The Formula for Knowing God's Will

For decades the U.S. Marine Corps has relied on a message of Transformation to recruit and train generations of Marines. 

When I was a major in the Marine Corps, I was assigned to the public affairs division at Marine Corps Headquarters at The Pentagon. Now, one of the missions of Marine Corps Public Affairs is to help the public understand all things Marine by being as transparent and public with information as possible. The Marine Corps has two websites. The first is the primary site:  Marines.mil. The second site is Marines.com and exists only for recruiting purposes. Well, I happened upon this second site and had an interesting and “dismaying” experience. The site was dark, used mystifying language and metaphors around the Marines’ strategy of “transformation,” had no links off the site that might be helpful to potential recruits or anyone who wanted to understand more about the Marine Corps. Last, you could only go forward. If you hit the back button, it didn’t work.

I thought this website was clearly not doing the Marines as much good to various stakeholders other than possible recruits who may visit the site. I enlisted the support of my boss, and we set up a meeting with Marine Corps Recruiting Command. Except, we weren’t the ones doing the setup. The recruiters were.

As I recall, I and my boss arrived and found ourselves outnumbered by about 10 others in the meeting, including a very senior officer from the recruiting command as well as a team of four from the Marine Corps’ long-time ad agency, J. Walter Thompson, now Wunderman Thompson. The Marines have used this agency since 1947, and there’s a reason as we discovered.

The meeting was gracious but short, led by an executive from J. Walter Thompson. He acknowledged our concerns and went on to give his explanation, as though he were talking to a child. He said that the recruiting website had two purposes and ONLY two purposes: to convey this message of “transformation” to young men and women, and to drive the recruit to schedule an appointment with a recruiter. Everything else (we wanted) had to be sacrificed, at least on that website.

He further explained how the messages of all the military services compare. 

“If you want to see the world (adventure), you join the Navy. If you want to learn a skill (skills comparable to commercial companies), join the Air Force. If you want to become someone different and larger than you are today (transformation), you join the Marines. And if you can’t do any of the above, you join the Army.” 

Sorry, his words, not mine, which are proven out by decades of research and results. This J. Walter Thompson exec said in all the years the company has worked with the Marines, they’ve met the recruiting goal each and every year. And while they appreciated our thoughts and prayers, they weren’t going to water down the website. At that point you do as good Marines do after being slightly “dressed down.” You salute smartly, do an about face, and go about your previous business. 

So how do the Marines go about creating this “transformation” in new recruits? Boot camp! First, boot camp for a U.S. Marine is longer than any other service. Marine boot camp is 13 weeks. Army boot camp is 10 weeks. Navy, 9. Air Force, 7.5  weeks. 

The point here: transformation takes more time and investment.

Also, during boot camp Marines endure what is known as “The Crucible.” From the Marine Corps website…

“The Marine Crucible is the final 54-hour training exercise that tests the recruits on the knowledge, skills, and values taught throughout training. Those who complete the final challenge are awarded their Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, symbolizing their transformation from recruits to Marines.”

Transformation, through this intense test called The Crucible. And God asks us for nothing less. 

God says we’re transformed by studying His word and through trials³, just like the Marines. Go figure.

So what values do the Marines study? Well, there are the 14 traits valued by every Marine.

1. Judgment
2. Justice
3. Decisiveness
4. Integrity
5. Dependability
6. Tact
7. Initiative
8. Endurance
9. Bearing
10. Unselfishness
11. Courage
12. Knowledge
13. Loyalty
14. Enthusiasm

So, the U.S. Marines have a goal of transformation with a laundry list of values, and so does God. In fact, in the Marine Corps the process of transformation continues as long as you’re a Marine. Every Marine has a program of personal study and assigned reading throughout their career. Marines also conduct routine breakout sessions where they discuss leadership and principles of transformation, year after year. 

There was also a time when all Marines had to carry a card (the size of a credit card) in the right pocket of our uniform, each and every day. On that card was imprinted, “Honor, Courage, Commitment.” It was so important to the Marine Corps that we followed our shared values that we had to wear this “Commitment Card” on our bodies every day, close to our heart.

In fact, it was common for an officer or senior sergeant to “thump” a Marines pocket to see if the card was inside. God help the Marine who didn’t have the card with them. What entailed if you didn’t was an unpleasant “dressing down,” or lecture, followed by an assignment to return to the barracks, retrieve your card, and put it in your pocket!

I can tell you with certainty. The U.S. Marine Corps first and foremost creates NEW individuals – renamed Marines, uhh, kinda like the term ‘Christians’ – who started boot camp as an “anybody and nobody” and transformed into a new person called a U.S. Marine committed to shared values FIRST. Why? Because the U.S. Marine Corps first values WHO you are and then what you DO. To the Marines, it doesn’t matter what you DO if you do not maintain shared values showing who you ARE. If a Marine retrogrades in his or her values, it’s going to be noticed and that Marine won’t be promoted and eventually drummed out of the Corps.