MCCS Connect is replacing all local moble apps that provided directories, bus schedules and other helpful information. (U.S. Marine Corps)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan — Marine Corps Community Services has developed a standard mobile phone app to help Marines, sailors and their families find resources at their installations in time for the upcoming PCS season.
MCCS Connect is replacing all local applications that provided directories, bus schedules and other helpful information, and is available for download now, according to Ronald Netemeyer, community services marketing director at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.
“The development of the Connect app is part of the standardization that we’re doing,” he said in an interview Monday.
The app makes a timely arrival as military families prepare for permanent changes of station.
“When people are PCSing, they don’t have to learn a new app. When different installations had their own app, every time somebody PCSes, they had to either download a new app, delete the old ones, learn the layout of the new location,” Netemeyer said.
For four years, the Iwakuni Altitude app housed information for all the events MCCS was hosting on the installation and in the local community, said Netemeyer, who has served marketing director since 2024.
Not every installation had its own phone app.
“In the past, if you wanted to know more about the information, you had to Google it,” he said.
With MCCS Connect, service members can toggle between installations and find services they might need without leaving the app, Netemeyer said. The local branch had to pay for Iwakuni Altitude out of its own budget, but MCCS Connect eliminates that expense.
“Not every installation had an app previously,” Netemeyer said. “So the standardization allows them to have their location in there, and it’s actually through headquarters, so it does save some local funding.”
Other service branches have similar versions of the Connect app that replaced individual base apps. The Air Force, for example, launched USAF Connect in 2019.
The mobile app provides base directories, emergency contacts, installation announcements, base shuttle schedules and social media links.
Marine Corps Community Services Headquarters did not respond to requests for further information sent April 9 via email and April 16 on Messenger.
Netemeyer said the change was inspired by feedback from multiple commands about the inconsistencies between installations. The app also will make publishing content easier for the digital teams behind the app.
“Previously, they had to be manually input into multiple locations, which creates an opportunity for human error,” he said.
