Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 13, 1993 TAG: 9308130088
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
At a Pentagon news conference, Gen. Carl Mundy said he "did not adequately inform my civilian superiors of the policy that I was putting forth," adding that "it's not one of my prouder moments in history here. I would . . . try not to do it again."
At the same time, however, Mundy defended the move as advisable, saying that the marital strains being experienced by young, first-term enlistees were increasingly causing morale problems in the Corps and were threatening to impinge on the military readiness of younger troops.
But Mundy said he was satisfied with an announcement by Defense Secretary Les Aspin on Thursday that ordered a department-wide study of issues involving first-term enlistees in all of the services - a review that will include the question of whether to bar married recruits.
Mundy's disarmingly straightforward mea culpa, carried on nationwide television, appeared to lessen some of the sting that occurred Wednesday, when the commandant's original order was made public. But it did little to resolve questions about how the incident occurred.
Even so, the general appeared to be in little real danger of losing his job over the incident. Asked whether he would resign following the flap, Mundy replied: "No. I've never thought of resigning." And a senior administration official said Mundy's job was secure.
Mundy did not address statements by Pentagon officials Wednesday that he had told them after the incident that he had not personally approved the message that carried the new policy to Marines worldwide, and had not even seen the text before it went out.
The sources said Mundy had sanctioned the no-marrieds policy in principle during several meetings on the issue over the past few months, and - except in hindsight following Wednesday's explosion - would not have expected his aides to clear the implementing message with him.
They also insisted that Marine Corps leaders did not fully realize the political impact that the proposed ban on married recruits would have, particularly in the socially conscious Clinton administration.
Mundy himself told the news conference Thursday that he had focused more intently on a companion proposal that would have required first-term enlistees contemplating marriage to undergo counseling designed to warn them of the risks involved.
by CNB