Compass Points - Marine Leaders
Leaders and Leadership
Compass Points - Marine Leaders
Leaders and Leadership
February 27, 2024
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The all-star reporter for the Marine Times, Irene Loewenson has reported on problems and progress with Marine Corps retention. As usual her article is well written, interesting, and even-handed. The article begins with the story of one Marine, "John" trying to decide whether to re-enlist.
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One evening in 2016, John walked out of his career planner’s office carrying a blue-and-red folder that contained his completed reenlistment package. The junior enlisted Marine had a decision to make: Should he submit the package and stay in the Marine Corps, or leave the service the following year?
When John entered his workplace, his enlisted leaders greeted him by screaming at him for a “menial” mistake, something like forgetting to take out the trash or sweep properly.
“I was like, ‘Do I really want to subject myself to this for another four years?’” John recalled in a January interview with Marine Corps Times.
Once his leaders had left for the night, he chucked the folder in the trash.
--Marine Times
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If the intent is to generate sympathy for unhappy "John" who had to endure having his poor performance corrected with volume, most Marines will have little sympathy. John joined the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is not a gentle yoga class or church picnic. Marines and those who aspire to be Marines will be corrected, guided, and led -- sometimes at high volume -- from the moment they first stand on the yellow footprints, until the last time they put on their uniform.
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What is the difference between the new drones like the MQ-9 Reaper drone and Marine Corps leadership at every level? For one thing a drone is a machine, but Marines are not machines and leaders of Marines are not machines. For another, machines just do what they can do, but Marines are called upon again and again to do more than they can do. Machines can never try harder, but Marines are called on every day to try harder.
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Drones are a new piece of gear. Marines are still learning about drones. The Marine Corps needs to experiment widely with drones. We are still learning and discovering all that drones can do. On the other hand, the Marine Corps has been molding Marines for more than two centuries. Taking young people and growing them into Marines is not new. Leading Marines to accomplish great things in the world is not new. Accomplishing great things is what Marines do. This is the challenge. This is why young Marines enlist.
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Very senior Marine leaders lead senior Marine leaders who lead junior Marine leaders who lead Marines. The key is leadership. Leadership involves both caring and demanding. Leaders care about their Marines as they are right now, but demand that their Marines grow themselves better. The way Marines grow is through the challenge of difficult missions.
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Civilians again and again see every issue as primarily a matter of dollars. For example, the Marine Corps and the other services are facing a worldwide plague of substandard barracks. At some locations, Marines have been living in filth. While dollars are an important part of the solution, dollars are just a small part of the solution. The solution is leadership. The Marine Corps' own publication, Talent Management, seems to place more faith in new technology systems than in Marines leading Marines. But leadership is always the answer -- not just dollars or systems.
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As one Compass Points reader, James, explains:
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I do not agree that the barracks manager concept falls under logistics or installations. Cleaning a Marine's own personal living space and assisting in common areas has--until recently--been the responsibility of the individual Marine, supervised by an NCO and overseen by SNCOs and officers. Turning responsibility for this over to a barracks manager is, as implied in the very name, management. It is not leading Marines through an established chain of command! Can a civilian working as a barracks manager hold Marines responsible for not cleaning their living spaces? As a manager, can he order them to do so? An NCO acting in his or her leadership capacity certainly can give orders and hold responsible those who fail to carry out those orders!
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Experienced Marine leaders are doubtful about civilians and civilian concepts that purport to make improvements to Marine Corps leadership. Marine Corps leaders are not perfect, they make mistakes. But Marines Corps leadership has been making Marines and winning battles for more than two centuries. What have civilian consultants accomplished?
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Over the last several decades, civilian "improvements" have often been extremely damaging and counter-productive. To name just three: 1. DEROS - Individual Rotation. 2. Human Relations training. 3. 360 degree evaluations.
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1. DEROS - Individual rotation policy. During Vietnam, all the services were subjected to a new individual rotation policy. In World War II units went to war together and came home together. This promoted unit cohesion. In Vietnam, however, each Marine was on their own DEROS (Date Estimated Return from Overseas). There was no unit rotation. Each Marine was counting down to his own departure. This policy was destructive to unit cohesion.
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2. Human Relations training. After Vietnam the services were all at a low ebb. There were serious discipline problems. The solution that was imposed was something call "HumRel" Human Relations training. HumRel was where service members of all ranks sat in a circle and complained and harangued each other. Often officers were required to remove their rank insignia. What was supposed to be a solution to morale and discipline issues was extremely destructive to both morale and good order and discipline.
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3. 360 degree evaluations. This idea has re-surfaced again and again. Instead of having Marines evaluated by their leaders, why not have everyone evaluate everyone? Why not have new PFCs evaluating their Sgts and Lts? Why not? Because this is the Marine Corps, not a department store. The Marine Corps operates on a chain of command. Marines are led to do more than they thought they could do. That kind of growth often requires struggle and sweat.
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The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is on extended deployment in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Marines of 26th MEU do not know when they are coming home. Their days are long and the dangers very real. On occasion, across the years, it is not unknown for Marines to gripe, grouse, and grumble about their day, their duties, the chow, and their leaders. But, through it all, Marines get the job done. Thankfully the Marines of the 26th MEU do not have to suffer from misguided ideas like individual rotation, human relations sessions, or 360 degree evaluations. The 26th MEU is using Marine Corps leadership to accomplish a difficult mission.
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And whatever happened to poor "John" who was yelled at and had his feelings hurt? He needs to go join some other service. And he did.
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Compass Points salutes Irene Loewenson for her fine article on Marine Corps retention and salutes the Marines and sailors of the 26th MEU who are standing a post for freedom in a dangerous world.
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Marine Times - 02/20/2024
The Corps has a plan to stop Marines from leaving. Is it working?
By Irene Loewenson
Oh boy where do I start! I guess the biggest b!!ch I have is the entire barracks issue. It screams of leadership failure, throughout the chain of command from PFC to the Commandant.
Granted, I didn’t achieve any exalted rank, I was an artillery Capt., and I only rose to command an artillery battery, but maybe because I commanded a battery with 3rd MarDiv, that I have the appreciation for barracks, that I did.
The Marines in the battery lived in 1950s squad bay barracks. The main deck were the battery offices and the second deck were the living spaces. Everyday the barracks had the heads cleaned (sinks, squad showers, commodes, urinals, and decks), passageways swept and swabbed, personal areas cleaned and squared away. The barracks were inspected every day by the NCOS, and SNCOs.
Every Thursday evening after the end of the duty day a weekly top to bottom field day. Every Friday I and the platoon commanders inspected the barracks to include the work spaces. The battery First Sgt., was responsible for submitting and managing all outstanding gripes with the barracks infrastructure. Those were also a weekly topic at our staff meetings.
Another observation I took away from my time in the Corps, the troops were the happiest doing Marine things, like being in the field. For us in field artillery it was doing field artillery things, not just firing the artillery pieces, but other artillery things, surveying, FO training, COMEXs, CPEXs, FIELDEXs, etc. They stagnated doing garrison things. I tried to keep my troops in the field at least a week or more every month.
My Marines also knew that I would go to bat for them and defend them at battalion, if I thought it warranted.
I think it worked, my battery seemed to be the proudest and the most gung-ho, in the battalion. Maybe it was because I loved being in the Corps leading Marines, and that I loved my Marines.
I guess I’ll close with the first thing I learned in the Corps at TBS, and something I never forget and tried to pass on to all my Marines, TAKE CARE OF YOUR TROOPS!
I read the article by Irene and just shook my head. I’m not sure what the e point she was trying to make. I’m fibbing, Irene, in my opinion was paint picture that the “John’s” of today need to be treated differently. All
I could see is the Marine Corps creating safe spaces for the “John’s” who had had their butts chewed out for the minor infractions.
The point that Irene and the Marine “John”
failed to see and appreciate is this; the smallest thing that is not corrected in peace time, and yes at times corrected with a lot of volume, can cause John and his compatriots to lose their lives in combat, period! Discipline in everything is really the foundation of our Corps…no discipline, no Corps! Might as well role up the Colors and fold in with the Army.
With respect to the 360 degree evaluation, this is an insane idea! Every Marine, at every level, should be dealt with daily! Waiting for an annual evaluation to have someone regurgitate some BS or some leadership or performance failure that occurred months ago is counter productive. I do understand the need for some sort of performance evaluation for promotion sake, but even those are flawed. I would NOT serve today in a Marine Corps that will have some snotty ass fresh from boot camp Marine evaluating me as a MGySgt, nope, will not happen!