Editorial: The Image of Marines
Recently I received an irate e-mail from an individual who sent me a link to a video that allegedly showed a Marine in Iraq throwing a puppy over a cliff. The link took you to a popular website called YouTube that allows virtually anyone to post videos. This disturbing video is only the tip of the web posting iceberg and web use by Marines.
Headquarters Marine Corps’ response to the outcry from the video was appropriate. They averred that the video “is shocking and deplorable and contrary to the high standards of conduct expected of U.S. Marines.” They also promised a full investigation. Some have attempted to explain the video by postulating that it was not a real puppy but a stuffed animal. Heinous and cruel act or bad joke, it doesn’t really matter in the context of the damage to the Corps’ reputation.
We cannot put the Internet genie back in the bottle. The World Wide Web is pervasive, unregulated, and a powerful molder of opinion. The average lance corporal in the Corps today does not remember a time when there was no Internet, no camera cell phone, and no text messaging. In that context he/she is a “digital native.” This means of communication is as natural to him/her as a letter home was to the Marine of previous generations. The status symbol today for the “wired generation” is how many friends you have on your MySpace or Facebook page. The difficult task for leaders of young Marines is to convince them that once they put on the eagle, globe, and anchor everyone who sees them, even if it is through social media, sees them as representatives of the United States Marine Corps.
There are those in the Corps who recognize the power of communication inherent in the new media. Go to www.youtube.com and in the search box type US Marine Corps. There are hundreds of videos posted, many by individual Marines. The first video that will pop up is the extended version of the new recruiting commercial featuring the silent drill team. The video links to the new Our.Marines.com website. The commercial has been viewed on the web over 110,000 times since it was first posted a little over 2 months ago. The puppy video by contrast was viewed over 143,000 times on the web in the few days it was up and was also shown on national newscasts with a warning to viewers that it was disturbing. Which had greater impact?
Without question we have to ensure that Marines understand that they must adhere to the core values of our Corps. We also have to get them to understand that even if something is not illegal or immoral, if it chips away at the image of our Corps that generations of Marines have won on hundreds of battlefields it is wrong. Marine Corps University is hosting the Russell Leadership Conference from 20–22 May at Quantico. It will include almost 200 NCOs from across the Marine Corps. One of the panels will be on blogging and social media. Hopefully, a panel outcome, formulated by the NCOs of the wired generation, will be talking points that leaders can use to explain to young Marines what are the limits of social media.
If I could be a platoon commander again, one of my first attempts to learn about my Marines would be to look them up on MySpace, Facebook, and on the multitude of social networking sites popular with the digital native generation. I might be surprised, both pleasantly and unpleasantly, with what I would learn. The question would be, when I found (and I would) the blog or post that chips away at the image of the Corps, “What now, Lieutenant?”
