{"id":30112,"date":"2019-05-01T00:46:03","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T00:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/01\/will-every-marine-remain-a-rifleman-new-cyber-unit-can-have-purple-hair-but-no-eagle-globe-and-anchor-commandant-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:49:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:49:05","slug":"will-every-marine-remain-a-rifleman-new-cyber-unit-can-have-purple-hair-but-no-eagle-globe-and-anchor-commandant-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/home\/2019\/05\/01\/will-every-marine-remain-a-rifleman-new-cyber-unit-can-have-purple-hair-but-no-eagle-globe-and-anchor-commandant-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Will every Marine a rifleman remain? New cyber unit \u2018can have purple hair\u2019 but no Eagle, Globe and Anchor, commandant says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Plans to bolster the Marine Corps\u2019 cohort of cyber experts<\/a> are moving forward, but this new unit won\u2019t be donning the Marine Corps uniform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Corps will create a new Cyber Auxiliary division, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller<\/a> said Monday, and its new force will not be beholden to strict Marine grooming standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are going to do a Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary, for the record,\u201d Neller said at the Future Security Forum in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf anybody wants to join, you can sign up. You can have purple hair, too, but no [Eagle, Globe and Anchor].”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comment was easy to dismiss as a joke, but Marine officials said the Cyber Auxiliary unit is a serious endeavor that is moving forward, although confirmed details are scarce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will confirm, however, that the CMC was not joking about the creation of a new cyber unit,\u201d said Capt. Joseph Butterfield, Headquarters Marine Corps spokesman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To underscore the need for unconventional approaches to manpower, Neller recounted a 2015 event in Silicon Valley. Neller said he was surrounded by experts from all over the world for five days of lectures on directed energy, biomechanics, artificial intelligence and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou just sit there and go: \u2018Wow, I had no idea,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to kind of open up your mind a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While new technology is being introduced, fundamental military principles like training hard and maintaining discipline remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt some point in the fight, there may be a time where somebody\u2019s going to stand on a piece of ground with a weapon in their hand and say \u2018this is mine; you can\u2019t have it,'” Neller said. \u201cBut to get to that point, you have to control your network and deny them theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t