Marine Corps Commandant Conway sets new martial arts requirements

Marines with Taqaddum Surgical, 1st Marine Logistics Group practice a Marine Corps Martial Arts (MCMA) leg sweep in December. To achieve the tan belt, Marines attend classes a few hours every day for two weeks.

Nearly seven years after the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program began, tens of thousands of Marines still have not earned their entry-level tan qualification belt.

The commandant signed a Corps-wide message Monday to change that.

Tan belt qualification — the first in a training sequence that progresses through gray, green, brown and black belt certification — will be required by year’s end, according to AlMar 34/07.

Commandant Gen. James Conway’s message also raised the bar on war fighters, requiring all infantrymen to earn green belts and everyone in combat arms fields, such as artillery, tanks and amphibious assault vehicles, to reach gray belt certification by the end of 2008.

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