Commandant to Marines: 'Get out your map and your compass'

[mexbearlll]

My Grandkids think it's funny that I still use CASH and the Cashier's have to work and make change, instead of being on Their phones...

[2 Marine Mom]

I definitely agree with thhis new thought. We taught compas and maps in the boy scouts. I never really got the hang of turning the dial on the compas, and that kind of thing, but, I was good at, following it for direction, along with the sun, and stuff like that. My daughter and I got lost on the souix res. in south dakota, close to the badlands, after visiting wounded nee. no signs out there, I finally pulled out my compass, handed it to my daughter, and said, get us out of here, after driving in circles, for and hour, and it starting to get dark. I said keep us, due, North, northwest. and by God, that little girl got us out of there, the maps I had, did no good on the Res.

[2 Marine Mom]

I still use maps while traveling, more that mapquest. Which has gotten us lost more than once. Shot us 90 miles, way north of our original destination, last April, going to a reenactment, of Abe Lincoln's actual memorial, at Fort Hartsuff, in Ord. I knew the way, and said so, but, my partner, was determined to use, his new GPS, when we got to Norfolk, I said, this is not where we need to be. you got any maps? Ya, glove compartment. pulled them out, and started giving orders. He was not happy, and I said, follow them, or we will never get where we are suppose to be. already over 2 hours late. Even when we got to Ord, the dam thing said we still had 90 miles to go. Happy valintines, gang.

[Zulu 36]

I was reasonably competent with a map and compass, but my Air Guard unit commander showed me what a real pro was like. He had been an active duty Army infantry company commander prior to joining the Air Guard.

Our unit was at a desert warfare school in early 1990 when we had to do a rather extensive daytime compass course. The captain and I were teamed up and we spent a little time doing a map and terrain study, then did the course. But not in order. The boss cut across country to the different way points and we completed the course in record time (don't recall the time). We were hanging out at the finish line drinking coffee before the next group came in. Cheating? Yeah, but if you ain't cheating you ain't trying.

The captain was pretty darned good at that M&C stuff. Learned a lot from him that day.

[SGT7477]

My Grandkids think it's funny that I still use CASH and the Cashier's have to work and make change, instead of being on Their phones...

Very few know how to count change back, Semper Fidelis.

[Hammer]

I was reasonably competent with a map and compass, but my Air Guard unit commander showed me what a real pro was like. He had been an active duty Army infantry company commander prior to joining the Air Guard.

Our unit was at a desert warfare school in early 1990 when we had to do a rather extensive daytime compass course. The captain and I were teamed up and we spent a little time doing a map and terrain study, then did the course. But not in order. The boss cut across country to the different way points and we completed the course in record time (don't recall the time). We were hanging out at the finish line drinking coffee before the next group came in. Cheating? Yeah, but if you ain't cheating you ain't trying.

The captain was pretty darned good at that M&C stuff. Learned a lot from him that day.

OK Chris, I give! How did you cheat? Unless you had the way points ahead of time. Even if you did by Using a lensatic compass and a topo map they would have produced what you needed, except for the starting point. But you could also navigate from any starting point, and end up at the objective or ending point.

[Zulu 36]

OK Chris, I give! How did you cheat? Unless you had the way points ahead of time. Even if you did by Using a lensatic compass and a topo map they would have produced what you needed, except for the starting point. But you could also navigate from any starting point, and end up at the objective or ending point.

Well, this was an Air Force school and like many such, the instructors assumed we were a bunch of ignorant fools, and they treated us that way continually. It never occurred to them of the breadth and depth of experience a Guard unit could have. They were the fools and gave us the entire list of way points at the beginning, instead of having to go to each one to learn the next.

The map and terrain study the skipper and I did showed us the shortcuts and we took them. We did go to each and every way point, just not in order. We broke the school record for the course (I forget what the time was).

The school was essentially a waste of our time, although the firearms portion (given by a different, and intelligent, group of instructors) was a lot of fun.

The M&C course was not the only time we pulled a fast one over those stupid instructors.

[Hammer]

Thanks Chris; that clears it up. I use a compass and a topo a lot when I am in the mountains. My kids and grandchildren think it's funny; they don't have any idea how it works.

[PJones64]

When I was in the Corps I didn't have much need for use for a compass or a map, like the Grunts did. I use a garmin on my farm. I think that the Comandant is correct in making Marines once again learn how to use one. I bet the Commandant doesn't know how to use one however.