The Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps (ACMC) is the second highest-ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps, and serves as a deputy for the Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC). Before 1946, the title was known as Assistant to the Commandant.
The Assistant Commandant is appointed by the President of the United States and must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate. In the event that the Commandant is absent or is unable to perform his duties, the Assistant Commandant assumes the duties and responsibilities of the Commandant. For this reason, the Assistant Commandant is appointed to a rank equal to the sitting Commandant; since 1971, each Assistant Commandant has been, by statute, a four-star general, making it the most common rank held among Marines serving this position. Additionally, he may perform other duties that the CMC assigns to him. Historically, the Assistant Comandant has served for two to three years.
The 33rd and current Assistant Commandant is John M. Paxton, Jr., who took office on 15 December 2012, when Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. vacated the office to become the sitting Commandant. The first Marine to hold the billet as "Assistant to the Commandant" was Eli K. Cole (Allen H. Turnage being the last), while Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. was the first to hold it as the "Assistant Commandant".
Famous quotes containing the words commandant, united, states, marine and/or corps:
“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”
—Donn Pearce, U.S. writer, and Stuart Rosenberg. Camp commandant (Strother Martin)
“... it is probable that in a fit of generosity the men of the United States would have enfranchised its women en masse; and the government now staggering under the ballots of ignorant, irresponsible men, must have gone down under the additional burden of the votes which would have been thrown upon it, by millions of ignorant, irresponsible women.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)
“I believe the citizens of Marion County and the United States want to have judges who have feelings and who are human beings.”
—Paula Lopossa, U.S. judge. As quoted in the New York Times, p. B9 (May 21, 1993)
“God has a hard-on for a Marine because we kill everything we see. He plays His game, we play ours.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
“L’amour pour lui, pour le corps humain, c’est de même un intérêt extrêmement humanitaire et une puissance plus éducative que toute la pédagogie du monde!”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)