Lt. Gen. Melvin “Jerry” Carter, deputy commandant for information, approved the 57-page document April 23 and it was recently published. The plan was developed following last year’s release of the Corps’ AI strategy.

The service sees artificial intelligence capabilities as transformative technologies to “enhance decision advantage in the evolving landscape of modern warfare,” officials noted.

The AI implementation plan includes objectives and tasks related to five strategic goals.

Tactical innovation is one of the main objectives related to achieving the goal of “mission alignment.”

No later than March 2026, the implementation plan directs the deputy commandant for information (DC I) in coordination with the deputy commandant for combat development and integration, to “develop a use case process that captures, assesses, and prioritizes concepts for the application of AI from across the warfighting functions, and at all echelons, to implement targeted actions” as well as “identify major roadblocks in policy, workforce, and infrastructure that have a large impact on innovation and acceleration of AI implementation to mitigate through change.”

The DC I must also oversee a digital transformation pilot project, which will include the deployment of “digital transformation teams” to support commanders with incorporating new tools across their commands. The pilot will focus on delivering digital, data, analytics and AI solutions; process optimizations; and advising on opportunities and risk of digital, data, and AI employment, among others. The Corps has already begun deployment of the digital transformation teams, according to Marine Corps AI lead Capt. Christopher Clark, who helped prepare the implementation plan.

Another strategic goal is to develop what the Corps calls an “AI competent workforce.”

The implementation plan directs the commanding general of Training and Education Command — no later than March 2026 — to identify available learning tools and resources across the Defense Department and industry and centralize them in a repository to enhance “proactive learning.”

The TECOM commander must also identify costs and requirements for licensing external training resources outside of the Marine Corps, while aligning with Fleet Marine Force capabilities and existing programs of records “to enable shared funding and rapid acquisition to determine long term viability and funding.”

Meanwhile, no later than November 2025, the deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs will “analyze career retention compensation opportunities, to include, at a minimum, monetary, billet preference, established career-progression opportunities that support the development and retention of the AI workforce,” per the implementation plan.

That official must also analyze how to maximize return on investment in the civilian information-related workforce segment; methods to standardize the prediction of future civilian workforce needs; and how to improve position descriptions, speed up hiring and make civilian workforce data more accessible for talent management initiatives.

Another strategic aim is to enable AI deployment at scale.

No later than April 2026, the DC I must “incorporate data-centricity into all levels of inspection programs to be inspected annually, and establish a baseline for the data culture to measure progress against. This includes, but is not limited to, the Commanding General’s Inspection Program and other Service and Marine Expeditionary Force-level inspection programs,” per the implementation plan.

The DC I is also tasked with updating Marine Corps Tactical Publication 3-30B Information Management to incorporate “the changing dynamics of data-centricity and AI technologies on information management.”

In coordination with the deputy commandant for combat development and integration and the commander of Marine Corps Systems Command, the DC I is directed to “establish a data architectural framework that informs the requirements development and procurement process for establishing an enterprise data solution that employs data standards, application programming interface- (API-) based services, and AI solutions.”

A new AI infrastructure operations planning team will also be set up to identify and accelerate immediate infrastructure requirements for cloud, on premises, and tactical applications, as well as identify legacy systems for divestment. The effort is expected to yield recommendations on storage and compute, development environment, resource management and machine learning platforms to enable ML operations.

To enhance cybersecurity, no later than September 2027, the DC I is tasked with reforming the Risk Management Framework to “embrace automation and reduce administrative overhead” and “provide data security posture management solution to enable data-centric security and Zero Trust.”

Meanwhile, the commanding general of Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command is expected to coordinate defensive cyber operations and cybersecurity functions to defend AI-enabled systems.

AI governance is another strategic focus area.

No later than September 2025, the DC I must incorporate applicable AI governance requirements “into the Commanding General’s Readiness Inspection for enforcement and oversight,” as well as conduct a policy analysis to “identify gaps, inefficiencies, and where current policy does not align with strategic goals,” according to the implementation plan.

To advance the strategic goal of boosting partnerships and collaboration with industry and academia, the commander of Marine Corps Systems Command — no later than December 2025 — must establish cooperative agreements and contracting vehicles for AI development and adoption and coordinate “regular industry-focused events for info sharing and capability demonstrations that contribute to awareness and adoption of relevant technologies.”

No later than April 2026, the DC I, deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs and commanding general of TECOM must evaluate and move to expand organizational relationships with university-affiliated research centers, academic institutions and federally funded research-and-development centers to tackle “AI problem sets.”

Meanwhile, the DC I is tasked with conducting an assessment on the feasibility of establishing a new Center for Digital Transformation. The initiative would be expected to “provide digital, data, and AI knowledge-based products designed to support and grow a healthy ecosystem, developer community, and user base” and “accelerate the fielding of emerging technologies, including AI, across the Service via strong connections with industry and academia,” according to the implementation plan.

The Corps aims to have a plan in place for a three-year Center for Digital Transformation pilot no later than September 2026.

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GenAI models can leverage input data to create new content such as images, videos, audio and text.

“These systems have the potential to revolutionize mission processes by enhancing operational speed and efficiency, improving decisionmaking accuracy, reducing human involvement in redundant, tedious, and dangerous tasks, and enabling real-time adaptability to dynamic operational environments. This technological advancement can significantly boost mission effectiveness and operational readiness, providing a strategic edge in modern warfare. Commanders and senior leaders should advocate for the use of GenAI tools for their appropriate use cases,” Lt. Gen. Melvin “Jerry” Carter, deputy commandant for information, wrote in new guidance that he issued in December.

Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit — which deployed to the Pacific with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group for much of 2024 and participated in a variety of exercises and other activities in the region — are already taking advantage of these types of capabilities.

“We used a generative AI model to be able to assist with some staff functions they’re offering [for] both our unclassified and classified systems on using this. And some of the things that they would do is we get a lot of information, situation reports, different things like that, [and] we were making summaries using the Gen AI to help facilitate that,” Maj. Victor Castro, a communications officer with 15th MEU, told DefenseScoop during a call with reporters on Tuesday to discuss the deployment.

Capt. Kristin Enzenauer, a space operations officer, noted that an AI tool from Vannevar Labs can sift through media.

“That filters all mentions of 15th MEU … throughout the foreign media and provides us a summary to see how the 15th MEU was being mentioned or impact across the information environment, across foreign media. So we would present that probably biweekly … to the commanders,” she said.

Carter in his recent directive stated that Marine Corps commands will be expected to establish task forces or cells consisting of data, knowledge management, AI and digital operations experts to assess the applicability of existing and in-development offerings and produce a list of “forthcoming preferred GenAI capabilities.”

Col. Sean Dynan, who was the commanding officer of 15th MEU during last year’s deployment, said the unit’s use of artificial intelligence technology was just “the tip of the iceberg” for what Marines and amphibious ready groups could potentially do with it in the future.

“When we look at how complex it is to … prepare and supply an ARG/MEU deployed forward, I think that there’s significant opportunity for more use of AI,” he told reporters.

Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the Corps, recently expressed confidence that Marines — especially the younger cohorts — will embrace genAI effectively.

“I don’t have any concerns about integrating it into the force,” he told DefenseScoop during a Defense Writers Group meeting last month. “My Marines are digital natives. I mean, they grew up with an iPhone 14 in their hands. You know, I grew up with a cord. So the young Marines will figure out how to use that and they’re the ones that are telling us how to do it. They’re completely comfortable with generative AI, with machine-to-machine learning. They’re completely comfortable with using a pad and doing targeting off a pad and passing that targeting data ubiquitously across the force through a sensor cloud and then down to another user through GEO satellites. They’re completely comfortable with that, so I don’t have any concerns about that other than the security of our communications links.”

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Commands at the tactical edge don’t always have the resources or the know-how to deal with the sophisticated digital threats facing the network.

“Our adversary is certainly not standing still. They’ve been watching us for quite some time and they’re up to some things and they’re evolving quite a bit … What we know now is that the adversaries will get into the systems and they’ll go dormant and sleep. But we have to have the ability to not only hunt forward, but the persistent presence inside our networks to ensure” security, Lt. Gen. Melvin “Jerry” Carter, deputy commandant for information, said in an interview at the annual WEST conference this week.

To combat these threats, Carter, who took over as DCI about six months ago, stressed the need for persistence on the network to hunt for malicious activity and eradicate it from friendly systems.

“We can’t afford to have [Marine Expeditionary Force] commanders really go after their independent networks and do their own thing. Now we have a responsibility at the headquarters level, under my authority to man, train and equip, to give them the capabilities. But we just can’t afford the commanders to do that,” he said.

While the Corps has sought to build defensive cyber operations-internal defense measures companies (DCO-IDM), which protect networks and search for adversaries on friendly systems at the tactical edge, there aren’t enough of them to go around.

“We just don’t have enough of them. We are thinking about number one, are they in the right place? Do they have the right authorities, many at [Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command], as you know, under the authority of [U.S. Cyber Command], but what about the ones that we need on a day to day presence in the [Fleet Marine Force] next to the networks in garrison, so to speak, installation bases and stations?” Carter said. “Every day we find out we’re under attack. That persistent presence is critical and we just don’t have the capacity really to go around.”

Carter suggested a more centralized network where experts can assist those MEF commanders from afar.

“We’re looking at a network that is universal. I mean, it’s one that all the way back across the network, but from headquarters and down at the right place that we can see the threat on the network materialize before a MEF commander even knows about it. That is the sort of network we need to really sense and make sense of what’s going on their networks,” he said, noting that there’s a potential business case for a centralized delivery of services.

As part of ongoing network modernization, the Corps has to evolve past the traditional authority-to-operate paradigm that was good for a period of time.

“We have to have a network that [is] very modern, but the other components of that is the sensing and monitoring of that piece is important,” Carter said.

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The Corps, like the Defense Department writ large, is keen on tapping into emerging genAI capabilities for various military purposes.

Last month, Lt. Gen. Melvin “Jerry” Carter, the deputy commandant for information, issued new guidance on the technology, writing that these types of tools present “unique and exciting opportunities” for the Marines. Such genAI models can use input data to create new content such as images, videos, audio, and text.

“These advanced AI algorithms possess the remarkable ability to provide humanlike responses to user prompts, leveraging the vast datasets on which they were trained,” Carter noted.

“These systems have the potential to revolutionize mission processes by enhancing operational speed and efficiency, improving decisionmaking accuracy, reducing human involvement in redundant, tedious, and dangerous tasks, and enabling real-time adaptability to dynamic operational environments. This technological advancement can significantly boost mission effectiveness and operational readiness, providing a strategic edge in modern warfare. Commanders and senior leaders should advocate for the use of GenAI tools for their appropriate use cases,” he wrote.

Commands will be expected to establish AI task forces or cells consisting of data, knowledge management, artificial intelligence and digital ops experts to assess the applicability of existing and in-development offerings and produce a list of “forthcoming preferred GenAI capabilities,” he noted.

Commandant Gen. Eric Smith told DefenseScoop at a Defense Writers Group meeting Wednesday that he doesn’t anticipate the need for a major organizational shakeup for the Corps as it looks to integrate new artificial intelligence capabilities. And he’s not looking to invest a lot of money into building bespoke platforms for Marines.

“We’re not going to reorganize based on AI. We are going to use the tools that are available, and we use the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, along with deputy commandant for information … to make sure that what is out there is utilized by us so that what I don’t want to do is I don’t want to pay the S&T costs, I don’t want to pay the R&D costs. I just want to take off-the-shelf technology and have my Marines use it because the off-the-shelf technology is better than anything that I could come up with. I mean, it’s not a matter of the DOD having to lead this effort. I mean, it’s a matter of being a fast follower,” Smith said.

DOD officials and others have voiced concerns about the technology, including so-called “hallucinations” where genAI models produce inaccurate, misleading or biased results that could create problems for the humans who are trying to leverage them.

Smith noted that there needs to be an effective and continuous testing and evaluation methodology to ensure the output of the algorithms meets “reasonable expectations.”

Data privacy and security are also top of mind for DOD officials looking to bring these cutting-edge capabilities into the Pentagon and field them to military units. The department doesn’t want its sensitive data leaking out into the public domain or where adversaries can find it.

The commandant of the Corps expressed confidence that the Marines — especially the younger cohorts — will embrace genAI effectively and figure out the best use cases.

“I don’t have any concerns about integrating it into the force,” Smith told DefenseScoop at the Defense Writers Group meeting. “My Marines are digital natives. I mean, they grew up with an iPhone 14 in their hands. You know, I grew up with a cord. So the young Marines will figure out how to use that and they’re the ones that are telling us how to do it. They’re completely comfortable with generative AI, with machine-to-machine learning. They’re completely comfortable with using a pad and doing targeting off a pad and passing that targeting data ubiquitously across the force through a sensor cloud and then down to another user through GEO satellites. They’re completely comfortable with that, so I don’t have any concerns about that other than the security of our communications links.”

He noted that he recently spoke with leaders and Marines at U.S. Cyber Command about these types of security issues.

“I have concerns about our security layers, but they [and] we have to operate. You know, you can’t be so defensive that you can’t use your systems,” Smith said.

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On Friday, Lt. Gen. Melvin Carter assumed his new role as the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for information. He most recently served as deputy director for combat support at the NSA Cybersecurity Directorate.

Carter succeeds Lt. Gen. Matthew Glavy, who has held the position since 2021 and will retire after a 38-year career in the military.

Glavy had overseen the service’s enshrinement of information into doctrine with the release of Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication-8, Information, in 2022. MCDP-8 aims to describe the purpose and mechanics of using information as a warfighting tool for the entire service.

Earlier this year, the Corps released the next iteration of the document, “MCWP 8-10 Information in Marine Corps Operations.” Glavy previewed this document in early 2023, saying it was meant to be more of a cognitive discussion that breaks away from the lexicon about what information is and isn’t in a military context.

Most recently, his office has worked on an iterative basis on a Network Modernization, or NETMOD, plan, which is a framework to align resources and priorities for the network. It’s a continual effort that is updated each year.

Additionally, Vice Adm. Mike Vernazza became the so-called I-Boss in a ceremony July 26, assuming command of Naval Information Forces. In that role he’ll be responsible for the so-called man, train and equip role for information warfare sailors.

Vernazza previously served as the commander of Fleet Information Warfare Command Pacific/Information Warfare Task Force Pacific, which was created as a direct request from the Pacific Fleet commander to help coordinate effects across the vast information space, including through interservice and allied partners.

In assuming his new job, he took over from Vice Adm. Kelly Aeschbach, who retired after a 34-year career and three years as the I-Boss.

Aeschbach played a big part in advancing Navy IW, namely, its cyber enterprise. Under her leadership — and at the direction of Congress — the service created specific work roles for digital warriors that conduct operations on behalf of U.S. Cyber Command.

Aeschbach has maintained that the demand for information warfare and IW professionals is ever-increasing and officials are struggling to keep up with the demand.

“As we have seen over the last three years, our world is shifting from competition to crisis, and we cannot move fast enough in meeting the demand for IW,” Aeschbach said at the change of command, according to a press release.

“We have made significant progress in ensuring our force is fit to meet the fight ahead with trained and ready warfighters. We’ve stood up officer designators for space and cyber, and have skilled enlisted cyber warfare technicians defending our networks throughout the Fleet and the joint force. We now leverage all officer accession sources — attracting a diverse pool of truly eye-watering talent. We’ve significantly elevated the integration of IW into live, virtual and constructive training, and we are on a trajectory to see an afloat test in the coming year of that capability. And now, from the type command, we have taken ownership of all basic phase information warfare training and certification,” she said.

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