diff --git a/ush/bash_utils.sh b/ush/bash_utils.sh
index 48007623351..0bfbfa51ce9 100755
--- a/ush/bash_utils.sh
+++ b/ush/bash_utils.sh
@@ -110,7 +110,93 @@ function wait_for_file() {
     return 1
 }
 
+# Initialize stacks for tick-tock profiling (initialize only once)
+if [[ -z ${_GW_TIMER_STACK+x} ]]; then
+    declare -xa _GW_TIMER_STACK=()
+    declare -xa _GW_LABEL_STACK=()
+fi
+
+# Function: tick [label]
+tick() {
+    #
+    # Start timer for profiling
+    #
+    # Starts a timer by storing current time in a stack
+    #   Accepts an optional label to identify the timer instance
+    #
+    # Syntax:
+    #   tick [label]
+    #     label: Optional label to identify the timer instance [default: "Timer"]
+    #
+    set +x
+    local start_time label
+    start_time=$(date +%s%N)
+    # Use provided label or default to "Timer" if $1 is empty
+    label="${1:-Timer}"
+
+    # Push values onto the stacks
+    _GW_TIMER_STACK+=("${start_time}")
+    _GW_LABEL_STACK+=("${label}")
+    set_trace
+}
+
+# Function: tock
+tock() {
+    #
+    # Stop timer and print elapsed time in seconds
+    #
+    # Stops a timer by calculating elapsed time since last tick and outputs the elapsed time in seconds.
+    #   Accepts an optional label to check for the timer instance.
+    #   If the provided label does not match the one stored during tick, a warning is issued.
+    #
+    # Syntax:
+    #   tock [label]
+    #
+    set +x
+    local end_time
+    end_time=$(date +%s%N)
+
+    # Safety check
+    if [[ ${#_GW_TIMER_STACK[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
+        echo "WARNING: 'tock' called without a matching 'tick'."
+        set_trace
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    local last_idx
+    # Retrieve the last element index
+    last_idx=$((${#_GW_TIMER_STACK[@]} - 1))
+
+    # Get the start time and label
+    local start_time label
+    start_time=${_GW_TIMER_STACK[${last_idx}]}
+    label=${_GW_LABEL_STACK[${last_idx}]}
+
+    local label_input
+    label_input="${1:-}"
+    if [[ -n ${label_input} ]]; then
+        if [[ ${label_input} != "${label}" ]]; then
+            echo "WARNING: 'tock' label '${label_input}' does not match 'tick' label '${label}'."
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    # Remove (pop) elements from stacks
+    unset "_GW_TIMER_STACK[${last_idx}]"
+    unset "_GW_LABEL_STACK[${last_idx}]"
+
+    # Calculate elapsed time
+    local elapsed_nanos elapsed_secs
+    elapsed_nanos=$((end_time - start_time))
+    elapsed_secs=$(echo "scale=3; ${elapsed_nanos} / 1000000000" | bc -l)
+
+    # Output the result with the label
+    echo "[${label}] Elapsed: ${elapsed_secs}s"
+    set_trace
+}
+
 # shellcheck disable=
 
 declare -xf declare_from_tmpl
 declare -xf wait_for_file
+declare -xf tick
+declare -xf tock
diff --git a/ush/run_mpmd.sh b/ush/run_mpmd.sh
index 36ddc4bc4cc..773f8042d34 100755
--- a/ush/run_mpmd.sh
+++ b/ush/run_mpmd.sh
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@
 #           launcher: Command to launch the MPMD job. Default is empty.
 #                     Supported launchers are 'srun' and 'mpiexec'.
 #           mpmd_opt: Additional options to pass to the launcher. Default is empty.
+#                     Example:
+#                            srun: "--multi-prog --output=mpmd.%j.%t.out"
+#                         mpiexec: "--cpu-bind verbose,core cfp"
 #
 # Input:
 #           cmdfile: File containing commands to execute in MPMD/serial mode
@@ -50,12 +53,14 @@ nprocs=$(wc -l < "${cmdfile}")
 
 # Local MPMD file containing instructions to run in CFP
 mpmd_cmdfile="${DATA:-}/mpmd_cmdfile"
-if [[ -s "${mpmd_cmdfile}" ]]; then rm -f "${mpmd_cmdfile}"; fi
+if [[ -s "${mpmd_cmdfile}" ]]; then
+    rm -f "${mpmd_cmdfile}"
+fi
 
 cat << EOF
-  INFO: Executing MPMD job, STDOUT redirected for each process separately
-  INFO: On failure, logs for each job will be available in ${DATA}/mpmd.proc_num.out
-  INFO: The proc_num corresponds to the line in '${mpmd_cmdfile}'
+INFO: Executing MPMD job, STDOUT and STDERR redirected for each process separately
+INFO: On failure, logs for each job will be available in ${DATA}/mpmd.proc_num.out
+INFO: The proc_num corresponds to the line in '${mpmd_cmdfile}'
 EOF
 
 if [[ "${launcher:-}" =~ ^srun.* ]]; then #  srun-based system e.g. Hera, Orion, etc.
@@ -81,7 +86,7 @@ elif [[ "${launcher:-}" =~ ^mpiexec.* ]]; then # mpiexec
     nm=0
     echo "#!/bin/bash" >> "${mpmd_cmdfile}"
     while IFS= read -r line; do
-        echo "${line} > mpmd.${nm}.out" >> "${mpmd_cmdfile}"
+        echo "${line} > mpmd.${nm}.out 2>&1" >> "${mpmd_cmdfile}"
         ((nm = nm + 1))
     done < "${cmdfile}"
     chmod 755 "${mpmd_cmdfile}"
@@ -90,10 +95,12 @@ elif [[ "${launcher:-}" =~ ^mpiexec.* ]]; then # mpiexec
     ${launcher:-} -np ${nprocs} ${mpmd_opt:-} "${mpmd_cmdfile}"
     err=$?
 
-else
+else # Unsupported or empty launcher, run in serial mode
 
-    echo "FATAL ERROR: CFP is not usable with launcher: '${launcher:-}'"
-    err=1
+    echo "WARNING: CFP is not usable with launcher: '${launcher:-}', using serial mode instead"
+    chmod 755 "${cmdfile}"
+    bash +x "${cmdfile}" > mpmd.out 2>&1
+    err=$?
 
 fi
 
@@ -102,7 +109,11 @@ if [[ ${err} -eq 0 ]]; then
     rm -f "${mpmd_cmdfile}"
     out_files=$(find . -name 'mpmd.*.out')
     for file in ${out_files}; do
-        cat "${file}" >> mpmd.out
+        {
+            echo "BEGIN OUTPUT FROM ${file}"
+            cat "${file}"
+            echo "END OUTPUT FROM ${file}"
+        } >> mpmd.out
         rm -f "${file}"
     done
     cat mpmd.out