New commander takes helm as Marine Corps logistics adapts to evolving battlefield

ALBANY — As the Marine Corps prepares for an era of contested logistics and great-power competition, one of its most important logistics organizations officially welcomed new leadership July 2.

Brig. Gen. Kevin G. Collins assumed leadership of Marine Corps Logistics Command during a change of command ceremony at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany. Collins succeeds Maj. Gen. Keith D. Reventlow after four years leading the organization responsible for sustaining Marine forces around the globe.

Presiding over the ceremony was Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Sklenka, deputy commandant for Installations and Logistics, who made clear that Albany’s role extends far beyond southwest Georgia.

“You’re looking at the heartbeat of that right here for the Marine Corps,” Sklenka said. “This is the Marine Corps’ sole depot. When we have to go fight bad guys, this is where everything gets put back together.”

The traditional passing of the organizational colors marked the formal transfer of authority, responsibility and accountability from Reventlow to Collins.

Sklenka said Collins was hand-selected by Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith to lead the command at a pivotal moment as the service adapts to changing warfare and increasingly contested global supply chains.

“You could not have had a better guy coming in here,” Sklenka told the workforce. “You’ve got a Marine who was personally selected by the commandant of the Marine Corps to lead this wonderful organization.”

The outgoing commander leaves Albany for one of the military’s most influential logistics positions as director for logistics, Joint Staff J-4 at the Pentagon.

During his remarks, Sklenka credited Reventlow with transforming the command during a period when military planners increasingly recognized they could no longer assume unrestricted access to ports, shipping lanes and airfields in a future conflict.

“Things have changed,” Sklenka said. “Not only will we be contested every step of the way getting into the fight, we’ll be contested even back here.”

He praised Reventlow for expanding advanced manufacturing capabilities, modernizing information technology and advancing the Marine Corps’ Global Positioning Network, calling the initiative potentially his “defining” contribution.

“Your work with the Global Positioning Network may be potentially your defining moment — not just because of what you’ve done, but what you’ve set up for the future,” Sklenka said.

For Reventlow, the ceremony was an opportunity to reflect on four years overseeing a workforce of nearly 4,000 Marines, civilians and contractors.

Among the accomplishments he highlighted was Marine Corps Logistics Command’s role in helping the Marine Corps achieve three consecutive clean, unmodified financial audits, a milestone years in the making.

The Albany-based command manages approximately one-quarter of the Marine Corps’ military equipment and roughly one-quarter of its operating materials and supplies while maintaining inventory accuracy exceeding Department of Defense standards.

“Had we failed, the Marine Corps would never have achieved a clean, unmodified opinion,” Reventlow said. “It has been a Herculean effort. … It was accomplished by the hard-working, dedicated workforce who always endeavor to improve.”

Reventlow also pointed to Project Leatherneck, an initiative to centralize and streamline management of Marines’ individual combat equipment, and to expanding maintenance support directly alongside deployed Marine Expeditionary Forces in the Indo-Pacific.

“That’s why this command truly exists, to ensure Marines will prevail when standing in harm’s way,” he said. “No matter what, it’s all about the Marines.”

Before leaving the podium, Reventlow took time to recognize Albany’s long-standing partnership with the installation.

“We cannot support Marines without our community,” he said. “A relevant LOGCOM means a more ready and lethal Marine Corps.”

Collins arrives in Albany after serving with the 3rd Marine Logistics Group in Okinawa, Japan, where he helped shape logistics operations across the Indo-Pacific, an experience he said will help guide the command as it prepares for future conflict.

He described Thursday as a personal transition.

“I think this is the transition point where I transition from being a customer to being your commanding general,” Collins said. “I’ve always been a happy customer, a satisfied customer.”

His focus, he said, will be ensuring Marine Corps Logistics Command continues evolving alongside rapidly changing technology and warfare.

“My last two years have been spent shaping a theater to match up against a peer threat,” Collins said. “Now my job is to continue that work … but also to shape the globe to match up against that peer threat.”

Pointing to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Collins said recent wars have reinforced that military logistics must change as quickly as the battlefield itself.

“We’re seeing a war going on in Ukraine and in the Middle East, and we know that is a signal to us that the old methods simply won’t do,” Collins said. “LOGCOM is going to modernize because warfare is changing, business processes are changing and technology is changing.”

He said logisticians are helping set the pace for the Marine Corps’ modernization efforts and future force posture.

Before closing, Collins thanked the Albany community, saying he and his wife, Susan, looked forward to becoming part of southwest Georgia.

“There is no better way to meet members of the community than celebrating our nation’s Independence Day together,” Collins said. “We look forward to being part of this great community.”

As he concluded his first remarks as commanding general, Collins reminded the Marines, civilians and contractors gathered inside the base gymnasium of the expectations that accompany the uniform.

“The nation expects a lot of Marines, a lot of the Marine Corps,” he said. “What the nation expects, we will always deliver.”

Photos from the Marine Corps Logistics Command change of command ceremony held July 2 at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, where Brig. Gen. Kevin G. Collins officially assumed command from Maj. Gen. Keith D. Reventlow. The ceremony honored Reventlow’s four years of leadership and marked the formal transfer of command as Collins takes the helm of one of the Marine Corps’ premier logistics organizations. Staff Photos: Kathryn Crockett