The Marine Corps Lessons Learned System: an assessment

Abstract

The Marine Corps Lessons Learned System (MCLLS) provides Marines with the capability to document, process. and disseminate lessons learned and related information from after action reports. MCLLS is an IBM-compatible database management system that is available to all Marine organizations. MCLLS provides a starting point for correcting identified deficiencies in doctrine, organization, training, education, and equipment. The primary goal of this study is to assess the effectiveness of MCLLS. The research methodology includes personal interviews with commanding officers and MCLLS managers from Fleet Marine Force units, and archival research from the MCLLS databases. The thesis explores the lessons learned submission and retrieval processes and investigates what changes in organizational functioning can be attributed to MCLLS. The research shows that MCLLS has improved organizational learning but has room for improvement. The thesis contains recommendations to improve program use by addressing the needs of the potential users of the system