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After his town hall meeting at the depot theater the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James T. Conway and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Sgt. Maj. Carlton W. Kent, meet and shake hands with drill instructors while exchanging a few laughs before heading over to the Command Museum’s courtyard to address the families gathered for the graduating Marines of Company F, Sept. 16.

Photo by Cpl. Frances Candelaria

Commandant, Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps, visit depot

23 Sep 2010 | Cpl. Frances Candelaria Marine Corps Training and Education Command

The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James T. Conway and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent visited Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif., Sept. 16.

At a town hall meeting for depot personnel, Gen. Conway and Sgt. Maj. Carlton W. Kent addressed issues such as down-sizing the manpower of the Marine Corps and the war in Afghanistan.

Gen. Conway said that downsizing the Corps’ numbers is a hot topic on most Marine’s minds, and made it one of his main speaking points.

“If you read in the (media) that we are going to slash 30,000 Marines next month, shame on us,” said Conway.  “That’s not how we want to treat our Marines.  We already know from our manpower people how much we can come down on an annual basis.  That will be our target.  That’s when, and that is how we will do (the downsizing).”

Gen. Conway also spoke about his predictions for the Marines the coming years.

“I think we are going to see some hard times out there as far as budget and resources,” he said.  “We’ve had a series of good years…but I do think that there is coming a time when we will have to do more with less.”

Sgt. Maj. Kent then spoke with the audience. He thanked the Marines for all of their hard work and for upholding the Corps to its high standards, and about the plan to downsize the force.

“We have a great commandant,” said Sgt. Maj. Kent.  “I have witnessed him fight battles for you and your families each and every day.  He fought to grow the force from 175,000 to 202,000 Marines, and we did it in two and a half years.  Why would we cut from 202,000 to 145,000 when the commandant grew the force so you could have more dwell time at home?”

Sgt.Maj. Kent also talked about issues such as reenlisting, recruiting, and ensuring that Marines look out for each other’s welfare which will in turn, promote awareness of suicidal tendencies and sexual assault.  They then took questions from the audience.

Afterward, they walked over to the Command Museum’s courtyard to welcome the families of the Corps’ newest Marines graduating from Company F, 2nd Battalion.

Many family members were surprised and pleased when they found out the Marine addressing them was the Corps’ highest ranking.  The commandant thanked them for the sacrifice they were making as parents, siblings, friends, wives, girlfriends and children, for giving up their loved ones and their time with them in order to let them serve their country.

After, they toured training facilities to meet with drill instructors and company commanders with their platoons on the obstacle course and during combat fitness test training.  The commandant ended his tour with observing the depot’s new energy-saving solar panel project. 

“We’re doing a lot better than we were in 2001,” said Gen. Conway.  “Thank you for what you do. The Marine Corps is going to be in great shape because of you and the all Marines in this Corps.”


Marine Corps Training and Education Command