Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps - Carlos Ruiz

Carlos Ruiz is the 20th person to hold the title of Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. We talk leadership, motivation and what makes Marines different.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
We all owe them, but very few of us know them.
They are the men and women of our military and
first responder communities, and these are their stories. American Warrior
Radio is on the air.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well, Olas and gentlemen, you're tuned into American Warrior Radio.
This is your host, Ben buler Garcia American Warrior Radio
broadcast from the Silencer Central Studios. If you're thinking of
getting a silencer for one or more of your weapons,
there's never been a better time to do so. For
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(00:46):
to confirm if owning a salner is legal in your state.
They'll complete the paperwork and ship right to your front door,
making silence simple since two thousand and five at slencercentral
dot com. A little background on our topic today, laises
and gentlemen. Our United States Marine Corps was established on
November tenth, seventeen seventy five. Essentially, the first recruiting station

(01:06):
was a tavern in Philadelphia called a Ton Tavern. If
you'd like to learn more about that history, checkout our
archives for an interview about the Ton Tavern in Philadelphia.
Not including the newly established Space Force of the second
smallest military branch in the DoD and yet Marines have
been awarded an amazing three hundred Medals of honor. Marines
were selected to perform one of the most prestigious duties

(01:27):
in our nation, flying the President, and Marine Corps won
their motto, Semper fidelis are always faithful, and their core
values of honor, courage, and commitment are bedrock principles that
should lift the heart of every American. It was the
Marines who were the subject or one of the most
iconic combat photos ever taken, the raising of the US
flag during the Second World War on Eogima, a battle

(01:48):
where they sustained twenty seven thousand casualties. The phrase every
Marine as a Rifleman was coined by the twenty ninth
Marine Corps Commandant, General Alfred Gray. Now, the nature of
common it has changed, we all know that, but the
primary role the Marine remains the same, from literally sticking
a band into the enemy in the Battle of the
Bellow Wood to doing the same to our enemies in

(02:10):
the era of high tech combat. So given the history
and reputation, what does it take to lead devil dogs?
We're about to find out. The sergeant major of the
Marine Corps is the highest ranking enlisted officer enlisted member,
I'm sorry, the Marine Corps unless a Marine is serving
as a senior listed advisor to the Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Carlos I probably just won somebody

(02:32):
a barbette with that little factory right there. Their role
is to serve as the enlisted advisor the Commandant of
the Marine Corps. And today we're going to be joined
by Carlos A. Reese. He is the Sergeant major, the
twentieth sergeant major of our United States Marine Corps. Sergeant
Major Reeese, Welcome to American Warrior Radio.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
Hey, thank you for having me.

Speaker 4 (02:49):
And you know, you almost flipped up and you don't
get a lot of hate when you said the highest
enlisted offices.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Really, yes, well, I'm just a dumb civilian, so you know,
highest and listed in the Marine Corps. Now, so you know,
as you can tell, I spent a lot of time
on the interwebs. I'm preparing for our chat today, and
I also came across something that the sergeant major of
the Marine Corps holds an order of precedence of a
lieutenant general, which is a three star general. So if

(03:18):
I'm planning a dinner party and I'm working out the
seating arrangements to actually seat you at a table closer
than the brigadier general, is that what that means?

Speaker 4 (03:28):
That's what that means. Yesterday is the most basics. Yes,
like the seating, the protocol speaking. Yeah, it's pretty neat.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
That is pretty cool. Speaking of lieutenant generals. One advised
me a long time ago to never do math in public.
So help me out here a little bit of sergeant major.
The Marines were founded November tenth, seventeen seventy five. There
have been twenty sergeant majors in the Marine Corps with
an average term of four years, which adds up to
eighty What am I missing?

Speaker 3 (04:02):
Yeah, we established the rank.

Speaker 4 (04:06):
It's been on and off, but nineteen fifty seven is
when we codified it, and we said that the commonat
of the Marine Corps, well, the commona of the Marine
Corps said hey, there needs to be a sergeant major
of the Marine Corps. There's only five of the Marine Corps,
meaning the Commandant of the Marine Corps, are Major of
the Marine Corps, Chaplain of the Marine Corps, Color Sergeant

(04:29):
of the Marine Corps, which is pretty awesome, like the
one sergeant that carries the colors, and then of course
the Assistant Commana of the Marine Corps. So there's only
five titles that have of the Marine Corps that will
get you another beer somewhere.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
We're wrecking them up for him today, aren't we have
so many? I don't know if that's going to make
up for me calling you the enlisted officer, but I'll
try and get over that. What first brought you on
my radar was was your origin story. And I was
born in Mexico City. I came to the United States
when I was nine years old.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
You were born in.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Sona, Mehico. You came to the United States at the
age of eleven as an immigrant to our country. What
inspired you to join the military and why the Marine Corps?

Speaker 4 (05:14):
I thought that, well, my parents early on were very
very insistent on ensuring that once we came to the
United States, that we would quickly assimilate, learn the language,
learn the culture, and do your part to give back
to a country that's given us an opportunity to continue on.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
And so.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
As I arrived and I went through high school and
I played some sports, I would see a recruiters around
in schools. But it wasn't until I saw the Marine
Corps recruiter with that uniform.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
That I thought that I wanted to be a marine.

Speaker 4 (05:56):
So I took a test actually with the Army, and
I got pretty close to joining the Army if it
hadn't been for that marine showing up and dressed blues,
and I thought, oh, oh, like, that's.

Speaker 3 (06:06):
The branch that I want to belong to.

Speaker 4 (06:08):
And of course, typical Marine Corps marines being on recruiting duty,
we have the policy to send the very best marines
out into the civilian sector. They are the ones representing
the Marine Corps. So we don't just send anyone. We
screened them and we make sure that they are.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
The very best that we have.

Speaker 4 (06:28):
So we sacrifice the operational units by sending those special
marines to recruiting duty because they are they're the front
face so what it means to be a marine. So
therefore they're run into civilians. They can see what a
marine looks like, walks like, So to me, that marine
was so impressive. The way that he spoke, that the
way he walked, the way that he carry himself, that

(06:50):
I thought, I want to.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Be that someday outstanding Now. Our first stop when we
came to the United States, Carlos was in South Dakota.
And I'm much older than you, so a lot of
the things we know today about assimilation were not very
common back then. And I remember coming home from school
one day with a note from a teacher and my brother,
my meddle brother and I they were sent a note

(07:13):
home to my parents said that they were thinking of
putting John and I in special classes because they thought
we were slow learners. And what's interest. We're doing fine
in math, but we struggled the other in the courses.
Well it was it was really just a language barrier.
And of course my parents didn't sue anybody. They didn't,
you know whatever. They said, well, you just have to
work harder. What was the language barrier? Still? Did that

(07:35):
have an impact for you when you're going into the
Marine Corps or were you pretty well passed that.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
I was? I was doing okay. I had a similar experience,
just like you.

Speaker 4 (07:48):
I would go down to the dungeons, to the basements
of the school, and they would show you the flashcards
of a picture of an animal or whatever, and you'd
have to memorize the cars.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
I mean, once you memorize the cards.

Speaker 4 (07:58):
You knew English right, so you can move on to
past English second language. I remember looking at top of
the blackboards, the hand cursive handwriting, and I remember having
to copy the letters and having to figure out how
to you.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
Know, like we all did.

Speaker 4 (08:18):
And so if you fast forward a couple of years,
I worked really really hard at understanding the language. So
when I got to recruit training, I might have been
half a second slow. So you observe what everyone else
is doing. If you didn't catch the instructions properly, and
you just wait half a second to see whateveryone else

(08:39):
is doing. Grab your right boot, do it right now,
move ten nine eight seven. You half a second, you
just get faster and work harder than everyone else.

Speaker 3 (08:46):
And that's how you got That's how you get through
it outstanding.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
I do Ben gets one dumb question a show, Carlos,
I'll probably get more of the show. But I smile
when you talk about one of the things that inspired
you to join the marine, and I want to I
want to we'll talk of that after the commercial break.
I've heard a quote where you said that joining the
Marines is an irrational decision, and I want you to

(09:09):
explain that to our listeners. But you know the bag
on our army buddies a little bit. You know they
just changed and went back to those retro uniforms. And
and please tell me, during your tenure with the Marines,
you will never change or never allow them to change
the Marine Corps dress blues.

Speaker 4 (09:25):
Now, even if we wanted to then, even if we
had a crazy idea of changing a uniform color or
the veterans, the Marines who came before us, would never
allow that to happen.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
Outstanding, Well, I can I can sleep easier at night,
Ladies and gentlemen. This is your host, Ben Bler Garcia.
We're talking with the Sergeant Major of our own United
States Suprene Corps, Carlos A. Renes will be right back,
stick around, Welcome back to the American Warrior Radio. Ladies

(10:16):
and gentlemen, this is your host, Ben Bueler Garcia. We're
very honored, in privileged to be talking to the twentieth
Sergeant Maybridge Major of our own Marine Corps Carlos A. Reese. Uh,
the sergeant major rees, there's a I'm you know, touched
on that famous quote, every marine is a rifleman. And
given some of the folks I've talked to on this

(10:36):
program most recently, clearly the nature of war is changing.
But I saw an interview you did with your quote
was just it was outstanding, and you said, we are
the weapons system. Explain to our listeners what you mean
by that and why that's unique perhaps to the Marines.

Speaker 3 (10:55):
It is.

Speaker 4 (10:56):
It's a very unique organization. It's a war fighting culture.
So we make no apologies for that that we exist
only for one reason, and that's to win the nation's battles,
to be ready when the nation is least ready. And
so when you have that culture, that means that it
doesn't matter if you're a truck driver. Supply data that

(11:17):
every marine at any given moment can be pulled out
of whatever safety you think you're in working on some
cyber things that you can get pulled out of that
room and then put into a formation to go out
into the field. And you must be able, willing, and
ready to take on the field. Task of a marine,
a war fighting function of a marine so it's part

(11:40):
of our culture, is who we are, and I think
that's what makes us so successful in recruiting and retention
because we appeal to a very niche, you know, population
in our country who are looking to do hard things.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
You know, I referenced the Battle of Bella would and
if folks aren't familiar with that, that was were allegedly
earned their nickname devil dogs. You know, that's what the
Germans call them because of just their ferocity in battle,
and a lot of that battle was hand to can't
hand in hand with Beyonet's but metaphorically in today's world,

(12:13):
that that attitude transfers over if I'm flying a drone,
right or I mean, it's still that that war fighter mindset.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
It's got to be.

Speaker 4 (12:24):
Yeah, it does not matter what platform or the newest
technology is developed. It is the aggressiveness, the initiative of
a United States marine that makes that platform, that drone lethal, right.
It is how we think it is. We call it

(12:45):
a commander's intent. Others may call it mission command or
mission intent, different phrases, but for us, it's commander's intent.
We're going that way and this is what we need
to accomplish an order too, and the youngest lance corporal
to corporal, the youngest Marines in our formations take charge

(13:06):
and lead the way right, and that's what makes us unique.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
It's a young organization's eighteen.

Speaker 4 (13:11):
To twenty two year olds that makes up the vast
majority of the Marine Corps by design, and therefore they're
forward and they're always going to be forward. Therefore we
give them the responsibility, the authority to make those decisions.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Sir, I sergeant, I'm Carlos, Just Carlos, because if I
call you sir in your no nevermind, people know I'm
a civilian. So I want to fall up on that
because it was very interesting. I recently talked to someone
from the Modern War Institute at West Point and we're
talking about a publication or something that was I don't

(13:49):
know if it was leaked, but it came out actually
in China itself, and I was talking about the incapabilities
of the People's Liberation Army and one of them was
the the flip side of the coiner, which you just
touched on it. One of the incapabilities or vulnerabilities is
because they are in a political system, not a meritocracy.

(14:09):
They the enlisted the lower ranking members of the PLA
are not able to step up and take command and
pray and play a leadership role if the generals, the colonels,
the majors, the captains are gone. Whereas that's something that
seems like we're very specialized at. And if you wouldn't
mind expounding about that, because I really love the fact

(14:31):
that any marine is capable in the field on the
fly and has the mindset to step up and lead exactly.

Speaker 4 (14:40):
For us, the ratio of leader to lead, if you
would consider a marine officer, which is very unique already,
every Marine officer in the Marine Corps goes through the
Basic School. So that means that no matter if you're
a pilot or a lawyer or an infantry officer, you
will go through the Basic School. So every officer in
the the United States Marine Corps is a certified platoon commander,

(15:03):
so they can lead. We don't care that your degrees
on basket weaving. We care that you can lead marines.
And so when you have that ratio of one officer
per nine marines or one officer per twelve marines, then
that means that those non commissioned officers must be just
that's good in order to lead that fire team, that squad,

(15:26):
that platoon forward. I guarantee that the PRC, the PLA
has every piece of our historical documents on how we
make noncommissioned officers, how we make platoon commanders. They have
every written book that's ever been done here in the US.

(15:47):
That does not mean that you know how to create
an NCO corps because the way that you create an
NCO corp is by going through the trials and tribulations
of combat that the lessons learned over time we have
seen men to them and then continue to pass it
on to this next generation of Marines who are just phenomenal.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
What you touched on this and I find it really
interesting in a civilian from looking from the outside end, Carlos,
that it's no secret that there was a period of
time most recently where a lot of the branches were
really struggling and meeting their recruiting goals, and the Marines
never did, I mean, you never missed a step both
in recruiting and retention. And does that come back to,

(16:30):
in your opinion, this concept where you've got to be
pretty unique and have a certain character already in wanting
to be a marine versus joining one of the other branches.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
That's right.

Speaker 4 (16:42):
I like to say that you're born to be a marine.
I think I might have said before that it's an
irrational it's an irrational decision to become a marine because
you can earn whatever skill set that you're looking for
in any other branch of service.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
You could get paid the same.

Speaker 4 (17:02):
The uniforms may be different, but there's a few amount
of American citizens that are looking to do just a
little more for things to be a little harder. And
over the years then we have continued to raise the
bar so the standards. You know, when I joined, it
was give you a very small example. We used to

(17:23):
we we had to do twenty pull ups to max
out your physical fitness tests. And you can kip so
you can swing on the bar and get yourself over
the bar. Well, now you sometime has passed and now
it's up to twenty three pull ups, and now it's
dead hand pull ups, and now you know everyone does
three miles. So we just have figured out that the

(17:45):
that the human element can continue to be pushed and
they will meet that bar. If you ask a marine
what a minimum standard is for a combat fitness test
on a run or whatever the event is, they're not
going to know. Most of the time, they will not
know the minimum standards because no one cares about the

(18:05):
minimum standards in the Marine Corps. They only care about
achieving the highest score possible, which is a three hundred score.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
Right, And so are we perfect?

Speaker 4 (18:15):
Absolutely not, But we spend our days trying to get
as lethal as possible because we know that tomorrow may
be today.

Speaker 2 (18:24):
Absolutely, ladies and gentlemen, this is Ben Builer Garcia. We're
very privileged and honored to be speaking with Carlos A. Reese,
who's the twentieth sergeant major of the entire United States
Marine Corps. Don't forget. You can find this and over
six hundred other podcasts at American Warrior Radio dot com.
We're also on whatever your favorite streaming platform is, if
it's iTunes, Apples, Spotify, Pandora. We try and be everywhere

(18:46):
because we want you to really really share these important messages.
Everybody out there needs to hear them as much as possible.
We back in just a few seconds, but the carls
Avery stick around. Welcome back to American Warrior Radio. This

(19:14):
is your host, Ben Builder Garcia. Are very privileged to
be talking with the twentieth Sergeant major of the United
United States Marine Corps, Carlos A. Reese. Carlos originally is
from Sonoda, Mexico, that his family immigrated the United States,
and now he's risen to the top enlisted rank in
our United States Marine Corps. How many years thirty two

(19:34):
now been thirty two?

Speaker 4 (19:35):
Wow?

Speaker 2 (19:35):
Okay, yeah, that's that's that's quite the journey. And I
hope folks out there listening will take inspiration from that effect.
Of course, you know, you're also talking to our military
families deployed around the world on the American Forces Network,
So maybe there's a young Marine or somebody else out
there listening will take inspiration on what they hear from you. Today,
we're talking a little bit about recruiting. We also we're retention.

(19:58):
I'm kind of curious about this because that's not been
a challenge for the Marines. I had a guest on
Carlos a little bit ago. He completed boot camp at
the age of sixty three. He might be the oldest
to ever do that. Now. The backstory there is he's
a psychiatrist and it was during the peak of the
Middle Eastern Wars and they needed that especially so desperately.

(20:19):
And he did pass. He barely made it through, but
he did complete everything. Anyway, He had an interesting theory
that he presented to me, and that was that maybe
because we spend so much money training, particularly in the
technical fields, and maybe we've got this thing on its head,
maybe we should have young people go out into the
world and pick up their specialty and then then bring

(20:42):
them into the military when they're a little bit more
mature and they're able to handle the rigors and the
traumas of combat. He was very concerned about sending an
eighteen year old out into combat. But the flip side
of that is, frankly, we need maybe I hate to
say this this way, but you know, we're all we're
to live forever when we're eighteen, right, So maybe that's
I don't know what is your your thought on that?

(21:04):
And is that maybe applied to the Marines or not,
because every Marine is a rifleman.

Speaker 4 (21:09):
Yeah, we do have a We've we've gone throughout history.
Uh we because of the needs of what of what
the world environment was compelling us to do, we brought in,
uh the Department of the Navy anyway, brought in medical officers, right,
we needed doctors, so they they needed to get their

(21:29):
specialty UH in college and medical school and on and on,
and they wanted to they wanted to serve. So we
brought him in and we and UH Department of the
Navy ran him through the basics, and then we ran
him through some basics and they became part of our institution.
We have musicians that that that do that for us.
It is it is a young organization on purpose. These

(21:55):
these young folks who have such incredible energy, creativity, their
ability to use the resources around them. Of the lack
of resources, they seem to always find a way to win, right.
And so the ability for a young marine to take
on such incredible responsibilities of gear and humans. What ends

(22:20):
up on the other side of that is that when
they exit the Marine Corps, they enter the communities more
prepared and more ready to take on more. And this
is really my battle cry, if you were to ask me,
is to have those who are waiting in those communities
understand who's arriving, what veterans are arriving, recently exited the

(22:42):
services and are coming into your communities. Can we help
them with obtaining a job. Can we help them with
obtaining medical appointments? Can we help them obtaining an apartment?
So these are the things where we can bridge the
generations together. Because a young marine who gets out of
twenty two, twenty three years old, they did their time,
it goes into your communities. They're gonna need help, right

(23:05):
because to your point, they're very young and they've just
left in organizations that told them what to do, how
to do it, when to do it, how fast to
do it, the meals per day, the room and board,
everything that they earned because they volunteered. Now they're exiting
and having to relearn all this by themselves. So I
need the veteran community to reach and I have so

(23:29):
many veteran organizations who are willing to do that to
make sure that we are taking care of those marines
and elevating them as fast as possible while they get
on their feet and maybe get to that police academy,
get to that fire school, fire department school, or college
or whatever it is. So we are investing in the

(23:49):
future of our country, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
Absolutely, And you know, it's interesting, Sir Carlos, that of
the top subjects that come up most often here on
American Warrior Radio. One of them is the difficulty in
making that transition to the civilian world, because if I
understand it, you know, boot camp is about literally breaking
someone down. You you want to take someone and get

(24:13):
them to that foundational basis from what you can build
them back up again or mold them or I think
you like the word. You prefer the word chisel them
into into marines. And you're right. If I'm if I
join up at seventeen, I go to boot camp at eighteen,
I am my adult life. I haven't known anything other
than what you're describing. I know where I'm sleeping that night,

(24:36):
I know what people tell me what to wear. Where
you covered it all. So but I will say on
I've had clients Carlos that they would hire veterans all
day long, every day. They're disciplined, that they know the
chain of command, they can pass a drug test, they
show up not just on time, usually early. So there
is a lot of that. But I get your sense

(24:59):
of what you're what I'm hearing from you is there
was still a real challenge. Despite everything the Branches and
the Angels are doing that there is still a challenge
of making that transition.

Speaker 4 (25:08):
Out there there is and not to say that a
veteran is struggles more than others. What I'm saying is
that there's an opportunity to continue to teach and mold
this young generation into the very next doctor, the very

(25:28):
next mayor the very next teacher. But they just need
coaching and mentoring for those who have done have done
this already, to grab them and say that when the
last paycheck comes in from the Marine Corps, it's going
to get scary, and that maybe thinking about that, I

(25:52):
have to now earn my way back up. We like
to think that if you're a marine, that you can
tackle anything, right, but you have your buddy to the
left and right of you to pick you up when
you fall. But when you exit, they don't exist, right,
You are alone, and so who is out there to
pick you up when life kicks you down? When the

(26:14):
last paycheck shows up, when you have to go to
the emergency room with your family and oh now it's
different types types of insurance and it's expensive or on
and on. It's that who's there to lift you up
when you fall? And that's the veteran community, right, But
we also you know as a young as a young
twenty two to twenty three year old, gosh, you know,

(26:37):
you want to get out there and do it all
by yourself, and you need no help because you are
a marine. And what I'm saying is is that you're
going to need help. As good as you are, You're
just going.

Speaker 3 (26:48):
To need help.

Speaker 4 (26:49):
And it's okay to ask for help and reach out
to those veterans. We call it the Marine Corps League,
Marine for Life Program, or the new veteran organizations like
Thiss Mannion or Rubicon, Like, there's so many new organizations
that are there for veterans. You don't have to wait
till you're sixty years old, when you're done with your

(27:09):
second career and the kids out of the house to
come back to the tribe. You can stay in the
tribe while you make a journey to the next version
of you.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
I would almost think, sir, that it's more difficult the
longer you're in I mean, like in your case, I
mean over thirty. I just I interviewed a remember the
Air Force and then the Air National Guard, who spent
a similar amount of time, almost three decades, and he
described it almost he called it his own personal phantom
leg syndrome, which if people aren't familiar that sometimes amputees,

(27:40):
you know, they still feel that portion of the leg
that's gone. And he felt that way with the Air Force,
I mean literally going. It's like I'm up, I'm at
the base, staring through the chain link fence, and I'm
not one of them anymore. It's a real challenge. So, Carlos,
when we come back, I want to touch also on
you talking about the mental aspect of these sorts of things.
And that's just so huge because I'm so as a civilian,

(28:02):
I'm still very upset about the scourge a veteran suicide.
So if it's okay with you, when we come back,
we'll talk about mental fitness. Lason, gentlemen, your host Ben
bler Garcia, we're talking with Carlos Reese, a Sergeant major
of the United States Supreme Court, will be read back.

(28:30):
American Warrior Radio began over fifteen years ago with the
mission of bridging the gap of understanding between the civilian
population and those who protect us at home and abroad,
the men and women of our military and first responder communities.
As a civilian myself, it has been my privilege to
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(28:50):
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contact me BBG at Americanwarriorradio dot com. Welcome back to

(29:13):
American Warrior Radio. Ladies and gentlemen. This is Ben Butler Garcia,
your host. Were very pleased and honored and privileged to
be talking with Carlos A. Reese. Here's the sergeant major
of the entire United States Marine Corps. That is the
top enlisted rank in the Marine Corps. And Carlos, do
you get is that you talked about the five of

(29:34):
the Marine Corps? You use that phrase, So this is
a unique rank in all of the Marine Corps or
is it a rank or a position or both?

Speaker 3 (29:43):
It's a rank in a position.

Speaker 2 (29:45):
Okay, okay, And I assume that came with a raisin
pay uh no, Well, but you know, you get you
get fed, you get a house, you're you're you're doing that.

Speaker 3 (29:58):
No complaints here.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
And I'm part of the mission of this program, Carlos,
is to bridge the chasm of understanding between the one
percent like you who served and then the rest of
us out there. And the most downloaded podcast ever in
the thirteen years we've been broadcasting American Warrior Radio was

(30:20):
an interview we had with Mike Day, and I don't
know if you recognize that name. He's a Navy seal.
They were breaching a bad guy house. I think it
was in a rock First four guys, three guys in
his stack, are shot down. He shot twenty seven times. Basically,
he described any place you could touch me except for
my head, I'd been shot or received now a lot

(30:40):
of it went into the body armor. He cleared the house,
took care of the bad guys, cleared the house by himself,
walked to the evacuation helicopter, refused to go on a
litter He eventually I'm an amazing story, almost too crazy
to be true. Well, Mike Day eventually took his own life,
and as a civilian, I'm trying to wrap my mind

(31:02):
aro out that how can someone who's that strong, who's
that amazing, how can they make that faithful decision? So
I'm concerned that right now, given the situation, I'm more
concerned about the mental health of our men and women
in the military, And is that as the sergeant major,
is that one of your highest priorities now is to

(31:24):
be looking after that Because we talk about law enforcement
carloson the importance of physical training. You've got to be
physically fit to do your job, but you also have
to have the mental training to deal with all that
trauma that you're going to see out there in the world.

Speaker 4 (31:38):
So, yeah, you remind me of I was in this
beautiful place called twenty nine Pumps, California one day.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
No, I'm going to pass on that.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (31:50):
So it's the training grounds for the Marine Corps. And
I was at the gym and when you were speaking,
how I can picture is this young man watching me
from afar and I can feel him watching me. And
while others would come to shake my hand or take
a picture with me, he stayed back. And then once
everyone left, he came up to me and he said,

(32:13):
you're the Sorrow major in the Marine Corps. I'm like yes,
I said, what's your name? He says, sergeant, and he
introduced himself from the unit and he says, I'm going
to give you this, and he took off his bracelet
right it's Kia black bracelet and young, young, young person
and he says, I tell him, I don't I don't
deserve this. Why are you giving this to me? He says,

(32:33):
I just want to remind you of your biggest responsibility,
which is to get after not one more suicide in
the Marine Corps. This is a young sergeant right maybe
five years in the Marine Corps and telling me what
this is, what you need? We need you to do,
sorrow major. So that was early on in my tenure
and I took that very sleeks and I have that

(32:54):
bracelet right here sitting and he stares at me every
day knowing my responsibilities. So yes, to answer your question,
and it's one of my biggest efforts to get after
And it is a nation issue, right, This is a
public health issues, not just the services. It is in
our country, it is all over the globe and how

(33:14):
do we get after it. What I can control underneath
my service is how I transition marines out of the
service and how do I ensure that they have employment
when they exit so they can continue to build on
the confidence that we gave them and not fall immediately
follow the exit of the service. But while they're in.

(33:38):
I'm never going to have enough medical officers, I'm never
going to have enough mental health professionals. I'm never going
to have enough money to get after the gms and
the people that I need. But what I can do
as a service is from the moment they become a
United States Marine is get after the skill set. And

(33:59):
I'm talking about life skills.

Speaker 3 (34:01):
Right.

Speaker 4 (34:02):
It's like we like to say that we don't have
a suicide problem. We have a life skills problem. Is
how to navigate life right that your fiance dumps you,
or you're in debt, or you can you as a
leader be so good? Can you build that trust so
when those things aren't happening, that young marine will come

(34:24):
to you, or they'll go to their peer. Like that's
the kind of climate that we're trying to create in
the core, that the trust exists when the resources maybe
are short, that at least we can have that relationship
built and that we can take care of our own
while we fight with Congress and work with DoD to

(34:48):
ensure that the resources that we want and desire for
the next evolution of how we develop people arrives. And
it's slowly trickling in and so yes, one is impossible.

Speaker 3 (35:06):
It's just every day I sit.

Speaker 4 (35:08):
Here and I get a roll up of every marine
that might have got injured or took to their own life.
And when I see those come in, it is crushing
because I know the family suffers, and I know the
marines next to those marines suffer. The unit suffers, and
it is a readiness killer, absolutely, But more importantly, it
does things to morale that we never want to happen.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
You know, it's interesting hearing you say that, Carlos. It
takes me back to two other points you brought up
during our conversation today. And one is the fact that
that sergeant approached to at twenty nine poems speaks to
how well he or she was trained and prepared for leadership.
I mean, no hesitation, He went right up and told
you what he thought. And you know, the other thing,

(35:53):
too is asking for help. And I hope that the
Marine Corps, along with the other branches, have gotten better
about making sure people. You know, you don't have to
be that type a personality all the time. It's okay
to ask for help when you need it. So I'm
very pleased you've made that one of your priorities.

Speaker 4 (36:13):
Absolutely, and we're going to continue to get better because
because you can't screen your way out of this issue, right,
you can't say that we only want perfect people inside
the Marine Corps.

Speaker 3 (36:27):
It's not going to happen. People are imperfect.

Speaker 4 (36:30):
So whatever daggets you come with, we must be so
good as a culture that it makes you want to
trust the leadership and get after those demons or those
things you stuck in the closet somewhere and let it
come out. In the days of yesterday, maybe it was
over a beer in a dark play somewhere in a bar,

(36:54):
but now it may be fishing, or doing jiu jitsu
or doing hiking. Whatever it is that today's generation is
looking to do, we must adjust to it right and
be more open to.

Speaker 3 (37:09):
Talking about what our issues are outstanding.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
Well, sir, we're just about out of time. Ben's dumb. Second,
dumb question. I have to ask this, what is your
favorite Marine Corps film?

Speaker 3 (37:25):
My favorite Marine Corps film?

Speaker 4 (37:28):
I want everyone and this is this is like a
little it's like a twenty two minute if that such
as Regiments hand Down Forever. So I want you to
go on YouTube such as Regiments how Down Forever, and
it is like this nineteen eighties recruitment type video. It's

(37:49):
not a film, but that is my favorite.

Speaker 3 (37:51):
Okay, so look it up.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
Mine is Taking Chance. I watched that every every memorial Dan.
It just really really touches it. Think it reinforces why
I do this program and keeps keeps me motivated. Well,
Sergeant Major has been a real privilege having you here
on American Warrior Radio. I'll tell you what next time
you're in twenty nine poems and you know you want
to share an Mr. You phone me up, I'll jet

(38:15):
right out or exactly what it is.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
You know.

Speaker 2 (38:21):
Again, I'm much older on you, but I fought forest
fires during college, and back then what they sent us
out with and our kit were actually c rations, and
I swear some of these things must have been left
over from the Korean War because they were so bad.
So I'm okay with with never having an Mr. Sergeant Major.
Any last messages you have out there for civilians or

(38:44):
military families.

Speaker 4 (38:46):
We recruit marines from your communities. There are your people,
and they'll return back to your communities. So take care
of each other, but also hold each other accountable to
the standards that that we practically we really deserve right,
continue to raise that standard, hold each other accountable for
what right looks.

Speaker 2 (39:07):
Like absolutely good clothes, and that applies to those us
out there in the civilian world as well. Remember those words,
Sergeant Major, I really congratulations on your success well earned,
and feel free to consider us a resource.

Speaker 3 (39:20):
Awesome and sent for five ben soap for five.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
There you go, There you go, ladies and gentlemen, another
great show on the cam. Please share these important messages
until next time, all policies and procedures are to remain
in place. Take care.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
If you've been listening to American Warrior Radio, archived episodes
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