Carl Epting Mundy Jr. (July 16, 1935 – April 2, 2014) was a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

four-star general who served as the 30th

Commandant of the Marine Corps Commandant of the Marine Corps may refer to: * Commandant of the Marine Corps (Indonesia) * Commandant of the Netherlands Marine Corps * Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps * Commandant of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps * Commandant of th ...

and a member of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...

from July 1, 1991, until his retirement on June 30, 1995, after 42 years of service. He was notable for his opposition to military service by gay people and for helping to shape the military's "

don't ask, don't tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on Sexual orientation in the United States military, military service of homosexual people. Instituted during the Presidency of Bill Clinton, Clinton administration, the pol ...

" policy of 1993. From 1996 to 2000, Mundy served as president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

. He was also the chairman of the Marine Corps University Foundation, and served on a number of corporate boards.

Early life and education

Mundy was born on July 16, 1935, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. His family moved frequently when he was a young child, settling in Waynesville, North Carolina, when Mundy was about 10 years old. He graduated from

Sidney Lanier High School Sidney Lanier High School was a Public school (government funded), public high school in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. History Established in 1910 on the southern outskirts of downtown Montgomery, Alabama, the school was named for a South ...

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. At age 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Marine career

Mundy enlisted in the

Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Reserve is an expedi ...

and enrolled in the Platoon Leaders Class Program in December 1953 while attending college – serving in the 38th Special Infantry Company,

, and rising to the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in June 1957, following graduation from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

. His later military education included the

Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

and the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...

. Mundy's early assignments included service in the 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division; duty aboard the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

and the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

; instructor at

The Basic School The Basic School (TBS) is where all newly commissioned and appointed (for warrant officers) United States Marine Corps officers are taught the basics of being an "Officer of Marines." The Basic School is located in Stafford County, Virginia to ...

; and as Officer Selection Officer,

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. In 1966–67, Mundy served in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

as operations and

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

of the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, and as an

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

officer in the Headquarters, III Marine Amphibious Force. After the Vietnam War, Mundy's principal assignments were: * Aide de Camp to the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps *Inspector & Instructor, 4th Air-Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, Miami, Florida *Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. *Plans Officer,

Headquarters Marine Corps The Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) is a headquarters staff within the Department of the Navy which includes the offices of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps and various staff functions. The funct ...

*Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, 2nd Marine Division *Chief of Staff, Sixth Marine Amphibious Brigade *Commanding Officer, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division from 27 March 1981 - 30 April 1982 and 36th and 38th Marine Amphibious Units. Following advancement to brigadier general in April 1982, Mundy's assignments were: *Director of Personnel Procurement, Headquarters Marine Corps *Commanding General, Landing Force Training Command,

United States Atlantic Fleet United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, and Commanding General, 4th Marine Amphibious Brigade. In late February and early March 1986, 2nd/4th Marines deployed to Nordland and Troms counties of Norway, near Evenes and Brøstadbotn, as the main US ski-mobile maneuver element of the 4th Marine Amphibious Brigade commanded by then Brigadier General Carl E. Mundy Jr., taking a leading role in the multi-national NATO winter exercise, "Anchor Express". The wintry, subfreezing weather, unprecedented level of snow, and the rugged terrain in the operating area of "Anchor Express" astride Salangenfjord, Faksfjorden and Lavangenfjord tested 2/4's ski-borne Marines to their limits. Such was the deep snow, extremely steep mountains in fjord country and gusty subzero winds that on 5 March 1986, a devastating avalanche in Vassdalen, Nordland, struck 31 fellow-Norwegian soldiers, killing sixteen engineers from the elite Norwegian Army unit Brigade North, many of whose soldiers operating with 2/4 during the exercise. The Vassdalen avalanche was Norway's worst disaster involving the military since the German invasion of Norway (1940). As a result, Norway went into mourning and the force-on-force exercise prematurely ended. *Advanced to Major General in April 1986 *Director of Operations, Plans, Policies and Operations Department, Headquarters Marine Corps *Advanced to Lieutenant General in March 1988 *Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans, Policies and Operations, Headquarters Marine Corps; Operations Deputy to the

*Commanding General of the Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, the

II Marine Expeditionary Force The II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force consisting of ground, air and logistics forces capable of projecting offensive combat power ashore while sustaining itself in combat without external assistance for a ...

, the Allied Command Atlantic Marine Striking Force, and designated to command Fleet Marine Forces which might be employed in Europe *Promoted to General on July 1, 1991 *

from July 1, 1991, to June 30, 1995

Remarks on minority officers

In an October 31, 1993, segment on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

program ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' on the dearth of minority promotions in the U.S. Marine Corps, General Mundy was quoted as saying, "In the military skills, we find that the minority officers do not shoot as well as the non-minorities. They don't swim as well. And when you give them a compass and send them across the terrain at night in a land navigation exercise, they don't do as well at that sort of thing." Mundy, noted for being blunt, though possibly the "victim of selective editing", apologized for "any offense that may have been taken" from his remarks. According to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', the general elaborated on this question at a 1993 commemoration of the

Battle of Iwo Jima The was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, desi ...

, when commenting on

Ira Hayes Ira Hamilton Hayes (January 12, 1923 – January 24, 1955) was an Akimel O'odham American and a United States Marine during World War II. Hayes was an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community, located in Pinal County, Pinal and Mari ...

, he said "Were Ira Hayes here today ... I would tell him that although my words on another occasion have given the impression that I believe some Marines ... because of their color ... are not as capable as other Marines ... that those were not the thoughts of my mind ... and that they are not the thoughts of my heart.

Position on married Marines

Mundy issued an order in 1993 to cut down (and eventually eliminate) the recruitment category for married Marines; the order was rescinded following a public outcry.

Opposition to gay people serving in the military

Mundy was an outspoken opponent of allowing gay people to serve in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. As a compromise with others who were less strongly opposed, Mundy shaped the "

Don't ask, don't tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on Sexual orientation in the United States military, military service of homosexual people. Instituted during the Presidency of Bill Clinton, Clinton administration, the pol ...

" (DADT) policy, a 1993 law stating that self-identified homosexuals are not eligible for military service. Mundy distributed copies of ''

The Gay Agenda "Gay agenda" or "homosexual agenda" is a pejorative term for the normalization of non-heterosexual sexual orientations. The term has been used to disparage advocacy for LGBTQ rights, rooted in the belief that LGBTQ activists seek to recruit h ...

'', a 1992 video asserting that homosexuality is an unnatural sickness, to the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in an effort to persuade them. In a January 1993 meeting with President Clinton and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mundy said that those who admit to being gay or who associate with Gay Pride "will have a negative effect" and that it "fractures teamwork." For a person to "proclaim: I'm gay" is the "same as I'm KKK, Nazi, rapist." Mundy was signatory to an open letter delivered to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and

Members of Congress A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

expressing continued support for DADT. The letter said in part, "We believe that imposing this burden on our men and women in uniform would undermine recruiting and retention, impact leadership at all echelons, have adverse effects on the willingness of parents who lend their sons and daughters to military service, and eventually break the All-Volunteer Force." However unlike the 34th commandant, General James T. Conway, Mundy has said that if the restriction were repealed the troops should not be segregated.

Awards and decorations

Mundy's awards include: *Mundy also held several awards of both the Rifle and Pistol Expert Badges. *Note: The gold US Navy Parachute Rigger badge was worn unofficially by USMC personnel in place of US Army parachutist badge from 1942 to 1963 before it officially became the Navy and Marine Corps Parachutist insignia on July 12, 1963, per BuPers Notice 1020. Members of the Marine Corps who attended jump school before 1963 were issued the silver Army parachutist badge but may be depicted wearing the gold Navy Parachute Rigger badge as it was common practice during this time period.

Personal life

Mundy was married and had three children – two sons and a daughter. Both sons were United States Marine Corps officers. One, Carl E. Mundy III, is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general.

Death

Mundy died of

Merkel cell carcinoma Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive skin cancer occurring in about three people per million members of the population. It is also known as cutaneous APUDoma, Primary tumor, primary neuroendocrine tumor, neuroendocrine carcinoma ...

at his home in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

, on April 2, 2014, at the age of 78. A memorial service was held for Mundy on April 12 at the Marine Corps War Memorial in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. His funeral and burial service, at First United Methodist Church and Greenhill Cemetery respectively, were held on April 19 in Waynesville, North Carolina.. Published April 27, 2014. Accessed 2018-02-28.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mundy, Carl E. Jr. 1935 births 2014 deaths General Dynamics Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War United States Marine Corps Commandants United States Marine Corps generals Auburn University alumni Naval War College alumni American recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam) Commanders of the Legion of Honour Grand Crosses of Naval Merit Grand Crosses of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin Recipients of the Decoration of Merit Military personnel from Atlanta United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Deaths from Merkel-cell carcinoma