, BN/Comp, you could see some concentration but not much; to keep them flexible.

 

My guess on how it'll look is a MEU will be out and get a mission for Sierra Leon.  The MEU will pool its Area Experts in that Region & Lang and begin the Operation Planning Cycle based on their input.  Brief whichever Comp/Plt/or Sqd is selected to go & put together a team of Interpretor/Liason to assist in the Op.

 

The Same will be done for Libya, Lebanon, or Kosovo.

Thats all good points. I was just wondering, because I sometimes find even more proof that the system isn't all that great from a pure combatives standpoint. But, if that's not it's primary point then I understand. The whole mental/emotional toughness thing makes alot of sense.

Hey SCO let me sidestep here for a minute and get your opinion on a few things.  I am looking at ground intel as my first choice designation after TBS, and I was wondering if you had much exposure/experience with these guys and what they do.  My recruiter thinks they do some pretty high-speed stuff but I haven't found too much information on them.

 

Also I understand that GI is pretty competitve and there is only one slot per TBS class, so I am looking at human and signal intel as my second and third choices.  Eventually I would like to do a stint in counterintel but thats a ways down the road.  I scored a 96 on my ASVAB which everyone seems to think is pretty hot shit, but I don't really know how that sets me up as far as quals go.  I got 1190 on my SATs (old style out of 1600), and graduated college with a ~3.5 as a dual major. 

 

I'm also planning on taking the LSATs in a few months should I get med rolled out of OCS or God forbid, DOR.  I'm hoping for a decent score on those, but I'm a little apprehensive on submitting those with my packet as I've heard of people being forced into braching legal after OCS if they have high enough scores.

 

And do the intel guys for the Corps have chanes to go play with they JSOC and SOCOM guys?  I know that its sort of a point of contention right now regarding "elite" status.

 

 

Anyway sorry to hijack.  Well not really but I thought I should say it anyway.

SCCO, what do you think about the USMC being so over-funded and over-hyped? Also, would you say the arrogance of most young Marines has to do more with little 'pecker' syndrome, or more to do with their low IQ scores? Thanks. (kidding here)

Oooooooooooh.... that hurt man.

 

Haha yeah the Marines and SOCOM  aren't exactly best buds though.  A certain Army unit comes to mind that probably gets the first call...

 

Burn! lol.

Yeah, does this certain Army unit go by a certain color and also a certain citrus fruit? Yellow...or.... (vague huh? lol). They probably get the call first, mainly because I believe these guys are housed in the same area, are also Tier 1, and usually get the best intel on HVT's. But, let's say you are a USMC intel guy in Afghanistan. If you find out where UBL is, then you'd alert the higher ups. They would go through the proper channels and pass the intel where it needed to go (the unit who got the call would probably depend on urgency, location, etc etc). It may be CAG + Ranger, it may be SF, SEALs, USMC Recon, AFSOC or a regular Army/USMC unit.