The Marine Corps commandant apologized for suggesting on network television that minority officers do not shoot, swim or use compasses as well as whites.
Gen. Carl Mundy made the remarks Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes" program during a segment concerning allegations of racism and a lack of promotions for minority officers in the Marine Corps. Mundy's comments drew demands for an apology and retraction from several black leaders.Asked Tuesday about the controversy, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Michael Doubleday read a statement saying Mundy "regrets any offense that may have been taken by his statements."
Doubleday said Navy Secretary John Dalton, the civilian chief of the Marine Corps, has no plans to discipline Mundy.
However, the Navy captain said, Dalton has ordered "a complete review on the recruitment, retention and promotion of minorities, both officer and enlisted, in the naval service."
Dalton "would like to see more minorities in positions of leadership" in the Navy and Marine Corps and wanted the study "to examine the process and to determine how we can achieve that objective," Doubleday said.
The Defense Department "is totally committed to equal opportunity for all individuals," he said.
Earlier this year, Mundy also stirred public protests when he attempted to bar married recruits from the corps but was forced by Defense Secretary Les Aspin to rescind the order.
On the TV program Sunday, Mundy said promotion in the Marine Corps "has to do with performance," according to a transcript provided by the Pentagon.
"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 said.