View Full Version : Army works to save marriages
Namvet67
01-13-05, 12:25 PM
The army is spending $2 million on a variety of marriage programs. One course is on forgiveness and skills to communicate, alcohol abuse and how to recognize PTSD. Soldiers are given time off to attend and those who complete are given promotion points and a week end retreat with their spouse. Isn't that sweet?
yellowwing
01-13-05, 01:18 PM
Sounds like a decent program, help the army guys promote force rentention and all the stuff. But promotion points? That's too much.
I met an Air Force MP a few decades ago. He said that once in Iceland, one of his guys answered a domestic disturbance call.
When he went to subdue the husband, the friggin' wife cracked on the head with an iron skillet! Then they just dragged him out into the sub-zero weather and left him in the snow.
Luckily MP back up was there within about 90 seconds!
They can't even outfit our troops with proper gear for war and now they say they can save a marriage? Saw somethin in the news the other day.....Used body armor sought for troops.......WTF........and now they think they can save a marriage? Ya right.
JAG5150
01-13-05, 02:00 PM
Just give em some gloves and let them duke it out.
femalemarine_89
01-13-05, 02:02 PM
This is messed up. Like you said smitty they cant properly outfit the military in battle but they have money for this? People need to understand that when they come home that things are not going to be anything like they were before they went off to war. It takes an understanding person to deal with it. I dont think alot of women know what they are getting into when they marry into the military. I am not trying to step on any feet here its just an OPINION..
Give them the same debriefing the Nam vets got and turn em all loose.
Does it have to be with my wife or can I bring my girfriend?
femalemarine_89
01-13-05, 02:13 PM
LOL@ toby.. Hell bring em both if ya feel brave enough.. LOL
and if ya do Toby, you got some kinda big brass cahonies.........LOL
femalemarine_89
01-13-05, 02:31 PM
LOL@ smitty.. you got that right... LOL..
JAG5150
01-13-05, 02:34 PM
CLANK, CLANK
femalemarine_89
01-13-05, 02:36 PM
you sayin you would take your wife and your girlfriend there Jag?? LOL.. didnt know you had a GF too.. LOL
JAG5150
01-13-05, 02:42 PM
Aint got no girl friend.
Some guys dream about 2 women, I have enough trouble pleasing 1.
femalemarine_89
01-13-05, 02:43 PM
LOL.. i hear that one Jag..
TRLewis
01-13-05, 03:26 PM
I think this is a decent idea, how many people you hear say, "I'm getting out because I dont want my wife to be like _____." And will get out because they dont want their wife to be "lonely". I have a totally different opinion on it, but its a good effort.
Namvet67
01-13-05, 03:32 PM
Toby..if you do bring em both..then you will qualify for their class on PTSD....
Namvet67
01-13-05, 03:54 PM
TRLewis....when do you ship out? Didn't I read something about you joining the army? As a Marine I guess they let you skip basic training?
yellowwing
01-13-05, 04:22 PM
Hey, if you bring your girlfriend too, can you get two promotion points and two free weekend trips to Hilton Head resorts?
JAG5150
01-13-05, 05:03 PM
Maybe just Paris Hilton.
thedrifter
01-13-05, 05:48 PM
January 17, 2005
Leathernecks sought for counterintel field
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Think you have what it takes to head to a war zone overseas, break off into a small group, gather intelligence and bring it back to your commander — all without anyone ever noticing you were there?
The Marines who stand the best chance of making the cut are those with brains, brawn, personality and a knack for easily striking up conversations.
At 1st Intelligence Battalion, which has been deploying teams to Iraq and Afghanistan, leaders are on the lookout for Marines willing to consider changing jobs and taking up the challenge of becoming counterintelligence specialists.
“We need that mature individual that has that life experience,” said Capt. Bennett Shapiro, who is assigned to the battalion’s Counterintelligence/Human Intelligence Company. “We need people who are financially responsible, who are mature, who can relate to a foreign people. The base we’re looking at is a good NCO.”
‘Who can be trusted?’
It’s a small, tight-knit field. Only about 300 Marines fill counterintelligence billets across the Corps.
Corporals and sergeants who volunteer to make a lateral move typically become counterintelligence specialists (military occupational specialty 0211) and may qualify for additional training in a secondary MOS, technical surveillance countermeasures specialist (0212).
The qualification requirements are rigorous for this men-only field; among the most important is the ability to train, live and work in small four- or six-man teams.
“Who can thrive in a small-unit environment?” Shapiro asked, rhetorically. “Who can be trusted?”
Beyond the enlisted Marines, the counterintelligence community includes warrant officers, who serve as counterintelligence officers (MOS 0210) and technical surveillance countermeasures officers (MOS 0215), along with human intelligence officers (MOS 0204).
But being a C-I Marine isn’t a job for everyone, according to several Marines who have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
“We are a very unique group of people,” said a chief warrant officer, a team commander who asked that his name not be published.
The war on terrorism has heavily tapped military intelligence forces. C-I Marines often are deployed for schooling and short operational tours, said the chief warrant officer.
Along with language training that some get, C-I Marines attend numerous schools, including jump school, survival school and the high-risk personnel course. Marines in the field say that a good C-I specialist is a jack of all trades, able to gather tactical intelligence to brief a battalion commander, fix a Humvee, question locals about a suspected weapons cache, interrogate detainees, decipher maps and operate a radio.
Most leathernecks know little of what counterintelligence Marines really do. Some adopt relaxed grooming standards and grow a beard if the situation requires; this and the independent nature of their missions give them an air of mystery.
“We have kind of a reputation of being cowboys, like civilians with long hair,” Shapiro acknowledged.
When Marines detain people for questioning, it’s C-I Marines who are “the ones that are trying to get information,” he said. “It’s a very Marine mission. We’re not super-spooks.”
One sergeant said he likes the idea that he supports his fellow infantrymen.
“In the real world, you have a more active role in the Marine Corps,” he said. “Your whole focus is to support Marines in the field.”
Gidget Fuentes is the San Diego bureau chief for Marine Corps Times. She can be reached at (760) 677-6145 or gfuentes@marinecorpstimes.com.
Ellie
yellowwing
01-13-05, 06:06 PM
The Marines who stand the best chance of making the cut are those with brains, brawn, personality and a knack for easily striking up conversations.
Sheet! At nearly 40 all I'm missing is the brawn. Used to have it. Don't know where it went. :(
TRLewis
01-14-05, 06:58 AM
Originally posted by gbudd
TRLewis....when do you ship out? Didn't I read something about you joining the army? As a Marine I guess they let you skip basic training?
Feb 8th, I was willing to go back to BT if they let me have the Special Forces contract. But that was a no go, so its off with my airborne, and chance to make it in a ranger batt contract.