• From our National Executive Director Follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/usyoungmarines and our national homepage www.youngmarines.com Greetings, Young Marines! I am constantly seeking new ways to improve our program, your Young Marine experience, and support to those who support you. That’s why I am particularly excited that many of the Headquarters initiatives have moved from the theoretical and planning stages to the production stage. Yes, it takes time and that can be frustrating, but when we implement much needed modifications, updates, and initiatives, we want them to reflect feedback from the field and insure that they meet a standard of excellence that I expect from your Headquarters staff and that you deserve. Our first product is a revised Recruit Guidebook. We have updated the guidebook and produced all the supporting instructional materials to reduce the workload of our Adult Volunteers and Young Marines running recruit training. We are also producing various training plans to help units with running their recruit training class- es. There will be changes to the Recruit Instructor course coming as well. This effort will continue as we update each guidebook over the next 2 years. The Basic Guide Book review is already under- way to be completed by the end of summer. Each guidebook will be enhanced with lesson plans and presentation materials which will simplify instruc- tion, standardize content, and increase comprehen- sion. Everything will be available electronically, but we will still publish the hard copies. We have enhanced our National Leadership Acad- emy by modifying and updating curriculum as well as extending physical fitness experiences. These changes will be reflected in our regional schools as we move forward. You will be challenged in every way, so improve your knowledge and leadership abilities by attending your appropriate leadership school as soon as able. Our staff has worked hard to increase the number of seats at National Leadership Academy and it will be our biggest group ever. Our next graduating classes will return with more tools to share with their units and more confidence than ever! For our adults reading this article, we continue to seek improvements to our Adult Leadership Conferences (ALC) based on feedback from our Volunteers. Our ALC partners at XMM and DES have helped upgrade our registration process and we have a line-up of great instructors. I trust that those Registered Adults attending have noted the ease of registration and advanced course selection. Our emphasis is on communications and education this year. They will be bringing back a wealth of information to share with other Adult Volunteers and Young Marines. Lastly, Young Marines. I’d like to introduce you to some new names at Headquarters Young Marines who have brought an enthusiasm and zeal for pro- grammatic transformation to further support our program volunteers. Our new Director of Operations is Mr. Jeremy Jones. Also new to the operations team are Ms. Storme DiGiovanni and Ms. Heather Schmidt. If these names sound familiar it is because they com- peted and were selected from Young Marine Units. Both Ms. DiGiovanni and Ms. Schmitt were Young Marines and Adult Volunteers whom many of you met at the National Leadership Academy. Our new Director of Education may be unfamiliar, but brings a professional, curriculum based pro- spective to our staff. Ms. Kayla Nakano has served as a high school educator and will soon complete her Masters in curriculum development. Mr. Jason Asbill has been selected to head the Young Marines Alumni. Under his leadership they have enhanced the Michael B. Kessler Scholar- ship program and association benefits. Please visit www.youngmarines.com to put faces to these names. Their contact information is also listed, and I know that they would appreciate a word of welcome from you. Semper Fi, Col Bill Davis, USMC (Ret) National Executive Director, Young Marines New Ways to Improve the Young Marines Experience 2 YOUNG MARINES ESPRIT ONLINE Taken at LAX, on our way to the Reunion of Honor.