Have your vomit bucket ready. The USMC has no fuking clue about combat excellence and has had its asses kicked in Iraq/Afghanistan; Amos is trying to save USMC face by scapegoating individuals for systemic, bureaucratic failings--which is the typical USMC Semper FU mentality: http://news.yahoo.com/2-generals-forced-retire-afghan-breach-215517204--politics.html "...the top marine on Monday forced two generals into retirement after concluding they should be held to account for failing to secure a base in Afghanistan against a Taliban attack that killed two marines. The Sept. 14, 2012, attack by 15 Taliban fighters caught the marines by surprise and resulted in the deaths of Lt. Col. Christopher K. Raible, 40, and Sgt. Bradley W. Atwell, 27. The Taliban also destroyed 6 marine Harrier fighter jets valued at $200 million and badly damaged others. It was one of the most stunning and damaging attacks of the war." This power point presentation is yet more absolute garrison bullsh*t from the Commandant which shows he's a complete garritrooper a**hole who has no focus on the actual desperate needs to do tangible drastic reforms to get ready for the next war: get off roads using tracked tanks that have infared thermal sights which can detect enemies sneaking in, active protection systems to defeat ATGMs etc., this guy deludes himself that any of this subjective, internal bullshit and individual scapegoating will have any relevancy to objective, external reality, modern combat--which it will not. A defense futurist writes: "A 17-slide Powerpoint pep talk is supposed to revitalize the USMC's values? I'm both underwhelmed and unconvinced, and yet unsurprised as well. Organizations that have a good culture generally don't waste their breath on the things that make one (why dwell on what you already do well?); organizations that don't have a good culture are usually the ones who talk a good character, but don't have one. Words and deeds are not the same, and they are not interchangeable. You generally cannot embrace one, and be good at the other. Also, as you mentioned, there's also nothing in there that pertains to any of the responsibilities of the USMC, nor the challenges they face in future battlefields. That's kind of a bad thing for a military service, as fighting isn't everything they're for --- it's the ONLY thing. There's one last thing I want to point-out about this presentation. It talks endlessly about character, values, honor, and so on. It's one thing to have a good character, but I notice that there's something curiously absent from that briefing; Ethics. That's rather troubling, when you think about it." More reasons its high time to disband the USMC bureaucracy completely and start-over and build a professional naval maneuver force.

1. Our Future…Staring Through
The Looking Glass Into The
Next Two Decades
“America‟s Premier Crisis Response Force”

2. “The third thing that they believe about Marines is … that
the Marines are a master of some form of unfailing alchemy
which converts unoriented youths into proud, self-reliant
stable citizens – citizens into whose hands the nation‟s
affairs may be safely entrusted
And likewise, should the people ever lose that conviction –
as a result of our failure to meet their high – almost spiritual
– standards, the Marine Corps will quickly disappear.”
„First to Fight‟ - Brute Krulak - 1984
Remember…Who We Are!

3. Reality…Today‟s Marine Corps
…OUR Marine Corps!
For more than a decade, our Marines have
endured, overcome, and thrived in the morally
bruising arena of human combat. While we have been
victorious on the battlefields of Iraq and
Afghanistan, we are now seeing signs that our
institutional fabric is fraying…we need to take action
today to fix it.
We have a behavioral problem within the Corps - a
small, but not insignificant, number of our Marines are
not living up to our ethos and core values. They are
hurting themselves, their fellow Marines, civilians, and
damaging our reputation.

4. Reality…Today‟s Marine Corps
…OUR Marine Corps!
We see evidence of this in non-compliance and
enforcement of established institutional
standards, incidences of sexual
assault, hazing, DUI, fraternization, failure to maintain
personal appearance standards, and other areas that
indicate an overall lack of leadership and discipline.
No one doubts our ability to prepare our Marines for
combat…in that arena - we have excelled!‟ Where we
are faltering…where we need immediate attention…is in
preparing our force for the post-OEF decades that are
upon us!

5. After a Decade of War…we have an
opportunity to foster a
“re-awakening” within our Corps…
a refocus on our ethos and values…
a refocus on
„who we are‟…and „what we do.‟
Our Moral Imperative

6. Our Mission – My Commander‟s Intent
Our Mission is to intellectually, physically and morally
“reawaken” the soul of the Marine Corps.
We will not create new concepts, buzzwords, or slogans.
There will be no new MCOs or annual training required.
We will return to our roots…to those time tested policies
and orders that we intuitively know are right…because
they made all of here this morning the Marines we are!
We will do a better job of enforcing the orders and policies
we have already established.

7. Our Mission – My Commander‟s Intent
Understanding that strong leadership - from Fire Team
Leader…to Commanding Officer…to Commanding
General - is critical to our success, we will
nonetheless, make our Non-Commissioned Officers our
“main effort.”
144.5K‟ of our Corps‟ 173.9K‟ Enlisted Marines are Sgts
and below (89.6%)…thus our Non-Commissioned Officers
are the critical enabler to our “reawakening” efforts. We
will focus our efforts in a way that teaches and empowers
our Corps‟ NCOs such that they cannot fail.

8. “Who Are We?”
…From This Month‟s Sergeants Course
~ We are the history of generations yet to come. Our
actions, ethics, traditions are what people will remember about us
~ We are a community of sacrifice
~ We are loyal, we are in a marriage with our country, and our life is
not as important as our country or the people we swore to
protect, to include our fellow service men and women
~ We are a living oath to the morals, values, and principles that we
believe in, stand for…and what we were founded upon
~ We are professional warriors and we will fight to the death for our
country or anyone who wears our uniform
~ We are brothers and sisters bonded by selflessness and duty

9. “What Do We Do?”
…From This Month‟s Sergeants Course
~ We fight for the freedoms of our country and the wellbeing of its
citizens. We are American Ambassadors to foreign lands. We endure
the harsh conditions of war so those who are unable to protect
themselves can sleep well at night
~ We defend our country, fight our nation‟s battles, and are prepared to
give our life in its defense
~ We are our country‟s Guardian Angels
~ We sacrifice body, mind, life and family to serve. We give ourselves
completely with no questions. We miss
birthdays, funerals, births, first days of school, first bike rides, to serve
a country…at the end of the day our only known identity is not
Sergeant or LCPL…we are a faceless entity. We are American…we are
United States Marines

10. WOW
They “Get It!”

11. Our Way Forward
You will leave this week with a list of initiatives, some of which will
begin immediately, others will require more thorough coordination
and thus will come over the next 60 days.
All of what is included here came from direct feedback from my 3
star Force and MEF Commander‟s, our LtCol and Col CO‟s, and their
SELs. You will note that there is nothing new here…this is
fundamental blocking and tackling…this is the sacred territory of
Marines…it‟s called discipline.
Lastly, as General Officers, you own the battle field preparation, the
execution, and the persistent follow through on our way forward.
There will likely be a few of the initiatives that will be mandated from
HQMC, but the bulk of our “reawakening” efforts belong squarely
in YOUR pack.

12. Immediate Changes
~ We will „stand to‟ and return good order and discipline to our
barracks.
Sgts and Cpls will return to our brks; BAH is no
longer authorized for single Marines (CG‟s will have waiver authority)
I want to see Senior Officers, SNCOs and NCOs in and out of
the brks regularly, especially between 2000-0400
I want to see Company Grade Officers assigned as OODs and
SNCOs assigned as the Staff OOD.
Duty Officers/SNCOs will be armed at all times

13. Immediate Changes
I want two NCOs on duty per brks and a firewatch on every
deck
Each unit will establish an „interior guard‟ and I expect a
SNCO to be in charge of their training
All duty standers will be in service uniform (B‟s or C‟s)
You will remove all TVs and not allow video games in the
watch standers place of duty
I want all watch standers „out and about‟ and not sitting
behind a desk
I want MEF Cmdrs, MSC Cmdrs, Installation Cmdrs, and their
Sergeants Major to develop plans to “fight and win in the brks”

14. Immediate Changes
~ Every Marine above the rank of LCpl will read LEADING MARINES
and SUSTAINING THE TRANSFORMATION by 10 November
~ “Group promotions” to the rank of Corporal or to Sergeant are not
authorized…each promotion to these ranks will be personal and
meaningful (more on promotions later)
~ We will refocus on the „basic daily routine‟ business of running a
Bn or Sqdrn. Officers and SNCOs will be present in the morning for
morning clean up, organized PT, and chow for their Marines
~ We need to do a better job of explaining the “why” behind
institutional decisions

15. Immediate Changes
~ We will begin enforcing established standards. This will include
behavior, physical conditioning, personal appearance, weight and
body fat
~ We will stop accepting bad behavior or substandard performance
as a natural consequence of being a „combat hardened‟ Marine
Corps
~ Every Bn and Sqdrn Commanding Officer will read SUSTAINING
THE TRANSFORMATION immediately and begin to reinstitute its
policies and direction
~ Every Marine checking into a unit will be contacted before arrival
by an assigned sponsor, and his/her immediate leadership chain
(NCO, SNCO, and Company Grade Officer) will meet and greet the
Marine upon check-in…there will be no exceptions!

16. Near Term Changes
~ I want to see units assigned to the same set of brks and left
there…I don‟t want them moving around
~ We will install security cameras in every brks
~ We will establish definitive criteria for promotion to Corporal and
Sergeant…ie, resident PME, MCI courses, cutting score, promotion
board etc
~ We will get our NCOs and leaders out from behind their computers
and in front of their Marines!
~ Marines who do not want to live up to our standards will be held
accountable…that included our senior leadership!

17. There will be much more…I need you to talk
about these initiatives among yourselves this
week. I intend to adjust our GOS schedule later
this week to have some time to hear your
thoughts and recommendations. This list is far
from exhaustive…your fingerprints are required!