Enable breadcrumbs token at /includes/pageheader.html.twig

Marine Corps Systems Command Debuts Mobile Tool for Recruiters

The new system will leverage a mobile platform, commercial cloud, artificial intelligence and other new technologies.

The Marines’ Systems Command and Recruiting Command have partnered to create a computing tool aimed at making recruitment of the next generation of Marines easier. Photo courtesy of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command

The new Marine Corps computer system, MCRISS II, brings commercial cloud, a custom dashboard, a mobile platform, and eventually artificial intelligence and other technologies to recruiters. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Joseph Neigh

The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia has unveiled a computer system aimed at giving Marine Corps recruiters state-of-the-art tools for the enlistment process.

Working with the Marine Corps Recruiting Command (MCRC), the MCSC developed the Marine Corps Recruiting Information Support System II, known as MCRISS II. The system uses a customizable platform that recruiters can access across government-issued cellphones, laptops and tablets.

MCRISS II leverages commercial cloud technology, which offers security, speed and reliability to the system. Recruiters also can access the platform when offline or in airplane mode, according to a report from Kaitlin Kelly, MCSC Public Affairs.

The Recruiting Command was looking for modernized tools and technologies to aid the recruitment force, especially a mobile version that recruiters could use over time when tracking an applicant from their first meeting to an applicant’s completion of boot camp, Kelly noted.

“MCRISS II offers greater convenience and helps Marine recruiters maintain their availability and responsiveness so they can be successful recruiting the next generation of Marines,” said Jason Glavich, MCRISS project manager, Supporting Establishment Systems, MCSC.

To make sure the development of the system would meet the needs of recruiters, Marines and officials from the two commands worked directly with MCSC software developers, explained Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christopher Mayfield, USMC, MCRISS operations officer, MCRC. Doing so “was invaluable because we were able to adequately describe and display exactly what Marine recruiters wanted in the new system,” he said.

Keeping the communication link from recruiters to the developers open over time will help enhance MCRISS II, especially when employing future capabilities into the system, such as artificial intelligence and data sets, to conduct predictive analysis.

The MCRISS II team plans to offer minimal viable product releases beginning in March and thereafter will launch new capabilities for the system every two to four weeks, the MCSC stated. That iterative process allows recruiters to receive beneficial updates without having to wait for an entire system to be fielded, Glavich said. He indicated that the entire rollout of MCRISS II would take about 12 months.

“We are leveraging industry best practices and their ability to innovate, and we're taking those innovations and applying them without having to spend program dollars,” Glavich said. “Because this new technology is more secure and it is built on a low-code platform instead of using traditional computer programming, it allows us to provide recruiters with new capabilities at a much faster pace.”