Can be lighthearted or not of course.

I didn't realize mine until I had gotten out. I was a Marine and I never once wore dress blues. I never even owned a set. Nor did I ever once attend a Marine Corps Ball.

For some reason that bothers me now. Like I wasn't a real Marine or something without those.

Y'all?

No shame except possibly that had I not had an argument with someone I barely knew, I may not have made the decision to serve. Just grateful for the opportunity.

Did make it to a Dining In and a Dining Out in the Army. Nice to see everyone all cleaned up. Mostly spent a lot of time in the field and motor pool and supply room training and checking stuff. Peacetime Army seemed to run on paper. Running, yes, that too.

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texan12 said:

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Nothing more dangerous than a military contractor with a wild ass idea or having a chance to put a feather in their hat.

I've seen great ideas and technology that were easier and more beneficial to everyone get shot down by some ass clown due to pride/ego. It's really disgusting watching grown men/women accept this in action.

What's worse are those enlisted and officers who are held to a higher standard of conduct having to abide by the above ass clown's decisions.

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I didn't work with military contractors until after active duty and I was in the army reserves. They were guys assigned to help run computer exercises. They were all retired army. I had four years active duty and another 18 in the reserves. One of the reservists I knew from active duty and the unit went to work for one of the military contractors in Afghanistan and was killed. He was sharp, really sharp. I was disappointed at the reports coming out of of the Middle East for the contracted support. Sounded like there was a failure to hire competent plumbers and electricians. Just because it was overseas shouldn't mean the government should forget all about International Building Code plus the Army has Technical Manuals on all of that. It really bothers me when soldiers get killed in training or avoidable accidents. We all signed up for the full commitment, the blank check with our lives. Those lives should not be wasted because someone wants to make a bigger profit.

We're you meaning to reply to Ulysses90?

I was. My bad!

Eliminatus said:

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Can be lighthearted or not of course.

I didn't realize mine until I had gotten out. I was a Marine and I never once wore dress blues. I never even owned a set. Nor did I ever once attend a Marine Corps Ball.

For some reason that bothers me now. Like I wasn't a real Marine or something without those.

Y'all?

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Well I never was on active duty or deployed during a war. I was a reservist at the end of the cold war, so it was a narrow window without a war for the US to fight. So, I feel like Vietnam & Desert Storm Marines are more genuine Marines than me in a way. Still view my brief time in the USMCR as a key life experience.

nm

Keep hanging in there! Pulling for you !

How are you doing tonight, MapGuy?

I left the service just before 9/11 happened, and didn't go back. Long story...but sort of embarrassed by that.

texan12 said:

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Nothing more dangerous than a military contractor with a wild ass idea or having a chance to put a feather in their hat.

I've seen great ideas and technology that were easier and more beneficial to everyone get shot down by some ass clown due to pride/ego. It's really disgusting watching grown men/women accept this in action.

What's worse are those enlisted and officers who are held to a higher standard of conduct having to abide by the above ass clown's decisions.

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You obviously don't know much about military contracting if you think the USG does not have control.

I didn't get to go to any libo ports as a single man.

I was medically retired from the army. I did not finish strong. I got a DD214 and a flag in a cardboard box. I got rid of most of my army stuff to include my collection of coins.

You were enlisted first and then went to A&M and commissioned, right? Didn't you also finish your career as a major? That's far from a bad deal.

I punched out of the Air Force Academy. I often wonder what could have been if I had made a different choice.

I got a full ride AFROTC scholarship to A&M and turned it down. The Air Force insisted on coming to my HS and presenting it to me on awards day anyway. It was embarrassing. They should've just thrown a pizza party for anybody who was enlisting.

I wasted my Army ROTC scholarship and never commissioned. Ended up enlisting to pay it back. Really wish I had seen that through, but on the flip side probably wouldn't have gotten as serious with my wife as I would have back then and then wouldn't have the three of wonderful children I have now so it's all good

The Camp Lejeune contaminated water fiasco… they knew it was contaminated in 1982 and didn't move to stop it for five years. Wife and I were there from 1976-1978, in base housing. Her first pregnancy ended with an ectopic pregnancy in 1976. Now she is on kidney dialysis. Of course, the USMC lawyered up and played the waiting game, until plenty of folks died and couldn't get justice. How is that for Semper Fidelis.

Navy S2/c 45-46, USAF 1st Lt 54-56. Twice overseas One picture with a class I attended. Nothing to

show for 3 years to family!

So true. My local Marine Corps League detachment Commandant was at CLNC in 1977-79. He beat bladder cancer 11 years ago. He learned last month that it's back and in his hip bone. I heard the news a few months ago that an Army officer I knew who had spent a portion of his childhood living at Tarawa Terrace in the 1970s passed away at the age of 57. I had not seen him in years but I knew that he had lost a sibling to a cancer that was presumed to be related to the water contamination there.

While in Afghanistan I did a 15-6 into a medic who was stealing sleep meds.
Initially the command thinks he's selling them to locals or other countries solders on the fob. Doesn't add up as sleep meds are pretty easy to get, but I call JAG and start the interviews. The kids Plt Sgt says he's had issues with hard drugs in the past and is smart so if there is a way to abuse these things he thinks he'd find a way. So I ask a doctor and get it confirmed, you can abuse certain sleep meds and get a hallucinogenic high out of it. The doc thinks it's possible that's what the kid is doing and it's supported by some interviews with soldiers sleeping in the same bay as the medics.
My recommendation is that the kid gets sent to an inpatient rehab in Germany that would return him in country in time for us to redeploy and hopefully get this kids started back in the right direction when we get home.

Commander doesn't believe that the meds can be abused because he's never heard of that and thinks I didn't do a good enough investigation into the possible sales. I felt I had and there was no evidence of it and nowhere else to go with that. Commander decides to dock the kid a stripe, take away his access to the drugs and keep him in country and on duty.

Three months after we got home the kid died from a heroin OD. The Plt Sgt called and told me it all came out from a couple of his buddies after his death and I had been right and when he got home the kid went straight to the hard stuff.

I'll always wonder if I should have pushed back on that commander or done something more for that kid.