thedrifter
08-30-08, 06:12 AM
Millinial Marines are up to par with Corps past
By Yvonne Carlock
Press Officer
‘‘I remember when ...” These three little words evoke so much head-shaking and rolling of the eyes in my home that one might wonder if we’ve been exposed to a nerve agent. However, it’s just our normal response to the inevitable trip down memory lane on which my husband is about to embark.
I bring that up now, because I recently started my own stroll down memory lane. I had one of those ‘‘When I was a Marine” moments and began lamenting that they don’t make Marines like they used to in my day ... My journey was cut short by a strong epiphany: that’s not a bad thing.
I was suddenly struck by the reality that today’s Marines are often unfairly compared to past generations. Many of us old salts reminisce about the good ole days when Marines had tact, military bearing, and a host of other traits we seem to think were lost with the recent batch of retirees.
But is it really fair to say that this generation of Marines lacks anything?
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that I was only experiencing a moment’s frustration with a Marine’s first draft of an article for last week’s paper. It’s not like the Marine didn’t know how to execute a drill movement or failed a uniform inspection. But whatever the egregious error it was an offense to my sense of journalism and in that instant I wanted a more proficient Marine – one who was more like my generation.
I thought back to when and why I enlisted, and I realized that many of us entering the service back in the early 1980s had similar reasons: education benefits, opportunity to improve the quality of life, etc. These are probably not too different from why many of today’s Marines, also referred to as millennials, raised their right hands to accept the oath of office. However, there is one major difference between the millennials and my generation. These young people stepped up to serve when they knew without a doubt they would be deployed to a combat zone.
So I had to ask myself would I have made the same choice under the circumstances. Honestly, no ... at least not the person I was before serving in the Corps.
Yet these millennial Marines enlisted anyway.
In addition to the mindset they enlist with, they are also expected to have language and cultural skills; their brand of combat is more high tech than past generations and the playing field is never level. So, I guess it comes down to a cliché: Vive la difference!
We, old salts, need to stop looking in the past and remember that we’re all Marines regardless of the pattern of our utilities. We might be a little frustrated about the perceived shift away from some of the traits we held in reverence but we have to admit they embody the Corps values in spades.
Ellie
By Yvonne Carlock
Press Officer
‘‘I remember when ...” These three little words evoke so much head-shaking and rolling of the eyes in my home that one might wonder if we’ve been exposed to a nerve agent. However, it’s just our normal response to the inevitable trip down memory lane on which my husband is about to embark.
I bring that up now, because I recently started my own stroll down memory lane. I had one of those ‘‘When I was a Marine” moments and began lamenting that they don’t make Marines like they used to in my day ... My journey was cut short by a strong epiphany: that’s not a bad thing.
I was suddenly struck by the reality that today’s Marines are often unfairly compared to past generations. Many of us old salts reminisce about the good ole days when Marines had tact, military bearing, and a host of other traits we seem to think were lost with the recent batch of retirees.
But is it really fair to say that this generation of Marines lacks anything?
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that I was only experiencing a moment’s frustration with a Marine’s first draft of an article for last week’s paper. It’s not like the Marine didn’t know how to execute a drill movement or failed a uniform inspection. But whatever the egregious error it was an offense to my sense of journalism and in that instant I wanted a more proficient Marine – one who was more like my generation.
I thought back to when and why I enlisted, and I realized that many of us entering the service back in the early 1980s had similar reasons: education benefits, opportunity to improve the quality of life, etc. These are probably not too different from why many of today’s Marines, also referred to as millennials, raised their right hands to accept the oath of office. However, there is one major difference between the millennials and my generation. These young people stepped up to serve when they knew without a doubt they would be deployed to a combat zone.
So I had to ask myself would I have made the same choice under the circumstances. Honestly, no ... at least not the person I was before serving in the Corps.
Yet these millennial Marines enlisted anyway.
In addition to the mindset they enlist with, they are also expected to have language and cultural skills; their brand of combat is more high tech than past generations and the playing field is never level. So, I guess it comes down to a cliché: Vive la difference!
We, old salts, need to stop looking in the past and remember that we’re all Marines regardless of the pattern of our utilities. We might be a little frustrated about the perceived shift away from some of the traits we held in reverence but we have to admit they embody the Corps values in spades.
Ellie