The Passage of the Commandants ceremony this morning has resulted in a passing of the guard, with retiring Commandant Gen. James Conway handing over the reigns of the Marine Corps to Gen. James Amos. The ceremony also means something else, however: The unveiling of the outgoing commandant’s portrait. For the last four years, Conway has lived in the Home of the Commandants, one of the oldest public buildings in all of Washington. Nestled into a corner of Marine Barracks Washington’s grounds, it was built in 1806, and has served as home to all but two of the Corps’ top officers,…
Browsing: Gen. James Conway
This week’s Marine Corps Times cover story reintroduces Marines with someone who many of them know well: Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the service’s top enlisted adviser. In a 40-minute interview last week in his Pentagon office, Kent sounded off on a variety of topics, including drawdown fears in the Corps and what recommendations senior enlisted Marines pushed up to Commandant Gen. James Conway this year after the 2010 Sergeants Major Symposium, held this summer in National Harbor, Md. Historically, suggestions made out of the symposium have a way of finding their way into Marine Corps policy, so it would hardly…
The American Red Cross will recognize Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James Conway on Oct. 16 with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Forty years ago he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, which was probably before most Marines in the Corps today were even born, and he’s been leading Marines ever since. The award will be presented at the Fire and Ice Ball in Washington, D.C., the American Red Cross National Capital Region’s 2010 annual gala, which this year will pay tribute to the armed forces and their families. There’s a chance that by Oct.…
It had to come sometime. After four years of leading the Marine Corps in wartime, Commandant Gen. James Conway is making what will likely be his final trip to Afghanistan this week. He touched down at Bagram Airfield on Tuesday, and if he and his traveling party haven’t already made it to Camp Leatherneck, the Corps’ major hub of operations in Afghanistan, they’ll likely be there soon. For security reasons, their agenda is classified. However, it’s likely they’ll tour much of the area. This brief account in the Pakistani media also reports that Conway visited today with Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the…
When it comes to the movers and shakers in the Marine Corps, they virtually all will visit the same event this week: the Marine Corps Sergeants Major Symposium in National Harbor, Md. An annual gathering of the service’s most senior enlisted advisers, the symposium frequently leads to recommendations that affect change in the service. Led by Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent, it traditionally pushes up a handful of suggestion to the commandant each year. Many of those have made their way into Marine Corps policy in recent years, including a crackdown on body-fat standards, the approval of campaign…
This week’s Marine Corps Times cover story puts to rest any questions over who will serve as the Corps’ senior enlisted leader for the next year — it’s Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, who will continue to serve after the presumed new commandant, Gen. James Amos, takes over. Kent became the Corps’ senior enlisted leader under Gen. James Conway on April 25, 2007. The sergeant major of the Marine Corps traditionally serves a four-year tour, but considering the terms for the SMMC and the CMC haven’t matched up since Gen. James Jones stepped down early as commandant early in 2003, the question…
Beginning this week, Rattle Rattle will present “Behind the Cover,” a brief look at what’s inside the print edition of Marine Corps Times. We start that feature today with a rather obvious cover story on newsstands this week: A look at your next Marine Corps commandant. As first reported by Marine Corps Times sister publication Defense News, Gen. James Amos, the current assistant commandant, has been selected by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to lead the Marine Corps after Gen. James Conway retires this fall. The Associated Press reported that he interviewed with President Barack Obama…
