New Marine Corps SNCO promotion warrant empowers Marines, supports force modernization

ARLINGTON, VA, UNITED STATES

12.13.2021

Story by Sgt. Victoria Ross 

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps

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The Marine Corps created a new staff noncommissioned officer promotion warrant that states the leadership roles and responsibilities of ranks staff sergeant through sergeant major.

Previously, the SNCO and junior Marine promotion warrants were identical, implying that SNCO and junior Marine roles and responsibilities were the same.

A working group consisting of senior enlisted Marines convened to establish a previously undefined institutional understanding of the SNCO roles, responsibilities, and development as a 21st century warfighter in the Marine Corps.

“Promotion means growth and growth has expectations. The new warrant lays the foundation of that expectation from the day they pin-on and leaves little ambiguity in what they are responsible for as a SNCO,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Chelsea Jones, Combat Logistics Regiment 17 logistics/mobility chief and member of the working group.

As the Marine Corps institutes force modernization changes that require responsibilities be pushed to the lowest level of leadership, the working group communicated that it was imperative to set distinctions between the senior and junior enlisted ranks through doctrine.

Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David H. Berger stated in his Commandant’s Planning Guidance that the Marine Corps “will generate a comprehensive, yet succinct and understandable hierarchy of orders and directives that define roles and responsibilities within the enterprise.”

The new warrant clarifies the roles and responsibilities that set SNCOs apart from a lance corporal and assists Marines in understanding expectations. It also empowers SNCOs to institute their leadership as a standard in all Marine Corps units across the force.

“While merely creating a SNCO promotion warrant may be perceived as elementary, it must be noted that doctrine provides the foundation of a learning culture and, most significantly, the cultivation of critical thinkers within the profession of arms,” said Sgt. Maj. Ryan Meltesen, 3rd Marine Logistics Group sergeant major and the working group coordinator.

One of the phrases in the new warrant is “dedication to the moral and ethical imperatives necessary to accomplish assigned missions.” This is an example of how the language has changed to reflect the responsibility SNCO’s have taken on over the years. It also supports Force Design 2030’s goal of developing small, better-connected formations that prevail in contested operating environments. Force Design 2030 expands on concepts in the Commandant’s Planning Guidance by outlining force modernization efforts to meet the demands of today’s battlespace.

“The commandant is making changes to the Marine Corps starting with doctrine,” said Sgt. Maj. Troy E. Black, the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. “Doctrine is a guiding document that outlines expectations, roles, and responsibilities. What the Corps demands of its Marines must start with the lessons learned from nearly two decades of SNCO’s leading and taking on additional roles and responsibilities.”

Sgt. Maj. Monica Cervantes, a member of the working group, partnered with the Marine Corps History Division to find background information on the previous warrant. Their research found the new warrant not only marks a doctrinal change, it also marks a clear shift in the history and tradition of promotion warrants.

“This warrant is the first of its kind,” said Meltesen. “What we’re reflecting on now is [people whose job is] the profession of arms. [SNCOs] teach, lead and mentor junior Marines, but they also influence and educate officers above them.”

The new distinction between the SNCO and junior Marine warrant requires SNCOs to exercise authority over which they are responsible for as the Corps shifts to a 21st century warfighting model. Phrases in the new warrant include “possessing the technical and tactical proficiency,” and “guardian of our culture,” which implies capable SNCOs who lead and manage junior talent and advise senior officers during operations on the battlefield.