Gen. Louis Wilson, 85; Led Marine Corps’ Transition to Volunteer Force
LA Times
Gen. Louis Hugh Wilson, a Medal of Honor recipient in World War II who was commandant of the Marine Corps in the post-Vietnam era — and made it harder to join and remain in the Corps — has died. He was 85.
Wilson died Tuesday at his home in Birmingham, Ala., the Marine Corps announced.
Moments after becoming their new leader June 30, 1975, Wilson said, “I call on all Marines to get in step and do so smartly.”
He planned to raise the requirements to join — he wanted at least 75% of enlistees to be high school graduates, because they had “already proved they can stick it through” — and required dropouts to earn the equivalent of an A on qualifying tests. In 1975, less than 50% of Marines had high school diplomas; by 1977 the portion was 69%.
When other branches of the military were letting hair creep toward the collar and allowing sideburns, Wilson would have none of it. He placed renewed emphasis on combat readiness, discipline and personal bearing.
“If I see a fat Marine, he’s got a problem, and so does his commanding officers,” a fit 55-year-old Wilson told Associated Press a month after being named commandant.
Even Marines who had served for years would be forced out if they didn’t shape up.
Then-Defense Secretary James R. Schlesinger told of an old “gunny” who lost 13 pounds just by keeping the commandant’s picture on the refrigerator door, according to a 2003 article on Wilson in Leatherneck magazine.
The rededication to what Wilson called the fundamentals of military training and deportment when the Marines were making a transition to an all-volunteer force is still felt within today’s Corps, in which 98% of enlistees are high school graduates.
