2nd MARDIV Commanding General is NOT A FAN of Terminal Lance....

via Military.com

However, he added, he really doesn't care what the internet has to say about his decision.

"They can pillory me to their hearts' content on Terminal Lance or any social media platform they have," he said, naming a popular Marine Corps web comic. "But we're going to do the right thing for the right reason."

Terminal Lance is big time if he has a Commanding General commenting on his drawings!  But seriously I think he's being a little "sensitive".  I think it was all in good fun and I don't detect any malice in it from TL's side at all.

TL is just having fun with it.  I'm sure the dude doesn't really give a shit one way or another.

But onto the serious part of the story.  The part where the General explains his thinking and what led to this.

On Maj. Gen. David Furness' last combat deployment to Afghanistan as commander of the Marines' Regimental Combat Team 1 in 2010, the unit sustained 31 casualties. Nineteen of those, he says, were "the fault of the Marine either doing something he was told not to do and trained not to do or not doing something he was trained to do."

Now the commander of 2nd Marine Division out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Furness appeared as a guest on the internet-based All-Marine Radio Friday to discuss a controversial new policy letter he wrote in an effort to curtail a trend he observed of sloppy, undisciplined Marines in the division.

The letter, published Wednesday, instituted a "basic daily routine" requiring all Marines to begin their days with reveille at 5:30 a.m., and observe two daily formations and regimented cleaning and hygiene times. For those who wouldn't comply, Furness' message was clear: shape up or ship out.

"There are weeds growing around our buildings and work spaces and trash everywhere but the dumpsters where it belongs," he wrote. "These are just a few examples of the lack of discipline seen across the board that will not be tolerated in this Division any longer."

During his radio interview Friday, Furness added more detail to the new policy. Marines in his division, he said, would observe an upcoming "leadership and discipline stand-down" June 3-7 in which he'd address all sergeants, senior noncommissioned officers and lieutenants directly. The stand-down, he said, would also include a division-wide "field day," or cleaning period, and a quarters inspection by leadership.

"It's not chicken-s--t. It's all about combat performance," he said. "You can keep yourself and your teammate and your unit alive. We will do this, you will clean your room, we will have people walk through your room to make sure you've done it right."

And for those who can't do it, he added, "I'll get you orders somewhere else."

Furness said his policy letter hadn't been created in a vacuum; rather, he said, he had created a "council of sergeants" featuring outstanding young enlisted leaders from around the division shortly after taking command in 2018. They were the ones, he said, who came up with the daily routine published in his policy letter, and each of them said they agreed with Furness' plan to institute it.

In his combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, Furness said he had repeatedly observed that the most disciplined units were the ones who fared best in combat.

Read the entire thing here. 

From my chair I have no issues with the policy.  Everyone that's ever served at any time in our nation (or any Western nation's) military has played what was called during my time "fuck fuck games".

It's no big deal.

You're annoyed.  You bitch alot.  You grumble.  You're miserable, leadership is miserable then everything goes back to normal.

The difference?

They're picking up trash instead of painting rocks.

What does give me pause is that he seems (and I could be misreading this) to almost be hiding behind the "Sgt's Council" that he assembled to thrash out his thinking and to get their input.

Dude has stars.

He sits in the big chair.

He makes the decision.

No need to even bring that up. 

Kinda looks like he's trying for a bit of cover and concealment and failing badly.  He will get no cover and he can't hide from this decision.

He should take this on his shoulders and to be honest bang heads.

At the end of the day it's better to be feared than loved at least according to Machiavelli.

Side note.  Ok.  This makes the second Marine General I would love to meet. Mullen is the first and then this bubba.  I know Mullen would be an interesting dude and I get the impression this cowboy would be too.