Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller is working to ready the Corps for tomorrow's wars while battling enduring challenges such as a struggling aviation fleet, the heavy suicide toll and a widening scandal at the Corps' hallowed training ground. 

In a wide-ranging interview with Marine Corps Times on the state of the Corps, Neller said he is "building momentum" for the goals he spelled out in his planning guidance "Advance to Contact."

"We're going to continue to press and see how they go, but I think the two top things are readiness of the force overall and Force 2025 as we move forward," Neller said on Sept. 16.

With recent reports from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island raising concerns about the Corps' handling of abuse and hazing of recruits, Neller said the service has never tolerated such treatment and the Corps has clear procedures on the right way to make Marines.

Neller did not speak specifically about the investigation into the death of recruit Raheel Siddiqui, who was assigned to the troubled 3rd Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island when he fell nearly 40 feet to his death on March 18. But the commandant expressed confidence in the system and in the men and women chosen to develop the next generation of Marines. 

"Recruit training is designed to be tough and demanding," Neller said. "That's why young men and women join the Marine Corps, because they want to be challenged and tested. I have every confidence that the drill instructors that are out there both at Parris Island and San Diego understand that."

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Up to 20 personnel could face punishment or administrative action after an investigation found that drill instructors in his chain of command "routinely used excessive force" against recruits and hazed less experienced drill instructors.

One of Siddiqui's drill instructors had been investigated for ordering another Muslim recruit to get into a commercial dryer the year before.Since then, the Marine Corps has increased officer supervision of recruits, mandated that any Marine under investigation for recruit abuse be suspended and taken other steps to prevent the type of abuse and hazing uncovered in the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion.

"The great, great, great majority of the drill instructors out there and the officers and staff NCOs that are part of the recruit training regiments, they already know that and they're out there executing the plan," Neller said.

Battling suicide

Another issue the Marine Corps is struggling with is suicide, said Neller, who has devoted significant time and effort into looking for new ways to keep Marines from taking their own lives. 

"I'd like to tell you that one day we're going to get to zero, but I don't know if that's humanly possible because this is not just a Marine Corps problem or a military problem. It's a national problem. It's a global problem," he said.

All Marines, from senior leadership to the most junior Leathernecks, understand the seriousness of the issue, he added. Every month, Marines are rescuing fellow Marines from taking their own lives.

"One of the most effective programs we have is the Marine Intercept Program," Neller said. "If a Marine has exhibited a suicidal ideation, they put him in this program and it's been very effective in helping them get back on the step."

In September, Neller spoke at the American Psychiatric Association's annual convention and asked mental healthcare experts for their help in stopping suicides.

And they have stepped up to the plate, Neller said.

"We continue to have professionals come in and talk to us," Neller said. "Next week, all the general officers and senior executive service in the Marine Corps are going to come to Quantico and we're going to have a couple folks come in and continue to address this."

As the commandant has said at every town hall, he wants Marines to be successful. 

"There may be some problems that they consider insurmountable or very difficult, but they are all solvable," he said. "Certainly taking your own life is not a fix. Marines are about success and that's not an acceptable outcome."

Force structure changes

Going forward, the Marine Corps hopes to announce next year the results of Marine Corps Force 2025, a comprehensive review examining the force structure changes needed to ensure the Corps has enough Marines to deal with future threats.

"I think we've got a good idea of the capability sets that we need to either grow or add," Neller said. "It's information operations, cyber, electronic warfare, deception, intelligence, ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance]. We want to make sure we've got enough engineering, mobility, counter mobility." 

Marine Corps Force 2025 is based on the premise that the Marine Corps will not get funding to grow beyond its current size of 182,000 active-duty Marines, he said. The review also will look at whether military occupational specialties need to be updated to reflect new technologies and responsibilities that will be added.

The review's results are expected to be released after the start of the year. "We're not going to rush this to rush it," Neller said.


PFT and CFT changes

Starting next year, Marines will see immediate changes to the Physical Fitness Test and the Combat Fitness Test. The flexed-arm hang is being phased out, so both women and men will either do pullups or pushups. Body composition standards for women are being changed to reflect the fact that they gain weight as they add muscle.

"I've had a number of females say, 'Thanks for giving us a little more on the body mass,'" Neller said. "One of the things we learned in the Ground Combat Element Integrated Task Force study is that those female Marines that were most successful, they had a larger body mass."

The Marines Neller has spoken with understand the service has raised the bar with the PFT and CFT changes, he added.

"I've heard nobody push back about the increase in pullups for men or the fact that female Marines are going to be able to do pullups or that there's an alternate for pushups for both men and women," Neller said.

That's not to say allowing women to do pullups have been universally praised. Earlier this year, a female officer who developed a technique for helping male and female Marines get better at pullups faced sexist comments when the Marine Corps posted a video showing her and other Marines training.

Maj. Misty Posey has developed workout plans for male and female Marines to conquer pullups.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maj, Misty Posey.

"People commented on our physical appearance in the video (mostly mine), made sexual comments, accused me of being on steroids, etc.," Lt. Col. Misty Posey said in an email. "Of course, among the sexist comments were accusations that we (including male Marines in the video) were not doing pull-ups correctly."

Neller said he was unaware that of the disparaging comments Posey received.

"I watched her videos and I didn't see any problem with the way she was doing pullups," he said. "She mounted the bar. She came to dead hang. She did her pullups."

Ink rules

The Marine Corps announced its updated tattoo policy this year that makes clear exactly where Marines can get inked and how big each tattoo is. The policy goes into painstaking detail and is meant to clarify any confusion about what tattoos are acceptable.

The updated policy remains stricter than what other services allow. The Army has dropped its limit on the number and size of tattoos that soldiers can get and the Navy allows sailors to get a tattoo on their necks or behind their ears.

When asked if the Marine Corps might ultimately relax its tattoo policy like the Army and Navy, Neller replied: "As long as I am the commandant, no."

Marines have told Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Ronald Green that they understand why the service has made clear which tattoos are permissible and how getting inked can affect Marines' chances of getting a special duty assignment, Neller said.

"What they've told Sgt. Maj. Green is: 'Hey, Sergeant Major, we got it. We're moving on,'" Neller said.

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