[Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011], [National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017], [National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020]. [40], Lieutenant general appointments were inextricably tied to the politics of commandant succession. Gen. Michael E. Langley, 60, became the first Black Marine to receive a fourth star on his shoulder a landmark achievement in the corps' 246-year history. But both Black and white Marines who have worked with him say such speculation ignores one fact: Colonel Henderson, who has a law degree from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, La., and who has served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is, in the words of Mr. Spencer, the former Navy secretary, to a 2019 promotion board, an eminently qualified Marine we need now as BG.. For example, upon relinquishing his final command in May 1946, Smith remained a lieutenant general for the three months until he actually retired,[30] whereas a postwar lieutenant general would have reverted immediately to his permanent two-star grade. Such honorary increases in rank at retirement were called tombstone promotions, since their only tangible benefit was the right to carve the higher rank on one's tombstone. Officially, the Marine Corps says it cares deeply about diversity. For one week beginning Wednesday, the services promotion board will meet to consider its next group of generals. Some have attributed this to a tendency to speak his mind, which, while often a hurdle for promotion in a culture that prizes team players, carries some ugly historical baggage when applied to a Black man. Three years after that, he was leading Marines in Iraq as the XO executive officer for the Third Battalion, Seventh Marines. USMC Flags May21 - Updated by U.S. [36] The exceptions were Keller E. Rockey and Robert H. Pepper, who preferred to revert to major general rather than retire at the end of their three-star assignments;[37] Thomas E. Watson, who relinquished command of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific for an assignment at Headquarters Marine Corps, but retired for ill health only three months later;[38] Merwin H. Silverthorn, who was too young to retire for age when his three-star assignment ended and Congress had suspended early retirements;[39] and Verne J. McCaul, who chose to sacrifice a fourth star to stay on active duty until the new commandant took office two months after tombstone promotions ended. Five men have held the rank of General of the Army (five star), George C. Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and Henry H. Arnold, who later became the only five-star general in the . On multiple occasions, General Uribe also ordered her to stand next to gym equipment to reserve it for his use, sometimes making her wait up to 40 minutes. Deputy Director for Operations, National Joint Operations/Intelligence Center, Team 3 (J-3). (The pronoun his is apt because no woman has made it to four stars in the Marines, either.) The guy is smart, forceful, not a braggart, but when you are in his presence, he is very confident, and probably withering to certain people, and they feel intimidated.. Charles F. Bolden Jr., who would go on to command two Space Shuttle missions before becoming the first African-American to lead NASA, received only two stars in the Marines. (previous page) * List of active duty United States Marine Corps major generals; List of United States Marine Corps four-star generals . Jason Q. Bohm [19] U.S. Marine Corps. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. By 1994, he had a law degree from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, La., and was headed to be a staff judge advocate a lawyer for the Corps. information. One of the first things Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III did after assuming the helm of the Pentagon was to order up a service-wide Stand Down to address extremism in the military. Or the year before that. One lieutenant general commanded Marines deployed overseas under Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, and a second lieutenant general commanded Marines being readied for deployment under Marine Training and Replacement Command. [17][18], A decade later, Butler himself tried to promote Barnett's successor as commandant, John A. Lejeune, to lieutenant general to match the three-star rank proposed for Army corps area commanders in 1928. Since the Marines first admitted African-American troops in 1942, the last military service to do so, only 25 have obtained the rank of general in any form. Six African-Americans reached lieutenant general, or three stars. He is who the Marine Corps should want up there someone who will speak truth to power.. Bettmann / Getty Images 2. However, you Enlarge this image. website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site For thousands of African Americans, Executive Order 8802's impact was more than just symbolic. It took an act of Congress last year to get them to integrate by gender at the platoon level, said Representative Anthony G. Brown, Democrat of Maryland and a former Army helicopter pilot. One of the steps Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper has announced is to remove the photographs of officer candidates from promotion board hearings. This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael Langley was promoted to the rank of general in a ceremony Saturday, becoming the first Black four-star general in the military branch's 246-year history. Failing which, the officer's first Senate confirmation date to lieutenant general should be substituted. The incident contributed to Daniels' decision to remove Barnett midway through his second term as commandant. Image Black Marine recruits receiving equipment at Camp Lejeune . [52] Internationally-based three-star positions include the United States military representative to the NATO Military Committee (USMILREP) and the security coordinator for the Palestinian National Authority in Israel. In 2005, General Peter Pace became the first Marine to be appointed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chief military advisor to the President of the United States and most senior appointment in the United States armed forces. on July 1, 2016. Colonel Henderson declined to be interviewed for this article. The Marine Corps, which had passed over Colonel Henderson for four years, has placed him on a highly selective list of nine colonels to be granted a coveted one star that denotes general rank status brigadier general. For example, Allen H. Turnage retired after a major general, Clifton B. Cates, was selected to be commandant in 1947,[42] as did all five lieutenant generals after another major general, David M. Shoup, was selected in 1959. The same attitude holds in the Marines, but perhaps more so. To the Marine, then 22, Colonel Henderson stood out like an action figure. browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this It is conceivable that the explanation is something other than racial bias. Thats even more true in the Marine Corps, which promotes a smaller percentage of its officers to each of the field grade ranks than its sister services. Five years later, in 2000, he made major. Col. Anthony Henderson, commanding officer 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, receives the Legion of Merit award on Camp Pendleton, California, Dec. 15, 2016. Colonel Henderson led Marines through intense fighting in the Garmsir District known as Jugroom Fort in Afghanistan in 2008. Hes exactly the kind of warrior-scholar America needs in its senior ranks. cookies (and the associated sale of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. A lieutenant general could only receive a tombstone promotion to four-star general if he still held a three-star job on the day he retired. Six African-American general officers in the United States Marine Corps. In 2012, four years after serving under Colonel Henderson, Corporal Sams, then on his third deployment, stepped on a roadside bomb in Helmand Province. The Marines have the worst diversity representation in their top ranks. While it is rare for three-star or four-star nominations to face even token opposition in the Senate, nominations that do face opposition due to controversy surrounding the nominee in question are typically withdrawn. All nominees for three-star rank must be confirmed via majority by the Senate before the appointee can take office and thus assume the rank.[53]. Notes include years of birth and death; awards of the. His plan of attack kept us alive throughout all of those battles.. Bargeron is currently serving as president, Marine Corps University, Training and Education . Dates of rank are taken, where available, from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps register of active and retired commissioned officers. Air Force Seeks New Way to Recover Downed Troops, JADC2 Decision-Making: How the DoD Can Seamlessly Share Data to Address Threat Actors. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. After all was said and done, 1,200 Marines went over and 1,198 came back. Maj. of Marine Corps sword of office changes hands", "African American Milestones in Naval History", "WORLD WAR II Montford Point Marines: Honoring And Preserving Their Legacy", "Political activist Isabell Masters, whose presidential ambitions started in Pasadena, dies at 98", "Marine Corps' Magnetism Beckons Future General into World of Elite Warfighters", "Sergeant Reckless Korean War horse statue going to KY Horse Park", "Statue of heroic Korean War horse Sgt. Still, the Army had a Black one-star general, Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr., in 1940eighty years ago next month. Colonel Henderson led his Marines through three days of intense battle in blistering heat. Unable to assume post due to ill health; promoted and placed on retired list as general by Act of Congress, 1 Jul 1971; died 13 Jul 1971. . Since most of the ducks doing the picking are white men, its reasonable to suspect that this fact colors their vision of what a Marine general looks like. The rank of lieutenant general (or three-star general) is the second-highest rank in the Marine Corps, and the first to have a specific number of authorized positions for it set by statute. Two months later, he woke up in his bed in the intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in suburban Washington, and saw Colonel Henderson, alone, standing over him. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a sale of your data under the CCPA. Colonel Henderson during a parade in New Orleans last year. News, analysis, and ideas driving the future of U.S. defense: straight to your inbox. Positions listed are those held by the officer when promoted to general. Col. Anthony Henderson, center, receiving the Legion of Merit award at Camp Pendleton in California in 2016. List of United States Marine Corps four-star generals, Dates of rank are taken, where available, from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps register of active and retired commissioned officers, or from the. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Michelle Howard became the first Black woman to pin on four-star rank in 2014. For the highest ranksthree- and four-star officersthe Marine Corps overwhelmingly selects infantry officers and, to a far lesser extent, aviators. Photo Credit: 1. Only one killed by the enemy, said Lance Cpl. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Additionally, you may contact our legal Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy (J-5). After Iraq, Colonel Henderson was sent to Afghanistan. In all the services, simply making colonel/captain is a signifier of elite accomplishment. Rights link. Hes just a proud Black guy.. That story electrified Marines fighting in Afghanistan at the time, and has been told and retold. Out of 82 Marine generals overall today, there are six African-American brigadier generals and one African-American major general. Few three-star positions are set by statute, leading to their increased volatility as they do not require congressional approval to be downgraded. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. Once he was within sight of his first star, Marine officials started saying that Colonel Henderson was difficult to work with. Not one has made it to the top four-star rank, an honor the Marines have, so far, bestowed solely on white men 72 of them. . The rest have received one or two stars, the majority in areas such as logistics and transportation and communications, specialties that, unlike combat arms, rarely lead into the most senior leadership. It would behoove the Marine Corps to make more detailed information available to scholars for examination. It is difficult for those outside the armed services to understand the prestige that comes with becoming a four-star general or admiral. There is nothing in Colonel Hendersons official record that suggests that, according to interviews with white, Black and Asian Marine officers. In 2019, the Navy secretary, Richard V. Spencer, even added a handwritten recommendation to Colonel Hendersons candidacy. see some advertising, regardless of your selection. What does his fate say about the Corps? Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) Major General. For that matter, so is the officer corps writ large, andfew Marines will ever meet a general. There have been 69 four-star generals in the history of the United States Marine Corps. choices) and/or to monitor site performance. The list, which was signed by President Biden, arrived Wednesday evening at the Senate Armed Services Committee, to start the required confirmation process, according to the committees website. There are no reviews yet. Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. The things not in his record are what have kept Colonel Henderson from getting that star, he said in an interview. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org etc.). cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, Deputy Director for Current and Integrated Operations (J-3), Director, Expeditionary Warfare (N95), Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 04:40. At the President's behest, the House Military Affairs Committee approved only the four-star promotion for the chief of staff. Out of 82 Marine generals overall today, there are six African-American brigadier generals and one African-American major general. Tony Henderson has the potential to be the commandant of the Marine Corps, said retired Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Bailey, the first Black man to command the First Marine Division, from 2011 to 2013. and analytics partners. Black Marine recruits receiving equipment at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina in 1943. Positions held in an acting capacity are italicized. The most plausible alternative is the truism across the services (and, indeed, in the civilian world as well) that ducks pick ducks. Leaving aside for a moment that promotion boards generally consist mostly of white men, perhaps their bias is simply toward officers in their own career specialties. Indeed, it is a longstanding custom, as RAND notes, that when a Marine Corps officer is promoted to the grade of O-7, they receive letters from other Marine Corps GOs including advice and a reminder that the distinction could just as easily been afforded to ten of their colleagues, and to take the responsibility of the rank seriously and humbly.. The Marines have long cultivated a reputation as the nations toughest fighting force, but it remains an institution where a handful of white men command 185,000 white, African-American, Hispanic and Asian men and women. 1999 July 1 First African American Marine Corps Sergeant Major is Alford L. McMichael. Increased number of officers in the Marine Corps that may be appointed above grade of major general from 15 to 17, of which 15, Increased number of deputy commandants attached to Headquarters Marine Corps from 6 to 7 (. Marine Corps General Officers and Senior Enlisted Leaders, CNO Naval History - Midshipmen and Cadets, CNO Naval History - Professional Historian. One story about Colonel Henderson from that time has already become the stuff of legend among the Marines who fought beside him in Garmsir. Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Eric Schmitt contributed reporting. Petersen was promoted to command a fighter squadron, a Marine Aircraft Group, a Marine Aircraft Wing and a major Marine Corps installation. Gen. Rick A. Uribe, who is white, is up for promotion in September to major general, despite a rebuke in 2018 for treating his aide like a personal servant while he was deployed in Iraq. [32], Congress finally declared in 1977 that up to 15 percent of all active-duty Marine Corps general officers could be lieutenant generals or generals even without an emergency, after the 1976 National Emergencies Act terminated all existing national emergencies, effective 14 September 1978, which would have eliminated five of the seven lieutenant generals then on active duty.[33]. In an interview published in 2018 by Herocare, a benefits organization, Colonel Henderson spoke of commanding Marines in southern Afghanistan in the most vicious fighting he said he had ever seen. This is a complete list of four-star generals in the United States Marine Corps. Director, Command, Control, Communications and Computers/Cyber and Chief Information Officer, For example, the Senate declined to schedule a vote for Major General. It ranks above major general (two-star general) and below general (four-star general). There have been 74 four-star generals in the history of the United States Marine Corps. Because we do not track you across different devices, It has been said many times that if every one- and two-star GO in the Army keeled over dead today, the big machine would still be fine because the bench of colonels is so talented. Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. able to use or see these sharing tools. The best positioned three-star candidate, Merrill B. Twining, was viewed as too political by the secretary of defense, Thomas S. Gates Jr., who passed over all five lieutenant generals to recommend Shoup instead. officer positions are predominantly white and male, an examination of his career by The New York Times. Indeed, at the 26-year mark, Henderson is still under the average. But Colonel Henderson soon asked to move over to combat arms, a transition that Marines who know him said demonstrated that he wanted to fight with his men, bearing the risk and responsibility that accompany it. Effective today, the Marine Corps haseliminated the official photographfrom the personnel filethat goes before promotion boards. They By the end, the Taliban fighters withdrew toward Pakistan. Generals entered the Marine Corps via several paths: 29 via Officer Candidates School (OCS), 25 via Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) at a civilian university, 10 via the United States Naval Academy (USNA), 3 via Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at a civilian university, and 7 via ROTC at a senior military college. The Few, the Proud, the White: The Marine Corps Balks at Promoting Generals of Color, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/us/politics/marines-race-general.html. The two lieutenant generals were assigned to command the operating forces in the Pacific and Atlantic. SSPL / Getty Images. Over all, the military has long promoted itself as one of the most diverse institutions in the country. Other exceptions exist for non-active duty or reserve appointments, as well as other circumstances. All rights reserved. Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have Gen. Calvert L. Worth is currently an active-duty infantry general, a group from . The U.S. Code states that no more than 17 officers in the U.S. Marine Corps may be promoted beyond the rank of major general and below the rank of general on the active duty list. The practice was terminated in an effort to encourage senior officer retirements prior to the effective date of the change to relieve an overstrength in the senior ranks. After more than 35 years in the US Marine Corps., Lt. Gen. Michael Langley is set to be the first Black general to achieve one of the branch's highest rankings. [41], All such machinations failed when Pate's successor was selected in 1959. If such a date cannot be found, the next date substituted should be that of the officer's assumption of his/her first three-star appointment. Since the Army still had no lieutenant generals and Navy secretary Curtis D. Wilbur felt the commandant was not equivalent to a three-star fleet commander in the Navy, Lejeune's promotion died in committee. I think weak souls do not hold up against Tony Henderson. Marine Corps Brig. WASHINGTON The Marine Corps is promoting Col. Anthony Henderson, a combat-tested Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, to brigadier general, a move that cracks the doorway for the . Contents. The rank of lieutenant general (or three-star general) is the second-highest rank in the Marine Corps, and the first to have a specified number of appointments set by statute. To be sure, it is only recently that the Corps has had four-star officers in any abundance. Tony is a straight shooter, who says what he thinks, said Mr. Whitfield, the retired gunnery sergeant who went on to self-publish a book this year called African-American Senior Marine Corps Leadership: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. And that is what they are fearful of., Mr. Kennedy, a Marine combat veteran who is white, echoed that view. The rest have received one or two stars, the majority in areas like logistics, aviation and transport, areas from which the Marine Corps does not choose its senior leadership. [39] (When Graves B. Erskine retired early to accept a civilian position in the Department of Defense in 1953, Congress had to pass special legislation to exempt him. See also United States admirals. List of active duty United States Marine Corps major generals, U.S. Marine Corps Judge Advocate Division, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, U.S. Marine Forces Special Operations Command, Program Executive Officer for Air Anti-Submarine Warfare, Assault and Special Mission Programs, List of active duty United States four-star officers, List of active duty United States three-star officers, List of active duty United States Army major generals, List of active duty United States rear admirals, List of active duty United States Air Force major generals, List of active duty United States Space Force general officers, List of active duty United States senior enlisted leaders and advisors, List of current United States National Guard major generals, List of United States Army four-star generals, List of United States Marine Corps four-star generals, List of United States Navy four-star admirals, List of United States Air Force four-star generals, List of United States Coast Guard four-star admirals, "Marine Corps General Officers and Senior Enlisted Leaders", "PN2799 Marine Corps, 117th Congress (2021-2022)", "PN1429 Marine Corps, 117th Congress (2021-2022)", "Marine Aviator Major General James H. Adams Is Armed Forces Day Keynote Speaker; Parade Includes 9-School Mass Band, ROTC Units", "Maj. Gen Salene Promotion [Image 4 of 4]", "J5 Strategic Planning and Policy Directorate", "Michael J. Borgschulte - Manpower Management, M&RA, Headquarters Marine Corps", "RESERVE AFFAIRS DIVISION (RA) REORGANIZATION", "FISCAL YEAR 2023 BILLET ASSIGNMENTS FOR RESERVE SERGEANTS MAJOR AND FIRST SERGEANTS FOR INITIAL AND SUBSEQUENT TOURS", "Marine Corps General Officers and Senior Enlisted Leaders, May 2021", "Commanding General, MAGTF Training Command, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center", "Maj. Gen. Austin 'Sparky' Renforth, Wheeling Native, To Retire", "Commanding General, Marine Corps Installations Pacific", "Yesterday, I changed command of the Joint Forces Staff College", "Commanding General, Marine Corps Logistics Command", "Marine Corps Information Command to be activated in FY23, commanded by the service's cyber and space leader", "Marine Corps Forces Space Command is here", "Leadership - Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command", "Major General King Assumes Command of Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa", "MARSOC bids farewell to Maj. Gen. James F. Glynn", "Commanding General, Third Marine Aircraft Wing", "Cherry Point to hold change of command ceremony for major general Thursday", "Commanding General - Major General Eric E. Austin", "Program Executive Office Air Anti-Submarine Warfare, Assault & Special Mission", Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_active_duty_United_States_Marine_Corps_major_generals&oldid=1149740743, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0.