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thedrifter
02-07-06, 10:07 AM
Marines meet to tackle equal opportunity issues
Marine Forces Command
Story by Sgt. Chris R. Berryman

U.S. MARINE CORPS FORCES COMMAND, NORFOLK, Va. (Feb. 6, 2006) -- The day after Super Bowl XL, Marine leaders met to tackle equal opportunity issues. Unlike the football players the day prior, the Marine equal opportunity leadership staff is always on the offense; proactively hunting for issues that may be currently under the radar. Their tools are not linebackers and quarterbacks but surveys and small unit leaders. These are the tools that help keep the Marine Corps in a constant state of readiness.

U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command is hosting a week-long equal opportunity training course for unit EO advisors and representatives. The training commenced with opening remarks from LtGen. Robert R. Blackman, Jr., commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command.

“What you strive for is members of the (Marine Corps) family treating each other with dignity and respect. This is what wins battles on the battlefield,” said Blackman.

MGySgt Russell D. Whitney, equal opportunity advisor for the Manpower Equal Opportunity Branch at Headquarters, Marine Corps explained the purpose of the conference as annual training for equal opportunity advisors and representatives from subordinate MARFORCOM commands.

“Marine leadership: taking care of Marines and looking out for issues before they become problems, is the number one tool we use to prevent problems,” said Whitney.

Navy Lt. Buddy Coard, a psychologist with the Director of Research at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute at Patrick Air Force Base provided the group a Department of Defense-wide prospective to upcoming equal opportunity issues.

“The biggest issue facing the service community is religious discrimination, not because it is a problem yet, but because we see a growth in this area while all other area of discrimination have been in decline,” said Coard. “Religious discrimination is the least known problem but potentially could cause the most issues.”

Coard, Blackman and others at the conference attribute this growth specifically to the effect of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the natural reaction to “demonize” the enemy.

“Leaders need to define who we are fighting,” said Blackman referring to unit leaders of Marines heading into combat. “This prevents the generalization of all people of a certain religion as an enemy.”

“When we demonize our enemies about their religion, we run the risk at the same time of demonizing our service members,” said Coard. “Not only does this effect our service members, but it hinders our mission to bring good will to the countries we are liberating.”

Training and leadership is the two-pronged approach to ensuring this does not become a problem, said Coard.

“The Marine Corps takes a proactive approach with leadership actions stressing dignity and respect,” said Col. A.J. Dyer, advisor to the Commandant on equal opportunity matters and head of the Manpower Equal Opportunity Branch at Headquarters, Marine Corps.

According to Dyer, other proactive measures implemented by the Marine Corps include education in cultural awareness, spreading the ethos that Marines treat others as family, and conducting command climate surveys and seminars to provide a “big picture” interactive equal opportunity climate assessment to unit commanders.

“Last year 347 individual Marine Corps units conducted command climate surveys,” said Coard. “Out of over 197,000 response to surveys DoD-wide, approximately 58,000 came from the Marine Corps. This makes the Marine Corps our second largest customer.”

The Marine Corps is the world’s foremost expeditionary warfighting organization. So while the representatives and advisors meet to discuss the future of equal opportunity in the Marine Corps, it is ultimately up to unit leaders and individual Marines to score and win in the EO arena.