You can leave the Marines, But it never really leaves you...

[FoxtrotOscar]

YOU CAN LEAVE THE MILITARY -- BUT IT NEVER REALLY LEAVES YOU...

This article sums it up quite well.

(Thanks to Col. Robert Whitener, USMC (Ret)

Occasionally, I venture back to one or another military post where I'm greeted by an imposing security guard who looks carefully at my identification card, hands it back and says, "Have a good day, Sir!"

Every time I go back to any Military Base it feels good to be called by my previous rank, but odd to be in civilian clothes, walking among the servicemen and servicewomen going about their duties as I once did, many years ago.

The military is a comfort zone for anyone who has ever worn the uniform.

It's a place where you know the rules and know they are enforced -- a place where everybody is busy, but not too busy to take care of business.

Because there exists behind the gates of every military facility an institutional understanding of respect, order, uniformity, accountability and dedication that becomes part of your marrow and never, ever leaves you.

Personally, I miss the fact that you always knew where you stood in the military, and who you were dealing with.

That's because you could read somebody's uniform from 20 feet away and know the score.

Service personnel wear their careers on their uniforms, so to speak. When you approach each other, you can read their name tag, examine their rank and, if they are in dress uniform, read their ribbons and know where they've served.

I miss all those little things you take for granted when you're in the ranks, like breaking starch on a set of fatigues fresh from the laundry and standing in a perfectly straight line military formation that looks like a mirror as it stretches to the endless horizon.

I miss the sight of troops marching in the early morning mist, the sound of boot heels thumping in unison on the tarmac, the bark of drill instructors and the sing-song answers from the squads as they pass by in review.

To romanticize military service is to be far removed from its reality, because it's very serious business -- especially in times of war. But I miss the salutes I'd throw at senior officers and the crisp returns as we criss-crossed with a "by your leave sir".

I miss the smell of jet fuel hanging heavily on the night air and the sound of engines roaring down runways and disappearing into the clouds.
(Air Winger)...

I even miss the hurry-up-and-wait mentality that enlisted men gripe about constantly, a masterful invention that bonded people more than they'll ever know or admit.

I miss people taking off their hats when they enter a building, speaking directly and clearly to others and never showing disrespect for rank, race, religion or gender.

Mostly, I miss being a small cog in a machine so complex it constantly circumnavigates the Earth and so simple it feeds everyone on time, three times a day, on the ground, in the air or at sea.

Mostly, I don't know anyone who has served who regrets it, and doesn't feel a sense of pride when they pass through those gates and re-enter the world they left behind with their youth.

Face it guys - we all miss it............Whether you had one tour or a career, it shaped your life.

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[madinfidel]

This has made my morning. Semper Fi

[Hammer]

Yep! Without a doubt, the Corps was one of the greatest things that I was allowed to participate in. At 72 years of age, I would answer the bell to serve.

[Old Marine]

My screen name says it all.

[FistFu68]

"Too tha Bone" ...Col get that Cover Squared away the Army wears Hats !!! Aye Aye Semper Fi

[HM3 Doc Wilder]

​Changed Me,changed my Life,for the Better_Semper Fi Forever !

[Big Boz]

My first duty station was at El Toro, and I got sick of hearing the jets take off. Now, I have a work site near a Air Nat'l Guard station and love hearing and seeing them take off and fly over.

When I was on the San Diego Recruit Depot a couple of years ago and standing in line at Domino's, I loved listening to the salty Marines (24 & 25 years old.....hahaha) talking about such a hard day that they just had. At 44, all I could think about was "These are the best days of your lives fellas, and one of the easiest jobs you will ever have".

[madinfidel]

My first duty station was at El Toro, and I got sick of hearing the jets take off. Now, I have a work site near a Air Nat'l Guard station and love hearing and seeing them take off and fly over.

When I was on the San Diego Recruit Depot a couple of years ago and standing in line at Domino's, I loved listening to the salty Marines (24 & 25 years old.....hahaha) talking about such a hard day that they just had. At 44, all I could think about was "These are the best days of your lives fellas, and one of the easiest jobs you will ever have".

I have only been out not quite a year and man do I miss those guys. I look around at the civilian world and I think "what a waste of perfectly good oxygen."

[FoxtrotOscar]

I have only been out not quite a year and man do I miss those guys. I look around at the civilian world and I think "what a waste of perfectly good oxygen."

ABSOLUTELY...!!!

[advanced]

Back in the day, when we came home, many of us got scarfed up as cops. I definitely know that my MC experience got me hired as a cop as the Capt. of the review board told everyone "I believe that Mr. advanced here would make a fine Police Officer, he's already shown that he was very good at killing gooks so he should have no problem killing __________'s." (that's a direct quote) Of course the PD was a large southern city that was not very PC back then.

I've had many vets over the years tell me that I was a Marine after looking into my eyes, so I guess it's obvious that I'm still a Marine.

[Mongoose]

I'm proud to have served with the best.

[madsox]

Excellent article. And true. I was "only" a Reservist, only served peacetime, and just made it over 10 years of qualified time.

BUT.

The older I get, the more I realize I learned/gained from and miss about the Corps. Little things like being able to really focus on getting a mission (job) done. Remember to let the little sh!t go and not sweat it. Helping bosses or customers understand the idea of a chain of command.

I do wish I'd done a full 20 some days, but even without that there's a part of me that will always be a Marine. And when I meet another Jarhead, or a friend who did 20 years in the Air Force, or find out a customer was 10th Mtn Div, I can relate to them on a whole different level.

My pure civvie friends will never have that. My CAR/CIB-wearing buds, well, I know they share something I don't have, but I don't pretend to, and I do have a little better understanding of the bond they've got. It helps.

That last sentence, "Whether you had one tour or a career, it shaped your life"- yup. Absolutely true.

Semper Fi!

[madinfidel]

Only a "reservist" doesn't fly when it comes to the Marine Corps in my opinion. That opinion died in Korea Marine.