Marines Leadership Traits

Irregular Warfare is not a new concept and has always been a threat to the American people way before the current conflicts of Iraq and Afghanistan. The major difference is the rapid advancements of technology and the impact they now have on the American society. Marines are trained in such a manner to combat these types of threats and just as the enemies technology advances so does the Marine’s as well as their training. Leadership traits are one of the foundations of Marines being trained to adapt and overcome such threats. Any Marine would argue that no one trait is more important than the next, however in today’s age that may not be true. As the fight against irregular threats continues to build, there are three traits that each Marine
must possess in order to keep this enemy from victory; knowledge, dependability, and integrity. Knowledge without question would rank the highest on these traits.
A Marine without knowledge of his surroundings and his enemy is useless. In today’s fight against irregular threats a Marine without the proper information and training to give him the knowledge to fight back would be useless. He could possess all the traits in the world but without the know-how he would be unable to effectively fight back. This is why the Marine Corps focuses so much on furthering education, both civilian and military, for all Marines regardless of rank. To ensure the knowledge and know-how is taught and constantly improved to equip our Marines making them able to perform their duties against an ever changing enemy. By educating our Marines develop their skill sets making it easier for leaders to employ them accordingly. A Marine with the knowledge on how to battle his enemy will lead to them becoming dependable in any situation helping mitigate the risk of
failure. Dependability is one of the keys to success when fighting an enemy that can change overnight. Once a Marine has the knowledge of his enemy and the ability to effectively fight back they need to be dependable to ensure mission success. Senior leaders place a huge load on the junior staff non-commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers and they must be able to rely on them at all times. If a Marine cannot be depended on it creates a vulnerability for everyone. They must be responsible for their duties and be able to carry out the mission without delay. A Marine being dependable allows leaders to employ Marines in accordance to their skill set without micro managing, freeing them up to focus on larger issues without distraction. If every Marine is dependable and able to complete their duties it creates in a sense a shield, helping eliminate vulnerabilities enemies will try to exploit. We accomplish this by ensuring they have the knowledge necessary and teaching them leadership traits and values early on so they transition into leadership roles with ease. A key part of Marines becoming dependable is their integrity. A Marine’s integrity in held in the highest regards.
Marines are taught to report anything suspicious or anything that may impact their ability to perform their duty. Marines often overlook how important integrity is when it comes to the overall success of the unit. A Marine’s integrity to do the right thing and report anything out of the norm is key when dealing with today’s threats. These threats are constantly changing and even though it may seem small, these small things if overlooked can be detrimental. A Marine must have the integrity to report such cases and depend on their senior leaders just like those senior leaders rely on those younger Marines to do the right thing to protect their fellow Marines. I have witnessed firsthand what it costs a unit when a Marine’s integrity is lost and they fail to live up to the Marine Corps standard. By teaching Marines the value of integrity and teaching attention to detail our Marines will continue keeping their integrity clean and living up to the Marine Corps standard leading to the overall success of our
Corps. In conclusion, it’s a difficult argument when determining which leadership traits are the most important. However, after careful consideration it becomes a little easier to narrow down which traits matter the most when it comes to mission success and countering these irregular threats. Of course everyone’s opinion of what is most important may vary which is why the Marine Corps uses more than just three when developing Marines into leaders. Once the foundation has been laid and coupled with the intelligence of current threats, our Marines are trained and able to successfully defend and defeat these irregular threats. This is why the Marine Corps has and always will be the finest fighting force in the world.