Gen. Eric M. Smith, the recently installed commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, has been hospitalized after experiencing what the Marine Corps said was a “medical emergency” over the weekend, officials said Monday.
His condition wasn’t immediately known and Marine Corps officials did not identify the hospital where he is recuperating. They said additional information would be released at a later time.
Gen. Smith was nominated in May 2023 to succeed Gen. David H. Berger as commandant of the Marine Corps. He became acting commandant upon his predecessor’s retirement in July. His nomination was delayed by Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s hold on military nominees. He was confirmed by a unanimous 96-0 vote on Sept. 21, 2023, and sworn in the next day.
The general hinted at a heavy workload at an early September roundtable with journalists, serving as both the assistant commandant and acting commandant as the Tuberville holds were in effect.
“Nobody should feel bad for me,” Gen. Smith told reporters then, according to an account in the Marine Corps Times. “I make plenty of money, and nobody usually yells at me, so that’s good. But it is not a sustainable thing when the last thing you do is flip your computer off at 11:30 at night and you’re getting up at 5 o’clock in the morning.”
U.S.M.C. Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, will serve as acting commandant in the interim, officials said.
Gen. Smith attended the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington on Sunday. He was scheduled to give a presentation on his vision for the service as China has emerged as the nation’s top military challenge, but the Center for a New American Security, the think tank which was going to host the Wednesday event, announced on Monday that it was being postponed.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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