While the Marine Corps didn’t wade into the fray earlier, it is now claiming success. And the general in charge of the effort says the politics of the moment have had no impact on Marine recruiting. “Everywhere I’ve been in the country, the American people know the Marine Corps has very high standards and that we stick to them,” Bowers said. The Marines also have had a decades-long emphasis on recruiting, Bowers says. It further thrust the Marine Corps into the political spotlight, and the deployment was challenged in court.