The newest updates to two foundational Marine Corps manuals on leadership and conduct ask Leathernecks if they’re doing what’s necessary to hold fellow Marines and themselves to the highest standards.

Whether it’s braving a hail of bullets to break through enemy defenses, producing an innovative technical fix that saves the Corps money or pulling aside a Marine behaving poorly on liberty, the service uses these documents and other methods to provide guidance for its members.

The two publications, “Leading Marines” and “Sustaining the Transformation,” were first published in the 1990s. This is the first major revision of the warfighting and tactical manuals, respectively.

These publications may not be part of the next board for promotion or job certification, but they are fundamental to how Marines uphold a high standard.

While the Corps prides itself on a transformation that takes place in recruit training to make a Marine, it takes even more diligence to maintain those high standards, which is the focus of “Sustaining the Transformation,” Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlos Ruiz said in an interview with Marine Corps Times.

By Todd South

“It’s a very different document than any other document we have,” Ruiz said.

Most of the Corps’ publications, such as Force Design or Project Tripoli, are plans for changing equipment, tactics or methods for educating the force, the senior enlisted Marine said.

But the leadership publications focus on people, he said.

“Let’s put it on paper, words like teamwork, empathy, dare I say love for each other,” Ruiz said. “Those things have always been part of our culture and our Corps.”

Some of the major changes from the previous version of Sustaining the Transformation include:

  • Shifting focus from recruitment and recruit training to after an individual earns the title “Marine.”
  • Expanding the focus to include how each grade level (e.g., junior enlisted, staff noncommissioned officer, junior officer) sustains the transformation and supports other grades doing the same.
  • Using recent examples to illustrate how each grade sustains the transformation.
  • Discussing the importance of professional military education at each grade level.

The revisions didn’t result from a specific incident or problem, Ruiz said. The process began under his predecessor, Sgt. Maj. Troy Black, who now serves as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In 2021, Black, under then-Commandant Gen. David Berger’s direction, put out a call for Marines to review and update Sustaining the Transformation, according to a Marine Corps Administrative Message.

That call resulted in a volunteer group headed by Gunnery Sgt. Abigail Seitz and a mix of NCOs, SNCOs, junior and field grade officers.

The Marines first published “Leading Marines” under then-Commandant Gen. Carl Mundy III in 1995, followed by “Sustaining Marines,” under then-Commandant Gen. Charles Krulak in 1999.

The publications rolled out as the Corps transformed recruit training to include the Crucible, a culminating field exercise and additional week of training. The generational change to recruit training was undergirded with stories of individual Marines in combat.

At stations throughout the Crucible, drill instructors read citations of Marine Medal of Honor awardees, using their stories of bravery and sacrifice to inspire recruits.

The publications had a similar theme, using vignettes of both battlefield actions and everyday scenarios as lessons for new Marines and those charged with leading Marines.

For example, under the junior enlisted section in “Sustaining the Transformation,” authors share the story of how Cpl. Riki Clement reverse-engineered a cable to connect radios to vehicles.

His solution saved the Marine Corps $15 million it would have cost to purchase new parts.

In the past, a Marine might not even attempt such a fix without proper permissions or would have relied on protocols that were time consuming and costly. Clement’s innovation helped his unit and the Marine Corps.

The publication showcases perseverance in the story of Lance Cpl. Kasey Krock, who was awarded the Silver Star for his actions in 1992 during Operation Desert Storm where he jumped off his vehicle during a firefight twice to set off an explosive charge that helped breach a defense the assault force then used to attack and overcome the enemy.

Marine Commandant Gen. Eric Smith wrote new forewords to the recently updated publications. Smith highlighted how the past decades of combat experience have added to the fighting legacy of the branch.

Those stories also help young Marines, some born after 9/11, better relate to current combat challenges.

The top Marine doesn’t want robots, though. Both he and Ruiz emphasize in the writing and in an interview that Marines need to think for themselves, deciding when they need to question authority and when they need to put a fellow Marine’s behavior in check.

“This publication is not meant to be a ‘how to’ guide on leadership, rather, it provides broad guidance in the form of concepts and values,” Smith wrote in “Leading Marines.”

Ruiz noted that the “Sustaining the Transformation” publication is broken down by ranks, junior enlisted, noncommissioned officers, senior noncommissioned officers, warrant and company grade officers.

Those categories are divided up because as a Marine climbs the ranks, their responsibility for Marines increases, even as their close contact with them widens.

“A Marine should ask, ‘Is my training preparing me for the fight; am I training for the fight in order to fight as I have trained?’ Marine leaders might also ask, ‘Am I mentoring junior Marines and providing novel solutions to problems?’” the “Sustaining the Transformation” publication asks.

Those questions are specific both to combat prep and to living in garrison, out on liberty or at home on leave, Ruiz said.

The sergeant major wants the leaders welcoming new Marines to their unit to carry forward examples of excellence in those first few days, weeks and months in the fleet. That same attention to the state of the individual Marine must also continue in their final months and weeks in uniform.

He hopes that Marines out of uniform and future Marines who leave the service retain the lessons from their time in the Corps that these documents highlight.

“When you drop the uniform, you don’t exit stage left,” Ruiz said. “You don’t leave the Marine Corps behind.”

The sergeant major said he wants other Marines to “call out” fellow Marines when they’re not acting in a manner that matches the Corps’ expectations.