SgtMaj Carlos Ruiz, 20th SgtMaj of the Marine Corps - "Quality of Life 2030"

Moments in Leadership

This episode is a unique look into the mind of one of our service’s senior leaders days before a major hearing. Moreso than a typical CSPAN briefing of soundbites, the lister will be able to hear, in detail, plans to improve quality of life and lethality of Marines. The 20th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps (SMMC), Carlos Ruiz, discusses the initiatives he plans to champion during his tenure as the SMMC and how Quality of Life improvement ultimately makes the Marine Corps a more lethal organization and force for the American public.

One of the most transformational questions asked of SgtMaj Ruiz is the state of the barracks. SMMC Ruiz discusses how the Marine Corps, at the most senior levels, are taking positive and tangible action to alleviate this most common and consequential of issues. SMMC Ruiz details the renovation plans and how the ability to move Marines may not be the ideal solution. SMMC Ruiz also details how the ability to press the ‘I believe’ button is important and helps the whole process. One of the key adjacent tangents around the barracks issue is the use of Social Media as both a positive and a negative in allowing leaders to see what is behind typical ‘painting the rocks’ inspections and true issues in the barracks.

The barracks issue leads into larger priorities the SMMC is working on, specifically those issues tied to recruiting and retaining a quality force. The use of quality of life means the individual Marine needs to be looked at as a person and not merely as a number to fill a billet. Understanding that individual Marines have individual goals, lives, and, more importantly, options means the Marine Corps has to compete with a burgeoning American economy and the private sector. This key issue girds a lot of the arguments currently being aligned under Quality of Life 2030 initiatives.

The great tacticians will understand how best to use all of their supporting fires. In the battle to increase the Quality of Life 2030 for Marines, SMMC Ruiz understands and leans into using non-traditional and non-Marine Corps aligned organizations, such as PB Abbatte. Similarly, the increased and prominent use of Social Media allows the SMMC an unvarnished look into the Force and also allows Marines to see others providing skills perhaps unavailable in their own units. 1st Battalion 8th Marine Regiment is brought up as an example of a unit using Social Media for positive outcomes and showing how other units in the Marine Corps have used this new paradigm to their advantage.

Quality of Life extends to Marines' careers and how they are brought along in their journey to become a future Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. Understanding the Marine Corps’ mission ultimately comes first does not mean Marines do not rate to have an honest conversation and transparency in how the Marine Corps plans to use them. Balancing the new generation of empowered, knowledge and opportunity-wise, Marines with the realities of the service is another priority SMMC wants to improve on while in his seat.

While this episode does touch on leadership issues (taking care of subordinates, being a good sensor, and understanding how to accomplish the mission), it is more impactful for understanding the thought process and careful deliberation and contemplation senior/executive level leaders undergo to make their best arguments on behalf of their services and ultimately those who make the majority of those services strength, the enlisted.

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Relevant Resources & Other Mentioned Episodes:

LtGen David Bellon and the 20th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, SgtMaj Carlos Ruiz – A Command Team Briefing to Alpha Company TBS 2022 (themiloffice.com)

SgtMaj Black, 19th SMMC, Episode Two: Being a Good Marine is About the Non-Negotiables (themiloffice.com)

Moments in Leadership - SgtMaj Don Reynolds, USMC (themiloffice.com)

SgtMaj Chris Rivera, USMC - "Your Rocker is Not a Hammock" (themiloffice.com)

1stSgt Shamus Flynn, USMC – From Motor T Mechanic to MARSOC – What Emerging Leaders Need to Know About Setting the Example, Admin, and Awards (themiloffice.com)

What is Moments in Leadership?

Moments in Leadership is a podcast where you will hear firsthand about the careers of senior military leaders as they share their unique and individual experiences. Moments in Leadership will immerse you in real-life stories where you will learn about the challenging situations these accomplished leaders faced and discover the lessons they learned early in their careers that were the most influential in developing their overall leadership style.

Conceptualized by a group of friends who served together as young officers in the early to mid-1990s sitting around a firepit telling funny leadership stories, Moments in Leadership is designed to provide some relatable context to the formal leadership training leaders of all ranks and services receive throughout their military careers through the power of storytelling.

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I realize all of the leaders who listen to the episodes are at different levels of life, and my goal is to be able to have this project remain free and available to anyone who wants it and your donations help go towards that. Your donations go towards offsetting my costs of producing high-quality episodes. Additionally, since this is a part-time hobby project for me, I'm forced to outsource a good deal of work to others to maintain a regular publishing schedule. Your donations help offset these costs as well.

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