{"id":29010,"date":"2023-03-14T21:18:52","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T21:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/14\/heres-whats-in-the-corps-new-training-and-education-plan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T21:07:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T21:07:01","slug":"heres-whats-in-the-corps-new-training-and-education-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2023\/03\/14\/heres-whats-in-the-corps-new-training-and-education-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what\u2019s in the Corps\u2019 new training and education plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lt. Col. Clinton Hall enlisted in the \u00adMarine Corps in December 1997, \u00admidway through a first semester in \u00adcollege that wasn\u2019t going well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He went through boot camp \u2014 right at the time the Marine Corps was rolling out the final boot camp event, the Crucible, at recruit training \u2014 and then infantry school. Hall went on two deployments and became a scout sniper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After getting out of the Marine Corps and working in security for several months, and not liking it very much, he reenlisted. On his second enlistment, he filed an application for the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI chose to apply for a commission because I recognized that the chain of command quickly departs from the enlisted ranks and runs through officers,\u201d he said in a recent news release. \u201cMy ability to make an impact would be best realized as an officer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hall received his commission, and, newly an officer, the infantryman reported to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, in 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was rewarding but also somewhat like a daunting task,\u201d he told Marine Corps Times. \u201cLike, \u2018Oh, now there\u2019s more expectation. There\u2019s more responsibility.\u2019 So there\u2019s also a little bit of increased weight of what you must do, but also the training has been proven over multiple decades, if not centuries, on how to prepare our young officers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His training and education didn\u2019t end with The Basic School or Infantry Officer Course. He went on to the Marine Corps University\u2019s Expeditionary Warfare School and the Army\u2019s Command and General Staff College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s vital,\u201d he said of professional military education. \u201cIt makes one just pause for a minute and then think and reflect and broaden their horizons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Hall is the commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment \u2014 the same regiment he started out in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In coming years, it\u2019s likely that more Marines than before will have opportunities like Hall\u2019s, from enlisted-to-officer commissioning programs to professional military education. That\u2019s just one component of the Marine Corps\u2019 new training and education plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marine Corps is in the middle of a sweeping modernization effort, called Force Design 2030, particularly aimed at adapting the service to a potential conflict with adversaries like the Chinese military. But the Corps has acknowledged that its current training and education \u00adaren\u2019t sufficient to prepare Marines for that modernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where Training and Education 2030 comes in. The planning document, released in January, looks to address some of the gaps in the preparation Marines receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It calls for new doctrine on topics like drone and cyber operations. It emphasizes the role of training simulators for even junior Marines. And, taking \u201cevery clime and place\u201d to heart, it indicates the Corps needs to find new training grounds (\u00adAlaska, anyone?) and double down on swimming skills.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other initiatives, like increasing the number of seats in ongoing education and enlisted-to-officer programs, are supposed to give Marines incentives to stay in. That has been a top priority for the Corps in \u00adrecent years: retaining Marines in the right jobs so that they\u2019re prepared for \u00adincreasingly complex modern warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must transform our training and education continuum,\u201d Lt. Gen. \u00adKevin Iiams, commander of Training and Education Command, said in a news release. \u201cWe owe it to our Marines and the American people as the premier force in readiness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New training sites<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Lace up your intense cold weather boots: The Marine Corps is considering training its troops in Alaska.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the training planning document, the service notes the need to explore options to expand \u201cunit and service-level training into Alaska\u201d and whether the service requires a more permanent presence there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Included in the report is a direction to analyze whether the cold, remote environment of Alaska could offer Marines a new style of terrain they have not regularly had the opportunity to train with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, California<\/a>, is one of the only installations to offer Marines training in mountainous, cold-weather environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\t