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| 38% Of Marines Have Not Been To Iraq Or Afghanistan |
| 2007-02-05 |
| The U.S. Marine Corps reputation for being enthusiastic about combat is not a myth. Recently, the commandant of the Marine Corps got complaints (at one of the "Town Hall" meetings he holds regularly) from marines who were not able to get an assignment in Iraq or Afghanistan. The commandant checked and discovered that 38 percent of marines had not yet been in Afghanistan or Iraq. He ordered that any marine that requested assignment to a combat zone, be given one. For those that could not be transferred to a similar job in a unit headed over there, marines are directed to request an Individual Augment (IA) assignment. This program is similar to the one used by the navy, where sailors and marines are sent to do jobs the army needs done. The marines also allow their reservists to volunteer for IA assignments. Marine training, and tradition, emphasizes that "every marine is a rifleman," and that all marines want to be in combat. Most marines apparently agree. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #11 My nephew After Legeune he got orders to a MEU and is thrilled. Just can't wait to be deployed and is worried the scrap in the sandbox will be over before he gets there. |
| Posted by: GORT 2007-02-05 22:23 |
| #10 That's it, Pappy. I just recently came to hear the story behind that quote. Quite awe-inspiring. I'm not of a military background, but hats off to the boyz who are (and who are itching to get in the fight). |
| Posted by: BA 2007-02-05 22:21 |
| #9 The thing that the average civvie doesn't understand is that we actually like to fight. We didn't join for the "great college money" (because compared to our sister services our college bonuses ain't that great). In my 10 yrs I've never heard one Marine say he joined for college cash - never. If he did he's a moron, should've went Army - because we can't match their money for college program. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2007-02-05 20:59 |
| #8 "They've got us surrounded - the poor bastards!" |
| Posted by: Pappy 2007-02-05 20:54 |
| #7 That was indeed you, FOTSGreg. Your key point was succinct and -- clearly -- memorable. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-02-05 20:30 |
| #6 ... that idiot named Ware's apparent panic at some group of Marines or US Army having gotten themselves surrounded with no supply lines and dwindling ammunition. Nuts! /I know that was the Army and this article's about the USMC, but it seems apropos. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-02-05 19:54 |
| #5 TW, was that me the other day? Something about a target rich environment and attacking "through" the ambush? As I recall, I was a little long-winded and the argument being made was against that idiot named Ware's apparent panic at some group of Marines or US Army having gotten themselves surrounded with no supply lines and dwindling ammunition. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-02-05 18:36 |
| #4 Kinda makes you wonder how "overstretched" we are if 1/3rd of our willing troops haven't been in combat. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-02-05 18:26 |
| #3 "every marine is a rifleman" Them Marines is a spunky bunch. Something that stuck in my head was a comment from a Marine to a reporter during the initial drive of the war against Saddam. The Iraqis had been, not surprsingly, attacking the long supply lines. The reporter made it sound like this was a novel, unexpected and disabling tactic. The Marine's response was "You don't understand. We're not just truckdrivers. We're truckdrivers with guns!" |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-02-05 17:24 |
| #2 I'm still recovering from the description one of you gave recently of the Marines' response to an ambush. I knew, but that's not the same as hearing the words said aloud. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-02-05 16:45 |
| #1 Give 'em a rifle, point 'em in the right direction and get the hell out of the way. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-02-05 16:16 |