OUR VISION The Marine Corps Mustang Association serves as the primary advocate promoting the initiatives, and values inherent within Marine Officers, possessing prior Marine Corps enlisted experience.

OUR MISSIONMCMA vision will be achieved through Mustang Outreach, Social and Professional Networking, Professional Mentoring, Transition Social Interaction. The principal purpose of the Marine Corps Mustang Association is to advocate and provide career enhancing support for Marine Officers, and Associate Members from other military services who have enlisted Marine Corps experience. We are an organization made up primarily of Mustang Officers who have a wide breadth proven successful military and civilian experience. We do this by mentoring, networking, and facilitating relationships that assist Mustang officers in their careers and civilian transitions. We provide a venue for sharing lessons-learned in occupational fields and industry initiatives that support the mission of the USMC.

History On 10 November 1985, Captain Robert E. Richter, USMC (Ret) founded The Marine Corps Mustang Association, Inc. (MCMA), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The MCMA is a full member of and participant in the National Marine Corps Council of Agencies. Since sometime before 1935, the term "Mustang" has been used by the United States Sea Services to denote enlisted men who worked their way up the ranks to officer status. Now, of course, women Marine officers with prior Marine Corps enlisted service are also Mustangs. Going back to the Middle Ages, there was always a distinction between officers and men in the ranks which amounted to a caste system. Shakespeare in his Henry V exemplifies this when he has a sentry hail, "Art thou officer? Or art thou base, common and popular?" In its proper sense, "Mustang" referred to the wild or half wild horse of the American plains, especially of Mexico and California, and was a distortion of the Spanish term ''Mestengo''. "Mestengo" is the name/title of the MCMA Newsletter.

What is a Marine Mustang? Any Marine, after having served on active duty in the enlisted ranks of the United States Marine Corps or Marine Corps Reserve, has risen to the officer ranks, and further served as a commissioned or warrant officer on

either active duty or reserve status. The title includes all such Marines: active duty, reserve, retired, and/or honorably discharged. The title of a Marine of this status is, and shall evermore be ... MUSTANG! "There is no honor greater than to be called "Mustang". You have long epitomized the warrior virtues of courage, devotion to duty, sacrifice, and imaginative leadership." To learn more visit www.MarineCorpsMustang.org

General Alfred M. Gray USMC, 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps is a Mustang