Compass Points - Caring & Repairing

Locate, close with, and destroy.

Compass Points - Caring & Repairing

Locate, close with, and destroy.

October 20, 2024

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Sunday is a good day for reflection.

What do Marines need to be able to surmount every challenge?

Marines train hard for battle. They train with a focus on ‘locate, close with, and destroy.’

When Marines embark for battle, they know what is coming, ‘locate, close with, and destroy.’

When Marines arrive on the battlefield, they are relentless. In deserts, in jungles, in cities, in any clime or place, Marines locate, close with, and destroy.

Yet for Marines to remain healthy and whole on the battlefield, for Marines to be able to stay focused on locate, close with, and destroy, they need more than just their fellow warriors beside them.

Marines need beside them others with a different mission and a different method. Instead of just ‘locate, close with, and destroy’, Marines also need some with a mission of 'caring and repairing.'

Marines need corpsmen and chaplains.

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The U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps do not have medics, they have corpsmen. Navy corpsmen get their names from the U.S. Navy’s Hospital Corps. Established in 1898, the Hospital Corps gave the U.S. Navy the ability to give enlisted sailors formal medical training. Corpsmen assist doctors on board ships and submarines, and some are attached to Marine units. When in combat, corpsmen are trained to run towards the action to help the wounded, often risking their own lives to do so.

. . . Beginning in World War II, corpsmen who served with the Fleet Marine Force would go through bootcamp with the U.S. Marine Corps. This gives them the skills they need to act as a field medic on the battlefield. They were also trained in combat skills to protect themselves and their comrades if necessary

. . . [Today] U.S. Navy corpsmen are very similar to their World War II counterparts. They provide emergency medical care to Marines and also civilians in war torn areas.

-- Corpsman Up! - Museum of the United States Navy

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One Marine speaking of his corpsmen and quoted in Task and Purpose could have been speaking for all Marines down through the decades, "I felt exceedingly grateful and protective of my Corpsmen. Anyone yelled “Corpsmen Up” they came running with their bag flying behind them regardless of what was going on. Doc took care of us, so we took care of him."

Like Navy corpsmen, Navy chaplains are an essential part of the health and wellness of Marines.

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The overarching purpose of the Navy Chaplain Corps, our 'why', is to build the Spiritual Readiness of warfighters and their families for the rigors of military service.

In an era of rapid change and evolving threats, the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard need Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who are "agile and adaptive."

Spiritual Readiness contributes to making the force and families more agile and adaptive, strong and resilient for the challenges we face.

Belief manifests differently for us all. The job of a Chaplain is to provide the traditions of every faith to those who ask for it in the fleet. The Chaplain Corps facilitates ceremonies for Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and more, ensuring that every Sailor has the chance to worship in the way they choose. Chaplains are more than religious leaders—they are the guiding light for Sailors and Marines who are seeking a purpose greater than themselves.

-- Navy Chaplain Corps

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Both corpsmen and chaplains have been awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in combat. To name just two from the Vietnam era. Corpsman David R. Ray died saving a wounded Marine from a grenade and chaplain Vincent Capodanno, the ‘Grunt Padre’ died shielding wounded Marines from machine gun fire.

Compass Points salutes the corpsmen and chaplains who do so much every day to keep Marines healthy and whole.

To surmount every challenge, what do Marines need? Do they need 'locate, close with, and destroy'?  Or do they need ‘care and repair'?

On different days, in different ways, Marines always need both.