Leaders

Leaders Priorities

Each Marine has a role to play in his or her unit’s COSC efforts and should work collaboratively to address unit and individual Marines’ stress control needs. Every commander will determine how to incorporate COSC requirements and principles into a command program to best support mission and build and maintain a favorable command climate.

 Maximize force preservation and readiness through prevention, identification, and early intervention of combat and operational stress issues, whether deployed or in garrison.

 Promote psychological resilience and the long-term health of Marines, attached Sailors and their families.

 Promote the five core leader functions of Strengthen, Mitigate, Identify, Treat, and Reintegrate.

 Establish a climate where Marines can seek assistance for stress reactions without fear of reprisal.

 Use COSC concepts to enhance risk monitoring and inform force preservation efforts.

Five Core Leadership Functions for COSC

1.  Strengthen your Marines. 
Leaders must strengthen their Marines to enable them to successfully endure and master the stressors they face during operational deployments, garrison life, and in their personal lives.

2.  Mitigate and remove unnecessary stressors.
Leaders also must mitigate the stress of their Marines to keep them functioning optimally and to prevent the negative effects of stress reactions and stress injuries.

3.  Identify Marines wit stress problems.
Identifying means closely monitoring every available indicator of Marines’ functioning and performance to quickly recognize when they need help. Identifying involves more than looking, listening, and feeling for signs of possible breakage or wear—it means anticipating these inevitabilities.

4.  Treat and coordinate care.
Leaders must ensure that Marines who need help receive assistance from counselors, chaplains, MHPs, embedded mental health providers, and other professionals trained to treat stress issues. Leaders cannot do this important work alone.

5.  Reintegrate back to unit.
Leaders also must ensure that Marines who recover from stress injuries and illnesses do not suffer any stigma or career degradation. Leaders must retain and fully use Marines who have recovered, or are in the process of recovering, from stress injuries and illnesses.

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