Mission
The mission of the IMA Program is to augment and reinforce Active Component (AC) staffs of the Marine Corps, Department of Defense (DoD) entities, and other U.S. Government departments or agencies having IMA structure on their Tables of Organization (T/O) with pre-trained and qualified members of the Selected Reserve.
Purpose
The purpose of the IMA is to facilitate the rapid expansion of AC organizations to meet wartime military manpower requirements, specifically by providing individual reserve manpower that can be accessed during the initial stages of an emerging crisis, prior to mobilization of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). IMAs are trained individuals pre-assigned to billets that must be filled to support mobilization (pre-and/or post mobilization) requirements, contingency operations, operations other than war, or other specialized or technical requirements.
Marine Forces Reserve IMA Group
The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES) IMA Group is one of fourteen IMA groups in the U.S. Marine Corps IMA Program. It is also one of the largest groups with billets spanning across the United States. The MARFORRES IMA group consists of three Reserve reporting units: Headquarters Battalion (HQBN) MARFORRES, Deployment Processing Command/Reserve Support Unit – East (DPC/RSU-East) and Deployment Processing Command/Reserve Support Unit – West (DPC/RSU-West).
The MARFORRES IMA Group is administratively ran by the Manpower Branch of G-1, MARFORRES. HQBN MARFORRES IMA billets augment a variety of detachments, programs, and subsections. These include the Readiness Support Program, Mobilization Support Team, Environmental Support Detachment, Marine Corps Liaison Office, Information Command Center Detachment, and many more across Marine Forces Reserve Staff sections.
The Group also supports site individual augmentation support (SIAS). SIAS IMA billets can be activated when a reserve unit is deploying and requires IMAs to backfill active duty roles at the unit’s Home Training Center. This is done in coordination between the requesting unit, G-1 Manpower, Reserve Affairs Management Branch, and Total Force Structure Division.