NEW ORLEANS -- Marine administrative Message 394/16 serves as a reminder of the Commandant's expectation of all Marine leaders. The Commandant has stated he wants every Marine to be successful. He wants every Marine to set goals, compete, and achieve everything within their potential.
Proficiency and conduct evaluation of our junior Marines is one of many tools we use to remain decisively engaged as leaders. A critical component to success is receiving feedback from leadership. Marines must know where they are succeeding and where they may be falling short or missing the mark set for them by their leaders. They must also know what they can do to improve their performance and their conduct as Marines. The pro-con reporting period provides Marines and leaders an opportunity to have a dialogue between leaders and those they lead.
All Marine leaders are expected to be actively involved in counseling Marines at all times. In the case of proficiency and conduct marks, each individual Marine should be personally counseled on his or her markings by the first officer in their chain of command. As part of the leadership team, the individual Marine's enlisted leadership has an equal role in counseling. The leadership team of officer and staff noncommissioned officer is an integral part of engaged leadership when it comes to counseling Marines.
Engaged leadership teams must take a holistic approach to counseling. With the guidance of leaders, Marines must set realistic and achievable goals in all areas of life from understanding personal finances, to planning off-duty education opportunities, to ensuring family members are cared for and housing accommodations are adequate.
Engaged leadership is what sets Marines apart. Our responsibility to our Marines does not stop with the end of each work day. While the great majority of Marine leaders already actively counsel junior Marines, this MARADMIN provides a reminder to all leaders of the responsibility they have to teach, coach, and mentor the junior Marines in their charge.
For more information, see MARADMIN 394/16.