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Our Best-Educated Military Ever
How the U.S. Military is Becoming the Best-Education in the World
Lieutenant Colonel John Hales, USMC (Ret), the Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of Marine Corps University Foundation (MCUF) in Quantico, VA, opened his April 30, 2010, Dialogue Seminar held at St. Emma’s Monastery in Greensburg with history about the Marine Corps during his visit with Veterans, relatives and supporters. With input from Lieutenant Colonel William Russell, USAR currently running for John Murtha’s Congressional seat, visitors learned how the Marine Corps and military integrate internationally and with many federal agencies including the FBI, CIA, ATF, Defense Intelligence Agency, DEA, Marine Corps Intelligence, and many others.
Some surprising statistics about our military were that virtually all five United States Service Branches, and civilians, receive Graduate-level education at (MCU) what has become a world class institution. Civilian Marine leadership, education and training are equally important in today's world; the LeJeune Leadership Institute, a University asset, has now been tasked with developing and delivering a series of courses for the thousands of Civilian Marines working on a daily basis with our uniformed Marines.
Colonel Hales deftly illustrated the deep need for a well-educated United States military in world context; in-country language and skills education are now available to all Marines through distance education upon request, and demand is high; Enlisted PME (professional military education) has increased by 30%. What formerly had been classified as 'training' has developed into the fuller education of immersion into many world cultures with physical travel and living, lectures by civilian and military Master's degrees and Ph.D.s with real life and academic experience specific to a particular discipline and culture, all accompanied by academic requirement course foundation and the ever-present call to deploy . . . a serviceman or woman dressed in utilities and fatigues ordering at McDonald's may own a Graduate or Post-Graduate degree. Thirty-two countries currently host Marine Corps Officers as they pursue an international education. Recommendations for hiring Graduates range from 94.5% to a full 100%.
As the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines continue educating-up, the need forsmart military able to build and rebuild the oppressed peoples they liberate will exceed the educational pace. During the Haiti earthquake of January 2010, Marines sent to stabilize, rescue, and rebuild for the victims were just returning from tours in Iraq, and their work was indeed commendable. In Afghanistan, the "Ring Road" (also known as the Marine Road) encircles the rocky, mountainous terrain and poppy fields of the entire country (about the size of Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Alabama) like the D.C. Beltway or the color-coded connecting road systems of Western Pennsylvania counties; it is the only decent traveling highway in Afghanistan. Nuances of culture and native language have been inserted into education for Marines; Afghani tribal chiefs distrust sunglasses, and express continued concern about replacement of economic product (heroin poppies harvested twice yearly feed their population while poisoning the world and financing terrorism), integration of political power structure and the building blocks of civilized society such as utilities and schools, and fear of being abandoned by U.S. political leaders; they realize that their protection, provided by our military could evaporate, leaving them openly vulnerable. Education and information are the two tools which not only build lives, but change and save the lives of civilians and soldiers, and it is difficult to get it there quickly enough.
The agenda included a Current Operational Update, and the statistics held some surprises. The Corps had been at 188,000; it was given 5 years to build to 202,000 strong, but accomplished goal in 2.5 years; it is currently at 211,592 but stretched thinly due to the breadth of operational and support commitments throughout the world. As of this writing, there are approximately 200 Marines in Iraq, 20,000 in Afghanistan, 2,200 in CentCom (Central Command with General James Mattis), and 3,400 in PaCom (Pacific Command). The remaining are deployed globally and in the States, with 6,500 in active reserve.
Stressed by both Colonels Hales and Russell was the immediacy of need for education and information to get directly to enlisted personnel, as they explained bureaucratic delay in permissions to fund and implement facilities and personnel; for example, federal GWOT (Global War On Terror) funding for all Service Branches was short-term, and requests from Iraq for counter-insurgency leadership became funded by MCUF when military air travel costs were not underwritten. Colonel Russell noted a "linkage" with increasing civilian return and outreach programs for military personnel. Teresa McTavish, on staff with Vets4Vets, a program which supports newly discharged veterans by customizing help-with-need, said civilian acknowledgement and support is the best medicine. Churches were noted for their support.
Visitors brought up need for military personnel to serve in political leadership roles; currently there are only 5 Marines serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, and 2 in the Senate. Colonel Hales reminded his audience about future challenges, saying that "we will always fight in harsh environments." MCUF is the only organization which gives back to Active Duty Marines with the mission of looking toward the future; since 1980 it has helped educate an endless number of students in "thought that differs from precedent and the compulsory imprint of others." One guest commented that the information shared was "humbling."
Anyone wishing to be informed of calendar date and details on the next seminar with participation from all five U.S. Service Branches, please email contact information to: . The Seminar was provided free to Veterans and their family members through local donations, along with breakfast and hot lunch.
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