MCO 3502.6A governs the Marine Corps process for generating operationally ready forces for deployments and crisis response missions.
View MCO 3502.6A on armypubs.army.mil
It addresses force requirements, mission-essential tasks, deploying units, task-organized forces, and standing crisis response forces. It requires a five-phase process for selecting, resourcing, preparing, deploying, and redeploying units, including training and readiness assessment.
Force requirements can range from individual augments and transition teams up to a Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) . (paragraph 1)
Mission Essential Task List (METL) : The set of all METs that a unit is organized, trained, and equipped to perform. (paragraph 1)
The force generation process provides a systematic, Service-wide approach to selecting, resourcing, and preparing units for deployment, conducted in five phases: (1) synchronize the force; (2) generate the force; (3} ready the force; (4} deploy the force; and (5} redeploy the force. (paragraph 4)
Throughout this continuum, operational units and assigned personnel conduct core MET training to maintain operational readiness. (paragraph 4)
Units identified to support operational deployments or standing crisis response force requirements begin predeployment planning, based upon a validated assigned METL. (paragraph 4)