Key Results
- Command website: helped build and maintain the in garrison website for the 2nd Force Service Support Group
- Home base: Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
- Wartime command: the 2d FSSG formed the Marine Logistics Command in Operation Iraqi Freedom
- Legacy: the command is now the 2nd Marine Logistics Group
Summary
As a Sergeant and 4067 Computer Programmer in the United States Marine Corps, I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. There I helped build and maintain the in garrison website for the 2nd Force Service Support Group, known as 2d FSSG. It was the web presence for the logistics command of II Marine Expeditionary Force, the command that would go on to form the Marine Logistics Command in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Working on a command website taught me how to publish for a large organization with many units, many audiences and real security requirements. It was the start of a career in web development that led directly to the content management systems and WordPress platforms I build today.
About the Command
About the 2nd Force Service Support Group
The 2nd Force Service Support Group was the logistics backbone of II Marine Expeditionary Force, headquartered at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Its Combat Service Support Operations Center (CSSOC) was the headquarters operations room of the 2nd Force Service Support Group, where officers from each division had desks and collaborated in person to coordinate operations. I worked in the 2nd FSSG CSSOC during my deployment. Its lineage goes back to 1944. According to the official 2nd Marine Logistics Group history the unit relocated to Camp Lejeune in September 1945 and was "Redesignated 30 June 1978 as 2d Force Service Support Group." In Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 2d FSSG formed the Marine Logistics Command. The Marine Corps History Division account of combat service support in OIF explains that "2d FSSG or MLC was the wholesale level logistics organization," responsible for brokering sustainment such as ammunition, fuel and water and pushing it out across the battlefield. In 2005 the Marine Corps renamed every FSSG a Marine Logistics Group. The command I was stationed with, and whose in garrison website I helped build and maintain, became today's 2nd Marine Logistics Group.
Camp Lejeune and the shape of an FSSG
Camp Lejeune was chosen for exactly the kind of work the 2nd FSSG did. The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources explains that in 1940 the Marine Corps needed an East Coast amphibious training facility, and that the site's location "close to ports at Wilmington and Morehead City" made it "a logistical gem." The base was named in December 1942 for Major General John A. Lejeune, the 13th Commandant.
An FSSG is a big organization, and that is why it needed a real website. Marine Corps doctrine describes it as "an H&S battalion for command and control and seven permanently organized battalions" covering functions like supply, maintenance, transportation, engineering and medical support, each with its own companies and platoons. Thousands of Marines, many units and one place online to find the information they needed. That was the 2nd FSSG in garrison website.
The command's history is long. The official history lists the unit's service in the Persian Gulf, Operation Just Cause, and Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, where it served "as the Direct Support Command," along with disaster relief after Hurricane Hugo and Haitian refugee operations. When the Marine Corps later realigned its logistics forces, the 2005 message explained that "THE FSSG WILL BE RENAMED THE MARINE LOGISTICS GROUP (MLG)," structured "TO TRAIN, RAPIDLY TASK ORGANIZE, DEPLOY, EMPLOY, FIGHT AND REDEPLOY." The 2nd Marine Logistics Group is still headquartered at Camp Lejeune today, redesignated on November 9, 2005.
What the 2nd FSSG did at Camp Lejeune
Camp Lejeune's own base history describes the command as it stood in 2002: "As the combat service support element for the II MEF, 2nd FSSG is the major source of heavy combat service support for the other three major tenants aboard Camp Lejeune." It lists H and S, 2nd Maintenance, 2nd Transportation Support, 8th Engineer Support, 2nd Supply, 2nd Medical and 2nd Dental battalions, plus 2nd FSSG (Forward) and two combat service support detachments. Together they provided "supply, maintenance, transportation, engineer, landing support, health services, and other special services." The same history notes the command was headquartered in Building 2. GlobalSecurity describes it as "more than 480 officers and 7,400 Marines and Sailors."
That is the audience a command website had to serve: thousands of Marines and sailors across many battalions, plus detachments at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and Beaufort.
Into the war
In 2002 and 2003 the command was busy. Elements went to Guantanamo Bay in early 2002. In December 2002 the group deployed ahead of the invasion of Iraq, according to the 2nd Marine Logistics Group history. In theater it formed the Marine Logistics Command for Operation Iraqi Freedom, which the History Division describes as managing "the resources necessary to sustain the operational tempo of the modern campaign."
The Challenge
One site, many units
A force service support group is made up of many battalions and specialties. Its website had to represent the whole command while serving the Marines, families and staff who relied on it.
Accuracy and security
A military website carries the command's name. Information had to be accurate and appropriate for public release, and the site had to be maintained within the security rules of a military network.
Keeping it current
A command website is never finished. Leadership changes, units deploy and return, and news has to be published. Maintenance mattered as much as the initial build.
Building and Maintaining the 2d FSSG Site
Building the site
I helped build the in garrison website for the 2d FSSG, structuring pages so the command and its units could be found and understood.
Maintaining it
I helped maintain the site over time, publishing updates and keeping it working as the command's needs changed.
Part of a bigger toolkit
The website was one piece of my work at Camp Lejeune. I also built the Armory Management System for the base's armories and was the main Marine Corps developer and support specialist for Small Unit Logistics (SUL), the logistics application I kept updated during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On deployment I built Tent Management to locate Marines in tent cities.
The Site Online
The 2nd FSSG site lived at its old address under the Camp Lejeune domain, www.lejeune.usmc.mil/2dfssg/, and the earliest copy of the main page I found is from 2001. Unit pages lived under the same path, such as the Combat Service Support Detachment 21 page, titled "2nd Force Service Support Group Main Page," with copies going back to 2002. Its .asp address shows the site ran on Classic ASP, one of the technologies I worked with at Camp Lejeune.
The Technical Picture
- Project type: in garrison command website
- Role: helped build and maintain
- Stack: my work at Camp Lejeune used ColdFusion, Classic ASP, ASP.NET, C#, PHP, SQL Server and Oracle
- Original address: www.lejeune.usmc.mil/2dfssg/ (online by 2001); unit pages in .asp
- Address pattern: unit sections under /2dfssg/, for example /2dfssg/cssd21/
Results
The 2d FSSG had an in garrison website that represented the command and was kept up to date, built and maintained in part by the Marines who served there. The command it represented went on to form the Marine Logistics Command in Operation Iraqi Freedom and is now the 2nd Marine Logistics Group.
What It Taught Me
Publishing is a process, not a launch. Maintaining a command site taught me that the real work is keeping content current. That is exactly why content management systems like WordPress matter: they put publishing in the hands of the people who own the content.
Large organizations need structure. Representing many units on one site is the same challenge we solve today with WordPress Multisite, clear navigation and role based editing for universities, school districts and enterprises.
Security and accuracy come first. Writing for a military audience set a standard I still apply to government, healthcare and enterprise web development, including accessibility and Section 508 compliance.
Websites connect to systems. At Camp Lejeune the website sat beside real applications like SUL and the armory system. Today the best sites we build are connected platforms, linking WordPress to apps, data and services. When a legacy site needs to move, we lead the platform migration to WordPress.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the 2nd Force Service Support Group?
The 2d FSSG was the logistics command headquartered at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Its official history records its redesignation as 2d Force Service Support Group on June 30, 1978, and in Operation Iraqi Freedom it formed the Marine Logistics Command.
What is the 2nd FSSG called today?
In 2005 the Marine Corps renamed all force service support groups Marine Logistics Groups. The 2d FSSG became the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, still headquartered at Camp Lejeune.
What was the Marine Logistics Command in OIF?
According to the Marine Corps History Division, the MLC was the wholesale level logistics organization in Operation Iraqi Freedom, brokering sustainment such as ammunition, fuel and water and pushing it out to logistics support areas across the battlefield. The 2d FSSG formed it.
What did Brian do on the 2nd FSSG website?
I helped build and maintain the command's in garrison website at Camp Lejeune while serving as a Sergeant and 4067 Computer Programmer.
How does military web work relate to WordPress today?
The needs are the same: many contributors, many units, accurate and secure content, and constant updates. WordPress, WordPress Multisite and role based publishing solve those problems for large organizations today.
Related Military Case Studies
- Small Unit Logistics: A ColdFusion to .NET Migration for the Marine Corps
- Armory Management System for Camp Lejeune: Custom Asset Tracking
- Tent Management: A Personnel Tracking System for Deployed Marines
- 2nd FSSG: Building the In Garrison Website at Camp Lejeune
- Marine Corps 4067 Computer Programmer: Learning Ada and Databases at 29 Palms
- Gas, Gas, Gas: The Network Emergency Alert I Built During Operation Iraqi Freedom
In My Words
Helping build the 2nd FSSG website at Camp Lejeune taught me to publish for thousands of Marines and many units at once, and it was the start of my career in web development.
Brian Messenlehner
Project leadership by Brian Messenlehner.
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Related: my Marine Corps experience, Small Unit Logistics migration, WordPress Multisite for large organizations.
