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The colonel\u2019s fitness report covering April 2017 to July 2017 signed by his supervisor, Maj. Gen. Burke W. Whitman, featured glowing recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whitman had spent the better part of a decade working with Mann and knew his leadership style and work ethic well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCol. Mann is one of the top (colonels) in the (Marine Forces Reserve) and is one of our finest officers,\u201d Whitman had written. \u201cHe has my most enthusiastic recommendation for promotion to (Brigadier General).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for Mann, his regimental sergeant major and personnel officer all that was about to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By late summer, the same Marine sergeant in headquarters company who had made two previously resolved EO complaints before Mann took over, <\/b>was serving on limited-service status at a civilian doctor\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Marine had suffered a health-sensitive medical incident that put the Marine on limited status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air conditioning wasn\u2019t working at the time at the Fort Devens, Massachusetts, site of the admin section\u2019s office. The command allowed the Marine sergeant to wear physical training gear instead of the uniform of the day uniform to work. And later took other measures to accommodate the medical condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On July 26, 2017, regimental Sgt. Maj. James Boutin told the Marine sergeant that the Marine needed to be wearing the uniform of the day while on duty. The Marine was in physical training gear instead. At the time of the brief interaction, Boutin did not know that the Marine was under medical orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, after having difficulties tracking down the Marine during duty hours, headquarters staff visited the Marine\u2019s residence on Aug 1, 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sergeant\u2019s officer-in-charge, \u201cdecided independently to override a medical chit and recall the sergeant to duty, exceeding his authority, and misrepresenting his decision as the commanding officer (Mann\u2019s) decision,\u201d according to a subsequent investigation. The officer sent enlisted Marines to the sergeant\u2019s residence to instruct the sergeant to return to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mann, though unaware of the incident at the time, told Marine Corps Times that while the incident was handled poorly, the Marine was never denied medical care and all medical chits were honored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day, Aug. 2, 2017, the Marine sergeant reported for duty, was counseled and then made a \u201cfor your eyes only\u201d request mast to Whitman, commanding general of 4th Marine Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Aug. 4, 2017, request mast launched a command investigation, ordered by Whitman. Due to the nature of the request, Mann was not aware at this point of either the incident that had triggered the request nor the request itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The subsequent investigation placed blame on the actions of the sergeant\u2019s immediate supervisors and \u201cdid not recommend any adverse action be taken\u201d against Mann, according to both the original 2017 investigation and a recent ruling by the Department of Navy Board for Correction of Naval Records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Mann and retired Boutin recently told Marine Corps Times that they had been briefed by Whitman what he recommended to his boss, Lt. Gen. Rex C. McMillian, commanding general, Marine Forces Reserves. Regimental Headquarters Personnel Officer CWO 3 Robert Hoy also was relieved as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mann and Boutin said that Whitman didn\u2019t hold them at fault for the incident would follow the recommendations of the investigating officer, which included counseling of the Marines directly involved and further education and training on EO and medical issues for members of the staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But on Oct. 4, 2017, Whitman returned from his talk with McMillian and told the three Marines they were fired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was asked to clear my office space, put on my civilian gear and that was it,\u201d Mann said. \u201cI never put on a uniform again except for my retirement in 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Unsatisfactory\u2019 for promotion<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mann disputed his subsequent adverse fitness report, which dropped him from the very top of the promotion pile to the lowest possible category of \u201cunsatisfactory\u201d for promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The colonel filed multiple rebuttals to the three-star\u2019s decision, all were rebuffed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Multiple attempts by Marine Corps Times to reach McMillian were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mann countered McMillian\u2019s reasoning directly in his rebuttals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFundamental fairness suggests that a board selected regimental commander be relieved for actual facts that create a clear understanding of the senior commander\u2019s loss of confidence \u2015 I do not feel that has occurred in this instance,\u201d Mann wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The relief was based on the command investigation out of the request mast, McMillian wrote in his fitness report remarks to Mann.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet the investigating officer \u201cnever directed that (Mann) be a subject of the investigation or that my performance regarding the incident at hand be specifically investigated,\u201d Mann wrote in his rebuttal to McMillan\u2019s fitrep remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of the nature of the request mast, Mann didn\u2019t know what had happened involving the sergeant until he was being fired. He essentially reconstructed the event after the fact as he was fighting for his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Investigating Officer\u2019s exhaustive investigation does not contain a single finding, opinion or recommendation specific to my performance, actions, conducts or decisions as the Commanding Officer; nor does it suggest dereliction or neglect on my part,\u201d Mann wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McMillian stated that the investigation itself was enough reason to consider Mann\u2019s conduct as commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his response to Mann\u2019s rebuttal, McMillian rejected Mann\u2019s reasoning and reiterates that, \u201cthe Commander is responsible and accountable for all things the command does and fails to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rebuttal<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n The fired sergeant major, Boutin, filed a 22-page rebuttal to the report but told Marine Corps Times in March that it had gone nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt devastated me,\u201d Boutin said. \u201cIt devastated my family. I have dedicated my entire life to the Marine Corps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n During nearly 30 years, Boutin had served his entire time as an infantryman, seeing five combat tours, and never having had any bad paperwork, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis comes up and the only thing I got out of this was, \u2018you need to retire,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat should have happened, it shouldn\u2019t have went to the three-star level,\u201d Boutin said. \u201cIt should have went to the two-star, pull us up and let us speak, give our thoughts, ask what\u2019s going on? What\u2019s perceived to be happening and the way forward with corrective actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat never happened,\u201d Boutin said. \u201cThe three-star didn\u2019t even pull us in to talk to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sergeant major stands by his interaction with the Marine sergeant. The sergeant was not in the assigned uniform of the day and he corrected the situation by telling the sergeant to wear the appropriate uniform, though Boutin was unaware of the Marine sergeant\u2019s medical condition or limited work status at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was not involved directly in the subsequent house visit. But he was fired, along with the personnel officer and Mann because he was part of leadership, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boutin had envisioned completing a full 30-year career before saying goodbye to the Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI didn\u2019t even get a handshake on the way out the door,\u201d Boutin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hoy told Marine Corps Times that he had arrived at 25th Marine Regiment in fall 2016. He served as the regimental personnel officer. He said that the order to send Marines to check on the sergeant came from Lt. Col. Jason Lang, who was serving as both regimental operations and regimental inspector instructor officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lang denied giving the order in statements to the investigating officer. He filed for retirement in the midst of the fallout from the handling of the Marine sergeant\u2019s request mast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMe and Lang had conflicting statements,\u201d Hoy said. \u201cI said he did it. He said he didn\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hoy is still waiting on the response of the Board of Correction of Naval Records to his appeal to also clear his record of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An added burden for Boutin was his inability to tell his side of things. When the firings were made public, he said he was advised that anything he said to the media could be held against him. After he retired in 2018, he said he reached out to media but didn\u2019t get anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Mann continued his appeal, by June 2019 he had received a letter from the office of Commandant Gen. Robert Neller stating that the performance evaluation review board had decided McMillian had erred and the 2017 adverse fitness report, the last review of his performance as a Marine Corps officer, would be removed from his official file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was more work to do. Another document, the letter by McMillian outlining his loss of confidence in Mann and why he was firing him remained in Mann\u2019s official file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In September 2019, a then retired Whitman wrote a detailed letter of support to the Board of Corrections for Naval Records to remove adverse material from his Official Military Personnel File.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Noting his long service history with Mann, Whitman called the colonel an \u201cexemplary officer and commander, an ethical, thoughtful and highly effective leader who inspired the people in his charge and genuinely cared for their welfare while accomplishing the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whitman reiterates in his letter the findings of the original investigation \u2015 that Mann had no knowledge of the incident and his leadership had not contributed to the incident nor overall command climate problems that predated his tenure, and that the colonel had and was taking steps to address past problems in the unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whitman briefly references McMillian\u2019s decision in the letter, noting that the three-star had the \u201cultimate decision\u201d that resulted in the colonel\u2019s firing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat decision was and is absolutely (McMillian\u2019s) prerogative as a higher headquarters commander,\u201d Whitman wrote. \u201cBut it went beyond what the (investigation) had recommended and what I had endorsed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Feb. 22 the Board of Correction of Naval Records issued its decision, that all adverse paperwork related to Mann\u2019s relief be removed from his official record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Board noted that Petitioner\u2019s relief was due to a loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command and lead Marines, but that the (Command Investigation) contained no information that Petitioner knew about the inappropriate actions of his subordinates that led to the sergeant\u2019s Request Mast, or that he contributed to a climate that would have accepted that conduct,\u201d the board wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn fact, the (Command Investigation) reveals that (Mann) took actions to correct the problems with the climate in the command and when he learned of his subordinate\u2019s actions, he reversed their poor decisions,\u201d the board wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The board specifically addressed McMillian\u2019s reasoning that commanders are responsible for all that their unit does and fails to do, noting, \u201cthat there are limits to what is reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The board found that Mann was held to an \u201cunreasonable level of accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Correction: The article has been corrected to show that it was the Marine sergeant\u2019s Officer-in-Charge who decided independently to override the sergeant\u2019s medical chit. It has also been updated to include comments from retired CWO 3 Robert Hoy, who spoke with Marine Corps Times after the article\u2019s initial publication.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LtG-Rex-McMillian.jpg.jpg\")
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