The Sociology of Marine Corps ROTC Midshipmen

I chose to observe the MO (Marine Option) Platoon at the University of Virginia – specifically, I watched them during their morning work outs. The MO’s are technically a part of the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University, but they stand alone from the larger network as their own entity. This group has its own set of formalized operations procedures, as well as their physical identity to which all member of the group must ascribe. The MO Platoon consists of 13 college students ranging from first years to fourth years, and two active duty Marines – Major Pfeiffer and Gunnery Sergeant Sweeney (otherwise, and affectionately, known as: “the Major” and “Gunny”). Therefore, this group performs as an organization in many instances but is often simply an encounter between individuals, as well. This may strike the reader as contradictory; however, the nature of the ROTC beast allows it to function as both in different circumstances. In fact, this Platoon is so interesting primarily because it employs norms from both extremes of the ritualistic continuum of which Durkheim speaks; for example: very high ritual density such that the ties between members are very deep, yet low ritual density is seen where the members still identify as college students with individual discretion. Overall, the MO Platoon’s mission is to train future Marine Corps officers and build better citizens.

The physical setting of these morning PT sessions varies, but in most cases, the platoon “musters” (meets) at 0550 in Maury Hall. This is a large building on the campus of UVA and contains an open, lobby-like area in the entrance of the building. This roughly 80ft by 20ft lobby is where the MO’s meet, stretch, step off for their activity of the morning, meet again when they are finished, and the place from which they are ultimately dismissed. Typically, the platoon meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 0550 in the lobby of Maury. There can be variations of this schedule and muster point, but for the purpose of this paper we will assume Maury as the central point. Usually the exchange is required to end by 0730 – this is referred to as the “drop dead time.” Maury is a public building, and is concurrently used for non-ROTC activities. However, the time of morning at which the group usually meets is so early that the group tends to have a feeling of privacy because almost no one else outside the group is ever present, even though they are in public place. Uniforms consisting of green running shorts and a T-shirt (and sweats with USMC on them if the weather dictates) are always worn to MOPT (Marine Option Physical Training). The uniform clothing serves to symbolically unite the group through creating a sense of likeness to one another, while likewise making them stand apart from outsiders.

This social system contains numerous regularities which are readily observable first of all, there is an established hierarchy within the group, along which lines the regular routine of the morning follows. At the top of the student chain of command within the MO Platoon is MOLO (Marine Officer Leadership Officer), who is Brain Donlon. Below him is the Platoon Sergeant, who is Sarah Plummer; she is ultimately responsible for the goings on of the morning and the accountability of each member of the platoon. She speaks directly to the three Fire Team Leaders (Eckert, Morse, and Reinbolt) who in turn have 3 to 5 Fire Team members below them in command. Overseeing all the students are Major Pfeiffer (the Marine Officer Instructor (aka: MOI)) and GySt Sweeney (the Assistant MOI). During morning MOPT, they characteristically play a peripheral role – as opposed to their more heavy-handed behavior in other ROTC activities –unless unexpected events mandate otherwise.

Plummer (every MO is referred to by their last name) enters the building at about 0540 and waits quietly while everyone else arrives. At 0550, she says, “Fire Team Leaders, are you up?” At this point, each Fire Team Leader has already counted to see if their 3-5 people are there. If all member of the FT are present, the FT leaders walks up to Plummer and states, “First (or Second or Third) Fire Team is up.” Once each FT has been accounted for, Plummer directs, “Everyone outside!” Once outside on the cement area – about 20x30ft – she commands, “Fall in!” Now, the first FT leader walks around to the right side of Plummer, steps off on his right foot three paces then flanks left three paces and faces Plummer (the Plt Sgt). At this juncture, all other members of the Platoon fall in with the remaining two FT leaders behind the first, and with each FT extended to the left of their leader. Everyone finds their spacing and alignment by raising their left arm straight out until the person on their left has inched over to where their shoulder is just touching the fingertips of the person to their right. This alignment process takes about en second or less if the group is proficient. Everyone then lowers their arms (without a command) and stands at attention facing the Plt Sgt. Plummer then commands, “Report!” The response is as follows: “First Fire Team, all present! Second Fire Team, all present! Third Fire Team, all present!” from each FT leader.

If the Plt Sgt is the one leading the Platoon through stretches that morning, she will immediately proceed with the command, “Right face!” If someone else has been designated to lead stretches that morning, Plummer will say, “Last Name X, front and center.” The person who was called breaks out of line, walks quickly toward the Plt Sgt and stops, at attention, less than a foot in front of Plummer. They stand much closer together than two people normally would, thus breaking typical spatial norms. Plummer will tell the MO quietly, “Take control of the platoon and lead them through stretches.” The response is a simple, “Yes, ma’am.” The Plt Sgt then walks off and enters the ranks where the other MO left. The MO at the front is temporarily in command. He or she will say, “Right face!” and then walk briskly within six paces off the front of the platoon and stop to face the platoon. Finally, he will begin the stretches and exercises of the day.

Once the stretching is complete, the Plt Sgt reassumes command (if necessary) and tellst he platoon to fall out. At this point, everyone is given five minutes to get water and strip whatever sweats or uniform items they don’t feel like wearing for the impending exercise. During the stretches, everyone must be exactly uniform. In the winter months, this means sweatpants, sweatshirt, black watch cap, and black gloves are worn; but, if even one person forgets their watch cap or sweatshirt, then everyone must go without. An instance of forgetfulness happened more than once, and if it was cold outside, the response by the rest of the platoon was unfavorable – it would socially accepted per the norms of the group to harshly lambaste the guilty person. After the stretches are completed, however, an individual-effort run of some sort usually ensues and each MO is allowed to wear whatever parts of the uniform they feel necessary. When the five minutes are up, everyone must go back outside to the cement area in front of Maury where they are briefed on the run route, asked if there are any questions, and then everyone takes off running.

In total, the segment of MOPT I just described only takes fifteen minutes at the most. There are so many more actions that this group assumes, but for this paper we will only focus on this 10-15 minute window. Even in this short amount of time, one can see how the roles assumed by the participants affect the exchange. Precisely because society, according to Herr Fuchs, consists of exchanges between persons’ statuses or roles, the dynamic of this group is, thus, fully affected. There is blatant stratification which is assumed to be a natural and acceptable essence of the group. Through these ten minutes, one participant (the Plt Sgt) has more power than the others (the rest of the Platoon) even though all members are about eh same age. The power hierarchy is the very lifeblood of who this system is organized. Every morning, every single member of the Platoon arrives fully expecting the same thing to happen and to have the same person in charge. The message reinforced to the members is that stratification and order is what makes things run smoothly – and that this is the right way to do things.

However, things do not always run as smoothly as they’re supposed to. Often there is (literally) background noise with which the Plt Sgt must compete. Naturally, this noise comes from the other members of the platoon who are engaging in some kind of horseplay. If they are being particular rowdy, or the Plt Sgt has not fully established his or herself as a strong leader, this boisterous activity will lead towards entropy. Earlier in the semester when Plummer was brand new to the role of PltSgt, this breakdown of the system occurred a few times. People would arrive late, be loud, or not listen to her when she commanded “everyone outside now!” After a couple of weeks of being in charge, she proved herself to the platoon and, thus, gained their respect. Only then was her power justified in the minds of her peers, and only then did they fully cooperate and obey her commands. This shows that although this hierarchy is set up prior to it being filled by the actual people, it is not always followed in practice as automatically. The leader must gain legitimacy before they have full control over the group. Because the identity of the participating actors as members of this group is so strong, though, the entropy will not be extreme. Each one of them ultimately knows where they fit into the social-professional structure and are usually accepting of it.

The MO Platoon at the University of Virginia thrice weekly participates in a very structured, hierarchical group environment which shapes the members and the interactions between them. In many ways, this group assumes a character like Durkheim’s high ritual density model – the group is small, the boundaries are firm, there are many face to face interactions, it is very clear who is or is not a member, and it is hard to get in and out of the group. However, this tightly knit group contains a hierarchy typical of a bureaucracy that Weber describes – lots of rules and regulations, very efficient and effective procedures, and it follows a rational system that makes it superior to others (in the eyes of the members). From observing only a very small portion of what this group does together, many norms, regularities, and power dynamics are revealed.

*to read more by this author, please check out www.sempersarah.com.