NAPLES, Italy—For Marine pilot Capt. Dave Haines, everything about a recent landing exercise in the Persian Gulf was routine — even if the ship and crew weren’t.
Only after Haines touched his tilt-rotor Osprey to the landing deck and climbed out was he reminded that the USS Ponce, a former amphibious ship now used as a platform for countermine and special operations, was run by civilian mariners.
“I’ll put it this way, you’d have never known … until you get the green light, get out and see guys with beards and long hair,” Haines said.
Clean-shaven Marines like Haines can expect to work alongside civilians more often in the years ahead if the Corps gets its way.