Gen. James Amos

Amos: I’d like the .45 instead of the 9 millimeter

By Gina Harkins on March 13, 2014 Battle Rattle, Commandant, Marksmanship

A congressman told Gen. James Amos that Marines in his district would like to see their M9 service pistol replaced with a .45-caliber — and Amos replied that he would, too. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said he recently spent time with Marines during a wounded warrior function, during Wednesday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing on the proposed Navy-Marine Corps fiscal 2015 budget. Before the congressman launched into questions on the budget, he said there were a few those Marines asked him to speak up for. The first was the deadly A-10 Thunderbolt, which the Air Force flies to provide close-air support.…

SecNav’s ideas on uniformity are behind unisex wear-tests

By Gina Harkins on November 8, 2013 Uniforms

The Corps’ tests on common uniform items for male and female Marines stemmed from the Navy secretary’s philosophy that all service members should look the same — regardless of gender. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said when he looks at a group of Marines, he shouldn’t see female and male Marines, just Marines. “That’s the advantage of having one cover,” he told Defense Media Activity during an Oct. 31 interview. “We don’t ask any other group to wear a different uniform, and the whole term of uniform means, the same.” Many Marines, unhappy with the proposed unisex covers, laid the blame…

SecNav’s ideas on uniformity are behind unisex wear-tests

By Gina Harkins on November 8, 2013 Uniforms

Behind the cover: The commandant’s plan to expose bad bosses and broken commands

By Andrew deGrandpre on April 29, 2013 Behind the Cover, Commandant, General officers, Leadership, The CMC

If you’ve never had a lousy boss, consider yourself lucky. The sad fact is that at some point in our professional lives, most of us — military and civilian alike — will encounter a superior who is an absolute pain to deal with. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is taking aim at so-called “toxic leaders” by encouraging each of the services to adopt 360-degree evaluations, a process in which commanders are reviewed by their peers and subordinates in addition to the officers who oversee them. The objective is to identify bad apples early, before they’re…

Behind the Cover: Amos reclaims reputation of Marine Corps

By Gina Cavallaro on June 4, 2012 Behind the Cover, Leadership, Marines

Bad behavior, bad publicity and bad timing on it all has got the commandant on the road to get Marines to clean up their acts. It’s called the “heritage brief” and it doesn’t sound like any speech you’ve ever heard from Gen. Amos; a deep dive into recent horrible news headlines and a frank discussion of the abhorrent behavior that led to them. The brief is also a sort of remember-who-you-are session, something Amos called a “family discussion” rather than an “ass-chewing.” So far, only staff NCOs and officers have seen this brief, but there will soon be a video…

Behind the cover: New Purple Heart policy

By Andrew deGrandpre on March 22, 2011 Behind the Cover

If you visited Marine Corps Times online around the middle of last week, you may have seen our initial report introducing the commandant’s effort to re-evaluate how Purple Hearts are awarded to wounded Marines. In this week’s print edition, on newsstands now, we kick the can significantly farther down the road, laying out in greater detail how the plan is expected to take shape and why thousands of Marines — past and present — could soon to qualify for a medal if they suffered a concussion or other form of mild traumatic brain injury in Afghanistan or Iraq. Are you…

Behind the cover: Go MARSOC and stay

By Andrew deGrandpre on February 21, 2011 Behind the Cover, MARSOC, The CMC

In an exclusive this week, senior writer Gina Cavallaro details the newly approved plan to create three military occupational specialties for operators, specialists and officers assigned to Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. Plus, Cavallaro and San Diego bureau chief Gidget Fuentes team up to explain why the commandant shot down MARSOC’s effort to rename its units and personnel after the legendary Marine Raiders of World War II. Both stories came to light after Marine Corps Times obtained a detailed presentation provided to Gen. Jim Amos and his most senior general officers late last month in New Orleans. Amos, a…

Commandant: Marines have passed the 'tipping point' in Sangin

By Dan Lamothe on February 18, 2011 Afghanistan, Aviation, Infantry, MEU operations, Sangin, The CMC

Commandant Gen. Jim Amos met with reporters for breakfast in Washington this morning, and as you’d probably expect, the conversation quickly turned to the war in Afghanistan. Amos declined to discuss specifics about recent M1A1 Abrams tank operations, but said the bulk of them are in northeastern Helmand province, where Marines have been engaged with the Taliban since pushing into violent Sangin district in late summer. While the fighting was fierce this fall, he thinks the area has passed the “tipping point” at which it could easily go back to the way it was. “The Taliban have been driven out,”…

CMC, Sgt. Maj. address ‘don’t ask’ repeal

By Andrew deGrandpre on January 29, 2011 Don't Ask Don't Tell, Leadership, The CMC, The Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps

Late Friday, Headquarters Marine Corps released the following three-minute video featuring Commandant Gen. Jim Amos and his top enlisted adviser, Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, discussing the imminent repeal of the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy, which since the 1990s has prohibited military service by men and women who are openly homosexual. [HTML1] The pair explain that the service has established an operational planning team that’s working with the Defense Department “to determine the best way forward.” They do not specify any forthcoming changes or indicate what the timetable is for implementation. However, both lean heavily on leaders throughout the ranks —…

Amos: Corps will "step out smartly" to implement new policy on homosexuals

By Gina Cavallaro on December 19, 2010 Leadership, The CMC

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Jim Amos has said it before and he said it again tonight: The Marine Corps will demonstrate its fidelity to the constitution of the United States by implementing the new policies that will govern the service of openly gay men and women in the military. “As stated during my testimony before Congress in September and again during hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month, the Marine Corps will step out smartly to faithfully implement this new policy, ” Amos said in a statement released Sunday evening. He and Sergeant Major of the Marine…

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