Cross another item off Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent’s list. The Marine Corps’ senior enlisted Marine traveled to the West Coast this week for what could be the last time before he retires, speaking to Marines from I Marine Expeditionary Force and other commands. A brief Marine Corps account of the trip is posted here. As noted in this recent Marine Corps Times feature on Kent, it’s no surprise he’s making the rounds as the clock ticks down on his time in the Corps.
As noted here, Marine Corps Times’ cover story this week will introduce tens of thousands of Marines to Sgt. Maj. Mike Barrett, who will become the 17th sergeant major of the Marine Corps on June 9. One of the threads we explore in that story is Barrett’s life as a junior Marine at Twentynine Palms, Calif. He met his wife while stationed there, and still owns a home in the area. A friend of Barrett’s, former Lance Cpl. Mitchell Ybarra, passed along this photo of those early days in the Corps: The photo was taken outside Barrett’s mother’s house in…
As Marine Corps Times first reported last week, the Corps will soon have a new top enlisted Marine: Sgt. Maj. Mike Barrett, of 1st Marine Division, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. If you follow the Corps, you know that already. However, very little else has been published in the past about Barrett, a decorated infantryman who earned two Bronze Stars with “V” device for courage in Iraq and served as a scout sniper during the Gulf War. This week, Marine Corps Times’ four-page cover story profiles Barrett, his combat heroism, his leadership style and what he’s done behind the scenes…
As I’ve touched on before, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent visited several Marine commands in Europe last week, including one in Naval Station Rota, Spain. That would be home to the headquarters of Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team Europe, better known as one of the Corps’ FAST companies. And like many Marine commands, the unit has its very own mascot: Cpl. Monster. An ornery, but lovable English bulldog, Monster has lived at the FAST headquarters at Rota for years. I met him while Kent received a classified brief on FAST Company’s operations. As you can tell from the photograph above, Monster…
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — This military base is primarily for the Navy, but Marine Corps spirit is alive and well, too. Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the Marine Corps’ senior enlisted adviser, visited here yesterday and today, taking questions from Marines and delivering senior leadership’s point of view on major issues. At multiple visits across the base, he touched on issues ranging from the planned drawdown of the Corps after combat operations end in Afghanistan to the forthcoming repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Most of the Marines present are with Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team Europe, better known…
PANZER KASERNE U.S. ARMY BASE, Germany — Perhaps you’ve heard: Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent likes to run. The longtime marathoner and senior enlisted adviser in the Marine Corps led Marines with the headquarters of Marine Corps Forces Africa and Marine Corps Forces Europe in a motivational run early Tuesday morning. The pace was pushed to something far quicker than most Marines expected to see in a simple early-morning run. A group of about 40 Marines and your faithful Marine Corps Times correspondent stepped off at about 6 a.m. from the headquarters aboard this base, which translates in German roughly to…
STUTTGART, Germany — Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent is on the road again. That’s as good of a place as any to start when acknowledging that Marine Corps Times is traveling with the Corps’ senior enlisted adviser as he visits several locations in Europe. I hopped a plane Sunday with Kent and his staff, arriving about 3 a.m. local time here after a a brief refueling layover at Lajes Field in Portugal. I’ll be reporting several stories out of this trip, but a good place to start is that Kent travels relatively conservatively. We hopped an aging Marine DC-9 jet from…
So, here’s an interesting photo just released by the Marine Corps: Yes, that’s Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the Corps’ top enlisted Marine, hitting the links at Lakewood Golf Club at Naval Support Activity New Orleans on Jan. 26. He’s certainly dressed for it, too. What is he pointing at, though? Pictured with him are Sgt. Maj. Kim Davis, of Marine Corps Forces Reserve; Sgt. Maj. Chris Bloebaum, of MARFORRES Headquarters Battalion; and Sgt. Maj. James Booker, of 4th Marine Logistics Group. Kent didn’t visit New Orleans alone, though. Marine officials say in a news release that he visited New Orleans with Commandant…
Four years ago last month, Commandant Gen. James Conway announced that he had selected Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent to serve as his sergeant major of the Marine Corps. It’s a demanding position that requires those who hold it to be equally comfortable while offering blunt advice to a four-star general, inspiring junior Marines and articulating the Marine Corps’ needs on Capitol Hill. Following Conway’s retirement in October, the time is coming for Kent to move on, too. The sergeant major is expected to retire this spring after completing a four-year term as the Corps’ top enlisted Marine. He has held the position…
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 —…
