MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. -- Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point administration has updated its old system for service record books, making them more accessible and convenient for Marines by moving the information to Marine Online at http://www.mol.usmc.mil.
Marines can now access their service information by logging in to Marine Online and clicking the OMPF tab near the top of the page.
The move, authorized in November 2011 by Marine Administrative Message 680/11, is part of the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ plan to better support commanders, senior enlisted advisors, and the individual Marine.
“I heard about this initiative over 10 years ago,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Scott M. Newell, officer-in-charge for Cherry Point Installation Personnel Administration Center customer service. “One of the driving factors was the Commandant’s initiative. He thought it was a great idea, so he put some resources behind it and said make it happen.”
The new system provides commanders with instantaneous access to a Marine’s record once joined to a command, eliminating the need to checkout paper records.
“The benefit to the commanders is the ease of access,” said Newell. “Before (the commanders) would have to send a request through IPAC. IPAC would then have to pull the book, make copies or scan it. Now with a few clicks of his mouse through MOL he can see everything that is in his Marines records.”
Cherry Point administration Marines began the tedious process of transferring over 9,000 service records books into electronic data Oct. 24, 2011, said Newell.
“We are 99 percent done,” he said. “There is a handful of record books that are missing documents so we are working to get those completed and into the system.”
IPAC Marines, including Cpl. Joshua S. Andrade, an administrative specialist, reviewed, scanned and uploaded every single document during the transition.
“Once the SRBs are scanned, we send them back to the individual administration offices for each unit,” said Andrade. “They return those records to the Marines for their safekeeping.”
Andrade added that if Marines have not received the hard copy of their record books yet they should contact their administration, S-1, officers.
The benefits are more than just ease of access to the commanders said Newell.
“(Commanders) can grant access to individuals in their commands that need to view Marines’ documents like career planners, adjutants and legal officers,” explained Newell. “The new E-File system makes it a lot easier to put together legal packages or meritorious packages because they have instant access to the required documents.”
The move also supports the Marine Corps’ push to become more efficient in response to President Barack Obama’s “leaner, meaner” defense strategy.
“From the IPAC standpoint it saves a lot of manpower because the maintenance of those hard copy record books was extrememly labor intensive,” said Newell. “It increases the accuracy of the record and the speed of updating those records.”
Most of the work to convert to electronic records across the Marine Corps is done said Newell.
“Marine Corps-wide, 90 percent of the IPACs have completed the transfer,” he said. “Right now they are working on the stand-alone detachments and the individual augment Marines.”