Mundy enlisted in the
Marine Corps Reserve and enrolled in the
Platoon Leaders Class Program in December 1953 while attending college – serving in the 38th Special Infantry Company,
Montgomery, Alabama, and rising to the rank of
sergeant. He was commissioned a
second lieutenant in June 1957, following graduation from
Auburn University. His later military education included the
Command and General Staff College and the
Naval War College. Mundy's early assignments included service in the
2nd Marine Regiment,
2nd Marine Division; duty aboard the
aircraft carrier and the
cruiser ; instructor at
The Basic School; and as
Officer Selection Officer,
Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1966–67, Mundy served in
Vietnam as operations and
executive officer of the
3rd Battalion,
26th Marines,
3rd Marine Division, and as an
intelligence officer in the Headquarters,
III Marine Amphibious Force. After the Vietnam War, Mundy's principal assignments were: •
Aide de Camp to the
Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps • Inspector & Instructor, 4th Air-Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, Miami, Florida • Commanding Officer,
2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. • Plans Officer,
Headquarters Marine Corps • Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence,
2nd Marine Division • Chief of Staff, Sixth Marine Amphibious Brigade • Commanding Officer,
2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division from 27 March 1981 - 30 April 1982 and 36th and 38th Marine Amphibious Units. Following advancement to
brigadier general in April 1982, Mundy's assignments were: • Director of Personnel Procurement, Headquarters Marine Corps • Commanding General, Landing Force Training Command,
United States Atlantic Fleet, and Commanding General,
4th Marine Amphibious Brigade. In late February and early March 1986, 2nd/4th Marines deployed to Nordland and Troms counties of Norway, near Evenes and Brøstadbotn, as the main US ski-mobile maneuver element of the 4th Marine Amphibious Brigade commanded by then Brigadier General Carl E. Mundy Jr., taking a leading role in the multi-national NATO winter exercise, "Anchor Express". The wintry, subfreezing weather, unprecedented level of snow, and the rugged terrain in the operating area of "Anchor Express" astride Salangenfjord, Faksfjorden and Lavangenfjord tested 2/4's ski-borne Marines to their limits. Such was the deep snow, extremely steep mountains in fjord country and gusty subzero winds that on 5 March 1986, a devastating avalanche in Vassdalen, Nordland, struck 31 fellow-Norwegian soldiers, killing sixteen engineers from the elite Norwegian Army unit
Brigade North, many of whose soldiers operating with 2/4 during the exercise. The Vassdalen avalanche was Norway's worst disaster involving the military since the
German invasion of Norway (1940). As a result, Norway went into mourning and the force-on-force exercise prematurely ended. • Advanced to Major General in April 1986 • Director of Operations, Plans, Policies and Operations Department, Headquarters Marine Corps • Advanced to Lieutenant General in March 1988 • Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans, Policies and Operations, Headquarters Marine Corps; Operations Deputy to the
Joint Chiefs of Staff • Commanding General of the
Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, the
II Marine Expeditionary Force, the Allied Command Atlantic Marine Striking Force, and designated to command Fleet Marine Forces which might be employed in Europe • Promoted to General on July 1, 1991 •
Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1, 1991, to June 30, 1995
Remarks on minority officers In an October 31, 1993, segment on the
CBS program
60 Minutes on the dearth of minority promotions in the U.S. Marine Corps, General Mundy was quoted as saying, "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, noted for being blunt, though possibly the "victim of selective editing", apologized for "any offense that may have been taken" from his remarks. According to
The Times, the general elaborated on this question at a 1993 commemoration of the
Battle of Iwo Jima, when commenting on
Ira Hayes, he said "Were Ira Hayes here today ... I would tell him that although my words on another occasion have given the impression that I believe some Marines ... because of their color ... are not as capable as other Marines ... that those were not the thoughts of my mind ... and that they are not the thoughts of my heart.
Position on married Marines Mundy issued an order in 1993 to cut down (and eventually eliminate) the recruitment category for married Marines; the order was rescinded following a public outcry.
Opposition to gay people serving in the military Mundy was an outspoken opponent of allowing gay people to serve in the
military. As a compromise with others who were less strongly opposed, Mundy shaped the "
Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy, a 1993 law stating that self-identified homosexuals are not
eligible for military service. Mundy distributed copies of
The Gay Agenda, a 1992 video asserting that homosexuality is an unnatural sickness, to the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in an effort to persuade them. In a January 1993 meeting with President Clinton and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mundy said that those who admit to being gay or who associate with Gay Pride "will have a negative effect" and that it "fractures teamwork." For a person to "proclaim: I'm gay" is the "same as I'm KKK, Nazi, rapist." Mundy was signatory to an open letter delivered to
President Barack Obama and
Members of Congress expressing continued support for DADT. The letter said in part, "We believe that imposing this burden on our men and women in uniform would undermine recruiting and retention, impact leadership at all echelons, have adverse effects on the willingness of parents who lend their sons and daughters to military service, and eventually break the All-Volunteer Force." However unlike the 34th commandant, General
James T. Conway, Mundy has said that if the restriction were repealed the troops should not be segregated. ==Awards and decorations==