Too late. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that integrates women with men in boot camp and tells me nothing has changed and that the physical standards remain intact. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that dresses women in male uniforms and thinks it’s ok to do so. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that assigns women to be 1stSgts and SgtMajs in infantry units or in male recruit training Bns and thinks it’s ok. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that will not honestly address the issue of Women in Combat (WIC). I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that permits or quietly endorses the individual actions and self exploitive behavior we see on Instagram by active duty women and who do so in uniform. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that permits a woman transitioning to a man, who has had her breasts removed, get recruited much less attend boot camp and be assigned to a male platoon. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that endorses open homosexuality and transgenderism in their ranks and a Marine Corps that expects the heterosexual males and females to accept it as ok. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps whose general officers refuse to honestly address the issues above. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps who disrespectfully dismisses their retired general officers efforts to openly address matters of concern.
Fix that. Then maybe I’ll help the Marine Corps recruit. The Marine Corps has made its bed, now sleep in it. FD 2030 is only part of the problem. Furl the colors! I would rather be remembered for what we were vice what we’ve become.
A huge 'Thank You' to Compass Points for talking 'Recruiting'. For those not familiar, recruiting for the USMC in the era of the All Volunteer Force is at an all time low point.
The majority of Districts are regularly missing missions. The majority! Apart from the challenges that arose over the past 3 years, the force has changed and the DoD implementation of the Genesis program means no more same month contact to contract...much less two months contact to contract. So a miss on contracting means two holes...one this month and one the next month since you still have to contract to fill the future ship mission plus meet the contracting mission for the following month. Now, consider in the same month as the contracting miss, if you have a shipping hole and have to pull a shipper forward to fill it. Now you have to fill that shipper's original ship date, which means another contract.
I have tried to convey to retired Marines how severe the crisis is....and most don't get it. They don't understand the dynamics of entrance processing have changed. They don't realize the USMC is poised to start the next FY with a historically low start pool percentage. It isn't just Genesis...MEPs aren't staying open late on mission day or on Saturdays so RS's and Districts can make mission. It's much more restrictive. The days where a good friend of mine swore in an applicant/mission maker at 23:58 on the last day of the contracting month at MEPs are gone (FYI - that applicant shipped, became a US Marine, and successfully completed his enlistment).
It isn't just hard for the recruiters; look at actual end strength for the USMC. I think if you haven't been paying attention, you'll be shocked at the disparity between target end strength and actual. This is having an impact on active units. The danger right now is that the recruiting force breaks since the natural tendency is always to increase the burden on the mission makers. If we break the top two Districts...the old saw of "other services have recruiting problems, the Marines have recruiting solutions" will sound like a bad joke.
My hope is that, in addition to strong local leadership and mission management, factors emerge that greatly increase the propensity and population of qualified applicants to look at the Marine Corps as the positive option it is. Of course, hope is not a COA. We need Marines to restore what's good in our national fabric; Great Marines make the best of bad policy...Great Marines make great policy even better at the cutting edge. God speed to every Marine Recruiter on the street.
There is a quick fix that would enhance all the services recruiting efforts, especially helping the Marine Corps find the "top hundred". Ask Congress to make the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) mandatory in all public and private high schools. The ASVAB was developed to be a counseling tool not only for recruiters but also high school guidance counselors. If taken all four years of high school the guidance counselors and teachers can track a student's progress in Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), Mathematics Knowledge (MK), Paragraph Comprehension (PC), and Word Knowledge (WK). Yes, the ASVAB results are available to the local recruiter. Since the beginning of the "all volunteer" force all services recruiting forces have work to become highly professional and competent. Like any other recruiters the Armed Forces Recruiting Service need a robust prospect pool that the ASVAB provides (but remember the recruiter cannot contact a student until they are a senior). Yes, there are school administrators and teachers who object as they objected to the draft during the Viet Nam War. Let's assume they can't have it both ways (draft or all volunteer). If you centralized the ASVAB results in a database, Congress would have a uniform metric/"report card" on every school in the country, besides the high school ASVAB is free to school boards, high schools, teachers and students.
The Marine Corps needs its veterans to help meet recruiting requirements. It also needs its veterans to save it from its current path to insignificance.
My son was on recruiting duty back in the late 1980's - Rapid City, South Dakota. Not an easy assignment to say the least. He completed it well and moved on to other duties. I've done my share of "recruiting" in the last 30 years - not sure I made mission but I tried. 'Once a Marine, always a Marine" is a true statement. Semper Fi
Take a look at programs like the one Robert Killackey runs in Linden High School in Linden, NJ. JNROTC. He still transforms young people into potential future Marines.
What is interesting is that most children today undergo some sort of psychological treatment or evaluation primarily due to anxiety issues brought about by social media or other societal based stressors real or perceived. And with States like Illinois minimizing the issue of drug use by legalizing marijuana, many kids are being caught up in it as it becomes a norm rather than a thrill or experiment. Not to forget our current political environment, criticisms regarding the failure of the Afghan objective, and social divisions. This is a tough time for recruitment and a difficult time for our nation in general
Until both, civilian and military leadership realize that their social policies are what is causing the recruitment issue, the military will continue to find it harder and harder to fill the ranks.
Second, until an unless, military leaders tell the active duty personnel to stop denigrating “had been former military people” by telling us we don’t understand the current state of affairs in the military, retirees like me WILL NOT lift a finger to help in the recruitment effort!
US military too politicized, likely general election voters say: Pollhttps://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/06/us-military-too-politicized-likely-general-election-voters-say-poll/
The two issues are HS diploma and physical fitness/weight. A model already exists in a rough version - the USNA Prep School. With two Recruit Depots the MC could create a USMC prep camp to address both issues before graduates report to Recruit Training. The only objectives would be academic and physical. No obligation if you fail. Tough times call for tough measures.
DoD and the Corps were counting on the shortfalls being made up by enlisting more females. Failed. Scared them off by not understanding their motives.
The Corps cannot afford a 20% annual turn over. Reenlist more, enlist less.
Retired Marines and those who served honorably are no longer recommending service. HQMC and DoD might want to ask why? The honest answers will be hard for the delusional to grasp.
Any bets HQMC will take umbrage with James Etter because he is old retired Marine from way back when for coming up a creative solution and implementing? just ask'in
Too late. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that integrates women with men in boot camp and tells me nothing has changed and that the physical standards remain intact. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that dresses women in male uniforms and thinks it’s ok to do so. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that assigns women to be 1stSgts and SgtMajs in infantry units or in male recruit training Bns and thinks it’s ok. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that will not honestly address the issue of Women in Combat (WIC). I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that permits or quietly endorses the individual actions and self exploitive behavior we see on Instagram by active duty women and who do so in uniform. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that permits a woman transitioning to a man, who has had her breasts removed, get recruited much less attend boot camp and be assigned to a male platoon. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps that endorses open homosexuality and transgenderism in their ranks and a Marine Corps that expects the heterosexual males and females to accept it as ok. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps whose general officers refuse to honestly address the issues above. I will not recruit for a Marine Corps who disrespectfully dismisses their retired general officers efforts to openly address matters of concern.
Fix that. Then maybe I’ll help the Marine Corps recruit. The Marine Corps has made its bed, now sleep in it. FD 2030 is only part of the problem. Furl the colors! I would rather be remembered for what we were vice what we’ve become.
Semper Fidelis
Rob Barrow
U.S. Marine
Spot on, sir!
A huge 'Thank You' to Compass Points for talking 'Recruiting'. For those not familiar, recruiting for the USMC in the era of the All Volunteer Force is at an all time low point.
The majority of Districts are regularly missing missions. The majority! Apart from the challenges that arose over the past 3 years, the force has changed and the DoD implementation of the Genesis program means no more same month contact to contract...much less two months contact to contract. So a miss on contracting means two holes...one this month and one the next month since you still have to contract to fill the future ship mission plus meet the contracting mission for the following month. Now, consider in the same month as the contracting miss, if you have a shipping hole and have to pull a shipper forward to fill it. Now you have to fill that shipper's original ship date, which means another contract.
I have tried to convey to retired Marines how severe the crisis is....and most don't get it. They don't understand the dynamics of entrance processing have changed. They don't realize the USMC is poised to start the next FY with a historically low start pool percentage. It isn't just Genesis...MEPs aren't staying open late on mission day or on Saturdays so RS's and Districts can make mission. It's much more restrictive. The days where a good friend of mine swore in an applicant/mission maker at 23:58 on the last day of the contracting month at MEPs are gone (FYI - that applicant shipped, became a US Marine, and successfully completed his enlistment).
It isn't just hard for the recruiters; look at actual end strength for the USMC. I think if you haven't been paying attention, you'll be shocked at the disparity between target end strength and actual. This is having an impact on active units. The danger right now is that the recruiting force breaks since the natural tendency is always to increase the burden on the mission makers. If we break the top two Districts...the old saw of "other services have recruiting problems, the Marines have recruiting solutions" will sound like a bad joke.
My hope is that, in addition to strong local leadership and mission management, factors emerge that greatly increase the propensity and population of qualified applicants to look at the Marine Corps as the positive option it is. Of course, hope is not a COA. We need Marines to restore what's good in our national fabric; Great Marines make the best of bad policy...Great Marines make great policy even better at the cutting edge. God speed to every Marine Recruiter on the street.
There is a quick fix that would enhance all the services recruiting efforts, especially helping the Marine Corps find the "top hundred". Ask Congress to make the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) mandatory in all public and private high schools. The ASVAB was developed to be a counseling tool not only for recruiters but also high school guidance counselors. If taken all four years of high school the guidance counselors and teachers can track a student's progress in Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), Mathematics Knowledge (MK), Paragraph Comprehension (PC), and Word Knowledge (WK). Yes, the ASVAB results are available to the local recruiter. Since the beginning of the "all volunteer" force all services recruiting forces have work to become highly professional and competent. Like any other recruiters the Armed Forces Recruiting Service need a robust prospect pool that the ASVAB provides (but remember the recruiter cannot contact a student until they are a senior). Yes, there are school administrators and teachers who object as they objected to the draft during the Viet Nam War. Let's assume they can't have it both ways (draft or all volunteer). If you centralized the ASVAB results in a database, Congress would have a uniform metric/"report card" on every school in the country, besides the high school ASVAB is free to school boards, high schools, teachers and students.
The Marine Corps needs its veterans to help meet recruiting requirements. It also needs its veterans to save it from its current path to insignificance.
My son was on recruiting duty back in the late 1980's - Rapid City, South Dakota. Not an easy assignment to say the least. He completed it well and moved on to other duties. I've done my share of "recruiting" in the last 30 years - not sure I made mission but I tried. 'Once a Marine, always a Marine" is a true statement. Semper Fi
Take a look at programs like the one Robert Killackey runs in Linden High School in Linden, NJ. JNROTC. He still transforms young people into potential future Marines.
What is interesting is that most children today undergo some sort of psychological treatment or evaluation primarily due to anxiety issues brought about by social media or other societal based stressors real or perceived. And with States like Illinois minimizing the issue of drug use by legalizing marijuana, many kids are being caught up in it as it becomes a norm rather than a thrill or experiment. Not to forget our current political environment, criticisms regarding the failure of the Afghan objective, and social divisions. This is a tough time for recruitment and a difficult time for our nation in general
Until both, civilian and military leadership realize that their social policies are what is causing the recruitment issue, the military will continue to find it harder and harder to fill the ranks.
Second, until an unless, military leaders tell the active duty personnel to stop denigrating “had been former military people” by telling us we don’t understand the current state of affairs in the military, retirees like me WILL NOT lift a finger to help in the recruitment effort!
US military too politicized, likely general election voters say: Pollhttps://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/06/us-military-too-politicized-likely-general-election-voters-say-poll/
The two issues are HS diploma and physical fitness/weight. A model already exists in a rough version - the USNA Prep School. With two Recruit Depots the MC could create a USMC prep camp to address both issues before graduates report to Recruit Training. The only objectives would be academic and physical. No obligation if you fail. Tough times call for tough measures.
DoD and the Corps were counting on the shortfalls being made up by enlisting more females. Failed. Scared them off by not understanding their motives.
The Corps cannot afford a 20% annual turn over. Reenlist more, enlist less.
Retired Marines and those who served honorably are no longer recommending service. HQMC and DoD might want to ask why? The honest answers will be hard for the delusional to grasp.
Any bets HQMC will take umbrage with James Etter because he is old retired Marine from way back when for coming up a creative solution and implementing? just ask'in