R 091921Z APR 13
UNCLASSIFIED/
MARADMIN 196/13
MSGID/GENADMIN/CG EDCOM PRES MCU QUANTICO VA//
SUBJ/IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGIONAL, CULTURE, AND LANGUAGE FAMILIARIZATION (RCLF) PROGRAM FOR THE RESERVE COMPONENT//
REF/A/DOC/MROC DM 38-2012//
REF/B/DOC/MCSCP, SIGNED 4 JAN 2010//
REF/C/DOC/MARINE CORPS LRC STRATEGY 2011-2015, SIGNED AUG 2010//
REF/D/MARADMIN 619/12//
REF/E/DOC/MCO 1001R.1K, SIGNED 22 MAR 2009//
NARR/REF A IS MROC DM 38-2012, SIGNED BY GEN DUNFORD ON 24 MAY 2012, APPROVAL OF THE REGIONAL CULTURE LANGUAGE FAMILIARIZATION PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.  REF B IS THE MARINE CORPS SERVICE CAMPAIGN PLAN FOR 2009-2015.  REF C IS THE MARINE CORPS LANGUAGE, REGIONAL AND CULTURE STRATEGY 2011-2015.  REF D IS MARADMIN 619/12, IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGIONAL CULTURE LANGUAGE FAMILIARIZATION PROGRAM.  REF E IS MCO 1001R.1 MARINE CORPS RESERVE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT MANUAL.//
POC/T. M. ROSS/MAJ/CAOCL/RCLF COORDINATOR/TEL: (703) 432-1504/EMAIL:  CAOCLADMIN(AT)USMC.MIL//
POC/B. FORD/CIV/RAM-3/-/TEL:  (703) 784-0523/EMAIL:  BRENNETT.FORD(AT)USMC.MIL OR RPME(AT)USMC.MIL//
POC/T. A. BOGGS/MAJ/RAM-3/-/TEL:  (703) 784-0531/EMAIL:  THOMAS.A.BOGGS(AT)USMC.MIL OR RPME(AT)USMC.MIL//
POC/I. LUNDGREN/CIV/MARFORRES/COMMAND LANGUAGE COORDINATOR/TEL: (504) 697-7211/EMAIL:  ISLEY.LUNDGREN(AT)USMC.MIL//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  THIS IS A JOINT DC MRA, MARFORRRES, AND EDCOM MESSAGE TO ANNOUNCE THE EXPANSION OF THE REGIONAL, CULTURE, AND LANGUAGE FAMILIARIZATION (RCLF) PROGRAM TO THE MARINE CORPS RESERVE COMPONENT (RC).  THIS MESSAGE PROVIDES GUIDANCE IAW THE REFS ON THE UNIQUE ASPECTS OF THE PROGRAM AS THEY APPLY TO THE SELECTED MARINE CORPS RESERVE (SMCR), INDIVIDUAL MOBILIZATION AUGMENTEES (IMA), INDIVIDUAL READY RESERVISTS (IRR), AND THE ACTIVE RESERVE (AR).  FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE CONTENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RCLF PROGRAM REFER TO REF D.
2.  BACKGROUND.  THE MISSION OF THE RCLF PROGRAM IS TO ENSURE THAT MARINE UNITS ARE GLOBALLY PREPARED AND EFFECTIVE AT NAVIGATING AND INFLUENCING CULTURALLY COMPLEX 21ST CENTURY OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS IN SUPPORT OF MARINE CORPS MISSIONS AND REQUIREMENTS.
3.  RCLF PROGRAM.
    A.  THE RCLF PROGRAM SERVES MARINES BY IMPARTING LANGUAGE, REGION, AND CULTURE (LRC) CONCEPTS AND SKILLS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO THE MARINE'S RANK AND LEVEL OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR EACH STEP OF THEIR CAREER.  THE DESIGN REINFORCES AND SUSTAINS LEARNING THROUGH TARGETED EXPOSURE TO TAILORED CURRICULUM.  RC MARINES CAN ACCESS THE RCLF COURSES THROUGH MOST INTERNET ACCESSIBLE COMPUTERS AS THE PROGRAM IS DELIVERED PRIMARILY THROUGH A DISTANCE EDUCATION FORMAT THROUGH MARINENET AND IS TRACKED IN MCTFS.  COURSE RELIABILITY IS MAXIMIZED THROUGH THE WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM AND INTERNET EXPLORER.  MARINENET IS COMMON ACCESS CARD (CAC) ENABLED, BUT NOT CAC REQUIRED, ALLOWING MARINES TO ACCESS CONTENT WITH A USERNAME AND PASSWORD.  RC MARINES WILL PROGRESS THROUGH THE SAME BLOCK STRUCTURE AS THEIR ACTIVE DUTY COUNTERPARTS.
    B.  REGIONAL ASSIGNMENTS.  REGIONAL ASSIGNMENTS ARE MADE AS EXPLAINED IN REF D.
        (1) OFFICERS AND WARRANT OFFICERS ARE ASSIGNED ONE OF 17 REGIONS WHILE ATTENDING TBS.  EVERY EFFORT IS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFICERS AND WARRANT OFFICERS WITH UNIQUE LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL CAPABILITIES ARE MATCHED TO THE MOST APPROPRIATE REGIONS WHILE MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE MARINE CORPS.  THE REGION ASSIGNED REMAINS WITH THE OFFICER UPON TRANSFER TO THE RC.
        (2) ENLISTED MARINES ARE ASSIGNED ONE OF 17 REGIONS UPON PROMOTION TO SERGEANT.  AN ENLISTED MARINE WHO RECEIVES A REGIONAL ASSIGNMENT WHILE IN THE AC, RETAINS THAT ASSIGNMENT UPON TRANSFER TO THE RESERVE COMPONENT.
        (3) MARINES WITH A DEMONSTRATED LANGUAGE CAPABILITY OR EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN A REGION, THAT CLEARLY PROVIDES A BENEFIT TO THE MARINE CORPS, CAN REQUEST REASSIGNMENT TO A MORE APPROPRIATE RCLF REGION.  ALL ASSIGNMENT CHANGES ARE BASED ON THE NEEDS OF THE MARINE CORPS.  REQUESTS FOR REGIONAL CHANGES SHOULD BE ROUTED THROUGH CAOCL FOR APPROVAL.  REQUESTS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE EMAIL ADDRESS IDENTIFIED IN PARA 5.A.
    C.  CONTENT.  THE RCLF CURRICULUM IS BASED AROUND THREE AREAS OF STUDY:  CULTURE GENERAL, CULTURE SPECIFIC, AND TACTICAL LANGUAGE.  FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE REF D.
    D.  LANGUAGE.  THE DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE'S (DLI) HEADSTART 2 IS THE LANGUAGE COURSEWARE FOR THE RCLF PROGRAM, AND CONSISTS OF 11 MODULES BROKEN INTO FOUR DISTINCT CURRICULA.  COMPLETING HEADSTART 2 IS NOT EXPECTED TO PRODUCE A MEASUREABLE LANGUAGE PROFICIENY ON THE INTERAGENCY LANGUAGE ROUNDTABLE (ILR) SCALE.  TO IDENTIFY THE CORRESPONDING LANGUAGE MODULE FOR RCLF REGIONS REFER TO REF D OR THE CAOCL RCLF WEBSITE (SEE PARA 5.C. FOR URL).  OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MARINES WITH A DEMONSTRATED LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY WITHIN THEIR REGION CAN ALTERNATIVELY SATISFY THE LANGUAGE COMPONENT OF THE RCLF PROGRAM BY TESTING AT AN ILR LEVEL 1+/1+ IN ANY TWO MODALITIES ON A DEFENSE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TEST (DLPT) OR ORAL PROFICIENCY INTERVIEW (OPI) FOR THE APPROPRIATE REGIONAL LANGUAGE.  THE TESTING MAY BE COMPLETED AT ANY POINT IN THE MARINE'S CAREER.
    E.  CREDIT TOWARDS RETIREMENT.  UPON SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING EACH ELEMENT OF THE RCLF CURRICULUM, A REPORT IS GENERATED TO UPDATE THE MARINE CORPS TOTAL FORCE SYSTEM (MCTFS) AND INACTIVE DUTY TRAINING (IDT) (CORRESPONDENCE) POINTS ARE AUTOMATICALLY AWARDED.  IDT (CORRESPONDENCE) POINTS ARE AWARDED IN COMPLIANCE WITH REF E AT A RATE OF ONE POINT PER THREE HOURS OF COURSE WORK.  COMPLETING EACH CULTURE MODULE WILL AWARD FOUR IDT (CORRESPONDENCE) POINTS.  COMPLETING THE FOUR HEADSTART 2 MODULES AWARDS A TOTAL OF 26 IDT (CORRESPONDENCE) POINTS.  PER REF E, PAR 9305, NO RETIREMENT POINTS MAY BE EARNED FOR INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP ENROLLMENT COURSES WHEN LESSONS, STUDY UNITS, ETC., ARE CONDUCTED DURING IDT OR OTHER PERIODS FOR WHICH RETIREMENT POINTS ARE AWARDED.  A MAXIMUM OF 130 IDT POINTS MAY BE CREDITED FOR RETIREMENT PURPOSES FOR THE ANNIVERSARY YEAR.  ACTIVE AND IDT POINTS COMBINED SHALL NOT EXCEED 365/366 FOR THE ANNIVERSARY YEAR.
    F.  CONNECTION TO PME.  ONCE RCLF IS FULLY IMPLEMENTED, TO BE CONSIDERED PME COMPLETE FOR RANK, A MARINE MUST HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED EACH RCLF BLOCK DESIGNATED FOR THAT RANK.  FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE REF D.  ACCOUNTABILITY OF RCLF BLOCKS TOWARDS PME COMPLETE WILL BEGIN WHEN ALL THE INITIAL HEADSTART 2 LANGUAGE SUITES ARE AVAILABLE ON MARINENET.  IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE INITIAL SUITE OF LANGUAGES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR ACCESS NO EARLIER THAN 4TH QUARTER FY 13, AT WHICH TIME A FOLLOW-ON MARADMIN ANNOUNCING THE LANGUAGE SUITE AVAILABILITY AND THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE RCLF PME REQUIREMENT WILL BE RELEASED.  COMPLETING THE APPROPRIATE RCLF BLOCK WILL BE SUPPORTED THROUGH THE MOL 'RCLF COMPLETE FLAG' CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT.  THE 'RCLF COMPLETE FLAG' WILL REPORT COMPLETION OF GRADE REQUIRED RCLF BLOCKS AND RESET UPON PROMOTION TO THE NEXT GRADE.
4.  IMPLEMENTATION.
    A.  COMMISSIONED OFFICERS:  SINCE APR 2009 LIEUTENANTS HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED A RCLF REGION WHILE ATTENDING TBS.
    B.  WARRANT OFFICERS:  SINCE FEB 2011 WARRANT OFFICERS HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED A RCLF REGION WHILE ATTENDING TBS.
    C.  ENLISTED MARINES:  SINCE OCT 2012, ACTIVE COMPONENT SERGEANTS WITH A DATE OF RANK NO EARLIER THAN 1 OCT 2012 HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED A RCLF REGION.  RC ENLISTED MARINES WILL BEGIN BEING ASSIGNED A RCLF REGION ON 1 MAY 2013.
    D.  EXEMPTIONS.  RC MARINES PROMOTED/APPOINTED/COMMISSIONED, AS INDICATED BELOW, ARE CONSIDERED EXEMPT OR "GRANDFATHERED" FROM THE RCLF PROGRAM.  THESE MARINES ARE NOT REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE RCLF BLOCKS AT ANY TIME DURING THEIR CAREERS.  THOSE CONSIDERED GRANDFATHERED ARE ENCOURAGED TO STUDY A SPECIFIC RCLF REGION, COMPLETE ALL APPLICABLE RCLF INSTRUCTIONAL BLOCKS IN THE PRESCRIBED ORDER, AND COMPLETE HEADSTART 2 IN A LANGUAGE OF THEIR CHOICE.
        (1) SERGEANTS PROMOTED BEFORE 1 MAY 2013,
        (2) WARRANT OFFICERS APPOINTED BEFORE 1 FEBRUARY 2011,
        (3) SECOND LIEUTENANTS COMMISSIONED BEFORE 1 APRIL 2009.
        (4) ENLISTED MARINES WHO TRANSFERRED TO THE RC AFTER 12 NOVEMBER 2012 AND WERE ASSIGNED A RCLF REGION, ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE RCLF PROGRAM.
    E.  CURRENT AND PROJECTED MARINENET COURSE CODES ASSOCIATED WITH EACH REGION MAY BE ACCESSED AS DESCRIBED IN REF D.
5.  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND CONTACTS.
    A.  CENTER FOR ADVANCED OPERATIONAL CULTURE LEARNING (CAOCL), 2076 SOUTH ST, BLDG 711-A, QUANTICO, VA 22134, (703) 432-1504, CAOCLADMIN(AT)USMC.MIL.
    B.  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AT: WWW.TECOM.USMC.MIL/CAOCL/SITEPAGES/RCLF_FAQS.ASPX
    C.  REGIONAL CULTURE AND LANGUAGE FAMILIARIZATION (RCLF), WWW.TECOM.USMC.MIL/CAOCL/SITEPAGES/RCLF.ASPX
6.  RELEASE AUTHORIZED BY BGEN W. F. MULLEN III; COMMANDING GENERAL, EDUCATION COMMAND; PRESIDENT, MARINE CORPS UNIVERSITY.//