2019 Spring MCA&F Newsletter
Posted on: February 07,2022
Greetings Marines and Friends of the Marine Corps,
Let me begin my short update for this Spring Newsletter with a powerful and heartfelt “thank you.” You continue to lead from the front in support of Today’s Marines. Whether through your membership in MCA&F, your reading and contributions to our iconic Leatherneck and Gazette Magazines, your generous donations to the Programs in our Foundation or through your purchases at The Marine Shop, we could not serve as the Corps’ Professional Association without your continued fidelity. You may recall that last year we published two newsletters; one in the Spring and one in the Winter. The feedback received from members, donors and other friends of MCA&F about the newsletters was very positive so we are reinforcing success! For 2019, there is so much to be excited about as MCA&F steps off into the year with a full 30-inch step. By the time you receive this letter we will have already rolled out our new websites at www.mca-marines.org and the Marine Shop on-line at www.marineshop.net. I think you will find that our new sites better facilitate reading digital versions of both magazines, renewing your membership, updating your profile information, registering for events or donating to Marines and Foundation Programs. Finally, we continue to strengthen our outstanding relationship and partnership with the Commandant, Assistant Commandant, other senior Marine Corps leadership as well as other Marine Corps organizations with whom we work closely. We continue to pursue all these efforts and more as we recognize the professional excellence of Marines and advance their leader development. Thank you and Semper Fidelis.
William M. Faulkner
Lieutenant General, United States Marine Corps (Ret)
President & Chief Executive Officer
Marine Corps Association & Foundation
The Marine Shop
The Marine Shop continues to enhance its high standards of quality and excellence while serving as the first choice of new officers for their uniform needs. In 2018, more than 70% of newly commissioned second lieutenants chose The Marine Shop to provide their first uniforms. The recent introduction of the newly designed female dress blue coat has resulted in numerous female Marines throughout the Corps choosing The Marine Shop as their source for the new coat which was designed to mirror the male version.
The MARINE Shop’s new website, www.marineshop.net, will allow us to provide better and faster support to the Marines we serve and friends of the Corps. This on-line store offers a variety of products ranging from uniforms to gifts for all Marine occasions to clothing and most importantly, proceeds from The Marine Shop’s retail sales go towards our Foundation to support Today’s Marines.
Medal of Honor Recipient: SGTMAJ John L. Canley, USMC (RET)
Both Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines and The Marine Shop were privileged to support the Corps’ newest Medal of Honor recipient, Sergeant Major John L. Canley, who received the Nation’s highest honor at a White House ceremony on Oct 17, 2018. The Marine Shop tailored the Sergeant Major’s dress blues and mounted his medals while the November issue of Leatherneck featured articles on the Medal of Honor presentation and the dedicated efforts of Marine veteran John Ligato to have “his Gunny’s” previous award upgraded to the medal of honor. SgtMaj Canley had previously received the Navy Cross for heroism while serving with 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment from January 31 through February 6, 1968.
Foundation’s 10th Anniversary
The Marine Corps Association Foundation celebrates its 10 year anniversary this year. Founded in April of 2009 as the charitable arm of the Marine Corps Association, the goal of the Foundation is to aid in the professional development of Marines as strong and effective leaders, both on and off the battlefield. During each year of its existence, the Foundation has worked to provide professional and leadership development programs to a greater number of Marines. In 2018 we were able to provide programs for close to 50,000 of Today’s Marines, ranging from professional reading and writing to excellence awards and battlefield studies.
Highlights of our support over the last year include sending Marines to battlefields across the globe where Marines have fought so valiantly throughout our history. These are the types of career enhancing programs that have been available to Marines through the past decade, and our ability to provide them is only because of our loyal and generous members and donors. We look forward to even greater success in the next 10 years with your continued assistance.
Corps Voices
MCA&F has partnered with the Marine Corps University to create a podcast capturing key audio interviews from the Marine Corps History Division’s treasure trove of archives. These interviews have been combined with photographs and videos to further enhance the experience. Marines can hear LtGen Lewis “Chesty” Puller personally describe his five years as a company commander in Nicaragua or Gen Alexander Vandegrift discuss the Guadalcanal campaign. Other interviews include General Charles Krulak, Gen Robert Hogaboom, and Gen Alfred Gray Jr. among others. Through MCA&F’s dedicated efforts to gather the materials and resources, we have been able to make these priceless recordings accesible to Marines so that they may be used in events ranging from unit PME and guided discussions to professional reading and self-education.
New MCA&F Website
We invite all our members, donors and friends to visit our new enhanced website www.mca-marines.org and explore the numerous ways we continue to support Today’s Marines and the rest of the Marine Corps family. Faster and easier to navigate, our improved website continues to provide access to our iconic magazines, the Marine Corps Gazette and Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines and to The Marine Shop but now also includes a variety of resources for active duty and veteran devil dogs. Whether it’s signing up for one of our professional events or looking up the details (especially the prize money!) on one of our essay contests, we have everything needed to ensure our visitors can find what they are looking for. A key element of the new site is the enhanced interaction with our members and donors which includes everything from renewing memberships to providing digital input to the magazines or obtaining information on topics ranging from transitioning to the civilian world, researching resources for Marine Corps Ceremonies or discovering upcoming unit reunions. Visit mca-marines.org and see how your professional association is continuing to work to support Today’s Marines!
