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…
Browsing: Leadership
Marine Corps watchers have long anticipated the release of the service’s 2010 Force Structure Review, a detailed study ordered by Commandant Gen. Jim Amos last year to assess the future of the Corps. As this staff report notes, the executive summary of that report was released last night. It outlines a variety of reductions to the Corps’ size, but also highlights new priorities and areas of the service that will grow. The release of the report also sets in motion the wheels to put in place the study’s recommendations. Marine Corps Times has made the executive summary of the report…
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — This military base is primarily for the Navy, but Marine Corps spirit is alive and well, too. Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the Marine Corps’ senior enlisted adviser, visited here yesterday and today, taking questions from Marines and delivering senior leadership’s point of view on major issues. At multiple visits across the base, he touched on issues ranging from the planned drawdown of the Corps after combat operations end in Afghanistan to the forthcoming repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Most of the Marines present are with Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team Europe, better known…
PANZER KASERNE U.S. ARMY BASE, Germany — Perhaps you’ve heard: Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent likes to run. The longtime marathoner and senior enlisted adviser in the Marine Corps led Marines with the headquarters of Marine Corps Forces Africa and Marine Corps Forces Europe in a motivational run early Tuesday morning. The pace was pushed to something far quicker than most Marines expected to see in a simple early-morning run. A group of about 40 Marines and your faithful Marine Corps Times correspondent stepped off at about 6 a.m. from the headquarters aboard this base, which translates in German roughly to…
STUTTGART, Germany — Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent is on the road again. That’s as good of a place as any to start when acknowledging that Marine Corps Times is traveling with the Corps’ senior enlisted adviser as he visits several locations in Europe. I hopped a plane Sunday with Kent and his staff, arriving about 3 a.m. local time here after a a brief refueling layover at Lajes Field in Portugal. I’ll be reporting several stories out of this trip, but a good place to start is that Kent travels relatively conservatively. We hopped an aging Marine DC-9 jet from…
So, here’s an interesting photo just released by the Marine Corps: Yes, that’s Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the Corps’ top enlisted Marine, hitting the links at Lakewood Golf Club at Naval Support Activity New Orleans on Jan. 26. He’s certainly dressed for it, too. What is he pointing at, though? Pictured with him are Sgt. Maj. Kim Davis, of Marine Corps Forces Reserve; Sgt. Maj. Chris Bloebaum, of MARFORRES Headquarters Battalion; and Sgt. Maj. James Booker, of 4th Marine Logistics Group. Kent didn’t visit New Orleans alone, though. Marine officials say in a news release that he visited New Orleans with Commandant…
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…
Four years ago last month, Commandant Gen. James Conway announced that he had selected Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent to serve as his sergeant major of the Marine Corps. It’s a demanding position that requires those who hold it to be equally comfortable while offering blunt advice to a four-star general, inspiring junior Marines and articulating the Marine Corps’ needs on Capitol Hill. Following Conway’s retirement in October, the time is coming for Kent to move on, too. The sergeant major is expected to retire this spring after completing a four-year term as the Corps’ top enlisted Marine. He has held the position…
Late Friday, Headquarters Marine Corps released the following three-minute video featuring Commandant Gen. Jim Amos and his top enlisted adviser, Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, discussing the imminent repeal of the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy, which since the 1990s has prohibited military service by men and women who are openly homosexual. [HTML1] The pair explain that the service has established an operational planning team that’s working with the Defense Department “to determine the best way forward.” They do not specify any forthcoming changes or indicate what the timetable is for implementation. However, both lean heavily on leaders throughout the ranks —…
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Jim Amos has said it before and he said it again tonight: The Marine Corps will demonstrate its fidelity to the constitution of the United States by implementing the new policies that will govern the service of openly gay men and women in the military. “As stated during my testimony before Congress in September and again during hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month, the Marine Corps will step out smartly to faithfully implement this new policy, ” Amos said in a statement released Sunday evening. He and Sergeant Major of the Marine…
