Sgt. Maj. Ronald L. Green relieved Sgt. Maj. Micheal Barrett as the 18th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Feb. 20, 2015 at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ally Beiswanger/Released)
Sgt. Maj. Ronald L. Green relieved Sgt. Maj. Micheal Barrett as the 18th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Feb. 20, 2015.
Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. chose Sgt. Maj. Green for his leadership skills and dedication to his Marines.
“His dynamic leadership is well known throughout the ranks of our Corps. His wide range of experience in both peacetime and combat, and his record of performance make him extraordinarily well-qualified to serve as our senior enlisted leader,” Dunford said.
Here are five things you might not know about him.
Fast Burner
Green has been meritoriously promoted an impressive five times (there are only six ranks an enlisted Marine can be meritoriously promoted to). That’s meritorious private first class, lance corporal, corporal, sergeant, and staff sergeant.
Green attributes his success to the leaders who have helped pave the way.
“The great leaders around me have influenced me, mentored me, and given me pointers on how to succeed,” Green said. “From the day I went to boot camp, to working with Sgt. Maj. Barrett.”
Tony Hawk
Believe it or not, Green loves to skateboard. Getting out on his board is one of his ways of spending quality time with his children.
While he won’t be headed to the X Games anytime soon, it’s still an activity he enjoys today.
“I’ve been skating since I was a young boy, and my kids skateboard, too, so I get out there every now again and hop a curve, but I get off real quick,” Green said.” My wife tells me not to.”
King of the Road
If Sgt. Maj. Green wasn’t in the Marine Corps, he said he could see himself as a truck driver.
When he made the move from Camp Pendleton to the Pentagon, he elected to drive his personal vehicle across the country instead of flying, taking advantage of the time on the road to listen to a recording of himself reading the Commandant’s Planning Guidance — a suggestion from his daughter.
“I love driving,” Green said. “That’s my time out there on the road.”
Power of the Blues
Green grew up in a military family. His father served in the Army and his grandfather in the Air Force. Green went to college before deciding he wasn’t ready for it at the time.
At that point, he could’ve joined any branch of service, but he joined the Marine Corps.
“I saw the dress blues, the 8th and I guys and I just wanted a chance to be a part of that,” Green said. “It was a chance to be a part of the greatest team in the world.”
Wolf Pack
One of Green’s leadership inspirations comes from the Law for Wolves in Rudyard Kipling’s “The Second Jungle Book.”
“Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;
For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”
Green lives by this motto, which is why he believes in leading ‘through the eyes of the private.’
“Mission first, Marines always,” said Green. “I start with the private because if you can represent that Marine, you can represent everyone up to the general or admiral.”
