Impact of Project PRIME on the Fleet Marine Force ground commander

Abstract

This study of the Department of Defense Project PRIME and its impact on the Marine Corps division was undertaken primarily as a self-education effort to expand the author's knowledge of the present Marine Corps Financial Management System and to learn of the changes that will occur on July 1, 1967. In June of this year, the author's status will alter from that of a student of financial management to the Assistant Chief of Staff, Comptroller, Fifth Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, California. The knowledge and information acquired while conducting this study will prove invaluable to him in implementing the changes specified by Project PRIME into the financial management structure of the Fifth Marine Division. Project PRIME constitutes the first step in implementing Resource Management Systems within the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense Resource Management Systems are inextricably interwoven into the fabric of the Department of Defense Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System. The student encounters difficulty in treating in detail one aspect of the Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System without describing the entire system. Yet, treatment of the entire system is well beyond the student 's capability. Accordingly, the planning and programming functions will be mentioned occasionally and terms will be defined for clarification purposes, when necessary. However, this paper is concerned principally with budgeting and activities related thereto. Specifically, this thesis describes current financial management processes within the Marine division and attempts to assess the impact of Project PRIME's changes on those processes.