GyBill
07-26-2010, 18:28
Search for new top enlisted Marine on horizon
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jul 26, 2010 12:08:34 EDT
With the Marine Corps’ senior enlisted leaders meeting this week for their annual symposium, one thing is certain: The top enlisted advisor will remain in place until next spring, and a search to replace him will begin much sooner.
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent will continue serving in his post after Commandant Gen. James Conway retires at the end of the summer, extending the Corps’ recent tradition of keeping its senior enlisted adviser in place after a new commandant takes charge.
Kent “will remain in his current billet through spring 2011,” said Maj. Joseph Plenzler, a spokesman for the commandant’s office. That means Kent will continue to serve as the 16th sergeant major of the Marine Corps for about six months after Gen. Jim Amos is expected to take over for Commandant Gen. James Conway. As yet, there is no indication who Amos may select to succeed Kent.
“Considering that the 35th commandant has not yet been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, it would be premature to discuss the specifics of the selection process for the next sergeant major of the Marine Corps,” Plenzler told Marine Corps Times. “By custom and tradition, the sergeant major of the Marine Corps serves a full four-year term.”
That would take Kent to late April, possibly later. In a statement released to Marine Corps Times, he said he plans to serve until “late spring/early summer of 2011.” He has served in the Corps for more than 34 years, and as the top enlisted Marine since April 25, 2007.
“While I do believe it will assist the transition process between commandants, I also feel serving four years as the Corps’ senior enlisted adviser is the norm for the position,” Kent said. “Without a doubt, the Marine Corps has many highly qualified sergeants major who could fill the billet, and it is only fair to give those individuals the opportunity to serve as the 17th sergeant major of this great war-fighting organization, and continue the legacy of our Corps.”
The dual confirmations put to rest any question whether Amos, recently nominated to be the Corps’ next top officer, will bring a new enlisted adviser with him when he takes over for Conway. Having worked together at the Pentagon since 2008, when the general was named assistant commandant, he and Kent are familiar with each other and the current climate in Washington and across the Marine Corps.
Together, they will undoubtedly face questions in Washington and from concerned Marines about the future of the Corps. The service faces the expected end to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning homosexuals from serving openly in the military, continued hostilities in the war in Afghanistan and a pending drawdown after Marines begin to withdraw from that country, possibly as soon as next summer. Each will have a profound effect on the service for years to come, and Kent can expect to address a lot of anxious Marines and their families.
A recent overlap
For decades, the Corps replaced its commandant and senior enlisted adviser within a few days of each other. That ended when Gen. James Jones stepped down as the 32nd commandant in January 2003 to become supreme allied commander of NATO, six months before his four-year term ended. The Corps kept its top enlisted adviser at the time, Sgt. Maj. Al McMichael, electing to wait until the end of his four-year term to bring on his successor, Sgt. Maj. John Estrada.
Some questioned whether Estrada would retire ahead of schedule, in November 2006, to coincide with the departure of Gen. Michael Hagee, the service’s 33rd commandant. In a July 8 interview, Estrada said he considered it, but ultimately decided to serve his full four-year term after Conway asked him to stay on and help with the transition. Conway was coming off a term as director of operations for the Joint Chiefs, in which he handled a variety of Pentagon issues but did not focus exclusively on the Corps, Estrada said.
“He wasn’t just dealing with all Marine Corps issues; he had to deal with issues for the entire armed forces,” said the 15th sergeant major of the Marine Corps. “I didn’t want him ambushed with questions when he wasn’t settled in yet. If it wasn’t that situation, I would have liked to have left with General Hagee, like it had been done in the past.”
Estrada said he enjoyed serving under Conway, but “would like to see the sergeant major of the Marine Corps’ schedule and the commandant’s schedule get back on the same tracks” at some point.
“With that said, I’m not going to say it’s a bad thing to have them overlap,” he said. “It definitely has its benefits. At that level, you’re working on a certain agenda for four years, and every commandant and every sergeant major of the Marine Corps is going to see things a little bit different.”
Kent’s last year
In addition to fielding questions about the Corps’ future, Kent, a long-distance runner known for working long hours and waking before 5 a.m., has a list of his own priorities for his last year in office.
They include the following, according to Gunnery Sgt. Fred Zimmerman, a spokesman for Kent:
• Improve the quality of life for Marines, sailors and their families through family readiness programs and new bachelor enlisted quarters.
• Support Marines on the ground in Afghanistan.
• Care for wounded warriors.
• Push for the Corps to improve on core competencies.
• Continue development of noncommissioned and staff noncommissioned officers.
The Corps already has adopted changes that fall in many of those categories during Kent’s tenure. For example, the service has expanded care for wounded warriors since launching the Wounded Warrior Regiment, based at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., in April 2007. Within the last year, the Corps has launched several programs for wounded warriors, including an outreach campaign through its call center and an effort to match combat-disabled veterans with lawyers to help them understand their benefits and track down extra money they may be owed.
The service also has overhauled much of its enlisted professional military education, and launched a senior enlisted academy at Quantico’s Marine Corps University in 2008. Most changes have focused on developing critical thinking skills instead of focusing on the memorization of facts. Several courses already have been overhauled, and Marine officials have said substantial changes are still under consideration for the sergeants course.
One of Kent’s first major chances to influence policy in his last year arrives this week, when the annual Sergeants Major Symposium meets in National Harbor, Md.
The gathering, run by Kent’s office, brings together the Corps’ most influential enlisted leaders each summer, giving them a chance to share ideas and make policy recommendations to the commandant. Many of the recommendations the senior enlisted community has made after the symposium in recent years have later been adopted, including cracking down on body-fat standards, approving campaign stars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and banning forearm tattoos.
Kent also will likely play a role in training his successor. Before Estrada left office, he introduced Kent to key players on Capitol Hill and worked side by side with Kent at the Pentagon for several months before retiring.
“A sergeant major doesn’t really need too much coaching, but there are some new things — legislative issues, dealing with issues at a higher level,” Estrada said. “It’s just those things, and making sure that they’re set up for success.”
Finding a replacement
The search to replace Kent will likely begin this fall, after Amos settles in as the Corps’ top officer. It is typically headed by a board of generals and colonels overseen by a three-star officer, Estrada said. The board will consider most senior sergeants major — typically those who have worked directly for a general officer — and narrow the field to a handful of options, he said.
“It could be five; it could be four,” Estrada said of the final candidates. The board presents the short list to the Corps’ top officer, “and then there’s an interview process with the commandant,” he said. “It really depends on the commandant and who he wants to interview.”
Marine Corps manuals say the Corps’ senior enlisted leader advises the commandant “in matters pertaining to enlisted personnel and assists the CMC in the performance of his duties.”
More specifically, the sergeant major of the Marine Corps serves on a variety of influential Marine boards that drive policy and can affect enlisted Marines on an individual level. As a member of the commandant’s enlisted performance board, for example, he considers remedial and meritorious promotions and reports of substandard performance. He also is consulted regularly on enlisted issues ranging from the use of special duty assignments, such as recruiting and embassy security guard, to potential uniform changes.
Perhaps most important: He serves as a chief advocate for junior Marines — “the warriors,” as Kent puts it.
Until recently, conventional wisdom held that the Corps’ top officer has a background in combat arms. That was shattered when President Obama nominated Amos, a former fighter jet pilot, to take over the post after Conway leaves the post. Predicting who might be in the running to be Amos’ senior enlisted adviser is even more difficult. Senior enlisted Marines can serve as advisers for units in which they have no prior experience, and frequently do.
The last posts for previous sergeants major of the Marine Corps also offer few hints over who may be deemed a favorite to serve alongside Amos. While Kent was Conway’s sergeant major at I Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., before following him to Washington, other recent sergeants major came from commands that range from administrative to aviation in nature.
Estrada, for example, was the senior enlisted adviser in Iraq for 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., when he was called to interview with Hagee for the job in early 2003. McMichael, the top enlisted Marine from June 1999 to June 2003, was the sergeant major at Marine Manpower & Reserve Affairs before becoming the Corps’ top adviser under Jones.
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jul 26, 2010 12:08:34 EDT
With the Marine Corps’ senior enlisted leaders meeting this week for their annual symposium, one thing is certain: The top enlisted advisor will remain in place until next spring, and a search to replace him will begin much sooner.
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent will continue serving in his post after Commandant Gen. James Conway retires at the end of the summer, extending the Corps’ recent tradition of keeping its senior enlisted adviser in place after a new commandant takes charge.
Kent “will remain in his current billet through spring 2011,” said Maj. Joseph Plenzler, a spokesman for the commandant’s office. That means Kent will continue to serve as the 16th sergeant major of the Marine Corps for about six months after Gen. Jim Amos is expected to take over for Commandant Gen. James Conway. As yet, there is no indication who Amos may select to succeed Kent.
“Considering that the 35th commandant has not yet been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, it would be premature to discuss the specifics of the selection process for the next sergeant major of the Marine Corps,” Plenzler told Marine Corps Times. “By custom and tradition, the sergeant major of the Marine Corps serves a full four-year term.”
That would take Kent to late April, possibly later. In a statement released to Marine Corps Times, he said he plans to serve until “late spring/early summer of 2011.” He has served in the Corps for more than 34 years, and as the top enlisted Marine since April 25, 2007.
“While I do believe it will assist the transition process between commandants, I also feel serving four years as the Corps’ senior enlisted adviser is the norm for the position,” Kent said. “Without a doubt, the Marine Corps has many highly qualified sergeants major who could fill the billet, and it is only fair to give those individuals the opportunity to serve as the 17th sergeant major of this great war-fighting organization, and continue the legacy of our Corps.”
The dual confirmations put to rest any question whether Amos, recently nominated to be the Corps’ next top officer, will bring a new enlisted adviser with him when he takes over for Conway. Having worked together at the Pentagon since 2008, when the general was named assistant commandant, he and Kent are familiar with each other and the current climate in Washington and across the Marine Corps.
Together, they will undoubtedly face questions in Washington and from concerned Marines about the future of the Corps. The service faces the expected end to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning homosexuals from serving openly in the military, continued hostilities in the war in Afghanistan and a pending drawdown after Marines begin to withdraw from that country, possibly as soon as next summer. Each will have a profound effect on the service for years to come, and Kent can expect to address a lot of anxious Marines and their families.
A recent overlap
For decades, the Corps replaced its commandant and senior enlisted adviser within a few days of each other. That ended when Gen. James Jones stepped down as the 32nd commandant in January 2003 to become supreme allied commander of NATO, six months before his four-year term ended. The Corps kept its top enlisted adviser at the time, Sgt. Maj. Al McMichael, electing to wait until the end of his four-year term to bring on his successor, Sgt. Maj. John Estrada.
Some questioned whether Estrada would retire ahead of schedule, in November 2006, to coincide with the departure of Gen. Michael Hagee, the service’s 33rd commandant. In a July 8 interview, Estrada said he considered it, but ultimately decided to serve his full four-year term after Conway asked him to stay on and help with the transition. Conway was coming off a term as director of operations for the Joint Chiefs, in which he handled a variety of Pentagon issues but did not focus exclusively on the Corps, Estrada said.
“He wasn’t just dealing with all Marine Corps issues; he had to deal with issues for the entire armed forces,” said the 15th sergeant major of the Marine Corps. “I didn’t want him ambushed with questions when he wasn’t settled in yet. If it wasn’t that situation, I would have liked to have left with General Hagee, like it had been done in the past.”
Estrada said he enjoyed serving under Conway, but “would like to see the sergeant major of the Marine Corps’ schedule and the commandant’s schedule get back on the same tracks” at some point.
“With that said, I’m not going to say it’s a bad thing to have them overlap,” he said. “It definitely has its benefits. At that level, you’re working on a certain agenda for four years, and every commandant and every sergeant major of the Marine Corps is going to see things a little bit different.”
Kent’s last year
In addition to fielding questions about the Corps’ future, Kent, a long-distance runner known for working long hours and waking before 5 a.m., has a list of his own priorities for his last year in office.
They include the following, according to Gunnery Sgt. Fred Zimmerman, a spokesman for Kent:
• Improve the quality of life for Marines, sailors and their families through family readiness programs and new bachelor enlisted quarters.
• Support Marines on the ground in Afghanistan.
• Care for wounded warriors.
• Push for the Corps to improve on core competencies.
• Continue development of noncommissioned and staff noncommissioned officers.
The Corps already has adopted changes that fall in many of those categories during Kent’s tenure. For example, the service has expanded care for wounded warriors since launching the Wounded Warrior Regiment, based at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., in April 2007. Within the last year, the Corps has launched several programs for wounded warriors, including an outreach campaign through its call center and an effort to match combat-disabled veterans with lawyers to help them understand their benefits and track down extra money they may be owed.
The service also has overhauled much of its enlisted professional military education, and launched a senior enlisted academy at Quantico’s Marine Corps University in 2008. Most changes have focused on developing critical thinking skills instead of focusing on the memorization of facts. Several courses already have been overhauled, and Marine officials have said substantial changes are still under consideration for the sergeants course.
One of Kent’s first major chances to influence policy in his last year arrives this week, when the annual Sergeants Major Symposium meets in National Harbor, Md.
The gathering, run by Kent’s office, brings together the Corps’ most influential enlisted leaders each summer, giving them a chance to share ideas and make policy recommendations to the commandant. Many of the recommendations the senior enlisted community has made after the symposium in recent years have later been adopted, including cracking down on body-fat standards, approving campaign stars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and banning forearm tattoos.
Kent also will likely play a role in training his successor. Before Estrada left office, he introduced Kent to key players on Capitol Hill and worked side by side with Kent at the Pentagon for several months before retiring.
“A sergeant major doesn’t really need too much coaching, but there are some new things — legislative issues, dealing with issues at a higher level,” Estrada said. “It’s just those things, and making sure that they’re set up for success.”
Finding a replacement
The search to replace Kent will likely begin this fall, after Amos settles in as the Corps’ top officer. It is typically headed by a board of generals and colonels overseen by a three-star officer, Estrada said. The board will consider most senior sergeants major — typically those who have worked directly for a general officer — and narrow the field to a handful of options, he said.
“It could be five; it could be four,” Estrada said of the final candidates. The board presents the short list to the Corps’ top officer, “and then there’s an interview process with the commandant,” he said. “It really depends on the commandant and who he wants to interview.”
Marine Corps manuals say the Corps’ senior enlisted leader advises the commandant “in matters pertaining to enlisted personnel and assists the CMC in the performance of his duties.”
More specifically, the sergeant major of the Marine Corps serves on a variety of influential Marine boards that drive policy and can affect enlisted Marines on an individual level. As a member of the commandant’s enlisted performance board, for example, he considers remedial and meritorious promotions and reports of substandard performance. He also is consulted regularly on enlisted issues ranging from the use of special duty assignments, such as recruiting and embassy security guard, to potential uniform changes.
Perhaps most important: He serves as a chief advocate for junior Marines — “the warriors,” as Kent puts it.
Until recently, conventional wisdom held that the Corps’ top officer has a background in combat arms. That was shattered when President Obama nominated Amos, a former fighter jet pilot, to take over the post after Conway leaves the post. Predicting who might be in the running to be Amos’ senior enlisted adviser is even more difficult. Senior enlisted Marines can serve as advisers for units in which they have no prior experience, and frequently do.
The last posts for previous sergeants major of the Marine Corps also offer few hints over who may be deemed a favorite to serve alongside Amos. While Kent was Conway’s sergeant major at I Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., before following him to Washington, other recent sergeants major came from commands that range from administrative to aviation in nature.
Estrada, for example, was the senior enlisted adviser in Iraq for 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., when he was called to interview with Hagee for the job in early 2003. McMichael, the top enlisted Marine from June 1999 to June 2003, was the sergeant major at Marine Manpower & Reserve Affairs before becoming the Corps’ top adviser under Jones.