fontman
09-26-06, 11:30 AM
Q & A with SgtMaj Estrada
The Marine Corps Times
The following are excerpts from Sgt. Maj. John Estrada's Sept. 20 interview with Marine Corps Times reporters and editors. Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q. How do you make sure there isn't a divide between combat and non-combat veterans in the Marine Corps?
A. I tell you I've been concerned about this now for a couple of years because we do have a lot of veterans out there, but I think the leadership will be the one to help make sure that doesn't get out of the box. When Desert Shield/ Desert Storm went, not every Marine went to combat, and it didn't destroy our Corps, and obviously this is a much longer war. It will go on for some time, and probably when it's all said and done, probably just about the whole Marine Corps probably will have went through Iraq or Afghanistan.
That could happen, but I feel with the leadership that we have out there and with our commandant speaking on this issue, other leadership speaking on that issue, and I spent a lot of time speaking on that issue, even when I had my staff NCOs together, when I speak with the young Marines, we cannot allow that to happen because a Marine does not pick and choose where they're going to be assigned. They don't. The Marine Corps decides where you're going to be assigned.
And I think every Marine understands that, so the Marine Corps said you're going to be in 2/1, and you're going to combat, that's where you're going. If it says you're going to be down here in Quantico supporting, that's where you're going. You don't have a choice in the matter.
But again, we are making every effort to get everyone, and I think all the Marines understand that. So it's going to be up to the leadership to prevent that from happening.
Q. What is the Corps doing about Marines posting photographs and videos on the Internet, especially on blogs, MySpace.com and YouTube.com?
A. Up until this debate, I hadn't seen blogs. I didn't know what the heck a blog was. So I did my research. We recognize again the power of the Internet and the blogs and all that. But we're not looking at putting any stringent requirements on Marines and the stuff [they post]. I mean you really can't control the Internet. Yeah, we could control those service members' behavior and stuff, but we really have not looked at anything yet.
Q. Are there concerns with regard to possible operational security violations?
A. Obviously, yes. And we will educate our Marines, we constantly talk about opsec, and if we find someone violating it, we will hold them accountable. I think they all understand that.
Q. How have the accusations against Marines in Hadithah and Hamdaniya changed your interactions with Marines when you're in the field?
A. First of all, when those allegations came out, obviously, it was, I think it was very shocking to all Marines. We were very surprised. Again, I wasn't there. I didn't know what happened.
I think it concerned all Marines. It definitely concerned me. Obviously, I was concerned about the negative publicity on our great institution because 99.99 percent of our Marines are doing a magnificent job all the time, and all it takes is one bad incident, whether it's on or off the battlefield, and then they had that other one, to throw us in the public eye in a negative way.
No Marine wants to see their Marine Corps in a bad light. So obviously it caused us, all of us, I think, to go back and reflect on what it really means to be a Marine. I talk a lot about moral courage. If there is something wrong, you know it's wrong. I don't give a care what rank you are. You need to speak up. You need to do your part.
What did you do about it? What are you going to do about it? You have to. Again, we all have a role in taking care of this great institution of ours that we've been privileged to serve in. I'm not saying to cover anything up. We never do. We will always come forward. If you've made a mistake, we're going to hold people accountable.
We immediately went out to speak to our Marines, and throughout Anbar province and Camp Lejeune, Camp Pendleton, spoke to thousands and thousands of our Marines concerning the allegations on those incidents. We did.
So we got that message home again, reminding them what it means to be a Marine, why do we exist as a Marine Corps.
Q. What types of questions did you get?
A. I will tell you some of the comments we got. A corporal in Iraq said, "Commandant, this is not who we are. We don't do this as Marines."
Across the Marine Corps, there really weren't too many questions. There was disbelief, whether this thing happened or not, and if it did happen, how could it happen? Where was the moral courage? Where was the leadership? We're talking about leadership. We talk from the corporals on up. What was the leadership, if it did?
Q. Following reports that 18 Marine recruiters were punished last year for sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior, are there plans to tighten restrictions on recruiters?
A. Our numbers, again, as small as it was in that thing, it was too many to begin with. First of all, we'll hold them accountable. We do the training. We are talking about it. We are constantly, all our commands are reinforcing training. When that report came out, I was out at 9th District that time, and I asked them what they were doing about it. So we are telling everybody, we're educating; the biggest thing is holding people accountable.
Q. Are you looking at a "no recruiter alone" policy, which has been examined by the Navy and National Guard?
A. We are looking at everything, but we have not decided that that's what we're going to do just yet. Our recruiting folks are doing an exceptional job out there. We've plussed them up. We've gotten the numbers they needed.
We're doing really, really well. Again, one of those incidents is one too many, and again we'll hold them accountable.
Q. Has the Marine Corps participated in a program that the Army has done over the past couple of years in hiring civilian contractors to be recruiters?
A. I'm unaware of our Corps doing anything like that. I don't like that idea. I think it takes a Marine to recruit a Marine. I think if we had a civilian that had no military experience, they really don't understand what it means to be a Marine. We are different. There's a certain segment of society that comes to us. They want to go fight, is the bottom line. And they know there's a chance they're going to get killed or wounded, but that's what they want to do.
And who could better connect with that little segment of society out there that we're looking for more than another Marine? I don't think a civilian contractor could do that.
The Marine Corps Times
The following are excerpts from Sgt. Maj. John Estrada's Sept. 20 interview with Marine Corps Times reporters and editors. Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q. How do you make sure there isn't a divide between combat and non-combat veterans in the Marine Corps?
A. I tell you I've been concerned about this now for a couple of years because we do have a lot of veterans out there, but I think the leadership will be the one to help make sure that doesn't get out of the box. When Desert Shield/ Desert Storm went, not every Marine went to combat, and it didn't destroy our Corps, and obviously this is a much longer war. It will go on for some time, and probably when it's all said and done, probably just about the whole Marine Corps probably will have went through Iraq or Afghanistan.
That could happen, but I feel with the leadership that we have out there and with our commandant speaking on this issue, other leadership speaking on that issue, and I spent a lot of time speaking on that issue, even when I had my staff NCOs together, when I speak with the young Marines, we cannot allow that to happen because a Marine does not pick and choose where they're going to be assigned. They don't. The Marine Corps decides where you're going to be assigned.
And I think every Marine understands that, so the Marine Corps said you're going to be in 2/1, and you're going to combat, that's where you're going. If it says you're going to be down here in Quantico supporting, that's where you're going. You don't have a choice in the matter.
But again, we are making every effort to get everyone, and I think all the Marines understand that. So it's going to be up to the leadership to prevent that from happening.
Q. What is the Corps doing about Marines posting photographs and videos on the Internet, especially on blogs, MySpace.com and YouTube.com?
A. Up until this debate, I hadn't seen blogs. I didn't know what the heck a blog was. So I did my research. We recognize again the power of the Internet and the blogs and all that. But we're not looking at putting any stringent requirements on Marines and the stuff [they post]. I mean you really can't control the Internet. Yeah, we could control those service members' behavior and stuff, but we really have not looked at anything yet.
Q. Are there concerns with regard to possible operational security violations?
A. Obviously, yes. And we will educate our Marines, we constantly talk about opsec, and if we find someone violating it, we will hold them accountable. I think they all understand that.
Q. How have the accusations against Marines in Hadithah and Hamdaniya changed your interactions with Marines when you're in the field?
A. First of all, when those allegations came out, obviously, it was, I think it was very shocking to all Marines. We were very surprised. Again, I wasn't there. I didn't know what happened.
I think it concerned all Marines. It definitely concerned me. Obviously, I was concerned about the negative publicity on our great institution because 99.99 percent of our Marines are doing a magnificent job all the time, and all it takes is one bad incident, whether it's on or off the battlefield, and then they had that other one, to throw us in the public eye in a negative way.
No Marine wants to see their Marine Corps in a bad light. So obviously it caused us, all of us, I think, to go back and reflect on what it really means to be a Marine. I talk a lot about moral courage. If there is something wrong, you know it's wrong. I don't give a care what rank you are. You need to speak up. You need to do your part.
What did you do about it? What are you going to do about it? You have to. Again, we all have a role in taking care of this great institution of ours that we've been privileged to serve in. I'm not saying to cover anything up. We never do. We will always come forward. If you've made a mistake, we're going to hold people accountable.
We immediately went out to speak to our Marines, and throughout Anbar province and Camp Lejeune, Camp Pendleton, spoke to thousands and thousands of our Marines concerning the allegations on those incidents. We did.
So we got that message home again, reminding them what it means to be a Marine, why do we exist as a Marine Corps.
Q. What types of questions did you get?
A. I will tell you some of the comments we got. A corporal in Iraq said, "Commandant, this is not who we are. We don't do this as Marines."
Across the Marine Corps, there really weren't too many questions. There was disbelief, whether this thing happened or not, and if it did happen, how could it happen? Where was the moral courage? Where was the leadership? We're talking about leadership. We talk from the corporals on up. What was the leadership, if it did?
Q. Following reports that 18 Marine recruiters were punished last year for sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior, are there plans to tighten restrictions on recruiters?
A. Our numbers, again, as small as it was in that thing, it was too many to begin with. First of all, we'll hold them accountable. We do the training. We are talking about it. We are constantly, all our commands are reinforcing training. When that report came out, I was out at 9th District that time, and I asked them what they were doing about it. So we are telling everybody, we're educating; the biggest thing is holding people accountable.
Q. Are you looking at a "no recruiter alone" policy, which has been examined by the Navy and National Guard?
A. We are looking at everything, but we have not decided that that's what we're going to do just yet. Our recruiting folks are doing an exceptional job out there. We've plussed them up. We've gotten the numbers they needed.
We're doing really, really well. Again, one of those incidents is one too many, and again we'll hold them accountable.
Q. Has the Marine Corps participated in a program that the Army has done over the past couple of years in hiring civilian contractors to be recruiters?
A. I'm unaware of our Corps doing anything like that. I don't like that idea. I think it takes a Marine to recruit a Marine. I think if we had a civilian that had no military experience, they really don't understand what it means to be a Marine. We are different. There's a certain segment of society that comes to us. They want to go fight, is the bottom line. And they know there's a chance they're going to get killed or wounded, but that's what they want to do.
And who could better connect with that little segment of society out there that we're looking for more than another Marine? I don't think a civilian contractor could do that.