General officers

Sgt. Maj. Kent: Marines 'are kicking ass' at Warrior Games

By Dan Lamothe on May 20, 2011 General officers, The CMC, The Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps, Wounded warriors

The Wounded Warrior Regiment would not be denied. Competing Wednesday in the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo., the All-Marine team swept the All-Air Force team in sitting volleyball. It already had dispatched the Army team a day earlier in the paralympic-style games, which are open to wounded, ill or injured service members. If you’ve been reading Battle Rattle this week, you already know that Commandant Gen. Jim Amos and his wife, Bonnie, attended the event did the wave. Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the Corps’ top enlisted Marine, also visited and offered some blunt motivation for the Marines, according to…

The commandant of the Marine Corps does the wave

By Dan Lamothe on May 19, 2011 General officers, The CMC, The Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps

Commandant Gen. Jim Amos and company sure know how to get around. The Marine Corps’ top officer made a surprise visit Wednesday at the 2011 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo. Also present were his wife, Bonnie, and Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the Corps’ top enlisted adviser. If the photograph above is any indication, the mood was light. The commandant and Bonnie Amos did the wave, even if Kent sat this round out. It happened during a sitting volleyball match between The Wounded Warrior Regiment All-Marine Team and a group of injured airman. The Warrior Games is a paralympic-style competition…

Is a new Marine command coming to Bahrain?

By Dan Lamothe on May 10, 2011 Force Structure Review, General officers, Leadership

If you browsed Marine Corps Times’ website today, odds are good that you saw my story about the Corps launching two new Marine expeditionary brigade headquarters capable of leading joint task forces in times of crises. Most of the information comes from an interview last month with Lt. Gen. George Flynn, deputy commandant for combat development and integration. As head of the Marine Corps Force Structure Review, he’s one of the few Marines around right now in position to describe some of the heavily anticipated changes expected as the Corps resets for life in the 21st century. Flynn said the…

Behind the Cover: Introducing Lt. Gen. John Allen, your new Afghanistan commander

By Dan Lamothe on May 2, 2011 Afghanistan, Behind the Cover, General officers, Infantry, Leadership

Last night’s breaking news about the death of Osama bin Laden occurred well after this week’s Marine Corps Times was put to bed. Still, this week’s issue offers plenty of new perspective on someone you’ll hear a lot about in coming months: Lt. Gen. John Allen, President Obama’s nominee to become the next commander of the International Security Assistance Force and all U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Obviously, Marine Corps Times was part of the chorus initially reporting Allen’s selection last week, when Obama made his announcement. However, this week’s cover story offers a wide variety of details about Allen that…

Maj. Gen. John Toolan loves him some CFT

By Dan Lamothe on April 1, 2011 Afghanistan, Camp Lejeune, Combat Fitness Test, Fitness, General officers, Leadership

As outlined earlier this week, Marines in Afghanistan have a new commander, Maj. Gen. John Toolan. He has taken command from Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, who led troops in Regional Command-Southwest for nearly a year. Marine Corps Times news editor Tony Lombardo pointed out this photo to me earlier this week. It shows Toolan during a Combat Fitness Test carrying Sgt. Michael Taggart, the noncommissioned officer in charge of II Marine Expeditionary Force’s special security office. It was taken Dec. 10 at Camp Lejeune, N.C., before II MEF (Forward) Marines deployed to Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Toolan has been in the…

Meet Maj. Gen. John Toolan, your new Afghanistan commander

By Dan Lamothe on March 28, 2011 Afghanistan, General officers, Infantry, Leadership

As Marine Corps Times forecasted in a story Saturday morning, Maj. Gen. John Toolan has taken over as commander of II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) and Regional Command-Southwest. The transfer of authority from Maj. Gen. Richard Mills and I MEF (Fwd.) puts Toolan in charge of more than 20,000 Marines, primarily in volatile Helmand province. I had the opportunity to interview Mills last week by telephone before he stepped down as commander. He was candid in offering perspective on where things have improved, but also warned that Marines will face another push from the insurgency this spring. “He defended all…

Krulak to soccer players: "kick the crap" out of opponents

By Gina Cavallaro on March 22, 2011 General officers

Former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Charles Krulak has just been named president of Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Ala., but he’s making noise across the Atlantic of another kind as he gives the players of the Aston Villa Football Club a pep talk worthy of his four stars. In a Guardian article Tuesday, Krulak, who is a non-executive director of the Birmingham, England, soccer team, told his players on a fan forum called Villa Talk that “when my Marines put on their uniforms and the emblem of the Corps and went into battle and things got tough, they did not fight…

Marine Corps 3-star to replace Petraeus in Afghanistan?

By Gina Cavallaro on March 10, 2011 Afghanistan, General officers

Speculation and street talk are part of what goes on “inside the Beltway” in Washington, and today’s rumor has it that Lt. Gen. John R. Allen will take over as commander in Afghanistan whenever Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has been in charge there since last summer, relinquishes command. The Marine Corps could not confirm the report by former Washington Post correspondent Tom Ricks, who said in his blog “Best Defense” that he had heard of the Allen choice “around town.” If it became a reality, Allen would be the first Marine Corps general at the helm of U.S.…

Expect new details about the future Marine Corps tonight

By Dan Lamothe on February 8, 2011 General officers, Leadership, Manpower, MARSOC, MEU operations, The CMC

Commandant Gen. Jim Amos is expected to make a major speech tonight in San Francisco that could provide significant new details about what the future Marine Corps looks like. Marine officials obviously don’t want to get out front of their commandant, but the speech has been teased to media as focusing on “his vision” for what the service should do next. It will take place at the Marines’ Memorial Club, where Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last August that he was ordering a broad-based review of the Corps’ mission and purpose. The setting of Amos’ speech is significant. In many…

2-star general: Taliban leader left Afghanistan 'dressed as a woman'

By Dan Lamothe on December 7, 2010 Afghanistan, Camp Leatherneck, General officers, Infantry

Never let it be said that the Marine Corps likes missing handing out a good slap in the face for their enemies. During a press conference conducted today from Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Richard Mills shared a fun little anecdote about a senior Taliban leader Marine forces have been tracking. Speaking about the plans his forces have this winter, he said the Marines will put on a “full-court press… at a time that has traditionally been a little slower” in terms of combat operations. “We can take advantage of that weakness as his numbers decline and his leadership goes…

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