WASHINGTON, DC -- 1. The great majority of Marines today live our core values on a daily basis and exhibit the true warfighting culture of our Corps. A few do not. This memorandum concerns them.
2. Americans are justly proud of their Marine Corps – not simply because of our battlefield successes, but because of the values our individual Marines embody: Honor, Courage, and Commitment. Living up to our reputation requires constant vigilance.
3. Sexism and racism continue to exist within our ranks in unacceptable “sub-cultures”, resulting in corrosive behaviors, attitudes, and crimes, all of which degrade our ability to fight. Also, despite years of enlisted leader development and attempts to fully professionalize our enlisted leader ranks, we have failed to completely eliminate those from within our force who wrongly conclude physical abuse creates better or stronger Marines. Those willing to abuse the special trust and confidence that has been placed in them by encouraging or condoning sexism, racism, or hazing must be removed. There is no room in our Corps for Marines whose behavior, attitudes, or actions are inconsistent with our core values. I am not so naïve as to believe we can eradicate these attitudes completely or overnight, but as the Commandant has already said - I do believe we can do more.
4. It begins at recruit training and officer candidate school. The young men and women who join our Corps arrive with values based on their life experiences, and for the majority, their personal values align with our institutional core values. However, some arrive with mindsets and biases that are wholly inconsistent with our way of thinking. We must speak plainly and forcefully with our recruits and candidates from day one, and tell them that racists, sexists, bigots, homophobes, and bullies are not welcome. It is impossible to be both a good Marine, and be any one of those things at the same time.