NEW ORLEANS -- Marines gathered at the 2016 Senior Administrator Symposium aboard Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Belle Chasse, Louisiana, Oct. 12-13, 2016, to discuss the lessons learned from the pilot test of the Battalion Level Administrative Management initiative.
The initiative was implemented in early 2016 to address the root causes of the Marine Corps Administrative Analysis Team failure rate being reported by a majority of Marine Reserve units. The goal was to fix the shortcomings found in decentralized administration and improve the distribution of experienced administrators.
According to Chief Warrant Officer 4 Patrick M. Barnes, officer in charge, Admin Assist Unit, MARFORRES is working to change the way administration is done throughout its units. The plan will be to standardize a way to successfully streamline the administration process.
The new process, which is similar to the Marine Corps Recruiting Command model, works by having the administrative process done locally but then reviewed at a centralized location. This will require battalions to provide administrative support to all subordinate units.
“This system is more feasible,” said Barnes. “It is something that can be implemented across a majority of the Reserve force.”
Phase one of the initiative included a pilot test with several units including 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Combat Logistics Battalion 453, and 6th Communications Battalion. Each unit was allowed to try different ways of implementing the program to test what worked best at each unit.
“We had a test bed concept, we had different methods throughout the three test battalions and one of our battalions scored a 91. An entire battalion of Marines received a tier 1 score from MCAAT,” Barnes added. “We have never had that. We are seeing positive results.”
The initiative also opens the door for senior administrators to work closely with lower level administrators, to instruct them on how to properly complete unit diaries, ensure a Marine’s pay is correct, deal with travel claims and more. With the new changes and positive results coming from the initial tests, MARFORRES will provide more capable units that are ready to deploy at a moment’s notice with little friction from the administrative process.
“We are the 9-1-1 force. We have to get out of the door and down range in a hurry. You have to be ready to fight tonight,” said Lt. Gen. Rex C. McMillian, commander of MARFORRES and Marine Forces North. “We have 12 drill weekends and one annual training to get our Marines ready to go to combat.”
On October 1, 2016, MARFORRES began the second phase of the initiative to fully implement the new process across all MARFORRES units by October 2019.