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Gen. James T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, answers questions from community members and key volunteers during a meeting at the South Mesa Staff Noncommissioned Officer's Club here Monday. The discussion focused on various issues, both local and national, concerning family readiness and support.

Photo by Cpl Dean Davis

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Key volunteers brainstorm with CMC

12 Jul 2007 | Cpl. Dean Davis Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Gen. James T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, visited with members of the Key Volunteer Network from the local area to discuss family readiness issues at the South Mesa Staff Noncommissioned Officer's Club here Monday.

The audience of approximately 50 attendees asked questions and discussed problems in an open forum to help identify key information that Conway said he could take back to Washington, D.C. for action.

Conway's opening remarks touched on some of the developments affecting family readiness, beginning with the current deployment cycle of the Marine Corps.

"We have had some pressure to justify our seven-month deployments when the Army is now doing 15-month deployments," said Conway. "That was probably predictable, but my point is that we are going to stay with our current deployment cycle and we won't go to a longer deployment cycle."

Conway continued by discussing one of the recent issues affecting the entire Marine Corps, a congressional approval to increase manpower to 200,000 Marines over the next five years.

"As we grow, with 27,000 more Marines, we have to do so intelligently. I have had some pressure to open up the recruiting and as you know, our standards are pretty high," said Conway. "We are not going to reduce our standards. We are going to keep them right where they are," Conway continued. "Marines come in with the expectation that the person on their left and the person on their right are just as good as they are, and I think we owe that to our people."

The floor was then opened to questions from the audience, beginning with an inquiry focused on the training and equipment used to keep Marines safe.

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle has caught the attention of the Marine Corps and Conway said that 3,700 MRAPs have been ordered with 10 percent of those already designated to be used for training.

"The same blast that would literally destroy a Humvee will allow a Marine riding in the MRAP to walk away," said Conway.

Maj. Gen. Michael R. Lehnert, commanding general, Marine Corps Installations West and then fielded some of the questions specific to Camp Pendleton such as the price military families pay at the gas pump.

"Miramar and (other bases in San Diego) are under a Navy contract in which they have a pipeline that moves gas to exactly where they need it," said Lehnert. "We asked continually to be included in that contract and what we have been told is that Camp Pendleton is too big for them to take it on at this time."

Lehnert then pointed out that the sheer size of Camp Pendleton and the large market for fuel here could be its source of leverage in bargaining for new ways to reduce the cost on base.

The wait for housing was another issue examined in which Lehnert explained that approximately 1,000 new homes are planned to be built on base beginning some time next year.

The event concluded by covering topics related to how family and military members can receive support in dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Several ideas were discussed by the attendees on how to consolidate a support program for family members to use in concert with mentoring from senior military spouses to help junior spouses.

"We are addressing a lot of issues related to post-traumatic stress disorder and there are about four different screenings associated with every deployment that Marine and sailors make," said Conway. "We can bring these (issues) together, which I think is critically important to us all."

Gen. James T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, answers questions from community members and key volunteers during a meeting at the South Mesa Staff Noncommissioned Officer's Club here Monday. The discussion focused on various issues, both local and national, concerning family readiness and support.

Photo by Cpl Dean Davis

Download

Details

Key volunteers brainstorm with CMC

12 Jul 2007 | Cpl. Dean Davis Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

PRINT

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Gen. James T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, visited with members of the Key Volunteer Network from the local area to discuss family readiness issues at the South Mesa Staff Noncommissioned Officer's Club here Monday.

The audience of approximately 50 attendees asked questions and discussed problems in an open forum to help identify key information that Conway said he could take back to Washington, D.C. for action.

Conway's opening remarks touched on some of the developments affecting family readiness, beginning with the current deployment cycle of the Marine Corps.

"We have had some pressure to justify our seven-month deployments when the Army is now doing 15-month deployments," said Conway. "That was probably predictable, but my point is that we are going to stay with our current deployment cycle and we won't go to a longer deployment cycle."

Conway continued by discussing one of the recent issues affecting the entire Marine Corps, a congressional approval to increase manpower to 200,000 Marines over the next five years.

"As we grow, with 27,000 more Marines, we have to do so intelligently. I have had some pressure to open up the recruiting and as you know, our standards are pretty high," said Conway. "We are not going to reduce our standards. We are going to keep them right where they are," Conway continued. "Marines come in with the expectation that the person on their left and the person on their right are just as good as they are, and I think we owe that to our people."

The floor was then opened to questions from the audience, beginning with an inquiry focused on the training and equipment used to keep Marines safe.

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle has caught the attention of the Marine Corps and Conway said that 3,700 MRAPs have been ordered with 10 percent of those already designated to be used for training.

"The same blast that would literally destroy a Humvee will allow a Marine riding in the MRAP to walk away," said Conway.

Maj. Gen. Michael R. Lehnert, commanding general, Marine Corps Installations West and then fielded some of the questions specific to Camp Pendleton such as the price military families pay at the gas pump.

"Miramar and (other bases in San Diego) are under a Navy contract in which they have a pipeline that moves gas to exactly where they need it," said Lehnert. "We asked continually to be included in that contract and what we have been told is that Camp Pendleton is too big for them to take it on at this time."

Lehnert then pointed out that the sheer size of Camp Pendleton and the large market for fuel here could be its source of leverage in bargaining for new ways to reduce the cost on base.

The wait for housing was another issue examined in which Lehnert explained that approximately 1,000 new homes are planned to be built on base beginning some time next year.

The event concluded by covering topics related to how family and military members can receive support in dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Several ideas were discussed by the attendees on how to consolidate a support program for family members to use in concert with mentoring from senior military spouses to help junior spouses.

"We are addressing a lot of issues related to post-traumatic stress disorder and there are about four different screenings associated with every deployment that Marine and sailors make," said Conway. "We can bring these (issues) together, which I think is critically important to us all."