# MEL - Exercise Planner — Military Exercise Planner > Military Exercise Planner (iPhone/iPad app by Steven Wilkinson.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mel-exercise-planner/id6778899444 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Steven Wilkinson](https://appshunter.io/developer/1441050108) - Category: Productivity, Utilities - Price: $1.99 - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 18.6 · 6 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-06-16 - Data updated: 2026-07-19 - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mel-exercise-planner/id6778899444/reviews.md ## What is MEL? MEL is the fast, offline way to plan and document a training exercise end to end — from the nominal roll to the main event list to the road move — and produce clean, inspection-ready paperwork in seconds. Built for reserve units, cadet forces, uniformed organisations and anyone who runs structured exercises, MEL replaces the tangle of spreadsheets and half-finished Word templates with one tool that keeps every annex in step. PLAN EVERY ANNEX IN ONE PLACE • Annex A — Nominal Roll: a reusable personnel database with rank, service number, detachment, troop, roles and qualifications. Live totals by rank (Officer / SNCO / JNCO / Mne) and a per-detachment breakdown that updates as you build the roll. Trained Strength, Additional and Recruit groups, plus a Ranks Withdrawn list. • Annex B — Training Objectives: a master library of objectives and enabling objectives. Tick-select the ones for this exercise; reorder and number automatically. • Annex C — MEL (Main Event List): a day-by-day event schedule with time, location, event, responsible person and remarks. Mark serials complete, drag to reorder, and start from a built-in standard weekend template. • Annex D — Move Order: vehicle moves with drivers and auto passenger counts, saved destinations, and driving distance and time worked out for you, with routes and RVs. TURN PLANS INTO PAPERWORK • Export every annex to PDF, Microsoft Word (.rtf) and CSV. • Crisp, paginated A4 output with an OFFICIAL header and footer and page numbering — tables never split awkwardly across a page break. • Portrait or landscape, with a document design that matches a professional house style. TRACK WHO ACTUALLY TURNED UP • A live attendance register, separate from the planning roll. • Record arrival and departure date and time, or switch to a percentage-per-day mode (great for travel days at 50% and full days at 100%). • Bulk-edit attendance for whole sections at once, and export a dedicated register. VERSIONS & AMENDMENTS • Snapshot the MEL as you issue amendments, view any past version, and restore or duplicate an exercise from it. FORMATS THAT FIT YOUR UNIT • 24-hour, 12-hour or Zulu time; military or civilian date styles. • Import personnel and objectives from CSV to get started fast. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Everything stays on your device. No account, no cloud, no iCloud sync. • Your data is protected at rest by iOS device encryption. • A built-in demo exercise lets you explore a fully populated app — the demo data is entirely fictional and is never saved. MEL works completely offline, so it is ready in the field, in the classroom or in the planning office. Plan it once, export it everywhere. ## Version history (last 2 releases) ### 1.1 — 2026-06-16 What's New in 1.1 New ways to build and reuse your documents: • Import an existing MEL — bring in a MEL from a PDF, Word (.docx) or RTF file. The app reads the timings, locations, events, responsible persons and remarks and rebuilds the serials for you, with a review-and-edit screen so you can check everything before it's added. • Custom document header design (Document Creator) — design your own header and footer layout. Place the title, subtitle, annex reference and contact details anywhere on a 3×3 grid (left/middle/right and top/middle/bottom), add your own sections, reorder them, and see a live preview as you go. • Page & classification controls — choose narrow, normal or wide page margins, and set the size and position of the OFFICIAL marking on your exports. • Import personnel from Excel — import rosters from .xlsx as well as CSV, with a duplicate check that lets you review each match and choose to replace or skip it. • Name display, your way — show names as "Joe Bloggs" or "Bloggs, Joe" everywhere, including all PDF, Word and CSV exports. Add people with separate first-name and surname fields. • Smarter Personnel database — sort by rank, surname, detachment or service number; group by detachment with clear section headers; correct rank seniority order (senior at the top, recruits at the bottom). • Nominal roll improvements — exported nominals now hide unused blank rows and order people by command appointment then rank; your manual drag-order is preserved when you choose it. • Reliability & polish — exports now warn you if a file can't be created, rapid taps no longer add a person twice, larger tap targets, clearer form validation, and subtle haptic feedback. ### 1.0.4 — 2026-06-16 No release notes. ## More apps by Steven Wilkinson - [Curvature](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/curvature/id1441050109) - [Neon Physics](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/neon-physics/id6760776904) - [Simply Met](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simply-met/id6763795739) - [Hades: Workout & Run Trainer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hades-workout-and-run-trainer/id6783533996) All apps by Steven Wilkinson: https://appshunter.io/developer/1441050108 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-19.*