MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) has begun cutting over computers here, to provide an enterprise-wide service that supports Marines and Sailors here with reliable, universal access to data information exchange services.
The switchover is occurring in three-week increments of different sections. Workstation migration training is being scheduled through the base G-6, or Communications personnel, and contractors are providing training at least one week prior to changeovers.
Scheduled training will explain the cutover phase and prepare users to consolidate their data, as the reconfiguration of hardware may consist of changing out computer systems entirely, said Evelyn Flores, the regional contracting officer's representative for Marine Corps Systems Command.
When fully implemented, the NMCI system will be in use on more than 300 Marine Corps and Navy bases located in the mainland United States, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Japan, Guam, Hawaii and Iceland. NMCI will support an estimated 360,000 Marines, Sailors and civilian personnel.
The $9 billion contract was signed in October of 2000, by then Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig. The goal is to standardize information technology services across the Department of the Navy and reduce the haphazard IT purchasing processes throughout the Marine Corps and Navy.
Additionally, the program intends to begin the transition of IT-related military occupational specialties (computer repairmen, maintenance, help desk) and civilian employees to free up Marines for deployments and other military-specific duties, while the contractor supports billets in garrison. According to military officials, this transition should increase combat readiness, enhance security, boost productivity and reduce costs, along with a variety of other improvements.
Workstations will be refreshed every three years to ensure the highest quality available is provided to the military, and software will be updated periodically, said Flores.
"Once cutover, Marines and Sailors will receive new e-mail addresses and the Help Desk phone number will be 1-866-THE-NMCI [1-866-843-6624]," said Flores.