I think pretty much all of us have experienced it at some point, either as a witness, defendant or prosecutor: Being ‘‘corrected” for a violation of something that’s not actually written in an order.
Recently, I was the subject of said correction. My Marines were conducting a boots and utes physical training session in the functional fitness room at Barber Fitness Center, and I decided to join them. I parked in front of the gym and walked in wearing boots and utes. Not seconds after walking through the doors I hear, ‘‘Hey Marine, got a sec?”
After a brief introduction, the master gunnery sergeant asked, ‘‘Sir, do you know what the order says on wearing boots and utes?”
Not having read MCO P1020.34G recently I simply said no, knowing full well this was what I call a ‘‘gray area” of the order. The good master gunnery sergeant informed me that I should have walked in wearing full utilities and dropped my blouse and cover when ready to begin PT. I thanked her and continued on to join my Marines.
I won’t lie; I took the correction a little personally. I grumbled my way through PT, stewing on the fact that this part of the order was open to interpretation. I thought about the ‘‘reasonable person approach” and tried torationalize that my decision to walk into the gym for boots and utes PT was reasonable, which brings me to the point of this commentary.
Who is the reasonable person in this type of situation? As a former staff sergeant and drill instructor, I probably could have argued the sanity in my decision to wear boots and utes into the gym. I could have even done what I’ve seen officers do before, brush off the correction and carry on with my business.
Would I have brushed off the correction if it werebeing made by a corporal? I certainly would have been more likely to do it than I was with a master gunnery sergeant making the correction. Would that have made it ok? Absolutely not.
It’s not at all uncommon now to hear Marines question a correction. Many Marines are even hesitant to correct one another. The master gunnery sergeant was actually walking away from the gym, so it was refreshing to see a Marine go out of her way to correct what she considered to be outside the guidance of the order.
So, who wins when a correction comes from something not covered by an order? Often times supplemental guidance in the form of base orders, standard operatingprocedures, etc. will light the way. Sometimes there is no supplemental guidance, and we have to depend on Marines who are familiar with the regulations and their intent.
Ultimately, it all comes down to technical and tactical proficiency, judgment, tact, and all those other buzzwords and phrases we love to use in the Marine Corps. If you are making a correction, apply the principles and traits. If you are being corrected, take a step back and consider if it’sreally worth it to push the issue.
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