Compass Points - A Higher Duty
Barracks, Recruiting, and Retention.
Compass Points - A Higher Duty
Barracks, Recruiting, and Retention.
June 14, 2024
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Do Marine officers have any value?
A mother was discussing with a neighbor, an active-duty Marine officer, about her son who was about to enlist in the Marine Corps. She said her son had just completed his college degree. The officer asked, "He doesn't want to become an officer?" She replied, "No. He wants to be a real Marine."
Officers and SNCOs are the leaders of the Marine Corps. They have the years of experience. They have the rank. But what is their purpose? What value do they bring to military service?
Recently, former Vice CNO, four-star Admiral Robert P. Burke was arrested and charged with accepting a bribe, "Retired Navy Admiral indicted on charges of bribery for allegedly giving government contract in exchange for $500K job after retirement."
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Federal prosecutors have accused the retired four-star Navy Admiral of entering into an alleged bribery scheme with a government contractor to secure his employment after retirement. The grand jury indicted retired Admiral Robert Burke on a total of four counts, including conspiracy and bribery.
-- Law Enforcement Today
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In other legal news, in the latest development in the Navy's Fat Leonard corruption case, four officers have had their guilty pleas overturned. The officers all voluntarily admitted their guilt, so the reversal may be only temporary.
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Retired U.S. Navy officers Donald Hornbeck, Robert Gorsuch and Jose Luis Sanchez, and U.S. Marine Corps Col. Enrico DeGuzman had all admitted to accepting bribes from defense contractor Leonard Francis, nicknamed “Fat Leonard.”
. . . It marked the latest setback to the government’s yearslong efforts in going after dozens of military officials tied to Francis, who pleaded guilty to offering more than $500,000 in cash bribes, along with other gifts and wild sex parties in Southeast Asia, to Navy officials, defense contractors and others. The scheme allowed him to bilk the maritime service out of at least $35 million by getting commanders to redirect ships to ports he controlled and overcharging for services, according to the prosecution.
-- Navy Times / Associated Press
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Author and Marine Gary Anderson has written several times about the too often dubious value of officers -- particularly senior officers. His articles include, "Why Our Generals Don't Win" and "Why Our Generals Can't Think" and "Like War, Peace Is Too Important to Be Left to the Generals" and "Selecting Generals and Admirals Who can Fight and Stay out of Jail."
Presumably corruption, bribery, and self-dealing are not supposed to be the purpose of officers and SNCOs. Officers and SNCOs are supposed to be leaders of character.
The Marine Corps leadership traits are:
- Justice
- Judgment
- Dependability
- Initiative
- Decisiveness
- Tact
- Integrity
- Enthusiasm
- Bearing
- Unselfishness
- Courage
- Knowledge
- Loyalty
- Endurance
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Nowhere in the leadership traits are selfishness or corruption. The Marine Corps is currently saddled with some dirty and disgraceful barracks, a downturn in enlistments. and various retention struggles. Instead of separate issues, could these all be symptoms of one larger issue? Is the larger Marine leaders, officers and SNCOs?
What do PFCs and Lance Cpls need from their officers and SNCOs? Perhaps what they need most are leaders who have three primary traits: they are competent, caring, and challenging. Marine leaders are often quick to challenge their Marines, "Here is another opportunity to excel." But not as quick to display competence or caring.
While young people enlist in the other military services for many reasons, they enlist in the Marine Corps primarily for one reason: the challenge. Yes, Marines will often say they enlisted due to the awesome uniforms, but those peering in from outside the Marine Corps know, if they want to wear the uniform, they will have to embrace the challenge. Young Marines want to test themselves, stretch themselves, and become part of something bigger and better than themselves. They need officers and SNCOs to set the example of selfless service.
The world too often seems filled with selfish people, selfishly pursuing their own advantage and always scheming to move ahead. These self-centered people continually seek out only what is best for themselves and their bank account. The Marine Corps is supposed to be a different kind of place. Marines are supposed to be different. Marines are supposed to hold themselves and each other to a higher standard. Marines risk all for higher goals and for more important purposes. Marines want to be in a fighting force where striving for high performance is the norm, accomplishing the mission is the norm, and always caring for each other is the norm. Marines want to be part of something special, a place where uncommon valor is a common virtue.
The tragedy of substandard Marine barracks is not only the rats and black mold, the tragedy is that no-one cared. No-one cared about the real warfighters of the Corps, those young, junior Marines who can and will accomplish any mission, no many how challenging. The tragedy is their officers and SNCOs did not care enough to make sure their young Marines were billeted in safe, hygienic barracks. How could this happen? Virtually the entire duty of officers and SNCOs, no matter their billet, is to care about junior Marines.
Junior Marines do not need to be coddled, far from it. Junior Marines came for the challenge, and they want to be challenged, but they need leaders who are competent and who care about them. Young Marines are like blood hounds, they can sniff out an officer who is not competent and they can sniff out officers who do not care. And young Marines want no part of either one. Young Marines want and need to be led. Officers and SNCOs who are primarily focused on their own careers, their own promotions, and their own retirement will not be able to hide from their Marines. Young Marines do not enlist to earn more money, they come for higher goals. They want to become more, to do more, and to give more to the world.
One former active-duty Marine, now a police officer in Virginia, spent 8 years on active duty from 2011 – 2019 in black mold riddled barracks. Four years at Camp Lejune and four years at Fort Myer. For eight years, every Thursday a Cpl would come through and inspect the rooms. If your room failed, you lost your weekend liberty. The whole barracks was supposed to be inspected Friday morning by a SNCO or officer. In eight years at two different bases, this Marine never saw one SNCO or officer inspect his barracks. Not once. He said occasionally a Sgt would do a quick Friday inspection, but that is it. When asked about officers and SNCOs who genuinely cared, he said he had worked for a few, but they seemed to get pushed out quickly. He left the Marine Corps because he could not stand the barracks. Which means the real reason he left the Corps was because he came to believe his officers and SNCOs did not care.
When junior Marines – rightly or wrongly - come to feel their officers and SNCOs do not care, then junior Marines feel tricked and let down. They came for the challenge. They came to be part of something bigger and better. They came to be stretched by leaders who cared. Instead, in some cases they found black mold and absent officers.
Over recent years, the Marine Corps has made some disastrous decisions that have grievously harmed Marine units’ equipment, and capabilities. As serious as those decisions have been, they can all be repaired with time and money. But mere time and money cannot by themselves repair the ethos of the Marine Corps or preserve the duty and honor of being a Marine.
Do Marine officers have any value? Absolutely. Whatever corruption may have tainted senior Navy ranks, Marines are different from sailors. No doubt all Marine officers start out determined to do great things for Corps and Country. All Marine officers carry inside them a reverence for the spirit and sacrifice of junior Marines.
And yet somehow something went wrong. For years, some officers did not inspect some barracks. Why? Did senior officers fail to teach junior officers that leading Marines means being present for their Marines? Leadership means always watching over their chow, mail, home-life, morale, recreation, working spaces, and living spaces. Were some officers not taught that an officer must not just silently care, officers must show their caring, by constantly, inspecting, instructing, listening, encouraging, correcting, and directing their Marines. When leadership takes place as it should, junior Marines become more motivated, barracks become cleaner, retention becomes surer, and recruiting becomes easier.
Above nearly anything else, Officers and SNCOs must stay focused on junior Marines. Former Marine Commandant Al Gray, as he toured around the Marine Corps, would always seek out junior Marines to talk with. He would take time to slug them in the arm and ask them how they were doing. Sometimes General Gray would get a frank discussion of issues in the unit. Marines can tell when an officer genuinely wants to listen. While General Gray appreciated getting the inside scoop and he enjoyed spending time with junior Marines, most of all General Gray seemed to relish the honor of caring for all his Marines.
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Law Enforcement Today - 06/04/2024
Retired Navy Admiral indicted on charges of bribery for allegedly giving government contract in exchange for $500K job after retirement
By Jenna Curren
https://lawenforcementtoday.com/retired-nany-admiral-charged
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Navy Times / Associated Press - 05/21/2024
Felony convictions of 5 retired officers dismissed in Fat Leonard case
By The Associated Press
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TECOM - Quantico, VA
Traits and Principles of Marine Corps Leadership
https://www.tecom.marines.mil/Portals/120/Docs/Student%20Materials/CREST%20Manual/RP0103.pdf
CP Editor's focus on ethos and higher duty is spot on --- As is the last phrase: "most of all General Gray seemed to relish the honor of caring for all his Marines." Honor.
Key issue: Responsibility to care for Marines. Barracks are issue du jour --- should be. Very difficult to read these leadership failures. Marine Officers/SNCOs of a certain age can recall inspecting hundreds of rooms and heads at every rank/grade.
Caring for Marines was embedded in the ethos/culture. It was rare that someone had to be told to do a specific act. Leaders exercised initiative.
No one told the Recon Lieutenant that he ought to take multiple MCI comm courses so he could backup the platoon radio operator (no single point of failure) in the event a medevac was required. He just did it.
No one told the 81mm Mortar Platoon Commander ( a relatively small and wiry Marine) to carry the most awkward and heavy parts of the 81mm mortar during old MCCRES march (entire Battalion, yes 01s included) 40 kilometers in less than 8 hours). He just did it.
No one told the Battalion Intelligence Officer that he ought to organized the officers to serve the first hot chow the battalion had received after weeks on MREs. He just did it.
No one told the student Major at the Army's Command and General Staff College to volunteer for Master Tactician competition and work until 2 AM to solve and write an Army Corps Operation Order for an organization he would never serve in. He just did it.
I , like all of you, could go on with the many examples of Marine Officers pushing themselves and others in order to provide the best possible care in peace and war for their Marines. High standards may not have always made them "popular" but most Marines understood the intent was to build teams that could accomplish tough missions and survive to come home.
If the barracks are not being inspected neither are the armories, motor pools, gun parks, supply warehouses, etc. Taking care of Marines also means ensuring they take care of their supplies and equipment.