Title: The Sergeant Major Of The Marine Corps Is Dead Wrong About Cutting Troop Pay - Task & Purpose
Headings: The Sergeant Major Of The Marine Corps Is Dead Wrong About Cutting Troop Pay
The Sergeant Major Of The Marine Corps Is Dead Wrong About Cutting Troop Pay
Content: If we don't get ahold of slowing the growth, we will become an entitlement-based, a health care provider-based Corps, and not a war fighting organization.” Let me preface what follows by saying that I have the utmost of respect for Barrett and consider him to be among the greatest Marine warriors in my generation of veterans. But he’s dead wrong on this one. In considering his claim, I'm reminded of something an outstanding Marine lieutenant colonel once told me about what makes the Marine Corps special: “The Army talks about their tanks, the Navy talks about their ships, the Air Force talks about their airplanes,” he said. “ We have all of those, what do we talk about? We talk about our Marines.” Barrett’s remarks, and the proposed legislation, could potentially adversely impact the Marine Corps and, by extension, America’s national security. Beyond decreasing the morale of the current rank and file Marines, it also threatens the Corps’ ability to retain its top Marines, and the military’s ability to recruit talented people into its ranks. Making active-duty members of the military the latest victims of political dysfunction in Washington shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it is particularly hard to bear.