MCRP 7-20A.2 - Event and Exercise Design

Scope

MCRP 7-20A.2 is the Marine Corps Reference Publication on Event and Exercise Design. It is one of five companion reference publications in the MCRP 7-20A series supporting the doctrinal framework of MCTP 7-20A Unit Training Management. The publication provides guidance on designing individual and collective training events and exercises to meet training objectives tied to the Mission Essential Task List (METL) and the Training and Readiness (T&R) event standards.

Audience

Unit training managers, operations officers, and commanders designing training events and exercises. S-1 and G-1 staff building the 01XX training plan. Portal admin training sustainment pages cite this publication for drafting commander's training guidance from intent, mission, and METL, for risk assessment in high-risk training, for integrating service-directed and unit-directed training requirements, for MCTIMS calendar documentation, and for training plan submission and higher headquarters approval.

Note on Portal Citation Label

Portal content pages reference this publication as "MCRP 7-20A.2 Training Plan Development." The authoritative MCPEL title is "Event and Exercise Design." Both labels resolve to this entry. The "Training Plan Development" label more accurately describes MCRP 7-20A.1.

MCRP 7-20A Series

The MCRP 7-20A series provides reference-level companion guides to MCTP 7-20A Unit Training Management. All five publications carry an effective date of January 2023.

• MCRP 7-20A.1 Training Plan Design. METL-to-plan translation and training plan architecture.
• MCRP 7-20A.2 Event and Exercise Design (this publication). Individual and collective event design and exercise construction.
• MCRP 7-20A.3 Simulation Training Guide. Integration of simulation resources into the training plan.
• MCRP 7-20A.4 Evaluations and Assessments. T&R event evaluation standards and assessment methods.
• MCRP 7-20A.5 Training Data Management. MCTIMS data entry, training record management, and reporting.

Connection to higher policy

• MCTP 7-20A Unit Training Management. Parent doctrinal publication. The MCRP 7-20A series provides reference-level companion guides to it.
• MCO P3500.72A Marine Corps Ground Training and Readiness Program. Policy framework governing T&R event requirements, CRP, and training exceptions. Paragraphs 1001 and 3001 set the training tenets and core competencies anchoring priority setting on portal admin pages.
• MCO 1553.3C Unit Training Management Program. UTM responsibilities and MCTIMS documentation requirements. Paragraph 4.c.(4)(a) mandates Commander's Training Guidance as a required MCTIMS Unit Document, and paragraph 4.a.(2)(c) makes the training plan downstream of guidance.

Connection to Marine Corps doctrine and lower policy

• NAVMC 3500.3E Manpower and Administration Training and Readiness Manual. T&R Manual for 01XX events. T&R event 0170-OPER-2001 covers the 01XX training plan derived from commander's guidance.
• The four companion publications in the MCRP 7-20A series, listed above, carry the plan design, simulation, evaluation, and data management guidance surrounding event and exercise design.

Status

Active. Effective 2023-01-27. Published by Headquarters Marine Corps Training and Education Command. The external link opens the publication PDF on marines.mil.