Jacksonville, Fla. --
U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. William Bowers, deputy commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, discussed recruiting, retention and workforce readiness May 14 in Florida, where service members, civilians and contractors support Marine Corps operations worldwide.
“This command is punching way above its weight,” Bowers said after meeting leaders across Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island. “They’re doing great work for the Corps and having a great impact.”
After an initial meeting with Marine Corps Col. David Merles, commanding officer of Blount Island Command, Bowers discussed talent management, modernization and support for Marines and families. Speaking to leaders gathered inside a clamshell expeditionary structure, he emphasized sustaining recruiting and retention success and placing the right Marines in the right billets at the right time.
“Our civilian Marines contribute just as much to the mission as our active duty, and you really see it in a command like this,” Bowers said. “There’s other ways to serve—if you want to keep contributing to the team, Blount Island is a wonderful place to do it.”
The military-led facility, staffed by more than 1,000 civilians and contractors, provides veterans a pathway to continue serving while preserving institutional knowledge critical to global readiness and reinforcing ties to the local military and veteran community. The Jacksonville area, home to multiple military bases, includes nearly 150,000 veterans, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Bowers said retention remains one of the clearest indicators that the Marine Corps is meeting Marines’ expectations. He encouraged Marines to speak with career counselors immediately about reenlistment, noting record-high lateral moves are improving military occupational specialty health across the force.
He also discussed modernized personnel systems and integrated digital tools that improve career progression and family readiness, and highlighted Marine Corps Total Fitness, a leadership strategy designed to strengthen readiness and resilience across mental, physical, social and spiritual domains.
Before departing the installation, Bowers toured the USNS Sgt. William R. Button, a maritime prepositioning ship operated by Military Sealift Command, and viewed Blount Island’s staging lots, maintenance areas and port operations from the vessel’s weather deck.
Spanning more than 1,200 acres along the St. Johns River with access to the Atlantic Ocean, Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island includes a 1,000-foot slipway and high-capacity rail-mounted crane. Its workforce loads and offloads Navy vessels to sustain forward-deployed capability and global readiness ashore and afloat.