Photo By Cpl. Zachariah Ferraro | U.S. Marines with Distribution Management Instruction Company, Ground Supply School...... read more read more
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CAMP JOHNSON, N.C. — Three Marine Corps staff sergeants recently overhauled a long-standing training bottleneck at Camp Johnson—saving hundreds of thousands of dollars and delivering more Marines to the operating forces faster.
Staff Sergeants Wyatt Huber, Kimberly Pabon, and Cesar EspinozaAlvarez serve as instructors within the Distribution Management Instruction Company (DMIC), part of Ground Supply School – one of four formal learning centers under Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools (MCCSSS) at Camp Johnson, North Carolina. MCCSSS trains Marines in occupational fields such as financial management, personnel administration, logistics, and supply chain specialties essential to sustaining the Marine Corps worldwide.
These instructors faced a problem all too common across entry-level training within the Marine Corps: Marines Awaiting Training, also known as, “MAT.” This refers to Marines who have completed basic training but are stuck in a holding status, often for weeks or months, before beginning their formal job training. New Marines getting stuck for months in MAT status are often stuck performing menial tasks while waiting for the next course of their formal training to start. Extended time in MAT erodes morale and delays the Marine Corps' ability to field fully trained operational forces.
“Our students were spending months at MAT where they were primarily on working parties and losing their purpose for becoming a Marine,” said Staff Sgt. EspinozaAlvarez, who has served as an instructor for two years. “This coupled with boredom and a sense of despair led to disciplinary issues.”
DMIC trains Marines to become Distribution Specialists who are responsible for coordinating and managing the safe and timely movement of personnel, equipment, and supplies, both domestically and internationally, to support the Marine Corps' mission. But before they report to their first duty stations, Distribution Specialist Marines must first attend the Distribution Specialist Basic Course (DSBC). The course consists of 27 training days where Marines learn four core competencies: Personal Property operations, Passenger Travel coordination, Cargo management, and Preservation, Packaging, and Marking (P3M) of materials. Mastery of these skills is critical to maintaining the logistical agility that the Marine Corps depends on.
However, the way DSBC was scheduled left long gaps between training cycles. Marines were often stuck in MAT status for extended periods of time before beginning their course, leading to a lost sense of purpose among the new Marines and costing the Corps manpower dollars. To put it in perspective, the average daily pay and benefits for a private (E-1), the lowest enlisted rank in the Marine Corps, is about $150. Multiply that by dozens of idle days across hundreds of Marines each year, and the costs add up quickly into the hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars.
Capt. Ryan Knaul, the company commander of DMIC, recognized the issue and gave the staff sergeants a challenge: fix it.
“I told these guys we’ve got a problem, and I need them to fix it,” said Knaul. “It needs to be decisive, repeatable, and sustainable. I gave them 24 hours to come up with a solution.”
Staff Sgt. Kimberly Pabon was initially doubtful that they could deliver. “My first reaction was: “How is this possible?” recalled Pabon. “How can we make this happen? I didn’t feel like it was something we could change. It’s been years where Marines were stuck in MAT for so many days. So how could we, in this small group, make that change this fast?”
But they did what Marines have a habit of doing: accomplishing the mission no matter what it takes.
By noon the next day, the trio had built a new approach: a dynamic, rolling start schedule that allowed incoming students to begin training immediately in whatever phase of DSBC was currently underway. Each phase – whether focused on Personal Property, Passenger Travel, Cargo, or P3M – would run consecutively, allowing Marines to complete all four sections without unnecessary delay. After completing the rotation, they would graduate. It was a major shift from the old model that left Marines idling for weeks or even months.
The numbers tell the story.
According to data compiled by Knaul, average MAT days have dropped from 77 to just over 16 since the start of the new course schedule in December 2024. The percentage of contract time Marines spent idle in MAT fell from 5.27% to just 1.14% - equivalent to about 13 years' worth of a Marine’s contract days. In total, the Marine Corps recovered more than $700,000 in idle manpower costs.
The benefits weren’t just fiscal. Academic performance improved as well. Fiscal Year 2025 data thus far shows DSBC students performing better than in Fiscal Year 2024, with an average grade point average rising from 95.55% to 96.26% and a higher minimum score indicating fewer struggling students.
The instructors agree their solution works; however, they will admit that managing multiple groups of students adds a certain degree of complexity that is not entirely without challenges.
“Now four separate tests must be opened, four different exam groups have to be graded, four different graduations,” EspinozaAlvarez noted. “The instructor has to carefully navigate all of the appointments and deconflict any scheduling that may place a specific platoon out of the classroom during a test day.”
Fortunately, the added stress is not without its rewards, conceded EspinozaAlvarez. “The Marines are quickly picking up which has led to less disciplinary issues and are getting to the fleet with a greater sense of pride and purpose.”
The efforts of EspinozaAlvarez and his fellow instructors haven’t gone unnoticed. Lt. Col. Ross Garnett, the commanding officer of Ground Supply School, recently awarded each of them a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal during an awards ceremony at Camp Johnson.
“The award recognized their outstanding professional achievement that clearly exceeds expectations – and for these instructors, it was a visible symbol of how grassroots innovation can make a service-wide difference,” said Lt. Col. Ross Garnett, commanding officer of Ground Supply School. “What these staff sergeants accomplished represents the very best of our traditions—initiative, innovation, and a relentless focus on improving the force. Their work doesn’t just save critical resources; it delivers better trained, more capable Marines to the operating forces where they are needed most.”
The Marines attributed their success to the trust Knaul gave them to find a solution. “He allowed us to have a voice and decide what’s best for the company and the [distribution management] community,” Pabon said. “He’s one of those rare officers that actually gives a crap about the Marines he leads.
“He wants us to grow. He’s 10 steps ahead at all times, but he wants us to be at that level too. Giving us the freedom we needed to come up with something – we definitely appreciated that.”
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2025 10:06 |
| Story ID: | 496509 |
| Location: | CAMP JOHNSON, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | EUNICE, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Hometown: | KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US |
| Hometown: | PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY, US |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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