The Marine Corps is streamlining how its commands report protests, extremism and gang activity among Marines, according to an administrative message released late last month, issues that each of the military services have long struggled with.
Marine commands must verbally report instances of alleged extremist or gang activity directly to the Marine Corps headquarters’ operation center within 30 minutes of being informed of the incident, the new message said. That initial notification is then followed by a more detailed report in the following day or days, depending on the rank of the alleged offender.
The message intends to improve reporting requirements and address instances of the prohibited activities among Marines, the service confirmed to Military.com on Thursday. It was spurred by 2021 legislation that tasked the Pentagon with addressing “act[s] or threat[s] of violence” with ideological aims.
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The updated policy places responsibility in the hands of commanders to report extremist or gang activity, but is also overseen by other entities such as legal authorities and investigative services. The guidance aims to bring reports of potentially violent activity to the highest levels of Marine Corps command by giving commanders a direct line to the service’s headquarters.
“When you put reporting requirements on paper for those in positions of…
