Photo By Sgt. Abbey Perria | Cpl. Jessica Hardy, class commander and aircraft ordnance technician, stands in front...... read more read more
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USS BONHOMME RICHARD - From head to toe, 52 corporals of Marines look ready to graduate corporals course; sitting with backs straight, eyes forward and hands flat. Corporals course ensures that leadership principles and military knowledge are ingrained into students, but this class was already well versed on these topics before the course began.
Along with graduating corporals course, these Marines were in the third month of a sea-deployment that has taken them to Australia, Bali and Guam. During the deployment the Marines have learned new skills and refined old ones acquired during their careers.
Col. Romin Dasmalchi, commanding officer of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, delivered his commencement speech not from the usual grassy stage of a parade deck, but the tiled floor the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) as it rocks in the Pacific Ocean.
“Many of you are going to go on in the ranks and become senior leaders and I’m excited about that,” said Dasmalchi. “Every rank you are going to do this again, it’s a requirement and it’s a great opportunity, and I hope you see it that way.”
With an upcoming change in promotion requirements, Marines are required to attend a resident or a classroom corporals course before being eligible for promotion to sergeant, as opposed to before when Marines could choose the online course. The change takes effect Oct. 1, 2015.
“The idea, in plain, was to get the more senior corporals, the ones mostly likely affected by that change, and allow them the opportunity to complete the course, even though they are currently executing a sea-based deployment,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Riggs, an instructor for the course. “We agreed to take on as many as we could accommodate.”
As a Marine air-ground task force, the 31st MEU has every type of occupation needed to be an effective unit.
Reconnaissance men, aviation maintenance controllers and food service Marines, all crammed into class, hosted in the belly of the ship, six floors below the flight deck.
“Even though we don’t work together, it’s really cool meeting different people and seeing new faces,” said Cpl. Jessica Hardy, the class commander and an aircraft ordnance technician with Marine Attack Squadron 311, 31st MEU.
Huddled around tables in the mess deck or their berthing areas, Marines poured over land navigation and uniform regulations in the evenings after classes.
“Here, everybody is co-located on ship,” said Riggs, from Long Beach, California. “They learn things about each other and establish themselves as individual leaders, willing to help each other amongst their group of peers. Unlike being in a school back on land where Marines get out of class and want to go home.”
On ship there is no going home or taking a break from each other. Beds are stacked four high, doors slam at all hours, as night and day crews filter in and out of the bathrooms. Marines have to learn how to organize cleaning schedules to accommodate the various schedules. It falls on leaders to keep others in check.
“Know that it’s okay to correct a Marine,” said Hardy, a native of Houston, Texas. “You’re not going to ruin their lives, but are going to make them better. This is my position; I was entrusted with the rank.”
Fifty-two hand-selected and sergeant major-approved Marines entered the course and all graduated. After hours of studying and group discussions the Marines earned their certificate of completion.
“It’s not a school to teach leadership, that’s something that all Marines possess within themselves,” said Riggs. “We just give them tools to harness and further develop that leadership they already have and give them a better understanding as an entry level non-commissioned officer.”
| Date Taken: | 07.18.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.29.2015 01:51 |
| Story ID: | 177445 |
| Location: | USS BONHOMME RICHARD, USPACOM, AT SEA |
| Hometown: | HOUSTON, TX, US |
| Hometown: | LONG BEACH, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 109 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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