image vs reality

[advanced]

Russ, thank you for your service

Yeah, thanks Dave. I hope you are really feeling "Good" about yourself now.

[Mongoose]

Well, I want to thank you both. Especially my brother Russ, whom I got close enough to in the Arizona. I could smell his stinking azz. My honor to you both. I dont feel any better having said that. It just comes from the heart with out reason.

[haebyungdae]

Yes, the overemphasis on "looking good" is a perversion and the Marine Corps Institute labels it by a term called "careerism." But this doesn't really apply in what you are talking about.

Some Marines recommended a let move for this Marine. I would disagree and would more agree with the other recommendation of him getting out. This is due to the fact that he has already worked up the idea of what a "real Marine" is to such a high standard that it would be almost impossible for him to achieve it. This is my opinion and the OP can correct me if I am wrong.

Contractors? Really? No way. There is little to no accountability on their performance, at least from what I have seen. Maybe federal employees are better, but there is still not enough emphasis placed on results, or at least the right results.

Glamour in one's job is really in the eye of the beholder. Sitting in front of a computer all day longer, sometimes for the excess of 12 hours may seem to some as not very glamorous, but I find my job to be very fruitful and whatnot. A large part of getting the most out of your military service is your perception of your work. Why is job (which was not let know to the rest of us) not glamorous or fruitful? Every Marine regardless of their job should feel some sort of pride in what they do. You doing your job ensures that someone else can do theirs.

At least the work of most Marines is known by the public and if you want to know politics come work in strategic level intelligence, that is some politics for ya.

[chulaivet1966]

Believe me, back in the day no one thanked us for our service. Many experienced quite the opposite. I for one just never told anyone what I had done or even that I had been in the military.

Today many people try to thank me, I don't like it and because of 40+ years the other way I don't need it. I try to accept it because my guess is it makes them feel better about themselves.

No one knows I've been in the military unless it's from my wife, someone else or the subject comes up and my opinion might straighten out some ones' dumb ass comments.
When some one does find out I was a Marine the demeanor and BS factor changes.

I expect nothing from the outside world for my service to my country and the sacrifices that were necessary.
If some one want to say thanks in their own way, regardless of how trite it may sound I would still acknowledge it as a measure of recognized respect.

I will say this...when I see now that our servicemen are getting the 'welcome home' accolades they so deserve it does take me back to our time and I do get pensive about it all and how we were treated.

Well...fvck it.....life goes on and I'm able to be here without getting banned yet and yak about all this sh!t with other Brothers.
That' The Brotherhood.

That's my take on it.....back to topic.

[Zulu 36]

Dealing with this topic is like dealing with the kids in the wading pool about combat and glory. Except, now the OP is someone who should know better.

[03Foxtrot]

I agree Dave. All of us have personal disappointments, some of our own design and some not, either way, the Corps is what you make of it or will make you into what it needs. Make the cut and move on and up or don't and leave, either way, to blame the entire organization for ones own shortcomings is, to me, a continuation of why you have failed. I am by no means immune to having my own resentment and anger towards the Corps, of the late 60's, when people like me were quickly shoved out the door and forgotten by everyone because the war of attrition was winding down and those of us that a year earlier were critical to winning the war in I Corps suddenly found ourselves very expendable. Despite these and other reasons that I have for my own opinions being less then agreeable about the conduct and final outcome of the war and the cost in human lives and suffering by many survivors of combat there, I still have nothing but respect and honor and love for the United States Marine Corps and all it stands for, past, present and future.
Semper Fi, Scott

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Actually, this is not a 'bad' discussion. And, while ham handed about it, the kid brings up some interesting points.

Not everyone gets what they want out of the Corps. If they did, hevll, we'd ALL be lifers, wouldn't we? Some jobs are crap, no doubt about it. Others are more 'high speed' and what the 'public' thinks of when they think of Marines. But those older and wiser than I have already nailed it.....it might just be time for you to EAS. Seriously. Once you get 'outside', you'll see just how jacked up the REST of the civilian world really is.

As far as having contractors doing the 'pogue' jobs, not a good idea. Several reasons for that, largest among them would be those would be 'GS' level jobs, where competence, skill, and supporting the guy in the weeds would almost NEVER play a factor in getting the job done. Furthermore, those contractors couldn't (and many wouldn't) foward deploy when needed. Trust me, civilianizing is already made too many inroads into the military as it is, you don't want, or need, any more of it. Gunfighter contractors are a separate issue, basically they can go and do where 'we' cannot for a bunch of different reasons. Turning us all into Janissaries isn't a good idea either.

Again, believe it or not, I've actually read articles in the Marine Corps Gazette every so often exploring (with much more finesse to be sure) this topic. I'll allow it to continue.

[tripledog]

I just dont know about this:

"So it's a matter of when you lived, and that differs tremendously. This is why a 23 year old and a 64 year old cannot possibly fully understand where each of them is coming from-----------they live/lived in two different worlds, literally."

It is my opinion that the Corps stayed basically the same from 1776 to when at least when I got out. What changed it and why?

Do you really think that the Corps of today is better than the Corps of the older generation? I think they may be better tech wise, but physically wise and gut wise, I really have my doubts. Personally I think the new corps uses excuses to make up for the "guts and glory" of the old Corps.

However if I were a youngun, I would probally want to cover it up too.

[advanced]

For a Marine to be seen as an "Animal" today appears to me to be a bad thing. We were proud to be called animals. We were savage alpha males, we didn't even know what pc was, and our favorite joke was "**** you!" if you don't like it.

In my Marine Corps if you were having difficulty in adjusting you were not coddled, or worked with. You were considered a non-hacker. We used to eat our own.

All my life when others would tell me that I was "Too Strong" in the way I would come on I would just say that they ought to see a half dozen of my good friends (my squad). I was the easy going one.

I for one, refuse to be castrated by today's society. I will go to my grave with my "Tools Intact."

[Mongoose]

Being a grunt in Nam, was not for the weak and timid. No one wasted time on an azzhole that might get you killed. You developed a mind set, that this day may be my last day. If you couldn't take a round or scrapnel to the arms or legs and still keep laying down fire, or put your finger in the bullet hole in your brothers chest to stop the bleeding and fire with one arm, you didn't have any business being a grunt. Grunts kill people and get killed. And brother Russ is right on. You turn into an animal to survive. Looking back, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything in the world.

[advanced]

Being a grunt in Nam, was not for the weak and timid. No one wasted time on an azzhole that might get you killed. You developed a mind set, that this day may be my last day. If you couldn't take a round or scrapnel to the arms or legs and still keep laying down fire, or put your finger in the bullet hole in your brothers chest to stop the bleeding and fire with one arm, you didn't have any business being a grunt. Grunts kill people and get killed. And brother Russ is right on. You turn into an animal to survive. Looking back, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything in the world.

Grrrrrrrrrr

[awbrown1462]

I do not know how it is now but I was a 3041/43 when I got in after school I went to Fox 2/12 if they would have gone to war I would have gone with them we had o1XXs in our admin office who would have gone too also we have an Ammo tech and many of times when we went to the field after my supply work was done I was on the permeter with other office Marines while the Gun Bunnies where at their Guns so I never felt bad about what I did