7th Marine Regiment
Prepare To March!
The original 7th Marines motto, "Prepared to March," first appeared in 1971. The 7th Marines had returned from Vietnam. Conditions were, as many of us can remember, somewhat adventurous in garrison than they are today. The Regiment was in its former home at Camp Pendleton.
The officers and senior Marines of the regiment had developed that distinctive camaraderie that is unique to organizations recently tested in the crucible of combat. They trained hard and, word has it, played pretty hard too. They were a tightly knit group, with a fierce pride in their regiment and in each other. The combination of all these factors could be daunting to outsiders.
The officers assigned to assume command of the regiment that day was distinguished in their own right, and well known to many of the senior officers of the regiment. The regiment's officers perhaps presumed that their new commander would follow the old hands' lead until some indeterminate time in the future when he was "seasoned".
The change of command ceremony proceeded in unremarkable fashion. When the newly assigned commander made his remarks, he was brief, to the point, and courteous, as was his reputation. At the close of his remarks to the assembled Marines, he commanded: "Prepare to March." Not much thought was given to that at the time, as all were anxious to start the scheduled reception and celebration.
The reception and celebration were a huge success. So much so that, many hours later, the hall was still full of revelers, including many of the regimental staff.
Sometime late that night the regimental duty officer received a call from his new commander. The message was simple and direct: "Recall the regiment. Be prepared to step off at first light." Legend has it that the regimental duty officer had to make only one call to notify the vast majority of the regiment's officers, who in turn recalled the Marines under their charge.
In compliance with the commander's directive and intent, the regiment, with a newfound respect for their commander's seemingly casual words, stepped off at first light into a brisk 25-mile hike up the mountain to Case Springs. The command chronology fails to make any mention of the state of morale at the march's beginning. At any rate, at the hike's successful completion, the regiment and its new commander had reached an understanding that was to serve them well in the future.
The current motto, "Prepare to March" is nostalgic of this story and conveys the regiment's constant vigilance and readiness to march into battle. It was used unofficially beginning in 1989 and was registered with the Commandant of the Marine Corps in April 1996.
