Emotional Intelligence Training in the Marine Corps

Introduction: The Case for Emotional Intelligence in the Military

During World War II, Army Lieutenant General Patton was visiting a hospital in Sicily. On 3 August 1943, he came upon a soldier named Private Charles Kuhl and, upon examining him, found no physical signs of wounds. The General asked him what was wrong, and the private responded, "I guess I can't take it." Kuhl had been diagnosed with psychoneurosis — battle fatigue. General Patton, enraged, smacked him in the face and called him a coward. This story illustrates precisely why emotional intelligence training matters in the military.

Valerie Hodgson discusses the evolving concept of emotional intelligence (EI) skills in the Marines in her paper "Training Marine Leaders: The New Challenges of 21st Century Leadership" (Marine Corps Gazette, 2013, pp. 61–64). The military as a whole, regardless of branch, is run like a machine, and the unfortunate reality is that only the bare minimum training is required to get men and women onto the battlefield. As our military has evolved through two world wars and countless counterterrorism missions, the Marine Corps has finally recognized that war affects a person emotionally. It leaves obvious marks — physical scars, missing limbs, and more casualties than one would like to count — but it also leaves invisible scars. Although we want physically strong and agile service members on the battlefield, we also want healthy and speedy recoveries during post-deployment, not just physically but mentally.

Marines tend to be a very proud branch, largely because of their history and the rigor of their training. This pride sets them apart from other branches and gives them warranted confidence; many Marines have alpha-type personalities and natural leadership instincts. With this culture, however, comes the stigma that emotions are a sign of weakness. Teaching Marines EI will allow them to feel more comfortable connecting with fellow Marines on emotional topics. It will also help them understand that stress is natural and that avoiding it often makes things worse. Educating Marine leaders on the four components of EI will allow them to push past this cultural stigma and become more effective leaders.

The Four Components of Emotional Intelligence

The four main components of emotional intelligence are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

Self-awareness simply allows a Marine to understand their emotions and why those emotions are developing in a particular way. This may be one of the greatest fears a leader faces: suddenly feeling "weak" or somehow cowardly, not knowing how to express that feeling, or believing they must suppress it entirely. Self-awareness is foundational to overcoming these fears and growing as a leader.

Self-management allows Marines to control their emotions rather than lashing out in anger. Together with self-awareness, self-management helps Marines process difficult experiences and make sounder decisions. After a hard day, the impulse may be to express frustration loudly — and while that outlet might work for one Marine, others may misread it and bottle up their own emotions in response.

Social awareness allows Marines to be more understanding and empathetic toward their peers. This enables them to offer emotional support, friendship, and genuine care when a fellow Marine is feeling lost or isolated — and potentially to connect with someone else who is experiencing the same thing.

Relationship management refers to Marines maintaining strong working relationships with their teammates. Trust is essential to every Marine's survival, and without healthy relationships, that trust is difficult to build. Counterinsurgency missions are inherently unpredictable; even the best plans can unravel. The military functions as a team — its members struggle together and succeed together. This shared experience draws Marines closer and makes them more efficient. During the downtime between missions, Marines get to know one another personally, often coming to regard the person beside them as a sibling. Losing that brother or sister in battle, or watching fear on their face while trying to keep them alive, leaves a mark that cannot be erased from memory. If a Marine is unable to cope with that experience, they may lash out, harm themselves, or suppress their feelings entirely until they break. Teaching EI skills encourages Marines to seek healthier stress-management options before that breaking point is reached.

Deployment Stress and the Whole Soldier

EI training is a unique approach to helping Marines, soldiers, airmen, and sailors become more resilient, given that deployment is an extraordinarily stressful situation. Even when not actively out on a mission, a service member may be stationed at a base that is mortared every day. A moving target is harder to hit; a fixed base is not. Those personnel are effectively sitting ducks, and that reality creates its own persistent anxiety.

Beyond physical danger, service members must also worry about their lives back home — bills, children, and families who depend on them to return safely. This dimension of stress is one that most observers tend to overlook. Many people see a uniform and what it represents without remembering that the person wearing it lives a life much like their own. A service member has a great deal to manage, and until recently the military has not paid much attention to that burden, operating in a mechanical way in which emotions are deprioritized because the mission is considered greater than the individual.

The military is beginning to understand, however, that the mission cannot be completed without its people — which means retaining those people is essential. A healthy work environment motivates and encourages Marines to succeed and to serve the Corps more effectively.

Conclusion: Faithful to the Marines

Hodgson's most important point was this: "Like it or not, humans are emotional animals and not robots." That statement captures the entire rationale for EI training. Without acknowledging the emotional dimension of each Marine, we are not acknowledging the whole Marine. We want our Marines to leave the Corps knowing they were treated as family and given every opportunity to become the best leaders they could be through all available means.

War is ever-evolving, and our Marines must evolve with it. Through EI skill training, every Marine can improve not only themselves but the Marine Corps as an institution. The Corps motto is Semper Fidelis — "Always Faithful." Marines are called to be always faithful to the Corps; it is time for the Marine Corps to demonstrate how it can be faithful to its Marines.