Photo By Keith Hayes | Officials USMC photo Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth G. Lee, Executive Officer, Marine...... read more read more
When it comes to the new executive officer of Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Lt. Col. Kenneth G. Lee, the lyrics from a song by the rock band The Who spring to mind: ‘Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.’
Lee originally served as the executive officer of MCLB Barstow from 2012 to 2014, and his request to return to the base as its second in command earlier this year is for two reasons; he likes the opportunities presented by the new assignment and his family wanted to return.
"My family really likes living on a base, its quiet and peaceful, the ultimate gated community,” Lee said. “My wife loves that aspect
of it. We can go for walks around the base and leave our 11-yearold
holding down the house and know he’s safe.”
His duty station prior to MCLBB was as the commanding officer of the 2nd Transportation Support Battalion at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.
“If you’re coming out of a division or (Marine Expeditionary Force) or a transportation support battalion like myself, what we work through here on this base is a completely different world,” he said.
“I didn’t have to deal with community issues when I worked at Lejeune,” Lee explained. “At a unit you have to worry about training and the welfare of the Marines. At Barstow I have to deal with issues such as police and fire and a lot of civilians.”
He credits his previous experience as executive officer of MCLBB with broadening his management skills. “I’ve always told people if you ever have a chance to be on a base jump at it, because it’s very, very
different than serving with a unit,” Lee said.
“There are things you don’t worry about any other time in the Marine Corps,” he said. “This base is like running a city.”
During his previous duty assignment as the CO of a battalion at Lejeune, Lee had a thousand Marines under his command, many more than are found at MCLBB, but he sees this as no less of a test of his leadership capabilities.
“The rules are completely different dealing with civilians and you have
to learn the rules, but I don’t find it more difficult," he said.
Lee is a 22 year veteran of the Corps and a native of Longmont, Co., but he was raised in Grand Terrace, Calif., about a 90 minute drive from Barstow, which was a major reason for him and his family to want to return to California.
“I wished I had moved around more when I was single, when I didn’t have a family to worry about,” Lee said, “but now that I have a family and am not as mobile as I once was, I’d rather spend more time with them.”
Lee has deployed twice during his career. “Once to Iraq in 2006 for six
months and once to Afghanistan in 2010,” he said. “Being deployed and
being in a combat theater definitely shaped my opinions of the world.”
“I remember being a young captain in 2000 thinking that nothing was ever going to really change in the world,” Lee said.
“Then all of a sudden everything changed dramatically, and we had no idea that was coming, so you have to be prepared for that,” he said.
“This base is a key part of being prepared because of all of the extra equipment, space and maintenance capability that allowed the Corps to surge.
“We had to put a whole extra MEF of gear in another country, over a widespread area. The Marine Corps did that successfully and Barstow played a key role in that,” Lee said.
Lee’s role as the executive officer of MCLB Barstow is as a ‘shock absorber’ for the commanding officer, Col. Sekou Karega.
“The XO is kind of like the CO’s enforcer.” Lee said. “I always say the operations officer fights the unit, the executive officer runs the staff, and the CO commands,” he said.
“It’s my job to be in the details and the day-to-day nitty gritty actions that are happening and make sure they’re all going smoothly so the colonel can think strategically.
“I also absorbed the flack for the CO. If I’m doing my job correctly, there’s a lot of noise that doesn’t get to him because it’s taken care of at
my level or below,” Lee said.
There is a guiding principle Lee has gone by during his military career.
“You don’t do the right thing because people are watching or because you’re afraid of the punishment if you don’t,” Lee said. “You do it because it’s the right thing to do.”
| Date Taken: | 09.22.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.22.2016 16:21 |
| Story ID: | 210314 |
| Location: | BARSTOW, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 93 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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