Xxxxxxx 1 Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx Dr. Anne Xxxxx English 1304 03
This document was uploaded by user and they confirmed that they have the permission to share it. If you are author or own the copyright of this book, please report to us by using this DMCA report form. Report DMCA
Overview
Download & View Xxxxxxx 1 Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx Dr. Anne Xxxxx English 1304 03 as PDF for free.
More details
- Words: 1,058
- Pages: 5
Xxxxxxx 1 Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx Dr. Anne Xxxxx English 1304 03 November 2009 Leaders of the Corps As America’s most elite fighting force, the Marine Corps must make sound decisions when promoting their Marines to leadership positions. When a Marine gets promoted to the rank of Corporal (E-4) or above, they must be ready to lead Marines into battle. Their judgment, dependability, decisiveness, unselfishness, and courage should all be brought into question before they are promoted to the ranks of the non-commissioned officer (Corporal and above). However, the Marine Corps’ promotion system does not fully evaluate these leadership traits before promotion. The lack of proper screening for promotion causes the Marine Corps to have a flawed promotion. Without negating the female Marines ability lead Marines, it has been proven that female Marines have an unfair advantage over male Marines, in regards to the Marine Corps promotion system. To ensure dependability in combat, the Marine Corps takes into consideration ones physical fitness when in review for promotion. They rate the Marines fitness based on what the Marine scores on their Physical Fitness Test (PFT). A PFT consists of three sections, pullups/hang, a 3 mile run, and crunches. A PFT is scored based on how many and how fast a Marine completes each section. Females are required to do fewer crunches, and are allotted more time to run the 3 miles than the male Marines. Most importantly they do not have to do pull-ups; instead they perform the flexed arm hang. Studies show that the female Marines PFT is much easier than the male Marines. It was reported that 53 percent of female Marines maxed out the
points for the flexed arm hang, while only 14 percent of the male Marines maxed out their pullups. Reports also show 83 percent of males train for their pull-up test at least once a month or more, while only 28 percent of their female counterparts train for their flexed arm hang more than once a month. This shows that with less preparation than the male Marines, females still out score their male counterparts. These statistics clearly show that it is easier for females to obtain points on the PFT than it is for males. This means females will have more points toward promotion than males, even though they are not in better physical condition. This system detracts from the Marine Corps goal to promote the most physically fit. Another flaw in the Marine Corps promotion system is derived from the way billets are weighed during the selection for promotion. Each unit in the Marine Corps has a set number of billets, which are “jobs”. Some billets are paramount to mission accomplishment, while others are not. Each billet is assigned a rank and MOS (Military Occupational Specialty). When selecting a Marine to fill a billet, the Marine Corps does not look at the Marines qualifications, instead they only look at the rank and MOS (job). When in review for promotion, the billets a Marine has filled are weighed heavily, when deciding which Marine to promote. (MCO P 1400.32d) For example, Cpl (Corporal) Lasater is filling a Supply/Fiscal Chief billet. This billet makes Cpl Lasater the top Marine in the supply and fiscal field at his unit. By direction of the Commanding Officer, Cpl Lasater makes all decisions and supervises all activities that relate to supply and fiscal. This will greatly help Cpl Lasater when he is up for promotion. This is unfair to the other Corporals in his MOS that are filling clerk billets, instead of chief billets. Supply clerks do not have near the amount of responsibility as supply chiefs. Not only does Cpl Lasater look better for filling a billet with such responsibility, but he has an abundance of opportunities to show he is very proficient at his job. The supply clerk has such a simple job that is allotted
Xxxxxxx 3 very few opportunities to show his abilities. Cpl Lasater was not sent to fill this billet because he is a more capable marine, but by luck. The promotion system hinders the supply clerk’s ability for promotion, simply because he was not given the chance to excel. The most important contributor to the flawed promotion system in the Marine Corps is that Marines are promoted by MOS instead of Marine Corps wide. Headquarters Marine Corps assigns a set number of Marines, by rank, to each MOS. Some MOS’s will have 2000 Corporals, while others will have only 87. As Marines get out of the Marine Corps or are promoted, they leave spaces in those fields that must be filled. Due to the training received at curtain MOS schools, Marines in those MOS’s are capable of making much larger incomes in the civilian sector than they do in the Marines. This causes each MOS to have different retention rates. In an attempt to keep all spaces filled, some MOS’s have much faster promotions. So each month the Marine Corps decides the number of Marines by MOS that must be promoted to keep all the spaces filled. For example, if there are no spaces for promotion from Corporal to Sergeant in an MOS, the Corporals in that MOS will not be promoted regardless of their excellence. However, MOS’s with low retention rates, causes the promotion of Marines that are not yet ready for promotion. This makes promotion by MOS unfair to Marines that are in slow promoting MOS’s.
The Marine Corps’ leadership is what makes the Marine Corps the greatest fighting force
in America. The Marine Corps must ensure their leaders are ready to assume the duties of that next rank, before they are promoted. Allowing females unfair advantages for promotion, giving opportunities to excel to only select Marines, and exercising an MOS based promotion system all deter from the Marines Corps goal of, promoting only the best Marines to the next rank. The current promotion system negates the Marine Corps attempt to breed only great leaders.
Works Cited Capt Edwards, Lauren. “Raising the Bar” Marine Corps Gazette 91.12 Dec. 2007: 53-56. Print. Hagee, Michaels W. “Marine Corps Order P 1400.32d.” Marine Corps Promotion Manual, Vol. 2, Enlisted Promotions. Headquarters Marine Corps. 11 May 2006. 20-58. Print. McCullough, Amy. “Now It’s For Real.” Marine Corps Times 24 Aug. 2009: 28-32. Print. “USMC Fitness Report (1610)” NAVMC 10835A Oct. 1999. Block 3c. Print.
Xxxxxxx 5
points for the flexed arm hang, while only 14 percent of the male Marines maxed out their pullups. Reports also show 83 percent of males train for their pull-up test at least once a month or more, while only 28 percent of their female counterparts train for their flexed arm hang more than once a month. This shows that with less preparation than the male Marines, females still out score their male counterparts. These statistics clearly show that it is easier for females to obtain points on the PFT than it is for males. This means females will have more points toward promotion than males, even though they are not in better physical condition. This system detracts from the Marine Corps goal to promote the most physically fit. Another flaw in the Marine Corps promotion system is derived from the way billets are weighed during the selection for promotion. Each unit in the Marine Corps has a set number of billets, which are “jobs”. Some billets are paramount to mission accomplishment, while others are not. Each billet is assigned a rank and MOS (Military Occupational Specialty). When selecting a Marine to fill a billet, the Marine Corps does not look at the Marines qualifications, instead they only look at the rank and MOS (job). When in review for promotion, the billets a Marine has filled are weighed heavily, when deciding which Marine to promote. (MCO P 1400.32d) For example, Cpl (Corporal) Lasater is filling a Supply/Fiscal Chief billet. This billet makes Cpl Lasater the top Marine in the supply and fiscal field at his unit. By direction of the Commanding Officer, Cpl Lasater makes all decisions and supervises all activities that relate to supply and fiscal. This will greatly help Cpl Lasater when he is up for promotion. This is unfair to the other Corporals in his MOS that are filling clerk billets, instead of chief billets. Supply clerks do not have near the amount of responsibility as supply chiefs. Not only does Cpl Lasater look better for filling a billet with such responsibility, but he has an abundance of opportunities to show he is very proficient at his job. The supply clerk has such a simple job that is allotted
Xxxxxxx 3 very few opportunities to show his abilities. Cpl Lasater was not sent to fill this billet because he is a more capable marine, but by luck. The promotion system hinders the supply clerk’s ability for promotion, simply because he was not given the chance to excel. The most important contributor to the flawed promotion system in the Marine Corps is that Marines are promoted by MOS instead of Marine Corps wide. Headquarters Marine Corps assigns a set number of Marines, by rank, to each MOS. Some MOS’s will have 2000 Corporals, while others will have only 87. As Marines get out of the Marine Corps or are promoted, they leave spaces in those fields that must be filled. Due to the training received at curtain MOS schools, Marines in those MOS’s are capable of making much larger incomes in the civilian sector than they do in the Marines. This causes each MOS to have different retention rates. In an attempt to keep all spaces filled, some MOS’s have much faster promotions. So each month the Marine Corps decides the number of Marines by MOS that must be promoted to keep all the spaces filled. For example, if there are no spaces for promotion from Corporal to Sergeant in an MOS, the Corporals in that MOS will not be promoted regardless of their excellence. However, MOS’s with low retention rates, causes the promotion of Marines that are not yet ready for promotion. This makes promotion by MOS unfair to Marines that are in slow promoting MOS’s.
The Marine Corps’ leadership is what makes the Marine Corps the greatest fighting force
in America. The Marine Corps must ensure their leaders are ready to assume the duties of that next rank, before they are promoted. Allowing females unfair advantages for promotion, giving opportunities to excel to only select Marines, and exercising an MOS based promotion system all deter from the Marines Corps goal of, promoting only the best Marines to the next rank. The current promotion system negates the Marine Corps attempt to breed only great leaders.
Works Cited Capt Edwards, Lauren. “Raising the Bar” Marine Corps Gazette 91.12 Dec. 2007: 53-56. Print. Hagee, Michaels W. “Marine Corps Order P 1400.32d.” Marine Corps Promotion Manual, Vol. 2, Enlisted Promotions. Headquarters Marine Corps. 11 May 2006. 20-58. Print. McCullough, Amy. “Now It’s For Real.” Marine Corps Times 24 Aug. 2009: 28-32. Print. “USMC Fitness Report (1610)” NAVMC 10835A Oct. 1999. Block 3c. Print.
Xxxxxxx 5
