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Conway: All Marines to get free running suit

The Corps’ new running suit is eagerly awaited, but is it enough to keep junior officers in the service?

“Many of you may have heard the Army is giving its company-grade officers $35,000 to stay. The Marine Corps is going to give you a running suit,” Commandant Gen. James Conway joked at a town hall meeting in Iraq in February, according to his spokesman, Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson.

The new running suit will be issued at no cost to every Marine, Conway announced. Previously, he had told Marines that enlisted leathernecks would receive the new gear as an issued item but that officers would have to buy it.

Conway is expected to discuss with Marine Corps Systems Command officials the distribution plan for the running suit this week, Johnson said.

The running suit’s design, unveiled in November, is a reach back into Corps history, Conway told Marines during a Thanksgiving trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. “Make it the color of what Marines wore into Belleau Wood. Make it look like our dress green uniform,” he said, according to recordings of his presentations provided by Johnson.

The suit, made of moisture-wicking material, has highly visible reflective tape and is emblazoned with “Marines” on the back of the jacket.