Q. Retention has been down in some areas. What challenges does the Corps face in keeping good Marines?
A. When you have a very talented force, which we do — very smart, fit, resilient and experienced — there are other opportunities. Unemployment is down and you have the post-9/11 GI Bill, which is a great opportunity.
We cannot take anything for granted. This is a tough life, so I think we need to exert more effort to be sure they understand that we want them to stay and we appreciate their efforts.
Q. Your FragO also details new promotion review boards for lance corporals and corporals. What will that entail?
A. When I came in the Marine Corps a long time ago, you would appear in front of your unit officers and staff noncommissioned officers and get asked some questions about whether you were qualified for promotion. That kind of went away, so the intent here is to work on a promotion review panel. The Marine will go before the board and review their marksmanship and fitness scores and talk about work performance and professional military education.
That gives the chain of command an opportunity to see everybody. The goal is not to deny people a promotion, but just to make sure everybody understands we all have equity in the process. It codifies existing processes and formalizes it. I think everybody wins.
Q. What do you hope Marines gain from this new process?
A. Most Marines I have talked to are excited about it because they were like, “Hey, I am ready. I will go in front of any board, ask me anything you want.”
I think it will make them understand becoming an NCO is not something that just happens. And I think it will be good for their mentors, too, because if I am your sergeant, I want you to go to the board and do well. So I am going to sit down with you and say, “OK, let’s talk about what is going to happen at the board.” I want leaders to talk to their Marines, and this is just another venue to do that.
Q. Speaking of manpower, there’s a section in the FragO that states the Corps “will be willing to accept risk in the size and organization of our units in order to create the capabilities we need for the future.” Can you elaborate?
A. As we expanded the force to the wartime high of 202,000 Marines, we grew some capabilities that we needed, like explosive ordnance disposal and civil affairs. Now as we look at future threats, there are certain things that I’m not sure we have enough of, like cyber, information operations or electronic warfare.
If we indeed need to make more of those types of Marines but aren’t going to expand the size of the Corps, there are two ways to do that. We can cut units or make some of the units that we have smaller. But the first thing we need to do is identify the capabilities and numbers we need, and then we will figure out where we might have to accept some risks in other units to move toward that structure.
Read more at Marine Corps Times
COMMENTS