The Best Birthday Present for the Marine Corps
As the Marine Corps approaches its 250th birthday, the best gift the administration and Congress could give it would be a brand, new commandant. The current one is not worthy of the office. General Eric Smith lied to the press — and thus the American people — regarding the Marine Corps involvement in DEI. This is the following statement to the press pool on January 15th of this year: “As far as DEI, the Marine Corps has not had DEI programs … We don’t do DEI in the Marine Corps, we never have.”
Many active and retired marines disagree strongly with Smith’s continued support of his predecessor’s failing strategic Force Design program.
General Smith made this statement even as his staff was frantically dismantling the Corps’ diversity office and wiping its websites clean of directives such as Talent Management 2030 which had an entire section devoted to DEI, stressing: reinforcing diversity, promoting equity, and encouraging a culture of inclusion. His was a bare-faced lie that represented the equivalent of making a false official statement which is a court martial offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
At a minimum, he should have been relieved of his duties. He could have avoided this by telling the reporters: We obeyed the orders of the Obama and Biden administrations out of respect for civilian control and will comply with the new administration to remove those policies. That would have been the end of the issue, but no-one has ever accused Smith of being the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.
Mr. Hegseth took him at his word and recently praised the Marine Corps as the only service not to embrace DEI. Whether this is a result of poor staff work by his speechwriters, or of Mr. Hegseth’s desire not to embarrass the Marine Corps as its birthday approaches is probably moot; he was led to make a statement that was not accurate and that can be proved false in the Public Record. The members of the press who were bamboozled by this nonsense are equally to blame.
The real damage done by Smith’s words and actions and that of his predecessor — Davin Berger — is a loss of respect of the office of commandant within the Marine Corps family, retired and active. Traditionally, the commandant has had the power and prestige in the Corps that most resembles that of the Pope of the Holy Roman Church. That respect is now greatly diminished.
With very few exceptions, past commandants have lived up to the trust of the troops. Some such as John Lejeune, Louis Wilson, Robert Barrow, and Al Gray have become legendary icons of the Corps. General Smith may have snowed Mr. Hegseth, but he has not fooled most retired marines.
The only significant exception to this was the Fourth Commandant, Colonel Anthony Gale, who was convicted by court martialof, among other things, making a false official statement. He was both relieved of duty and cashiered from the Marine Corps. He is the only commandant whose picture is not in the Commandant’s Corridor at Headquarters Marine Corps. In an age when deliberate deception is a part of the Public Affairs tool kit of government officials, better has been expected of the Marine Corps commandant. But no more.
It is not only retired marines who are appalled. Given social media posts by active duty marines writing under pseudonyms, he has lost their respect as well. In unkinder and less gentle times, some would have left a pistol on the desk of an officer who had compromised his sense of honor with a note suggesting he do the right thing. No one is suggesting that General Smith take that route, but the general is not a well man. A request for medical retirement would be a face saving on his part. Good colonels in better physical health than Smith were forced to retire for medical reasons. Many active and retired marines disagree strongly with Smith’s continued support of his predecessor’s failing strategic Force Design program, but that is a professional difference of opinion. This is a matter of the integrity and honor of the Corps.
At some point, Mr. Hegseth will realize that he has been snookered. General Smith should jump before he is pushed. This would allow a better Marine Corps leader to begin to rebuild the Corps’ sense of honor.
READ MORE from Gary Anderson:
US Marine Leader Misread History and the Patterns of Conflict
The Counterattack on Bad Bunny Half-Time
Gary Anderson retired as Chief of Staff of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab. He served as a Special Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Defense and is the author of Beyond Mahan: A Proposal for a U.S. Naval Strategy in the Twenty-First Century.
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