GyG1345
01-13-03, 07:30 AM
Marine Corps Times
January 20, 2003
News Analysis
Jones Sought 'Buy-In' To Reshape Corps
New cammies, martial arts and return of brigade deployments changed how
Marines are viewed
By Gordon Lubold, Times Staff Writer
Gen. James Jones assumed the Corps' top post in July 1999 saying "the Corps
isn't broken," and seemed to lower expectations that he was a visionary bent
on shaking things up.
But in his 3〓 years at the helm, the Corps has undergone sweeping changes
that lay the groundwork for a more educated and more capable Corps that
challenges the traditional view of Marines.
"I see the role of a commandant is to take what's given to you, and I
believe you should have a goal of turning over an organization that is
hopefully a little bit better than when you got it," Jones said.
Many would say he did that.
Bases and stations around the Corps are getting new or refurbished housing
under a public-private construction venture, Marines wear distinctive
utility uniforms no one else has and they're practicing martial arts, all
moves born from a bold leadership style that emphasized consensus-building.
Reconnaissance Marines saw their career field revamped and revitalized.
Off-duty education received a funding boost and School of Infantry
instructors got more respect - and perks - with new special-duty assignment
status.
Jones was to turn over the Corps' top job in a Jan. 13 change-of-command
ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Gen. Michael Hagee
succeeds Jones as the 33rd commandant.
But perhaps Jones' biggest change was a symbolic one.
In a Jan. 8 interview at the Navy Annex, in which he summed up his tenure as
the 32nd commandant, he said he still is proud of the executive decision he
made three years ago to dump brown T-shirts and return to green.
Brown was just too Army.
"It's the only thing that I will say, 'yeah, I did that,' and if you don't
like it, you can blame me because I didn't ask anybody," he said.
A cultural shift
But the T-shirt is more than a T-shirt to Jones, who says the change from
brown to green is more about celebrating "service culture" than anything
else. Marines may feel proud wearing the green shirts under the new
"Marine-pattern" cammies Jones also requested. But there is a larger message
he tried to convey as he leaves his job to become the first Marine
commandant not to retire, but to ascend to another position - commander of
U.S. European Command.
In trying to reinforce Marines' "warrior spirit," through a martial-arts
program that stresses both mental and physical discipline, for example,
Jones worked to instill in Marines an even greater sense of pride and
confidence. And he's tried to reinvent the Corps, taking it from an
amphibious-minded institution to one that's more broadly expeditionary in
its nature and ready to go farther inland than ever before.
Using contacts around Washington and the savvy political instinct for which
he's known, Jones marketed the Corps as a distinctive brand. In doing so,
some observers say he's helped raise the service's profile.
Early in his tour, Jones brought back a deployment structure once relegated
to the Corps' dustbin, the Marine brigade, to make Marine capabilities more
evident to joint commanders.
That enabled him to re-establish the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade as an
antiterrorism unit just weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The brigade, which reorganized existing Marine Corps units under a common
command element, showed America the Corps had a host of useful talents to
offer the nation. And after reinvigorating a long-dormant relationship with
U.S. Special Operations Command, Marines for the first time will provide the
command with an elite special-operations unit.
Meanwhile, senior Marine officers are rising to the top - Gen. Peter Pace's
appointment as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Jones'
appointment to lead U.S. European Command are both firsts and, to many, a
sign of a new era for the Corps.
"I think we're seeing more and more competence coming out of the Marine
Corps," said one Marine colonel, speaking of Jones' tenure.
"We are more responsive to things, we're thinking more to the future. It's
not tied to resources. It's tied to innovation."
Osprey troubles
Jones faced his share of challenges. After inheriting a troubled MV-22
Osprey program, he watched as 23 Marines died in two accidents in 2000. The
tilt-rotor aircraft was grounded to give the Corps time to make fixes and
re-establish the program's credibility. Then Jones was told the commander of
the Corps' Osprey squadron asked Marines to falsify maintenance records to
make the program look good.
The ensuing investigation almost doomed the already controversial program,
which is regaining speed but faces a still-uncertain future.
The initial stages of the war in Afghanistan also stretched the Corps, as
Marines were inserted onto a desert strip more than 400 miles inland and far
from their traditional shoreline home. The operation validated operational
concepts planners say are critical to the Corps of the future, a faster and
lighter force that will make assaults from over the horizon.
Wine, cheese and a good ear
Jones, 59, grew up in France and attended the Georgetown University School
of Foreign Service in Washington, and is known by some as the
"wine-and-cheese commandant" for his personal style. He listened to Marines,
taking pains to gather their input before making decisions that affected
them, and urged commanders to move away from the "zero-defect mentality"
that Jones says plagues a healthy organization.
Even his red Cadillac showed his willingness to be different, standing out
from the sea of defense officials ferried about Washington in black sedans.
"He ratcheted the commandant's job up a notch or two," one Jones aide said
recently.
It's a style that stood in sharp contrast to his predecessor, Gen. Charles
C. Krulak, a perfectionist who led loudly and took a more traditional
top-down leadership approach. Jones and Krulak never were close, and their
strikingly different leadership styles seemed to reflect that.
Jones has tried to convince commanders that they should avoid saying "no" to
Marines, give them second chances where possible and consult them on their
views as a way to demonstrate the importance of top-down trust.
"The Marine Corps has to meet Marines' expectations," he said.
Under Jones, junior enlisted Marines were invited to Washington each year to
gripe about issues they encounter in the day-to-day Corps, from training to
housing. Marines were asked to sound off about the new cammies, the would-be
replacement for the Modular Lightweight Load-bearing Equipment, or MOLLE,
pack and other uniform items. Decisions came only after "buy-in" from the
fleet. And, during the economic boom that came during Jones' term, manpower
officials were told to listen to Marines' needs and wants in order to retain
them in the Corps.
This doesn't all add up to some Marines, both enlisted and officer, some of
whom said they had trouble connecting with Jones' softer, more thoughtful
leadership style.
Good, but not perfect
He said he's not leaving the Corps tied up in a pretty bow; by no means is a
complete package awaiting Hagee.
"The Marine Corps is not perfect," Jones said.
He wants fewer off-duty accidents and fewer aviation mishaps. Still to be
accomplished is reform in how the Corps' business and acquisition programs
are run. Transformational concepts, from logistics to aircraft to education,
must still be shepherded along.
Time will tell if Hagee's selection will allow some of Jones' initiatives to
take root and form the kind of legacy that other commandants have hoped to
establish. Martial-arts training, which many Marines affectionately know as
"Semper Fu," is a wildly popular program. But until it becomes a promotion
requirement, its future is uncertain.
Gary Lee, retired sergeant major of the Marine Corps under Krulak, said it's
hard to find much negative to say of Jones' years, pointing instead to the
general's work with School of Infantry instructors and martial arts
training.
"He took a great Marine Corps that is now as great as the day it was when he
took it over, maybe greater."
January 20, 2003
News Analysis
Jones Sought 'Buy-In' To Reshape Corps
New cammies, martial arts and return of brigade deployments changed how
Marines are viewed
By Gordon Lubold, Times Staff Writer
Gen. James Jones assumed the Corps' top post in July 1999 saying "the Corps
isn't broken," and seemed to lower expectations that he was a visionary bent
on shaking things up.
But in his 3〓 years at the helm, the Corps has undergone sweeping changes
that lay the groundwork for a more educated and more capable Corps that
challenges the traditional view of Marines.
"I see the role of a commandant is to take what's given to you, and I
believe you should have a goal of turning over an organization that is
hopefully a little bit better than when you got it," Jones said.
Many would say he did that.
Bases and stations around the Corps are getting new or refurbished housing
under a public-private construction venture, Marines wear distinctive
utility uniforms no one else has and they're practicing martial arts, all
moves born from a bold leadership style that emphasized consensus-building.
Reconnaissance Marines saw their career field revamped and revitalized.
Off-duty education received a funding boost and School of Infantry
instructors got more respect - and perks - with new special-duty assignment
status.
Jones was to turn over the Corps' top job in a Jan. 13 change-of-command
ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Gen. Michael Hagee
succeeds Jones as the 33rd commandant.
But perhaps Jones' biggest change was a symbolic one.
In a Jan. 8 interview at the Navy Annex, in which he summed up his tenure as
the 32nd commandant, he said he still is proud of the executive decision he
made three years ago to dump brown T-shirts and return to green.
Brown was just too Army.
"It's the only thing that I will say, 'yeah, I did that,' and if you don't
like it, you can blame me because I didn't ask anybody," he said.
A cultural shift
But the T-shirt is more than a T-shirt to Jones, who says the change from
brown to green is more about celebrating "service culture" than anything
else. Marines may feel proud wearing the green shirts under the new
"Marine-pattern" cammies Jones also requested. But there is a larger message
he tried to convey as he leaves his job to become the first Marine
commandant not to retire, but to ascend to another position - commander of
U.S. European Command.
In trying to reinforce Marines' "warrior spirit," through a martial-arts
program that stresses both mental and physical discipline, for example,
Jones worked to instill in Marines an even greater sense of pride and
confidence. And he's tried to reinvent the Corps, taking it from an
amphibious-minded institution to one that's more broadly expeditionary in
its nature and ready to go farther inland than ever before.
Using contacts around Washington and the savvy political instinct for which
he's known, Jones marketed the Corps as a distinctive brand. In doing so,
some observers say he's helped raise the service's profile.
Early in his tour, Jones brought back a deployment structure once relegated
to the Corps' dustbin, the Marine brigade, to make Marine capabilities more
evident to joint commanders.
That enabled him to re-establish the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade as an
antiterrorism unit just weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The brigade, which reorganized existing Marine Corps units under a common
command element, showed America the Corps had a host of useful talents to
offer the nation. And after reinvigorating a long-dormant relationship with
U.S. Special Operations Command, Marines for the first time will provide the
command with an elite special-operations unit.
Meanwhile, senior Marine officers are rising to the top - Gen. Peter Pace's
appointment as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Jones'
appointment to lead U.S. European Command are both firsts and, to many, a
sign of a new era for the Corps.
"I think we're seeing more and more competence coming out of the Marine
Corps," said one Marine colonel, speaking of Jones' tenure.
"We are more responsive to things, we're thinking more to the future. It's
not tied to resources. It's tied to innovation."
Osprey troubles
Jones faced his share of challenges. After inheriting a troubled MV-22
Osprey program, he watched as 23 Marines died in two accidents in 2000. The
tilt-rotor aircraft was grounded to give the Corps time to make fixes and
re-establish the program's credibility. Then Jones was told the commander of
the Corps' Osprey squadron asked Marines to falsify maintenance records to
make the program look good.
The ensuing investigation almost doomed the already controversial program,
which is regaining speed but faces a still-uncertain future.
The initial stages of the war in Afghanistan also stretched the Corps, as
Marines were inserted onto a desert strip more than 400 miles inland and far
from their traditional shoreline home. The operation validated operational
concepts planners say are critical to the Corps of the future, a faster and
lighter force that will make assaults from over the horizon.
Wine, cheese and a good ear
Jones, 59, grew up in France and attended the Georgetown University School
of Foreign Service in Washington, and is known by some as the
"wine-and-cheese commandant" for his personal style. He listened to Marines,
taking pains to gather their input before making decisions that affected
them, and urged commanders to move away from the "zero-defect mentality"
that Jones says plagues a healthy organization.
Even his red Cadillac showed his willingness to be different, standing out
from the sea of defense officials ferried about Washington in black sedans.
"He ratcheted the commandant's job up a notch or two," one Jones aide said
recently.
It's a style that stood in sharp contrast to his predecessor, Gen. Charles
C. Krulak, a perfectionist who led loudly and took a more traditional
top-down leadership approach. Jones and Krulak never were close, and their
strikingly different leadership styles seemed to reflect that.
Jones has tried to convince commanders that they should avoid saying "no" to
Marines, give them second chances where possible and consult them on their
views as a way to demonstrate the importance of top-down trust.
"The Marine Corps has to meet Marines' expectations," he said.
Under Jones, junior enlisted Marines were invited to Washington each year to
gripe about issues they encounter in the day-to-day Corps, from training to
housing. Marines were asked to sound off about the new cammies, the would-be
replacement for the Modular Lightweight Load-bearing Equipment, or MOLLE,
pack and other uniform items. Decisions came only after "buy-in" from the
fleet. And, during the economic boom that came during Jones' term, manpower
officials were told to listen to Marines' needs and wants in order to retain
them in the Corps.
This doesn't all add up to some Marines, both enlisted and officer, some of
whom said they had trouble connecting with Jones' softer, more thoughtful
leadership style.
Good, but not perfect
He said he's not leaving the Corps tied up in a pretty bow; by no means is a
complete package awaiting Hagee.
"The Marine Corps is not perfect," Jones said.
He wants fewer off-duty accidents and fewer aviation mishaps. Still to be
accomplished is reform in how the Corps' business and acquisition programs
are run. Transformational concepts, from logistics to aircraft to education,
must still be shepherded along.
Time will tell if Hagee's selection will allow some of Jones' initiatives to
take root and form the kind of legacy that other commandants have hoped to
establish. Martial-arts training, which many Marines affectionately know as
"Semper Fu," is a wildly popular program. But until it becomes a promotion
requirement, its future is uncertain.
Gary Lee, retired sergeant major of the Marine Corps under Krulak, said it's
hard to find much negative to say of Jones' years, pointing instead to the
general's work with School of Infantry instructors and martial arts
training.
"He took a great Marine Corps that is now as great as the day it was when he
took it over, maybe greater."