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The United States Marine Corps announced overnight that it is standing up a new, entirely internal command focused on information management.
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Marine Corps Information Command (MCIC) is a two-star command, under the aegis of Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command. The new unit will be commanded by Major General Ryan P Heritage, who also leads Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace and Marine Corps Forces Space Command.
The new unit’s responsibility is to coordinate information capabilities across the Fleet Marine Force.
“The activation of the MCIC is all about warfighting, integration and enabling the Joint Force to meet our national security objectives,” said Lieutenant General Brian Cavanaugh, the commanding general of Marine Corps Forces Command, in an announcement.
The MCIC will also include units previously attached to other commands, including the Marine Corps Cryptologic Support Battalion, the Marine Corps Information Operations Center, the Littoral Operations Cyber Cell, and the Marine Corps Cryptologic office.
Bringing all these units together allows a single commanding officer to work with across a range of global spheres — intelligence, space, cyber, and more — thus easing authority and approval processes in support of command objectives, Maj Gen Heritage added.
It is worth noting that the MCIC is not under the authority of Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, but simply shares the same commanding officer.
The creation of the MCIC was first announced as a part of the May 2022 Annual Update to Force Design 2030, and was formally established on 1 October 2022.
In the Annual Update to Force Design 2030 document, written by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General David H Berger, it was reported that such information coordination operations were happening, but on an ad-hoc basis resulting in inconsistent outcomes in the field.
“We can streamline and simplify much of the coordination burden at the headquarters level if we reorganise and refocus some of our structure, which we will do in the future with the creation of the Marine Corps Information Command (MCIC),” Gen Berger said in the report.
The unit is now fully operational.
