thedrifter
07-09-08, 08:19 AM
Civilian guards at base gates don't cut it
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July 8, 2008 - 2:58PM
By Barry Fetzer
One of the most visible parts of the Marine Corps to the average eastern North Carolina civilian is the main entrance to the three bases here: Camp Lejeune, Cherry Point and New River.
When civilians enter any of these bases, their initial impressions of the Marine Corps are made by the appearance of the facilities at the entrance to the base and the professionalism - or lack thereof - of the personnel manning the gate.
Certainly, initial (and sustained) impressions are made - both good and bad - by other means too, such as the media. They are also made by the Corps itself, which tries very hard to make positive impressions.
However, both of these means of impression-making depend on someone else telling the public something about the Marine Corps.
The impressions made by the appearance of the base entrance facilities and the experience with the gate guards are different from reading about the Marine Corps in the paper. Though it's transient and brief, the gate experience makes a far stronger initial impression because people form their own opinions through their personal experiences as opposed to being told what they should think by someone else.
This "show me" type of impression-making speaks volumes about the Marine Corps to the average civilian, efforts that the news media or even the Marine Corps' so-called "propaganda machine" cannot beat.
In fact, Marines so trusted the truism that self-formed impressions of the Corps are vitally important that they supported professional main gate facilities and squared-away U.S. Marine Corps guards as important tools in the recruiting battles waged by the Marine Corps every day.
As an institution, the Marine Corps kept Marines at their base gates longer than any other service. Moreover, the Marine Corps recently spent millions of dollars in upgrades to the main gates of area bases.
Security was not the sole reason for these upgrades. The appearance of the gates has improved since the days when simple, roofless guard shacks and signs were deemed sufficient for base entryways.
Yet while the Corps spent millions on the appearance of the gates, they made the quizzical decision to move away from Marine guards. Instead, the Corps has now mimicked its sister services who for years have employed civilian guards at Army, Navy and Air Force main gates.
As a young Marine, I was proud of the differences compared to the other services, including the acknowledgement that "rent-a-cops" just did not cut it as gate guards.
So did my fellow Marines. In the typically crude - but honestly - worded Marine Corps way, they routinely commented that civilian gate guards for the other services too often looked like 10 pounds of manure crammed in a five-pound bag.
The Marine Corps prided itself on being different and kept Marines at the main gates, looking and acting like the professionals they are.
I can't count how many times visiting family members and friends commented on how prideful an experience it was - and how secure and safe it made them feel - to be waved through the main gate and saluted with a pop and a snap by a straight-as-an-arrow U.S. Marine guarding the base.
All this was great, and worked as advertised, when professional Marines manned the newly improved facilities at the main gates.
However, civilian guards have started manning the main gate at Camp Lejeune. They are sure to follow at Cherry Point and New River.
The decision to do so was probably made to save scarce Marine Corps military police personnel for higher priority wartime tasks, higher priority tasks than making initial impressions and recruiting.
Notwithstanding the challenges to local police - which are experiencing resignations as personnel depart for the higher-paid federal jobs aboard the bases - the decision to put civilian gate guards on Marine bases could actually work.
It will work, though, only if its unintended consequences were carefully considered. Putting civilian guards at the gates of Marine Corps bases is cultural change.
When cultural change is made, it has to be done right. Exactly right. No shortcuts. The right people, with the right personalities and the right appearance. The right regulations with the right supervisors (Marines supervising civilians - not civilians supervising civilians) have to be in place before making the change.
If my initial impression as a retired Marine is any gauge, the Marine Corps has much work to do.
At Camp Lejeune the other day, I was unenthusiastically waved through the gate by a sullen "rent-a cop" in the truest sense of the term. He seemed more interested in the speed at which he could pass vehicles through the main gate than in making good, initial impressions.
He was not interested in recruiting anybody - or providing security for that matter. No eye contact, no greeting and no professionalism. Just like the guards at the Army, Navy and Air Force bases I remember as a young Marine.
Ten pounds crammed into a five-pound bag.
Barry Fetzer is a retired Marine whose column appears in the Havelock News every other week.
Ellie
Comments 0 | Recommend 0
July 8, 2008 - 2:58PM
By Barry Fetzer
One of the most visible parts of the Marine Corps to the average eastern North Carolina civilian is the main entrance to the three bases here: Camp Lejeune, Cherry Point and New River.
When civilians enter any of these bases, their initial impressions of the Marine Corps are made by the appearance of the facilities at the entrance to the base and the professionalism - or lack thereof - of the personnel manning the gate.
Certainly, initial (and sustained) impressions are made - both good and bad - by other means too, such as the media. They are also made by the Corps itself, which tries very hard to make positive impressions.
However, both of these means of impression-making depend on someone else telling the public something about the Marine Corps.
The impressions made by the appearance of the base entrance facilities and the experience with the gate guards are different from reading about the Marine Corps in the paper. Though it's transient and brief, the gate experience makes a far stronger initial impression because people form their own opinions through their personal experiences as opposed to being told what they should think by someone else.
This "show me" type of impression-making speaks volumes about the Marine Corps to the average civilian, efforts that the news media or even the Marine Corps' so-called "propaganda machine" cannot beat.
In fact, Marines so trusted the truism that self-formed impressions of the Corps are vitally important that they supported professional main gate facilities and squared-away U.S. Marine Corps guards as important tools in the recruiting battles waged by the Marine Corps every day.
As an institution, the Marine Corps kept Marines at their base gates longer than any other service. Moreover, the Marine Corps recently spent millions of dollars in upgrades to the main gates of area bases.
Security was not the sole reason for these upgrades. The appearance of the gates has improved since the days when simple, roofless guard shacks and signs were deemed sufficient for base entryways.
Yet while the Corps spent millions on the appearance of the gates, they made the quizzical decision to move away from Marine guards. Instead, the Corps has now mimicked its sister services who for years have employed civilian guards at Army, Navy and Air Force main gates.
As a young Marine, I was proud of the differences compared to the other services, including the acknowledgement that "rent-a-cops" just did not cut it as gate guards.
So did my fellow Marines. In the typically crude - but honestly - worded Marine Corps way, they routinely commented that civilian gate guards for the other services too often looked like 10 pounds of manure crammed in a five-pound bag.
The Marine Corps prided itself on being different and kept Marines at the main gates, looking and acting like the professionals they are.
I can't count how many times visiting family members and friends commented on how prideful an experience it was - and how secure and safe it made them feel - to be waved through the main gate and saluted with a pop and a snap by a straight-as-an-arrow U.S. Marine guarding the base.
All this was great, and worked as advertised, when professional Marines manned the newly improved facilities at the main gates.
However, civilian guards have started manning the main gate at Camp Lejeune. They are sure to follow at Cherry Point and New River.
The decision to do so was probably made to save scarce Marine Corps military police personnel for higher priority wartime tasks, higher priority tasks than making initial impressions and recruiting.
Notwithstanding the challenges to local police - which are experiencing resignations as personnel depart for the higher-paid federal jobs aboard the bases - the decision to put civilian gate guards on Marine bases could actually work.
It will work, though, only if its unintended consequences were carefully considered. Putting civilian guards at the gates of Marine Corps bases is cultural change.
When cultural change is made, it has to be done right. Exactly right. No shortcuts. The right people, with the right personalities and the right appearance. The right regulations with the right supervisors (Marines supervising civilians - not civilians supervising civilians) have to be in place before making the change.
If my initial impression as a retired Marine is any gauge, the Marine Corps has much work to do.
At Camp Lejeune the other day, I was unenthusiastically waved through the gate by a sullen "rent-a cop" in the truest sense of the term. He seemed more interested in the speed at which he could pass vehicles through the main gate than in making good, initial impressions.
He was not interested in recruiting anybody - or providing security for that matter. No eye contact, no greeting and no professionalism. Just like the guards at the Army, Navy and Air Force bases I remember as a young Marine.
Ten pounds crammed into a five-pound bag.
Barry Fetzer is a retired Marine whose column appears in the Havelock News every other week.
Ellie