Marines gathered at the Marine Corps Association Foundation building at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Dec 14, to award the winners of the Training Command’s Commanding General’s Writing Competition.
This was the first year of the competition, with preliminary rounds taking place in May and November. Participants from across the Marine Corps wrote about Marine Corps related topics of their choice, and were judged by a panel of officer and senior enlisted leadership. The top three essays from each round went on to be judged by one final panel that included Brig. Gen. Jason Bohm.
“This competition is in support of Training Command’s professional reading and writing program,” said Bohm, the commanding general for Training Command. “It’s added incentive to the Marines to do something that we are already directing that they do as part of their leadership development.”
Capt. Kyle Tucker-Davis, a warfighting instructor at The Basic School, took lst first place for his essay on Russian affairs, titled “New Generation Warfare: An Analysis of Russian Operations in Ukraine and Implications for the Future of U.S. Joint Operation.”
“I deployed to Eastern Europe and I was fascinated by some of the things that Russia was doing in the Ukraine,” said Tucker-Davis. “I thought it was an applicable topic to study moving forward.”
According to Tucker-Davis, this was a great opportunity to showcase his intellectual prowess.
“You can have candid conversations all day long but until you put thoughts on paper and put your name with those thoughts, they mean very little,” said Tucker-Davis. “[Being a Marine] is a profession. A profession is different than an occupation. It requires life-long commitment and study. This is an opportunity to showcase what we can do as professionals.”
The Marine Corps Association and Foundation regularly hosts Marine Corps wide writing competitions that Marines of all ranks can participate in.
According to Bohm, it is crucial that Marines not only train to be war fighters but also exercise their brains and become scholars.
“It’s not the competition that is important,” said Bohm. “It’s about getting the Marines to read and write. It’s part of their leadership and development. In order to be the best leader you can be, you have to be a good communicator.”