Free Republic

The great majority of Marines today live our core values on a daily basis and exhibit the true warfighting culture of our Corps. A few do not. This memorandum concerns them... because of the values our individual Marines embody: Honor, Courage, and Commitment....We must speak plainly and forcefully with our recruits and candidates from day one, and tell them that racists, sexists, bigots, homophobes, and bullies are not welcome...I expect leaders who see any sexism, racism, or other destructive attitudes in the ranks to step in immediately and intervene, just like you would to stop an impending safety mishap.

[Excerpts] 4. ..some [recruits] arrive with mindsets and biases that are wholly inconsistent with our way of thinking. We must speak plainly and forcefully with our recruits and candidates from day one, and tell them that..sexists, bigots, homophobes...are not welcome. It is impossible to be both a good Marine, and be any one of those things at the same time... 5. Introducing an individual to our core values and explaining how they work in practice during entry level training is important. In fact, it is critical if we are to establish uniform expectations for every Marine. However, it is also...