fontman
09-26-06, 11:29 AM
8 big changes sergeants major want now!
By John Hoellwarth
Marine Corps Staff writer
If you like getting tattoos, live in the barracks, hate field days or have ever seen incoming red tracers during your multiple combat tours, the Corps' sergeants major are talking about you to the commandant.
Eight recommendations from the sergeants major symposium held in August at Quantico, Va., have been forwarded to Marine Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee for review, according to Sgt. Maj. John Estrada, sergeant major of the Marine Corps.
1. Tattoo policy. Estrada described the Corps' tattoo regs as the symposium's most "emotional issue." The sergeants major recommended that the Corps prohibit "tattoo sleeves," ink that covers forearms and legs down to the wrist and ankle.
If the commandant approves the recommendation, Marines who get tattoo sleeves will be "processed for administrative separation," Estrada said. But a recommended grandfather clause would allow those who already have them to stay Marine, as best they can.
The current policy states that "tattoos or brands on the neck and head are prohibited. In other areas of the body, tattoos or brands that are prejudicial to good order, discipline and morale or are of a nature to bring discredit upon the Marine Corps are also prohibited."
Marines who've gotten sleeve tattoos under this regulation have already inhibited their career by limiting their options, according to Estrada.
He's made it known that he doesn't like to see Marines with these tattoos on recruiting duty or standing guard at an embassy, assignments that garner special consideration from promotion boards.
Individual commands currently have autonomy to decide whether a tattoo is "eccentric" under current policy, but the sergeants major recommended that the Corps end decentralized tattoo policy enforcement by making Manpower and Reserve Affairs the "bellybutton" of assessing each Marine's ink. "[Manpower will] decide what's acceptable and what's not instead of everyone else out there deciding what is," Estrada said.
The tattoo issue is a regular topic at the annual symposium, he noted. But no drastic formal changes have been made in the tattoo policy since a Corps-wide message established it in 1996.
"If anything, we'll either maintain what we've got now or tighten it a little bit," Estrada said. "But I see no plan on loosening it."
In a Sept. 20 interview with Marine Corps Times reporters and editors, Estrada laid out all eight areas of concern that made it out of the symposium and are heading to the commandant's desk. He noted that the recommendations from the sergeants major include input from regional noncommissioned officer symposiums held throughout the Corps earlier this year.
Besides tattoos, here are the other recommendations:
2. Barracks leadership. Marines in the barracks aren't thrilled with the leadership there, according to Estrada. He said, "98 percent of the issues barracks dwellers want addressed are leadership-related and can be fixed immediately."
He points to what he calls a "dinosaur mentality" in staff noncommissioned officers who think life in the barracks for today's Marines should resemble what it was for them. Estrada said this mentality "will be" reversed.
A barracks campaign plan, expected to be announced via MarAdmin in the coming weeks, will address barracks issues such as privacy, visitors, duty, alcohol consumption and even field day.
"The gunny does not go down to base housing and knock on corporal so-and-so's door," Estrada said. "They need someone for duty on the long weekends, the first place they go is to the barracks."
Estrada said the Corps is looking into privatizing barracks managers instead of tapping gunnys for the task.
3. Treating singles like grown-ups. Because the barracks is populated almost entirely with single Marines, there is a growing sense among them that the Corps makes life easier for those who are married, Estrada said. He said the sergeants major have recommended that the commandant close the quality-of-life gap by granting single Marines some of the same freedoms married Marines enjoy.
Single Marines in the barracks "better be allowed to personalize their rooms. That's their home. We look at it just like the married Marines and base housing," Estrada said.
"Quite often, it's the senior NCO that's living in the barracks, their privacy is being invaded quite a bit, and you have a junior Marine that lives maybe one, two miles down the road that can do whatever."
4. Senior enlisted schooling. Enlisted Marines from private to gunny have Corps-specific professional military education requirements commensurate with their rank.
But unlike other service branches, Marines at the top of the Corps' enlisted food chain have no academy to call their own. The sergeants major recommended a remedy: additional PME for the E-8 and E-9 ranks. Estrada said it is too early to tell whether this would mean new books, buildings or both.
The Corps currently sends a handful of people to the Navy's Senior Enlisted Academy, which will graduate six Marines this year, according to Command Master Chief Bill Peterson, the academy's deputy director.
Peterson said the academy plans to graduate 12 Marines next year, but he looks forward to the day when the Navy can send sailors to a senior enlisted Marine academy.
"I think our institution eventually wants to do that," Estrada said.
5. Multiple tour awards. Estrada said junior enlisted Marines are telling their sergeants major that there should be a way for them to tell who has done multiple combat tours when sizing up ribbon racks. Currently, the campaign medals for Iraq and Afghanistan are awarded once, regardless of how many times a Marine has deployed there.
The sergeants major recommended to the commandant that stars be authorized for these medals to denote multiple awards, an issue the Defense Department is already addressing.
Over the next eight months, a working group comprised of awards gurus from each service branch will look into how the services should recognize multiple combat tours as part of a Defense Department-wide awards review, according to a Sept. 8 news release.
6. PTSD coordinators. If the sergeants major get their way, every command in the Corps will have a Marine designated to watch the troops for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and ensure everyone who needs treatment gets it.
Estrada said that there is still a stigma out there that causes Marines to feel they will be looked upon as weak if they seek outside help, but that it's easy for Marines to talk to each other about combat.
The idea is for each unit to have a specially trained PTSD coordinator whom Marines will view as one of their own, Estrada said.
In general, the PTSD coordinator needs to be "someone that everyone will feel comfortable going to," Estrada said. But since it is unlikely that a master sergeant will feel comfortable going to a corporal, or a captain to a sergeant, the Corps is weighing the option of having more than one coordinator at each command.
PTSD "transcends all ranks," Estrada said.
7. Payday lenders. The chief financial concern routed to the commandant was the issue of payday lenders who grant Marines loans with interest rates so high that commands often have to "deal with those young Marines and sailors when they screw up and sign those outrageous loans," Estrada said.
Some loan services are available over the Internet as well, so it is important to educate Marines about predatory lending practices in general, not just those in town, Estrada said.
While bills in both the House and Senate concerning predatory lending make their way to the floor despite what Estrada called "a very strong lobby against" them, the sergeants major recommended that the Corps launch an awareness campaign about these lenders.
8. Friendly trackers. Marines have also asked their sergeants major to cut down on friendly fire incidents by fielding what Estrada called a "universal friendly force identifier" along the same lines as the blue force tracker Marines use.
Estrada said sometimes Marines "operate in the same unit where we can't talk to each other. We don't know who might be here or who might be there."
He said "there are a few other technologies out there we've got to get" and communications equipment should be common from unit to unit because "sometimes you hear about my gear can't talk to your gear."
"We've got to get that just right," Estrada said.
By John Hoellwarth
Marine Corps Staff writer
If you like getting tattoos, live in the barracks, hate field days or have ever seen incoming red tracers during your multiple combat tours, the Corps' sergeants major are talking about you to the commandant.
Eight recommendations from the sergeants major symposium held in August at Quantico, Va., have been forwarded to Marine Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee for review, according to Sgt. Maj. John Estrada, sergeant major of the Marine Corps.
1. Tattoo policy. Estrada described the Corps' tattoo regs as the symposium's most "emotional issue." The sergeants major recommended that the Corps prohibit "tattoo sleeves," ink that covers forearms and legs down to the wrist and ankle.
If the commandant approves the recommendation, Marines who get tattoo sleeves will be "processed for administrative separation," Estrada said. But a recommended grandfather clause would allow those who already have them to stay Marine, as best they can.
The current policy states that "tattoos or brands on the neck and head are prohibited. In other areas of the body, tattoos or brands that are prejudicial to good order, discipline and morale or are of a nature to bring discredit upon the Marine Corps are also prohibited."
Marines who've gotten sleeve tattoos under this regulation have already inhibited their career by limiting their options, according to Estrada.
He's made it known that he doesn't like to see Marines with these tattoos on recruiting duty or standing guard at an embassy, assignments that garner special consideration from promotion boards.
Individual commands currently have autonomy to decide whether a tattoo is "eccentric" under current policy, but the sergeants major recommended that the Corps end decentralized tattoo policy enforcement by making Manpower and Reserve Affairs the "bellybutton" of assessing each Marine's ink. "[Manpower will] decide what's acceptable and what's not instead of everyone else out there deciding what is," Estrada said.
The tattoo issue is a regular topic at the annual symposium, he noted. But no drastic formal changes have been made in the tattoo policy since a Corps-wide message established it in 1996.
"If anything, we'll either maintain what we've got now or tighten it a little bit," Estrada said. "But I see no plan on loosening it."
In a Sept. 20 interview with Marine Corps Times reporters and editors, Estrada laid out all eight areas of concern that made it out of the symposium and are heading to the commandant's desk. He noted that the recommendations from the sergeants major include input from regional noncommissioned officer symposiums held throughout the Corps earlier this year.
Besides tattoos, here are the other recommendations:
2. Barracks leadership. Marines in the barracks aren't thrilled with the leadership there, according to Estrada. He said, "98 percent of the issues barracks dwellers want addressed are leadership-related and can be fixed immediately."
He points to what he calls a "dinosaur mentality" in staff noncommissioned officers who think life in the barracks for today's Marines should resemble what it was for them. Estrada said this mentality "will be" reversed.
A barracks campaign plan, expected to be announced via MarAdmin in the coming weeks, will address barracks issues such as privacy, visitors, duty, alcohol consumption and even field day.
"The gunny does not go down to base housing and knock on corporal so-and-so's door," Estrada said. "They need someone for duty on the long weekends, the first place they go is to the barracks."
Estrada said the Corps is looking into privatizing barracks managers instead of tapping gunnys for the task.
3. Treating singles like grown-ups. Because the barracks is populated almost entirely with single Marines, there is a growing sense among them that the Corps makes life easier for those who are married, Estrada said. He said the sergeants major have recommended that the commandant close the quality-of-life gap by granting single Marines some of the same freedoms married Marines enjoy.
Single Marines in the barracks "better be allowed to personalize their rooms. That's their home. We look at it just like the married Marines and base housing," Estrada said.
"Quite often, it's the senior NCO that's living in the barracks, their privacy is being invaded quite a bit, and you have a junior Marine that lives maybe one, two miles down the road that can do whatever."
4. Senior enlisted schooling. Enlisted Marines from private to gunny have Corps-specific professional military education requirements commensurate with their rank.
But unlike other service branches, Marines at the top of the Corps' enlisted food chain have no academy to call their own. The sergeants major recommended a remedy: additional PME for the E-8 and E-9 ranks. Estrada said it is too early to tell whether this would mean new books, buildings or both.
The Corps currently sends a handful of people to the Navy's Senior Enlisted Academy, which will graduate six Marines this year, according to Command Master Chief Bill Peterson, the academy's deputy director.
Peterson said the academy plans to graduate 12 Marines next year, but he looks forward to the day when the Navy can send sailors to a senior enlisted Marine academy.
"I think our institution eventually wants to do that," Estrada said.
5. Multiple tour awards. Estrada said junior enlisted Marines are telling their sergeants major that there should be a way for them to tell who has done multiple combat tours when sizing up ribbon racks. Currently, the campaign medals for Iraq and Afghanistan are awarded once, regardless of how many times a Marine has deployed there.
The sergeants major recommended to the commandant that stars be authorized for these medals to denote multiple awards, an issue the Defense Department is already addressing.
Over the next eight months, a working group comprised of awards gurus from each service branch will look into how the services should recognize multiple combat tours as part of a Defense Department-wide awards review, according to a Sept. 8 news release.
6. PTSD coordinators. If the sergeants major get their way, every command in the Corps will have a Marine designated to watch the troops for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and ensure everyone who needs treatment gets it.
Estrada said that there is still a stigma out there that causes Marines to feel they will be looked upon as weak if they seek outside help, but that it's easy for Marines to talk to each other about combat.
The idea is for each unit to have a specially trained PTSD coordinator whom Marines will view as one of their own, Estrada said.
In general, the PTSD coordinator needs to be "someone that everyone will feel comfortable going to," Estrada said. But since it is unlikely that a master sergeant will feel comfortable going to a corporal, or a captain to a sergeant, the Corps is weighing the option of having more than one coordinator at each command.
PTSD "transcends all ranks," Estrada said.
7. Payday lenders. The chief financial concern routed to the commandant was the issue of payday lenders who grant Marines loans with interest rates so high that commands often have to "deal with those young Marines and sailors when they screw up and sign those outrageous loans," Estrada said.
Some loan services are available over the Internet as well, so it is important to educate Marines about predatory lending practices in general, not just those in town, Estrada said.
While bills in both the House and Senate concerning predatory lending make their way to the floor despite what Estrada called "a very strong lobby against" them, the sergeants major recommended that the Corps launch an awareness campaign about these lenders.
8. Friendly trackers. Marines have also asked their sergeants major to cut down on friendly fire incidents by fielding what Estrada called a "universal friendly force identifier" along the same lines as the blue force tracker Marines use.
Estrada said sometimes Marines "operate in the same unit where we can't talk to each other. We don't know who might be here or who might be there."
He said "there are a few other technologies out there we've got to get" and communications equipment should be common from unit to unit because "sometimes you hear about my gear can't talk to your gear."
"We've got to get that just right," Estrada said.