The two-star general in charge of the roughly 15,000-strong 2nd Marine Division has turned micromanagement into an art form with a new policy letter ordering his Marines and sailors to cut their hair, shave their faces, and adhere to a daily schedule that he has prescribed.
In his "Policy Letter 5-19," Maj. Gen. David Furness lamented that he has noticed "a significant decline in the basic discipline" of troops he's come in contact with in the division area, which has led him to "FIX IT immediately," instead of relying on the thousands of commissioned and non-commissioned officers below him to carry out his orders.
Gen. Robert Neller during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2015 (Getty Images/Alex Wong)
The commanding officer of the U.S. Marine Corps "allowed' critical, internal memos to leak to news outlets in March, according to a Newsweek report on Wednesday.
Last month the rumor mill was bursting with stories of a Marine (or several) with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, who set fire to part of their battalion HQ. Though Task & Purpose received multiple messages and emails from Marines claiming to be with the Camp Lejeune, North Carolina-based battalion, not much could be confirmed by Corps officials, due to an ongoing Naval Criminal Investigative Services investigation into what we, and other publications, quaintly referred to as a "mystery fire."
Now, we can shed a little more light on what happened. For starters, the Feb. 11 fire is officially "suspicious," according to an NCIS bulletin posted to Camp Lejeune's official Facebook page, as Marine Corps Times' Shawn Snow first reported.
Earlier this month a tip landed in the inbox for Task & Purpose's Facebook page claiming that a Marine at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, allegedly set fire to an infantry battalion's headquarters.
"And it was intentional," wrote the tipster. "And it apparently is because of op tempo and being annoyed with their command."
Editor’s Note: This article by Gina Harkins originally appeared on Military.com, the premier source of information for the military and veteran community.
