"I love the Corps for those intangible possessions that cannot be issued: pride, honor, integrity, and being able to carry on the traditions for generations of warriors past."
- Corporal Jeff Sornig, USMC; inNavy Times, November 1994
Core Values
Any discussion of the values, ethics,and qualities of Marine Leadership must start with itsCore ValuesofHonor, Courage,andCommitment.TheseCore Valueswere first officially adopted by our 30thCommandant of the Marine Corps,General Carl E. Mundy Jr., in his publication of a memorandum titled the“Commandant’s Statement on Core Values of the United States Marines.”As an interesting historical side note, sometime afterthe publication of General Mundy’s memorandum,theU.S. Navy changed itsCoreValuesfrom “Tradition, Integrity, and Professionalism"tomatch that of the Corps'“Honor, Courage, and Commitment,"thusinstituting a unified set of common values for theDepartment of the Navy.
Aside from ourCore Values, theMarine Corps' Leadership Traits and Principlesare the ethical standards by which all Marines are judged inaccordance with our doctrine(MCWP 6-10 Leading Marines).Thehistory of the traits and the principles actually begins in the U.S. Army - both the traits and principles were adopted from U.S. Army service publications and doctrinal materials.
The precursor to the Marine Corps'14 Leadership Traits (Bearing, Courage, Decisiveness, Dependability, Endurance, Enthusiasm, Initiative, Integrity, Judgment, Justice, Knowledge, Loyalty, Tact, and Unselfishness) originally appeared in theDepartment of the Army Pamphlet No. 22-1 “Leadership”in 1948. This pamphlet, signed by then Chief of Staff of the ArmyGeneral Omar N. Bradley, described 10 “qualitiesof leadership which are successful to leadership":Knowledge,Decisiveness,Initiative,Tact,Manner and bearing,Courage,Endurance,Dependability,Justice, andEnthusiasm.
Army Pamphlet 22-1was supersededby the doctrinal publicationField Manual (FM) 22-10Leadership, published in 1951, which listed 19 qualities that were re-labeled as “traits." It was superseded byFM 22-100Command and Leadership for the Small Unit Leader, published in 1953, whichreduced the number of traits to 12.
Finally, in 1961 the U.S. Army republishedFM 22-100under the new title of“Military Leadership,”which included the familiar 14 Leadership Traitsthat the Marine Corps eventually adopted:
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Interestingly,the14 Leadership Traitswere removed from the 1983 re-publication of FM 22-100Military Leadership, and have not been included in U.S. Army Leadership Doctrine since then. The Marine Corps, however, had already decided by that point that these14 Leadership Traitswere highly relevant and valuable, and continues to stress their importance to this day.
Leadership Principles
The11 Marine Corps Leadership Principleswere also adopted from the U.S. Army, though the history is less complex. The 1951 publication ofFM 22-10Leadershipcame with it 11 leadership principles, though they differed in small respects from the current list in that to “be technically and tactically proficient” was originally worded as “know your job.” The change from “know your job,” to “be technically and tactically proficient” appeared the 1958 publication ofFM22-100Military Leadership.Finally, in the 1983 publication ofFM 22-100, the 11 leadership principles appeared in familiar order, and they were adopted by the Marine Corps at some point thereafter.
The11 Marine Corps Leadership Principlesare:
Know yourself and seek self-improvement
Be technically and tactically proficient
Know your Marines and look out for their welfare
Keep your Marines informed
Set the example
Ensure the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished
Train your Marines as a team
Make sound and timely decisions
Develop a sense of responsibility among your subordinates
Employ your command in accordance with its capabilities
Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions
